Anne Leuck Feldhaus Adventures & Art

My unconventional easter...

My unconventional Easter...you may have dyed eggs, I painted my foyer RED (calypso berry, if you must know). Love how it turned out! Really sets off the colors of my Susan Meredith Hinckley piece.

Yesterday...

Forgive my lame mobile upload...just wanted to share yesterday's drawing. Inspired by taxes, indirectly...I snapped this photo in the west loop on the way to my accountant's office. Of course I never draw or paint anything exactly as I see it, it's always just my impression. So long February 2012, you did not disappoint.

Space...

...I've been looking at a lot of it the last two days. I just gave my 30 day notice to terminate my storefront lease on Roscoe. This space didn't turn out to be exactly what I originally envisioned, but in this economy I was very lucky to receive many commissions from folks in the neighborhood, get some great exposure, interact with the community and in the end learn quite a bit about my(neurotic)self! I'm grateful that I was able to host some pet adoption events and share my passion for animals and finding them homes. I also met many artists inquiring about my journey and can only hope they were inspired to follow their artistic dreams.  
 
So, in a year of many changes in my life, this should complete the logistical portion of these changes, at least for awhile - I hope! Now I have some decisions to make, I loved the space above, but it's a little out of my price range and a bit further north than I want to be. The good news is, I saw some other great options today...so stay tuned, hope to have a new studio secured sooner than later...and this all means good news for you if you like my work: A STUDIO MOVING SALE!  Let me know if you've had your eye on anything, I'm feeling VERY negotiable these days and would rather see my art on your wall than mine!

My dog spotted on Mapquest satellite map...

At this year's Fields Project Art Fair I had a lovely lady and her daughter come to my display and excitedly share with me that my dog field sculpture (done in 2007) shows up on the MapQuest satellite map! This is pretty amazing because we mowed that field in one day and the photo was obviously taken early in the day since the negative space around the dog and the flowers was not mowed yet. You can't see us, by we are down there on the tractor...we stayed out there until it was done, in spite of the fact that Jennifer, the farmer was pregnant at the time...women farmers rock! ; ) See below for the finished project:

Lots of hugs & a few happy collectors in Madison...

It was great to visit Madison last weekend for Art Fair on the Square....reconnected with so many old friends and even got to see my Mom, lots of hugs!

I don't think she planned her outfit...but my Mother sure complements my artwork!
This little guy was thrilled about his new painting acquisition.
Such a wonderful surprise to run into my old dorm mates from 1985, Brian & Karen Natoli, and their lovely daughter, Grace.

....and dear friend, Mary, who I so need to catch up with.

....and Kathy Mauer of Katcando, I designed a logo for her jewelry business several years ago, we finally got to meet in person! A lovely, lady and her work is gorgeous..check it out! 

Dear friend, Jolene (Wangen) Huber, her beautiful girls & little Zoe, the dog.
Brilliant bike rental kiosk in Madison....turns out we have some here in Chicago, too. Love the idea of this!

And Lizzie Oz! A fabulous artist and a fabulous lady...I have a few pieces of her work that I adore.
Last, but not least...Amanda Shell of Whirley Girl Designs (my new studio mate) who came along to help out. Thanks again, Amanda!

...holy hail! crazy storm in Chicago last night.

It was like the scene from the movie, Magnolia, when the frogs came thumping down from the sky only it was hail from a super cell. It seemed a giant bag of ice was being emptied continuously from the sky for 5 minutes over my neighborhood! The sound in my house was deafening with 4 window air conditioners being pelted.

Chicago will be in a shade deficit the rest of the summer. It's like after the blizzard but instead of people shoveling piles of snow this morning, it was beautiful green leaves....surreal. 
The streets and sidewalks of my neighborhood were covered, actually quite beautiful.

