I interviewed Betsy in July of 2014. She is a longtime resident of Hyde Park neighborhood. I choose to make a painting of this sunny corner of Betsy’s front room because it’s the place she most likes to spend time with people who visit her home. It’s also the place in her home where she keeps many special things, which relate to memories of family and important people in her life. Betsy even described many of the special things sitting on and hanging above the dresser represented in the painting. I was particularly moved by the way in which Betsy described those special things as connecting with relatives who have passed away. Check out a portion of my interview with Betsy in this blog post.

I interviewed Diane Christiansen in August of 2014. She has lived in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood for approximately 29 years. Diane has an incredibly powerful story of the community that has been formed on her block, which she describes as small town-like. The painting I made depicts the entry to her studio from the backyard. Our interview took place in her studio because she said it is the place where she spends the most time and feels most at home. She describes the backyard and studio as located on nearly sacred ground, from which springs forth giant rhubarb plants and great love.

Long time Jefferson Park residents, Mike and Celeste Burke, have been living in Chicago for over 60 years. I really enjoyed visiting Mike and Celeste, I was particularly struck by the creativity they employ in the ways they spend time with their family and the special places they have created in their classic Chicago bungalow. When I asked Celeste and Mike whether there is a particular place in their home where they go when they are feeling blue, I was immediately moved by Celeste’s answer. She said that she would go into the pantry and close the door. Sometimes she would pull the phone into the pantry and sometimes she would look at recipes that she wanted to make. I could relate to the appeal of hulling up in a pantry and knew nearly immediately that this is the space in their home I wanted to paint.

I was really pleased to have the opportunity to interview Hilary Waldron. She is a life long Chicago resident. Hilary has lived in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood since 1992 and has seen the neighborhood change a great deal in those years. Hilary lives in the home she grew up in with her mother, and says definitely feels like home. Since Hilary's mom passed away in 2006, Hilary has shared her home with a number of friends and other roommates. I was so moved by the way in which Hilary described her home as a container that holds our special memories. With that meaning in mind, it seemed extra special to make a painting of the spice rack, which was a letter press box that belonged to Hilary’s mother. It a physical container for things: spices, but also special do-dads and collectibles and quite a nice metaphor for home as a place to contain our things, but also our memories.

I interviewed Charlie Branda, a resident of Chicago's Old Town neighborhood, in November of 2014. I learned during the interview that Charlie grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and why she was drawn to Chicago, after going to college in the suburbs of Chicago in the early 1990s. Charlie sees her home as a place where you can feel any feeling you experience, a safe place to feel happy and sometimes sad. She recognizes the complexities and difficulties that exist in many of Chicago's neighborhoods. In parallel to the complexity that Charlie notices and experiences in her community, she had many happy things to say about her home and sharing that home with her family. Charlie talked about a number of special places in her home; I was particularly moved by the way she talked about spending time in the warm seasons on the trampoline in their backyard. She said that when she is sitting on the trampoline, she feels “ like this is the little patch of earth where i belong,” what a wonderful way to describe the feeling of home. So, I made a painting of the view you have laying on the trampoline in Charlie’s backyard and the patch of sky framed in that spot.

I interview Hilary Gabel in August of 2014. Hilary lives in Chicago’s Edison Park neighborhood on an idyllic tree lined street.  My conversation with Hilary and visiting her home, made me want to make a painting that depicted the view of Hilary’s home from the street. The way in which Hilary described the upcoming block party felt so evocative of an American picture of home, and the flowers which line the front walk to Hilary’s home seem to be ushering visitors in the front door, welcoming guests and greeting neighbors.

I interviewed Michael and Deborah Barnum in November of 2014. They have lived in their home in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood for 38 years. The Barnums were emphatic that their is nothing they would change about their neighborhood. Their street in particular means a lot to them. The way in which Michael and Deborah described their street felt special, and made me want to depict a portion of that street in the painting. The painting includes the Barnum’s home, as well as the homes on either side of the them.

I really enjoyed talking to Le Beni Buconyori, like many Chicagoans he is an immigrant to the U.S. He has lived in Chicago since 2005, and in Rogers Park for the last seven years. Le Beni is from Burundi and moved to Chicago after going to college in Michigan. The painting was inspired by the way in which LeBeni described the experience of sitting on his couch and looking out the window. He has an extraordinary view of Lake Michigan from that window in his living room, and says that the whole sensory experience of the view, the sounds of the lake and feel of the lake breezes make the couch a special place in his apartment.

