Ahh - Blinding White

I heard a statistic that darkness cannot be measured. Darkness is the opposite of light, which can be measured. So the only way darkness can be defined is to be "less light". Kinda of cosmically optimistic of God to make it that way, eh? I love being outside in inclimate and severe weather. I'm drawn to it like a moth to flame. The weather evokes passion in me. Sometimes it evokes thoughts of lost loves or instills longing for new ones as well as unseen lands. I got a weather fix today. Well a mini one.

This morning, I bundled up bigtime and headed out into the snow. It was overcast and gray. But the snow was still quiet, white and intact. It hadn't turned to noisy grey slush. Laden down with all my plein air painting stuff I headed to Wood and Division - our meet-up spot. I drove around there the other day hoping to find some inspiration for my painting. It was difficult for weeding out the noise of modern man and yuppies. Arrgghh, where was the beauty? Division, west of Damen, is looking really good - BTW. Lots of cute shops and eateries. Not too intimidating like the shops of Bucktown (have a decent sale already for Beck's sake).

Today I walked all over Wood/Division-area looking around, checking the light, looking for neat shadows, etc. Good thing I had a hot latte in my hand or else I would've been abysmally disappointed. I was having a tough time. There is a lot more foot and car traffic in this part of the city and the snow had been disturbed. The snowscape idea was losing it's appeal quickly. How many more days would I have to actually paint snowscapes (see some of my previous attempts here)? Today really counted to me.

I came to a place across from an alley next to the post office at Marshfield and Hadoon. The alley revealed the rear side of shabby frame housing and remnants of small businesses. But above it all, the scene gave way to some amazing architecture notable of our fair city. In the distance was the John Hancock, masonry church basilicas, old brick apartments and new ones. There was a lot going on. To the side of me, out of this view, there was a small crowd of post office employees on break getting their food fix from a "roach wagon". You know those pick up trucks with the quilted-looking stainless steel cabs (Okay, catering truck). Restaurants have modernized this idea by simply packing up heated/cooled mini pick ups with their restaurant food. You can find a lot of these around the campus at Northwestern Hospital (one of the Italian places had a good meatball sandwich... but my favs are from Soprafina and Costello's - in that order - so get one if you're near those places. Or take me to lunch and get me one).

A roach wagon has been around forever. I should know. My Dad owned one when I was a kid. I remember he used to have to charge the battery in the truck everyday in the winter. He just plugged it into an outlet in the garage wall. In the old days battery chargers would often electrify the entire truck. I'd sneak (along with my sisters) into the garage to steal an RC out of the truck. Only when I went to pull up the heavy steel door, I was jolted with electricity. It didn't stop me, let's just say I built up a tolerance. That is until I learned to simply unplug the truck before touching it.

I'm writing all this simply to walk you through the artistic conundrum of what to paint! oy vey. I chose to to paint the above scene. As I sketched it out on my cold press paper I realized I forgot my paints! *Sigh*. I think I'm going to draw in the roach wagon to make it more interesting. I'll be sure to post the finished product if it turns out. Now that I have you on the edge of your seat as to how I'll creatively express my view of the above scene...I'd like to invite you all to the Annual PAPC Exhibit. Reception is April 4, 2008 @ the Palette and Chisel, 1020 N. Dearborn 5- 8 PM. It'll be a hoot and a holla and you can see how I'm progressing (I AM improving- and style takes time folks). Have style? Come to this event. Need some style? Come to this event. Remember to shout out, it's good to hear from ya'll.