An awesome lightening shot by my friend Jason Loper:

© 2011 Jason Loper of Mister & Mister Blog

And serious damage at the Garfield Park Conservatory, over 13,000 panes of glass shattered:

Garfield Park Conservatory Closed Due to Hailstorm Damage: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

....it was an amazing week on the farm: part I

I spent a magical 9 days, June 18-26th, at the 13th Annual Fields Project Artist Residency. I'll split my recap into a few posts because I have a lot of photos that I would like to share. I stayed with the Pfieffer Family near Ashton, IL on their pig farm, and I'm glad to report that they have agreed to adopt me! ...do you like their license plate?! My toes are the green ones, painted in honor of the week, which was filled with laughter and an endless supply of rural artistic inspiration.

I'll start with the family farm dogs...this is Beauty.

...and Bebe, hard working farm dogs most of the time!

...and old, Tiger - he has quite a set of lungs!
Lots of kitties running around, too!
Pigs! I'll go into much more detail about these guys in the following posts. Momma cow and her calf...sorry Taryn, I forgot momma's name, baby'g going to be an 'L' name...I suggested "Louie", "Lester"....oh, how about "LeRoy"?
And this is Frosty (note the ears...struck with a little frost bite) and Daffodil in the background..they were really fun goats, totally engaging and loved attention! So beautiful.
A painting of them in process in my outdoor art studio at Castle Rock State Park.
Daffodil, so pretty.


Frosty was often 'standing' on the fence like this when I would get in my truck to leave for the day.
Look at that mug!
...more to come!

Canine Gargoyles and other photos from Wells Street...

With Kelly Velasco and her new painting 'Black Hair...Blue Mood'...
Sharon got the brand new "Black Cat" painting...

I was mesmerized by the canine-ish gargoyles at the old Grossinger Cadillac building on Wells Street...lots of construction going on, hope they don't tear this beauty down.

♥ MoM ♥

That's my Mother, Colleen...one of my biggest fans. My love for her is so immense...I can't put into words the gratitude I have, just knowing that no matter what I'm going through, she is always there for me. She has the biggest heart and is one of the most compassionate and nonjudgemental people that I know. It's funny, we only see eachother 2-3 times a year, but we talk often enough that I never feel like it's been more than a week or two. In addition to always being there for her family, the number of lives she has touched and comfort she has provided as a hospice social worker and grief group leader, I'm sure, is immeasurable....I'm so proud and lucky to call her my Mom.

With Mom & my brother, Carl, circa 1967 and below, Mother's Day in 2009...

painting the birdbath...part 2: glorious color!

Here's the color portion of this story...spent a week deliberating if I should have 3 different color schemes/tiers and in the end stuck with it. In the past I would have done a coordinating border like the black and white bones I did in the 'Suite Chicago Dogs' set....but since this is one single piece and that was 4 separate pieces opted to try something different. It might look a little odd here, but wait until you see it with the black outlines painted in....stay tuned!

 

 
Actually going home to finish it tonight as I have to deliver to the autobody show in Westmont that is doing the clear coating...wish me luck!

painting the birdbath...part 1: chalk and black paint

The weekend before last, I finally started putting some art on the crazy fiberglass bird bath! I started by drawing on the composition with purple chalk - I had started with a title of "Canines'n Blooms" and a brief color rendering, but couldn't really figure it out until I was working full scale. Chalk is great, easy to erase.

I then went in with black paint and it suddenly started coming to life... 
This is great fun, I know I don't look thrilled here...but I was! ; )

I've captured most of it on video so stay tuned for the high speed painting synapses! Do you like my bike seat laptop video tripod?

And the underside...which few will see, was going to do bones, then all leaves, but settled for the swirl...I think it's a good solution: Almost forgot to show you my rendering...inspired by my 'dog park debacle' series of paintings:

Stay tuned for part 2: color!

doggie drama...part 2

....so on Saturday Alice went in for her follow up appointment at Roscoe Village Animal Hospital (see doggie drama...part 1)...while there, I mentioned to the vet that Gracie had been sick several times over the last 24 hours with obvious signs that she had chewed up and consumed 1/2 of a large, black 'extreme' kong. She said to keep an eye on her and play it by ear...within 2 hours of being back home, things coming out the other end indicated something more serious, so we took her in. They did an exam and xray and it was not good news - pieces of the kong were blocking her lower intestine. They sent us to the Animal Emergency Treatment Center on Belmont for immediate retrieval of what turned out to be the most expensive 3 pieces of kong we would ever see!

