France 2002

Paris Gargoyles

Underneath the Eiffel Tower

Saints on Notre Dame

Versailles - West Facade (lucky to catch it at sunset)

Versailles looking West (these gardens prove this man meant business)

Versaille - Fountain of the Sun King (again Louis XIV proving a point)

Arles - Roman Amphitheater (they don't build 'em like this any more)

Cote du Rhone - A Monastery I think (see the crosses on the parapet from where you can shoot arrows. Talk about preaching the Word!)

Cote du Rhone - Church Interior

Mountaintop picnic complete with mountaintop experience. Sigh ....

Going to the Chapel

In October of last year I finished a painting of the Chicago L. Go to my art blog to read more about it. The painting is a one point perspective of a long run of the Chicago elevated train tracks in the Uptown Neighborhood. The structure and the tracks overhead form three bays like three naves of a church. So I thought, "Hey! It would be natural to paint an actual church." So I went hunting. There are many great churches in Chicago. Big massive mounds of acrobatic stone. I loved the gothic feel of the Chicago L so I looked for gothic. On the corner of Catalpa and Broadway there stands Saint Ita. The church above. The interior has three naves with spindly gothic columns that remind me of the Chicago L steel. Amazing the parallels in the things we build. Both sacred and profane.

Yet I wasn't so sold on doing the painting of Saint Ita. Hanging out at the Glenwood, I was chatting about my new project and my indecision. My new friend piped up and suggested in a muse-like manner that I paint the Jesus Saves sign hanging on the Philadelphia Church in the Andersonville Neighborhood, pictured below. I was immediately inspired. I know the message behind "Jesus Saves" all too well. And that sign has a life of it's own. It is a voice crying out in the wilderness with its bright neon. For a group of people who know me, I am a prodigal son. Some one who was lost, then found, then lost again. Friends have also posted pics of this on Facebook. Hmm, is god trying to tell me something? Personally, it is all about always finding that makes one never lost. Religious debate aside, the idea resonated with me.

Both these photos are study photos for the paintings. I liked them enough to post them here. And if you want to buy a copy, give me a ring. Stay tuned as I get off my arse and put brush to canvas.

More Pics from the City

Here are more shots of my beloved City Chicago taken a few months ago. However, the City does push the limits of that love with the recent 20 F below windchill. Brrr ...

Other than being cold, however, this is a City of great architecture and great neighborhoods. Tasty food, noisy and for-the-most-part-convenient buses and trains. It has a big Lake, a resilient character about it. And it inspires me. Also it's not threatened by rising sea levels. But there are those Asian carp ...

This is a window washer on the towering Uptown Bank in the heart of Uptown. I posted a color version of this before but toyed around with black and white. I just love the fact that this man is literally dangling by a thread on this cliff of a building. I mean, who really does this any more?

This is shot of the L in Wrigleyville in October of this year. For you out of towners, Wrigleyville is a posh and highly "desirable" niche of land on the Northside of Chicago. Look at the swanky townhouse with the oval window on the right ...

From the back of the bus. I love not owning a car.

Extravaganza in Andersonville!

Just another night of color, lights, song and show at Cattle Call. These snapshots were taken at last week's Wednesday night show. Angelique, Mistress of Ceremonies, was sadly ailing that night. I love this weekly one moment in time for so many reasons, I can not even begin to tell you ...

Bianca

Regina

Sebastian

Ashley

Heels

Pls Check Out My Friends

Seriously! Look at the LINKS on this blog and see the magnificence that is around you.

Black and Whites of Chicago, July and August 2009

I posted a color version of this one earlier and thought it would be nice in black and white.

Chicago L Stop Sedgwick

Brick

Sculpture

Live Forever - The Michael Jackson Monument Design Competition

See my entry here ...