Why I Oughta...

We made a stop at the Potbelly's in Willowbrook right off of Route 83 for lunch recently and sat underneath this poster that you see below.  It advertises the DuPage County Centennial Flower Show in Hinsdale on June 9,10, 11.  At the bottom it reads: "Presented by the Home Gardeners of DuPage County".    It is in a lovely vintage frame. And, if you look even closer at the bottom, you'll see this copy that speaks to how the poster was created:  "Made by WPA Federal Art Project, Chicago, Illinois".  See below for a closeup of that section:  Pretty cool, right?  I mean...what could be better than a vintage poster that is both LOCAL and about something that I'm into (gardening).   A quick spin around the Web and it wasn't hard to figure out the provenance of this poster. The Library of Congress has a listing for it and even dates it: Jun 22 1939. I'm guessing that's the day it was added to the collection, so my hunch is that it was sent ...

Oh, you know.  Just a giant thumb sticking out like a...well...sore thumb.  In La Defense.  Details here .  "Le Pouce" was the first piece out outdoor art that struck me in Paris on a recent trip there. Certainly not the last. But the first.

The kids *took me* to the Troll Hunt at the Morton Arboretum recently.  And it was awesome.  Like, really fun and interesting.   That's the two little ones hanging out with one of these Trolls.  this one was laying down, holding a rope that is attached to end of a 'trap'.   I say that the kids took me because they have been there to see the Trolls before and this was my first visit.   On this visit, we did the northern loop of the Arboretum and came across three or four trolls  Most of them (if you wanted to), you could mostly make out from your car.  But with a short, enjoyable hike, you could get up close to these giants and the payoff was worth it.   I was so impressed with the show and can't help but wonder how long the Trolls will stick around.  I'm hoping that they'll remain for quite some time, but the Arboretum site only discloses this : The trolls will reside on the Arboretum's grounds as lo...

If you head there now, you'll see that hanging in the staircase of the Downers Grove Recreation Center is this art project made of small mirrored pieces of glass.  It has squares around the edges and a molecule-looking object in the center.  There's a post here on Facebook that describes the project and the themes it is exploring (community + the universe).  Here's how the project is described in the document hanging next to the work that is titled "C-60" that was created by artist Linda Stucker. Here's the full post on Facebook from the Art Department embedded: If you read the description, you'll see that the artist - Linda Stucker - invited Downers Grove residents to design their own 1.5" tile squares that would be included in the final project. Welp...I totally forgot that we participated!  One Saturday, after basketball, we saw a table set up at the Rec Center.  So, The Babe and I decided to sit down and create a little glass tile....

  Of course, we saw all the highlights.  I've posted other art here on the blog.  Here's some art from a stop in Philadelphia .  And of course, I've posted about the art at Disney.  Here's one shot from the Polynesian .  But, we also spent quite a bit of time in the kids artist's studio where the kids and I used crayons, markers, colored pencils to make some original art.  Here's my still life featuring a blue flower in a red vase on a small table.  I call it:  Blue flower/red vase. Back in the aughts, I spent quite some time in my parent's basement working with acrylics and doing some painting.  Mostly on the weekends, while listening to some of my record collection.  It was really a therapeutic experience for me and something I did to express myself.  The medium was always paint and because I didn't have time or money for canvas, I mostly used manilla folders.  Or...frankly...half of manilla folders...

Earlier this Summer, I found myself in Philadelphia for a few days.  I posted about the beer I drank while waiting for my delayed flight home and the not-so-great steak I had at the airport , too.   I stayed at a placed called The Logan that had quite a collection of art around the place.  In the areas by the elevators on my floor, down the hallways and in various places around the lobby were mixed media, paintings, sculptures and more.  They're pretty proud of the art and it seems to be a big part of the hotel's personality.   Here's the page showing off a bunch of it on the hotel's site . The piece that I took a photo of above is called - of course - "Join, or Die".  Here's a look at the little plaque to the left of the piece.  It is right across from the main elevators and one of the more prominent pieces. The description from the Logan's site : “Join, or Die” is a well-known political cartoon, created by Benjamin Franklin and first pu...