Luckily there were no complications and she is at home healing up, her incision is at least 8" long. No more kongs for Gracie, someone suggested deer antlers for pit mixes - got one and she loves it. Here are some photos from the 'canine infirmary': all the drugs for the 2 dogs and...oh yes, in the baggie are the 3 very pricey pieces of retrieved kong! (kind of strange though, only one was black the other two were tan colored...maybe her stomach acid bleached them?)

The staff at AETC were great, and they loved sweet Gracie (who looks much smaller than 60 pounds with that cone on her head). I was taken aback walking into their beautiful contemporary hopital to see all this vacant wall space - whose art do you think would go perfectly in this pet ER? (where people definitely need a reason to smile!) Could have outfitted the place if we had done a trade for the surgery!

doggie drama...part 1

I guess 'part 1' is not an accurate statement, the real drama started back in February with Alice having seizures, it was very scary to witness. I'm happy to say they are now under control with Potassium Bromide - her diagnois was Canine Epilepsy. Now that she's adjusted to the drugs she's been pretty much herself agian - with the exception of a little problem with one of her toes that has grown to be a bigger problem....the photos are from last week, I called it her Easter Paw, the i.v. bag was given to us as her official rain gear. She has now downgraded to a sock and 'whirlpool spa treatments' twice a day...these entail filling a rubber surgical glove with an anti-bacterial solution, inserting her paw and pumping on the fingers of the glove...and voila, the canine paw spa is born!
Stay tuned for Part II - it's a doozie...

...doesn't look so big in my garage.

Now that all the craziness is over with moving this 'hibiscus bird bath' around, I look forward to putting some art on it...hope to start painting this week! (In Bloom Art Project)

Artists will also be embellishing frogs (above) and benches (below)...should be a fun show when it's all out on display in May!

...and it won't fit through the studio door!

Drove out to Westmont yesterday to pick up the fiberglass hibiscus bird bath I've been commissioned to paint for the In Bloom Public Art Project on display at Oak Brook Center this summer...I knew it probably would not fit in the truck with the topper. Luckily an angel stepped in and was able to help us hoist it up to the roof and we bungeed it down. Made for a suspenseful ride back into the city on the expressways. Upon arrival at my studio, it came down off the truck easily, but no matter how we angled it, just would not fit through the door! It's currently sitting in my entryway...I had thoughts of painting it out there but am leery of vandalism, so will most likely port it home to my garage to paint. Stay tuned!

Dog Bless You & FB...help fund search & rescue dogs going to japan:

Please go to FACEBOOK and "LIKE" Dog Bless You.."A CALL TO ACTION: Charlie Annenberg & the Search Dog Foundation are headed to Japan to aid in rescue and relief. Watch him explain here. Charlie pledges $100,000 to this cause if we can raise Dog Bless You's Fan base by 100,000. Share this with your friends! Click: Join Dog Bless You".

4 Legged visitors to the studio...lead to exciting news!

This little cutie is Jack, he came to the studio back in January with Susan who brought her dog Tuesday's portrait in to be featured in the 190 North tv shoot which will air this Sunday!

I also got to meet Barkley whose portrait I did back in December, his owner Tom brought his piece in to be featured as well.
We did part of the shoot at Tango's house in Bucktown: Unfortunately I don't have any other photos from the day of the shoot...but it was great fun! I'm nervous but very excited to see how it all turned out...tune in to 190 North at 10:35pm on Sunday on ABC Channel 7 in Chicago!

A glimpse of February...

