Wednesday, August 10, 2011

THE BEAN!!

I rode down to Millennium Park in Chicago today to see the Pritzker Pavillion, the Lurie Garden, the Crown Fountain, but mostly to see...THE BEAN!! For those who aren't familiar with it, The Bean (given name: Cloudgate) is a huge, kidney-shaped, stainless steel sculpture. Its highly reflective shininess attracts tourists like magpies...narcissistic magpies who like to take pictures of distorted reflections of themselves (this includes me).

Cowed by the amount of tourists, I sat at a table and drew The Bean, trying to work up enough courage to set up my easel and paint. (Painting around lots of people is always an interesting experience, and requires a special kind of patience.) After sketching a while I decided to go for bust and set up my easel and start painting. People left me alone for the most part, but a few came over with questions, observations, suggestions. When I first started painting, a fellow came over and pointed out spots on the canvas I had "missed". More than once someone jumped in front of my easel, struck a pose, and asked, "Can you paint me in? Ha ha ha" (Everyone thinks this is an original, and extremely witty thing to do. It's not.)

After a couple of hours of painting I was finally done. As I was packing up, a small girl, about five years old, came skipping over. "Um excuse me," she piped, "what medium do you work in?" (A surprising question to hear from a five-year-old.) I told her I work in oil paint and asked her if she liked to paint or draw. "Well yes," she said, "but my stuff doesn't look like that" (gesturing to my painting). She continued, "Everything I draw looks like bunnies". "Why's that?" I asked. "Because I only draw bunnies," she explained.

10 comments:

  1. Seriously Jen, great stuff! Can't wait for you to get here but I like how I'll get to enjoy your adventure while I wait!

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  2. Love seeing your days through your stories and paint! Thanks for inspiring and confounding all the little girls, and me. The stars say Hi!

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  3. Amazing once again! I love the comparison shot of the actual place, including your set-up. I'd seen pictures of Cloudgate (art history, maybe?), but had forgotten that it was in Chicago and did not make the "bean" connection :) I am seriously envious of your travel easel, by the way. In all ways, you are just too cool :)

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  4. Jen, nice to see your work, and mind boggling to consider that we may have walked right by each other yesterday at the Could Gate, neither of us recognizing the other. I might have captured you in one of my photos.

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  5. That is funny...my brain was also pretty baked from standing in the sun for hours, sorry I didn't see you! Hope your trip was excellent.

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  6. Jen — I forwarded a note to the blog Rust Wire about your trip and they did a little blurb:

    http://rustwire.com/2011/08/10/follow-jens-rust-belt-ride/

    I am one of the EVP Sat. group at the big table. Really enjoying your posts and pictures. You have a distinctive voice and manage to make serious observations without sounding like a lecturer. You tell stories in such a succinct yet satisfying style — a bit like your paintings.

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  7. Thank you so much! I appreciate the publicity!

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  8. I love the 5-year-old's comment. What a philosopher!

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