I came across this print from Shag ( Josh Agle ) at Boutiki and it caught my attention because it reminds me of this Tiki Room one by Joey Chou that we picked up last year .  This one (above) doesn't have the Dole Whip reference, but is still pretty cute. The back reads: "On hot summer days, Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room offers a magical, cooling, and calming oasis for the Disneyland guest.  Unchanged since 1963, the Tiki Room still gets kids to squeal in delight and adults to relive their childhood."

This interesting piece is hung up in the little nook by the elevators in the Grand Ceremonial House at the Polynesian.  Standing there, waiting for the elevator (so we can take the stroller up to the Monorail entrance), I saw this for the first time. After walking by it dozens of times, I'm sure.

Coming on Wednesday, June 8th to the York Theatre in Elmhurst is the film 'Peggy Guggenheim, Art Addict' as the latest in the Art @ York series.   You can see all the history of the Art @ York series here on the blog .  This one is a documentary.  And...it doesn't (like last month) feature one of my favorites:  Rachel Weisz.  Too bad. From the Classic Cinemas' site: This documentary is a portrait of a patron of the arts extraordinaire who transformed a modest fortune into one of the premiere collections of twentieth century modern art.

Gasp!  Disney artwork has official breached the front door of our house*.  Yep...that right there is a print featuring a couple of DisNerds enjoying the show at the Enchanted Tiki Room while slurping in a Dole Whip.  Seemed too perfect of a fit for us to pass up, right?  This feels a little bit like a move that can't be 'undone'.  Where will the Disney-creep stop in the house? From the little card on the back of the print we find out we're not alone in loving the Tiki Room along with a couple of Dole Whips.   You can find more stuff from Joey at his site here . *I say 'our house' here, but we all know that I mean Equation Boy/Man's house where we're staying until we figure out way out!

As drawn by The Babe. This was left for me on my desk at home one night last week.  She taped the little note on top of the drawing on the top left. That's me as a football player, she tells me.  She - on her own - picked out the #50 for my jersey. Not sure where she got that, but it must be in a book around the house.  Pretty great, right?   And that's a football sticker in my right hand next to (I think?) a cat sticker.  I'm (obviously) wearing a football helmet on my face.  And the pumpkins all over the place tell me it is Halloween.

Back in June, I posted about the new "Art @ The York" film series at the York Theatre in the Elmhurst City Center .  Their first film was the Bansky movie "Exit through the Gift Shop". Walking by the theatre on my way to the train this am, I noticed they're advertising the next in the film series:  Little England. It is set to show on August 12th at both 1 pm and 7 pm. From the York Theatre's site  comes this synopsis of the movie: One home, one secret, one man, two sisters. The 20 year old Orsa is madly in love with the lieutenant Spyros Maltabes. As a closed character she won't reveal her secret to anyone. Her little sister, Moscha, dynamic and full of dreams wants to leave Andros, to escape the fate of the women of the island that marry sailors that are always away or drown at the sea. For their mother, Mina, wife of a captain who prefers the Atlantic Souf than his home, love means only big trouble and pain. Leaving aside the feelings of her...

My oldest couldn't be more proud of her painting that is hanging up in the local coffee shop in town as part of a gallery/collection of kids art.  We made a special trip to the coffee shop just so she could show it to me.  I'm so impressed with her and her willingness to be an artist.  Something I could never quite do when I was younger.

Over the Christmas Break, the girls brought over some coloring books to Nat's folks house.  This isn't unusual.  We roll with coloring books.  The girls' "Uncle Bill" is a pretty artistic guy.  He was sitting down at the table and decided to join in on the fun.  10 minutes later, he was done with this beauty. The Babe, however, wasn't impressed.  She said..."That's not what color Pinkie Pie is supposed to be, Uncle Bill.  She's supposed to be pink and purple." To which Uncle Bill replied, "Well...I've never seen a pink and purple horse before."

Over the weekend, we were lucky enough to have the Babe's Aunt Cici and Uncle Bill look after her for a night so Nat and I could go out to see our good friends off to Austin Texas.  While we were out, Uncle Bill got creative and - with chalk markers - drew this masterpiece on this piece of chalkboard that sits atop the Babe's puppet theatre.  Pretty spectacular stuff and this will probably be the second 'temporary' drawing that Bill has made that Nat will want to be made permanent via the use of lacquer or something.

The Babe went to her first art class this am.  She came home with this.  She was very proud of herself. I think we have the next Picasso or Rembrandt on our hands!  Even though I'd want her to be a computer scientist!?!?