It flew by....sharing a few photos here, seems March is upon us.   During & after the big Chicago Blizzard of 2011...

Alice and Gracie...
My trucks casting shadows on a sunny afternoon at the studio:
A photo from our real estsate listing, our home just went on the market. It's a lovely place, if you know anyone in Chicago looking, please send them this link and have them contact me. Starting a new chapter in my life, seems the only thing we can truly count on is change...I'm doing my best to embrace it with grace.

Dark Night Valentine ©2009

Homeless Pets Inspire Art by Chicago 7th Graders...

Back in October I volunteered to do an art project with Friends of Audubon School to help raise money for educational programs. This school has no budget for art so it was a treat for the kids and I also got a chance to share awareness about all the homeless pets out there. These nineteen 7th Graders certainly rose to the occasion. Using Petfinder.com to search for homeless dogs in the Audubon zip code, I found over 5,300 within a 100 mile radius. I printed out photos/descriptions/adoption information for 19 dogs and gave one to each student to use as their subject. They each painted their dog’s portrait on a 6x6 inch piece of cardboard and attaching tags with their particular dog’s name onto the painting. I mounted the paintings on wood panels and they have been on display at Starbucks since early November. They will be auctioned off to raise money for the school next Wednesday, December 8th. You are welcome to view them and even bid on line at the links below. Thanks to Amanda Shell to helping out on painting day!

Bid on 'Nine Lives':

  

Bid on 'Adopt A Friend For Life!'

The administrators liked the kids' work so much they used it for the promotional materials for the Auction Fundraiser. Follow the links to see all the other wonderful art available for bidding by kids who worked with other artist volunteers.

Thankful in the Cascades...

I took a long overdue trip out to my brother's for Thanksgiving, we went up to his cabin in the Cascade Mountains, it was heaven...every sight, breathtaking. I couldn't hike much outside as my ankle is still compromised a bit, but played cards (Euchre!), had my first Wii experience (ankle friendly) and enjoyed good food (as documented above), wine and great company.

Watch your step!

"Beautiful Fall Day" took on a whole new meaning once I stepped in that hole. Friday, Met Cathi "Corn" Bouzide at Lill Street to pick up my trucks from her studio. She suggested we walk a few of them over to our pal Stephie's Angelfood Bakery, as she had a display of several pieces from the Women in Grains Show in her front window. (By the way, Angelfood had just been named one of the 'Top 5 Bakeries in Chicago' by Steve Dolinsky, so well deserved and so proud of my friend!).
Cathi and Stephie outside looking in...took a lot of miming through the window to get the rigs situated! Once we were done, I packed up my bubble wrap and headed back to my truck...la de dah...walkin' along, step off the curb and I'm down! What? (A huge hole hidden under a pile of beautiful fall leaves)...and it hurts! My ankle is huge, how can it get that big that fast? Stephie came running over with 2 bags of ice. I know she did not have time for this little emergency but she did what any good friend would do, hopped in the truck and drove me up to Peterson Urgent Care where we laughed and giggled between my teary outbreaks. I was relieved to find that my ankle was not broken but I did need crutches, and that proved to be very challenging for me.I fell a few times, am still crawling upstairs to bed each night but the swelling is way down and I can put some weight on my toes, now. Have never had to ask for so much help, I'm not good at it and poor Rich is trying to be patient, I always forget that he can't read my mind. Not to mention, that he's had to take care of two patients if you count Gracie:

Now just have to get through my Roscoe Village Dog & Art Lovers event on Friday. I won't be able to the normal prep, gallery re-hang etc, so this will be a good lesson for me to see how a show goes without working in over-drive, as is my reguar m.o. So grateful that I'll have Amanda to help me out and Rich. This ordeal has reminded me how lucky I am to have such a supportive husband and friends and mobility!

Happy Tail Syndrome...

