Monday, April 30, 2012

Western Avenue Series

Mile 21: Foster-Peterson
This painting is a part of my Western Avenue Series, through which I'll be making 24 watercolor paintings, one to document each mile of Western Avenue, in Chicago.  I started this project because while it is not considered to be among the most “beautiful” of Chicago’s streets, Western Avenue is a perfect place to document the humanness of Chicago, the positive and the negative. In the words of Stuart Dybek, "Western, with apologies to State Street, is a great street,  Unlike State, it is a street that goes to the interior, the heart of the city, as it glides and glows through a United Nations of neighborhoods."  Check back next Monday to see a post about the next mile of Western.
The 350 acre Rosehill Cemetery was chartered in 1859 and is the oldest and largest non-sectarian cemetery in Chicago.  Rosehill contains the graves of over a dozen mayors of Chicago, four Illinois governors and 12 Civil War Generals.  In addition, it is the largest burial ground of Union Civil War soldiers in the Midwest.

The name of the cemetery is actually the result of an error, the area was previously called "Roe's Hill", named for nearby farmer Hiram Roe. He refused to sell his land to the city until it was promised that the cemetery be named in his honor.  The entrance gate was designed by William W. Boyington, the architect of the Chicago Water Tower.  


Click here to purchase this painting.

Have you visited the graves at Rosehill Cemetery?
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Monday, April 23, 2012

Western Avenue Series

Mile 21: Foster-Peterson
This sketch is a part of my Western Avenue Series, through which I'll be making 24 watercolor paintings, one to document each mile of Western Avenue, in Chicago.  I started this project because while it is not considered to be among the most “beautiful” of Chicago’s streets, Western Avenue is a perfect place to document the humanness of Chicago, the positive and the negative. In the words of Stuart Dybek, "Western, with apologies to State Street, is a great street,  Unlike State, it is a street that goes to the interior, the heart of the city, as it glides and glows through a United Nations of neighborhoods."  Check back next Monday to see the painting completed based on this sketch.

Though I am certain that I had ridden the Western Avenue bus along this stretch of Western between Foster and Peterson before walking this stretch, I probably would have found it difficult to describe what was located along this portion of the Avenue.  In part, that lack of distinct memory probably comes because a large portion of the property olong this stretch is occupied by Rosehill Cemetery.  It feels a bit like the stretch of Western which borders the Dan Ryan Woods on the south side of the city--wooded and not as developed as most portions of the city. 
 
This portion of the avenue is also home to a number some typical Chicago brick two flats, modest homes which proliferate the housing stock, as well as a few businesses.  Overall the cemetery seems to dominate the landscape. 
Do you have a favorite Chicago cemetery?
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Monday, April 16, 2012

Western Avenue Series

Mile 21: Montrose-Foster
This painting is a part of my Western Avenue Series, through which I'll be making 24 watercolor paintings, one to document each mile of Western Avenue, in Chicago.  I started this project because while it is not considered to be among the most “beautiful” of Chicago’s streets, Western Avenue is a perfect place to document the humanness of Chicago, the positive and the negative. In the words of Stuart Dybek, "Western, with apologies to State Street, is a great street,  Unlike State, it is a street that goes to the interior, the heart of the city,  as it glides and glows through a United Nations of neighborhoods."  Check back next Monday to see a post about the next mile of Western.
By coincidence, I visited the Dank Haus for the first time last Friday.  The Dank Haus building is located just south of Lawrence on Western.  I attended a rehearsal dinner held in the Skyline Lounge on the 6th floor of the building, which has a lovely view from an outdoor patio from which one can see all the way to downtown Chicago.

The DANK Haus was founded in 1959, as an organization to promote German language in Culture.  It is located in Lincoln Square, a historically German neighborhood and home to a number of German bars, restaurants, and butchers and is home to a museum, art gallery, library, and language school.

The building was built in 1927 by architect Paul Gerhardt, who was also the architect of Lane Technical High School located just a bit south of the Dank Haus on Western.  The Dank Haus website explains that the building was built for the "Three Links Association, a jolly fellows club."  Over the years, the Dank Haus has been host to a spa, a business college, a restaurant, a hotel and a cafe.  There is an Olympic sized lap pool in the lower level.

