spring before my eyes

Before this year, I’ve never really considered spring to be a contender for my favorite season of the year. I live in Chicago, and spring can be very confusing, toying with our hearts after long, dark, bitter winters. This year something changed for me.

For one thing, I personally enjoyed winter more than I had in year’s past. Instead of wishing it away and counting down the days ‘til spring, I tried to make winter feel nice. I read more books, cooked more, and maintained my running routine. I also spent winter nights how Chicagoans do – nestled around homemade pizza with a few close friends.

When spring arrived, I felt like I had technicolor vision. I felt like I was Dorothy exiting a black and white world and emerging into one full of color. This change happens every year, but for some reason it felt more vibrant this year.

I’ve been carrying my camera around with me almost every day, and trying to avoid using my phone to capture the world. Here are some of the photos of spring I have captured.

There’s a house near mine that has a huge magnolia tree out front. I was awestruck when it bloomed, and just a few weeks later the petals have fallen and the tree’s green leaves are appearing.

I’d be rich if I had a dime for every time I’ve heard “Chicago doesn’t have nature,” and while we don’t have mountains, we do in fact have nature. I see it every time I leave my house.

I see it in the trees that bloom, the squirrels who dwell in those trees, and the pigeons who strut around my neighborhood. I’ve always had an affinity for pigeons so I decided to spend some time drawing them to understand them better. I made this pastel drawing of a pigeon, and Sarah Peecher, a writer based in Chicago was inspired to write a piece about pigeons in response. In it she quotes Maura C. Flannery’s The Value of Pigeons, and I was so struck by this:

There’s many ways we can find value in pigeons. We can appreciate their role in carrying important messages in times of conflict, as Flannery discusses. “Watching pigeons strut around campus is no substitute for gazing at a million passenger pigeons flying overhead, but I would argue that it is better than seeing no birds at all,” Flannery writes. “What other birds can you look at so closely and for significant periods of time?” She makes the significant point that those of us in cities can’t always travel to more biodiverse locations, nor, perhaps, should we, in order to preserve their biodiversity. But pigeons are still right here next to us on the sidewalk.

Members of my mail club will receive this 3-color risograph print of a pigeon this month. Join before May 15 to snag one.

In Local News

• On May 2, Lot’sa celebrated the opening of Riso Chicago: a group show in partnership with Hallagans celebrating the risograph art, history, and community here in Chicago. Check it out now through July. There is some amazing work in this show.

• For fans of my Chicago Garage Flier print: I am teaming up with Boggy’s World to make a limited run of tshirts of this print. Keep your eyes peeled for the drop.

• Want to dip your toes in Riso? I am teaching Collage Riso throughout the summer, and you can grab a ticket here.

• Save the date for Palmer Square Art Fair happening Sunday, July 13 in Palmer Square Park. Shop from ~50 local art vendors and get to know your neighbors.

Thanks for reading, go outside!