41 Train Rides #28

Saturday January 25, 2014 - 9:01pm - Red Line from Howard to Addison.
Returning home from Evanston where Laura and I saw the movie 'Her', (Amazing! Best science fiction movie of the year). Quick dinner afterwards then the long ride from the Davis stop with a transfer at Howard Street. It all went smoothly with a short wait at Davis (thank you 'Train Tracker') and a train waiting for us across the platform at the Howard Street stop. Good thing too as the temperature was quickly dropping from 20 to 8 degrees, and three inches of snow forecast for after midnight. I was totally busted by these two taking their photo as I shot this panorama, but I gave them a hand embellished business card and a friendly conversation ensued. I notice the boy on the right had no sock on and I 'mothered' them both from the Loyola stop to Addison. No hats, no long underwear, no socks! Note the condition of the floor, salt and ice everywhere, and the streets are worse, with piles of snow to walk over and around. This winter will not quit. It may be time to quote Albert Camus.

"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer."

Hand Embellished Business Cards

41 Train Rides # 26 - October 19, 2013

41 Train Rides #25 - April 20, 2013

41 Train Rides #24

The Elevated Train in Chicago continues to become more challenging to use as the economy stagnates. More riders of all sorts crowd on as the CTA cut services and personnel. I had a beach day and dinner in Wilmette today - caught the train at 9:45 - and it was a wild ride home. It is a Saturday night, and hence a party crowd. Students heading into the city for a night of revelry and assorted riders in various states of sobriety crowd in to the cars. At one point I had to change seats when a group of students (four females, one male) got on neat the Northwestern campus. They talked so loudly, the entire car could hear their catty and unkind conversation about fellow students in some sort of seminar they all participated in. You can always tell the newbies to the train, oblivious to their surroundings and unconcerned about the riders all around them. Later in the ride people in the car in front of me evacuated from the car in front of us saying something about someone smoking. Smoking what I don't know. The woman next to me, who up until this point had her head buried in a book, mentioned she hope it wasn't a smoking device. They stopped the train between stations and the conductor had to enter the car, I don't envy him his job, and some how resolved the whole thing. I never found out what it was all about but the slight scent of marajuana was in the air. I was happy to jump off at my stop at Addison, where another large crowd of party people jumped on.

41 Train Rides # 18

Took the Red Line home last night from Bryn Mawr to Addison after a PFLAG benefit at T's on Clark St. On the train, the gentleman in front of me was working in a small sketchbook. Of course I could not resist, and engaged him in conversation. I asked for a peek and he showed me a series of stylized character studies made with a technical pencil. They were unique and well done, and the fact that they were in the sketchbook format made the collection more compelling. Working in a sketchbook is such a important practice, and what one has once the sketchbook is finished is a great artifact - relatively easy to store, wonderful to look at over time. And, drawing on the train, a sign of dedicated artist.

41 Train Rides # 16

41TrainRides#15

Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 10:30pm - Red Line Near Wilson

Train Ride Home - February 29, 2012 - 10:29 pm - Red Line - Roosevelt to Addison

One More Train Photo

One additional train photo. Shot on Thursday, coming home from Terry's home after a lovely Birthday dinner. I was fairly bold with the camera, but then became paranoid and got off the train a stop early. It was a warmish evening and the walk home did me good after salmon, quinoa, asparagus and birthday cake.

Two Train Panoramas

This past month I've once again been making panoramic photos on the train. Not sure where this impulse comes from, except the train seems very dynamic these days. I suppose more people are riding it again, with the slow economy and all. There always seems to be some intriquing scene going on around me. I'm often on the train later in the evening, coming home from the north side. I have a good friend that lives very near the last stop on the Purple line, in Wilmette. So, at the end of most parties I have to jump on the train and make my way back to Lakeview and the Addison Red line stop. It's a little nervy of me to take out my camera (do most people mistake it for a phone?) and shoot a series of photos. To tell the truth I usually wait until I'm near my stop in case I have to make a quick exit. I get a couple looks that mark me as a perv - the things we do for art. The train is such a slice of Chicago life, not one that everyone experiences. It's a little thrilling, a little dangerous, and a lot voyeuristic.

Labels

Now that the postings are mounting, I wanted to mention how helpful the labels can be to look at a specific subject. For example if you are looking for India Ink drawings, be sure to click on the label 'india Ink' and all of the posts with that link attached to it should pop up. Some helpful labels might be: Chicago, panorama, drawing... They appear at the bottom of each post. I will include them all here. Give it a try, don't be afraid.

An Older Train Photograph

Just a reminder that I do take photos. The photograph here is a few years old but has been a popular one over time. I limit the editions of my photos to 25 and I believe this particular image is at number 19. This series came out of my first foray into digital photography and in a sense I created faux, idealized, panoramas of Chicago. This is a prime example. All of these structures do exist but not in the manner depicted. And now with the passage of time a number of other buildings have sprung up around the one depicted. There is a large five piece installation of this piece in the Gage Restaurant on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and it's impressive.

A Selection Of Train Photographs

This series was created in 2005 and 2006. They are images of the elevated train in Chicago, mostly depicted at night. They really are 'faux' panoramas as they are all created using just one photo as a starting point.