thinking & making
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Surf Champ – before & after photos
A couple of months ago I bought a 1976 Gottlieb “Surf Champ” pinball machine out of a basement where it had been the last 20 or so years. I completely stripped down the top side of the playfield and cleaned all parts. Metal went in the tumbler. I replaced the plastics, cleaned the star posts,…
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Rusty parts
More rusty pinball machine craps to clean. Once I disassemble the coin door I will have completely disassembled the entire pin. This has been an enormous project to take on in my spare time, I will be glad to get to the point when the job can only get smaller!
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Big Guns stripdown
Stripped almost the entire playfield in one night. Work goes so fast on the rotisserie with easy access on all sides. Another hour this morning pulling the last few bits off and I’m ready for removing the Mylar and cleaning.
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Brooks Golden
I had the great pleasure of sharing a studio space with Brooks for a year or so just west of downtown. It was a great space and I spent countless hours there. Brooks was a friend and inspiration, and a stern critic and lover of my work. Tragically, Brooks passed away from health issues in…
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Red Bull Cooler
The Grocer got invited to paint a canvas wrapped cooler for a Red Bull event in 2014. It was a weird experience. Basically, every artist showed up and had one long day to finish their painting. I met some nice folks and the cooler turned out pretty nice. These kind of painting events are neat…
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The Grocer: more works on panel
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Buddha’s Hand at the G40
The Grocer made this giant, gorgeous buddha’s hand for the G40 Art Summit in DC in 2011. I wasn’t able to install at the show so they mounted the paste-up on a big piece of masonite for the show. I don’t know what happened to it—I hope somebody hung it up somewhere.
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Cut Watermelon
This big cut watermelon is last and largest street installation by The Grocer in Chicago. I put this up on that great spot near Milwaukee and Damen. I love watermelon and I love this piece.
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HOTBOX show
I got asked to make a few paintings for a mobile art gallery called the HOTBOX. The idea was that each month a different artist or group of artists would paint it, and then the inside would be a little gallery show/store or whatever. The theme was “Corner Store” and I made a big watermelon…