rene margritte

early evening in downtown Chicago.

Rene Margritte is most known for paintings that I'm just not that excited about.  Beautifully painted images of a fire place with a train suspended in mid air as it comes through the back of the fire place.  An apple suspended  in a landscape, a bowler hat with clouds instead of a face.  Sorry, these paintings just don't rock my boat.  But then there is a painting that in my mind is so different from his usual.  It is a street lamp lighting the underside of a tree and the courtyard while above the dark trees is a royal blue evening sky.  Just that contrast between light and dark.  It is such a normal sight and at the same time an abstract composition.  Okay maybe it is like his other work - real and yet abstract - but for this painting he didn't have to use the surreal; it is just that turning point in the evening that provided a natural surreal image.

I saw that painting in Venice at the Guggenheim for the first time.  I bought the poster but left it at the hotel when it was time to leave.  I got on the train leaving Venice only to realize that I didn't have the poster.  There was no way I would make it back to the hotel with my luggage in tow.  So, I stashed my backpack on the train and took off running, flew into the hotel and then back to the train at a dead run.  I jumped onto that train as it was pulling out of the station - images of my luggage arriving in Rome without me provided a whole bunch of extra adrenaline.

I still have that poster.  I also found that the painting must have been a favorite of Margritte's as well.  It turns out he did several variations of the painting - tweaking the light or the courtyard scene.  So, this shot is my Rene Margritte shot.

morning sky

lake view

I've always liked these 3 trees that stand next to the lake.  Still working on how to best capture them

pigeons better watch out

oh those pigeons better watch out.  This was not today but was shot this month down near Montrose beach.

lake effect

oh it was cold and windy this morning

Wednesday Morning

Tuesday Morning

One of the benefits of having a dog and going to the dog beach in the morning is the great view.  Here's to more early morning beach walks

Today the rain came.  Yesterday is when the sky looked like rain

Photograph by Jean-Christophe Ballot, copyright 2009

Over the summer I got to assist the french photographer Jean-Christophe Ballot. Jean-Christophe was in Chicago to get a few more images for a show that had his fine art architectural photos from both Paris and Chicago. The three days of shooting was a great time and Jean-Christophe was a wonderful person to shoot with. We did pretty well with my muddled french and his english. Jennifer Norback of Jennifer Norback Fine Art Gallery had arranged off hour access to the Field Museum, Loyal Museum, as well as the main building for the Art Institute of Chicago and even the new Piano addition prior to the opening of that wing. Jean -Christophe still shoots with a 4x5 field camera which was a fun blast from the past for me since I have been digital now for years.

The photo above is the main staircase of the Art Institute and the reflection of a person on the stairs is me. I'll become famous for that - maybe not but it was a blast.

So, today is the first Thursday of the month and the river north galleries will be open this evening. Check out Jean-Christophe's fine art work at Jennifer Norback Fine Art, 217 W. Huron. Jennifer is wonderful so say "hi" to her from me.

September 11- November 15, 2009
First Thursday Reception: October 1, 2009
5:30pm- 8pm

Jennifer Norback Fine Art, Inc
217 W Huron
Chicago, IL 60654

www.jennifernorbackfineart.com

Chicago's eve of the 4th of July Fireworks

Yes, Chicago's famous "night before the 4th" of July Fireworks. A great time was had by all. Lisa and I took the boys down to the museum campus by train and then walked over. We then had a picnic dinner and got ready for the sun to go down and the fireworks to begin. We sat next to the aquarium and couldn't have had a better view. Cheers rob

new socks

New socks! I love colorful fun socks. Unfortunately, my stock of fun socks has been upsettingly low for the last few years. So, I went through my sock drawer only to find that most of my socks had holes in them. At the same time, I stumbled upon an online sock store right when I realized my socks were low.

I started wearing crazy socks I got a job right out of school that required a tie and coat. Man I hated the wardrobe. I'm you can only do so much with crazy ties and really, if you wear a Donald Duck tie - well you can only do that so many times while meeting with the big guy in the corner office. However,if you wear bright red socks, most people wont even notice unless you wear incredibly short slacks

Here's to socks. Oh - fyi, these socks don't match on purpose. You get 3 socks - all a variation of the same design but with different colors. How cool is that.

Ah, what an iphone can do (even with a 1 mb camera) now I gotta go back with my big baby to take that photo for rea.

a new day

Hey all, it's been a while since my last blog entry. I come back to posting with new energy and a hope to post a photo everyday (or so). Last night I had a great time with my APA success group. It was our second meeting and it has been wonderful and very encouraging to have the group's support and for getting to know them better. Cheers to a new day.

iphone update

okay - the photo of the day is going to be from the iphone. I can't believe that we still have ice in Lake Michigan, but we do. And, Crash seems to not mind the water temp as long as I am throwing the ball. Looks like it will be a beautiful spring day.