Have you visited the Dank Haus?
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Monday, April 9, 2012

Western Avenue Series

Mile 21: Montrose-Foster
This sketch is a part of my Western Avenue Series, through which I'll be making 24 watercolor paintings, one to document each mile of Western Avenue, in Chicago.  I started this project because while it is not considered to be among the most “beautiful” of Chicago’s streets, Western Avenue is a perfect place to document the humanness of Chicago, the positive and the negative. In the words of Stuart Dybek, "Western, with apologies to State Street, is a great street,  Unlike State, it is a street that goes to the interior, the heart of the city, as it glides and glows through a United Nations of neighborhoods."  Check back next Monday to see the painting completed based on this sketch.
This portion of Western is quite familiar to me.  Western was the first street I encountered when I arrived to Chicago.  I exited 90/94 in a U-Haul onto Western Avenue.  I drove north along Western to my apartment, located just a block west of Western on Carmen.  It was this portion of Western that introduced me to the city.  I was not immediately attracted to the avenue.  The broad streets and hostility to pedestrians and bikes, relative lack of trees, and general resemblance to a suburban commercial strip did not offer the appeal and charm of our city’s neighborhood centers.  Gradually, though, it began to interest me. 
There are so many charms along this stretch that aren't immediately apparent.  Wells Park located just north of Montrose is home to the fantastically delightful Old Town School of Folk Music Folk and Roots festival and to an indoor pool, where I have done a small bit of swimming. 
It is also home to the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, an always fabulous place to visit.  As well as less conventional interests, like the commercial strip just north of Lawrence, which is home to a bridal dress shop which specializes in elaborate, colorful, often sequined frocks.  In addition a furniture shop on that block which sells less common designs, including a round bed.  Finally, one can't forget the country-western singer who turned a storefront into a magic shop.  
In a Chicago Tribune article written by Patrick T. Reardon, I learned that a portion of this mile is included in part of the most diverse area along Western.  Between Lawrence and Devon Avenues, four of the five census tracts here are so variegated that no group can claim a majority. In fact, one tract which is bounded by Western, Peterson, Ravenswood and Devon Avenues, 30 percent of the residents were white in 2000; 28 percent, Asian; 21 percent, Hispanic; 14 percent, African-American and other, 7 percent.
Have you visited this portion of Western Avenue?
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Monday, April 2, 2012

Western Avenue Series

Mile 20: Addison-Montrose  
This painting is a part of my Western Avenue Series, through which I'll be making 24 watercolor paintings, one to document each mile of Western Avenue, in Chicago.  I started this project because while it is not considered to be among the most “beautiful” of Chicago’s streets, Western Avenue is a perfect place to document the humanness of Chicago, the positive and the negative. In the words of Stuart Dybek, "Western, with apologies to State Street, is a great street,  Unlike State, it is a street that goes to the interior, the heart of the city, as it glides and glows through a United Nations of neighborhoods."  Check back next Monday to see a post about the next mile of Western.
I've eaten at Sticky Rice a number times, as I lived very near to this portion of Western when I first moved to Chicago.  It was a favorite place to have a dinner, when a dependable neighborhood eatery was in demand.  I generally ordered dishes typical of Thai Restaurants in the US, but Sticky Rice offers some more authentic dishes, including  fried worms.  According to an article in the Chicago Tribune written by Louis R Carlozo about this portion of Western, the version of fried worms served at Sticky Rice consists of a pile of inchlong bamboo caterpillar husks on a square porcelain plate, garnished with neat sprigs of cilantro.  He reports that the tan crawlers taste and crunch like peppered potato sticks.

In addition to fried worms, this restaurant features other dishes native to Northern Thailand.  In fact, the restaurant's name comes from the type of glutinous rice used as a substitute for jasmine rice in Northern Thailand.  Northerners eat sticky rice with their hands, in a manner akin to dipping bread in soup.  Sticky Rice offers authentic Northern dishes such as Northern Thai Sausage, made from a mix of ground pork, red curry paste, and Thai spicy herbs, as well as Kow Soy, made with egg noodles, chicken or beef, and a curry coconut milk soup. 



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Have you eaten fried worms?
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