I interviewed Rudy Gomez in July of 2015. Rudy has been living in Chicago his whole life and in his West Rogers Park home for 20 years. The backyard is a place where his family gathers to socialize and also a place that Rudy goes when he’s having a bad day. I made a painting of Rudy’s backyard because it feels like the heart of this home. On the Saturday morning that I visited members of his extended family had already begun to assemble on the back patio. The patch of grass and flower bed at the back of the yard are carefully tended to and it feels very much like a place that has hosted many celebrations. And, as Rudy described, it’s a place of respite on a bad day.

I interviewed Architect Sam Marts in January of 2015. He has lived in Chicago since 1974 and in his Bucktown home with his partner Nicolos since 1986. I was struck by the fact that Sam and Nicolos have made the kitchen and the kitchen table, the heart of their home. They eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, together at the kitchen table, using the space as a social center, desk, and dining space. This is apparent from the curated collection of cards and prints, paperwork being tended to and dining implements, which were on the table when I visited.

Carole and Larry Krucoff were married in 1963, and have lived in Chicago ever since. They have lived their home in Jackson Park Highlands for 42 years. The house has a wonderful garden, backyard, and screened-in porch, where the Krucoffs dine and where their cats would enjoy the outdoors. I made a painting of the porch swing in the screened-in porch where Carole goes when she if feeling blue. Though I visited the home on a cold March day, I could imagine the delight of sitting on a porch swing in the summer months, drinking a glass of wine, looking out at the garden, and swinging gently.

I interviewed Angie and Mel in September 2015. Mel has lived in Chicago 15 years, and his wife Angie has lived in Chicago for a little over two years. They live together in the upper unit of a two flat, in Andersonville, that Mel bought, with the couple that lives downstairs, about 10 years ago. When Mel and Angie first started dated, they dated long distance, with Mel living in Chicago and Angie living in the Bay area, in California. Mel and Angie say that they spent a lot of time on the front porch during the first summer when Angie spent time in their current home. The painting depicts this front porch where Mel and Angie shared a first beer and watched thunderstorms, which are uncommon in the place where Angie grew up. I think I was really drawn to paint the front porch because of the specificity of the memories associated with that particular spot in the home, a first beer shared there, thunderstorms watched.

Katrina Van Valkenburgh has lived in Chicago for 25 years and her husband Mike Newman for 26 years. They live in a house in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. Mike, an architect, runs an office out of the first floor.  Mike and Katrina’s house is completely covered in ivy in the summer, which is magical in it’s own way. They say that the house is alive in the spring and summer and that it changes through the seasons. I thought it was interesting that Mike described the house as alive and that you really feel the “green” living in their house. I really struck when Katrina mentioned that they used to cut the Ivy back at the windows, but that they now like to let it grow across the windows and that it feels like living in a tree or a tree house. It made me want to paint one of the windows in their second floor living space to try to capture a bit of that treehouse feeling.

This is my home. Specifically, I have chosen to paint the garden that I cultivated in the backyard of the three-flat in Andersonville, which I shared with roommates for six years For the first several years that I lived there, I did not do any work in the backyard, but I noticed a dramatic transformation in the degree to which I felt connected to the place once I planted things in the ground. I also built a large picnic table, we strung globe lights and the backyard became a special place to share meals with friends and host parties. I also enjoyed the solace and derived comfort from the quiet time I spent in that place, watering and tending the garden.

Linda Rosul has lived in Chicago for 19 years and her husband Todd Wiltse for 25 years . They have lived in their Logan Square home for eleven years. Todd and Linda say that their house in west Logan Square felt like home immediately.

Todd and Linda feel rooted in their home and Todd described the honey locust in the backyard as the soul of the property. Linda has carefully created the backyard to be a dynamic place, with things blooming at nearly every time of year. Very few of the plants that are there now were there when Todd and Linda moved in, the tree though is a constant, it is what Linda describes as “old man-ish”. I decided to paint this tree in the backyard because it seemed to a physical manifestation of way in which Todd and Linda are rooted in this place, it’s been consistent and seems a meaningful part of the property for Todd and Linda.

Roberta has lived in Chicago for 35 years, she says that she and her husband wanted to live in a city that felt like a city. Roberta lives on the 66th story of Lake Pointe Tower with her husband.

It took me a long time to decide what to paint from Roberta’s home. I was hesitant to paint the view from Roberta’s home because skylines are so commonly depicted in art. I was struck though by how dominant the view is, in Roberta’s experience of home. It brings both drama and a sense of refuge and calm to her. The night I visited Roberta’s home, in November of 2014, the view was a little misty, the sky reflecting orange tones and mysterious layers of clouds.