A very belated update on Gracie...made even later by a freak and unfortunate step on Friday which resulted in a sprained ankle for me! More about that in the next post. So back to Gracie girl...we took her to our vet for the first time so he could take out her stitches (from spaying) and give her a good check up. What he found was the end of her tail in very bad shape (it was hidden by her very dark fur) basically raw to the bone. "Happy Tail Syndrome" is a somewhat common occurrence for shelter dogs - every time someone comes into the kennel area they get so excited that they wag their tales so hard that they break on the back walls of the kennels which are usually cement. I know, ouch. Almost impossible to heal in a shelter environment and even challenging in a regular home, as we can attest to!
Dr. Rovner bandaged and wrapped up the tail (like a flower complete with pink end and green stem) and suited her up with a cone collar to keep her from going after it. This means she no longer fits comfortably in our kennel so I took her to the studio that afternoon where she proved herself a natural snoozing away in the front window among the adoring public. While fun for her, this scenario proved to be very unproductive for me so Plan B ensued: sequestering her to the bathroom when we couldn't be home with her.Did I mention she had the bandage off within the first 12 hours?! (we wanted to give her a break from the cone). Over the next several days Rich played doggie MD and re-wrapped it with a pipe insulator to soften the blows. It was not a pretty sight and soon she found a way to get to it even with the cone on!

So I rigged it up with duct tape to add some inches around the perimeter, she looked so silly - but it held up until we got her back to the vet for 30" cone and a new bandage - this one reminiscent of a sock monkey!
 At this point we have made it through 2 of the 3 weeks they predicted for recovery. It's been a little exhausting to say the least and training is going very slow but she and Alice are warming up to each other. I do have to add that she is one of the most affectionate, snugly dogs that I have met, even while sporting the plastic satellite dish couture!

Two tails in the house, again...

We headed down to Chicago Animal Care & Control on Saturday, this is the city shelter, basically ground zero for pets in Chicago, they are open every day for adoption (see their site for hours). No animal is turned away from this facility, which means when the other wonderful rescue groups can't take any more, the only way these pets find homes is for you and me to go down and adopt them. This would not be possible without the incredible volunteers who are responsible for taking the dogs outside, playing with and socializing them, as well as showing them to potential adopters - such important advocates, as they get to know the dogs and can offer feedback to potential owners. Sadly the city, does not provide enough resources, the volunteers are critical. It's so tough seeing all these sweet, innocent dogs, waiting alone in their kennels just wanting a little love and a home.Several caught our eyes and hearts but the one that pulled the strongest, for both Rich and I, was 11 month old pit mix, Poppy. She had been there since early July, very sweet and quiet, yet quite lively when we got her outside. We decided to go home and get Alice. The meet and greet went well...not instant best friends but definitely comfortable around one another and tails wagging. So we proceeded with the adoption, which only costs $65, and that includes the dog license and spay/neuter.  We had our adoption interview with Charles Craft, an amazing advocate for these dogs and the head of the adoption program for the city and Fostering Program through Friends of Animal Care and Control. We had corresponded in the past when I did art work for CACC, so it was an honor to finally meet him. (You can see other adoptable pets on PetFinder.com).On the drive home Poppy (who they told us was originally Pippi, and we just named Gracie!) draped herself over me and melted into my lap with a sigh.It took a bath Saturday with a follow up shower on Sunday to fully remove the Eau De CACC perfume she was wearing.I'm sure she was relieved on Monday to find that bathing was not going to become a daily ritual in her new home!She is a very skinny little girl with a very LONG neck...so long that she can counter surf, this is new behavior to us. Izzy had a few episodes early on...but this girl, you have to keep an eye on! Did I mention we think she might have some Great Dane in her?We have some work to do with Gracie, she and Alice will need some time to bond, but soon, I'm sure she will fit in. This has all been a little bittersweet. It's the sad realization that we are really moving on, left with only our memories of Izzy...as we open our broken hearts back up and make new ones with Gracie.

A Tribute...

I created this painting on September 11 of 2002 in memory of 9/11.