Blog

Tiny Ohio

Tiny Ohio

In the last couple of elections, Ohio has been designated as a “battleground” state.  It seems an obstinate place; a state that rather enjoys th...
Blue Ohio

Blue Ohio

My favorite poet is from Ohio.  James Wright wrote When Autumn Begins in Martin’s Ferry Ohio.   It is a sad, autumnal ode to the beginning of fo...
Ohio Blue Match Girl

Ohio Blue Match Girl

  When I was a kid, I did four months in Boy Scouts.  It cured me of camping.   The sleeping outside in a tent in the rain with another guy was ...
The Devil’s Songbird

The Devil’s Songbird

There is a part at the end of No Country for Old Men, where Tommy Lee Jones’ character, a sheriff, gives up and, over his morning coffee explain...
Indian Plume (For Crazy Horse)

Indian Plume (For Crazy Horse)

Crazy Horse stole his first wife.  Black Buffalo Woman was married to another  man named No Water.  Crazy Horse just up and stole her and, in ...
The Radio Swan

The Radio Swan

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. I never think much about my Irishness.  My parents were not the “kiss me I’m Irish” types, though they were both ver...
The Black Swan

The Black Swan

Some years ago, I made a few pieces all with different kinds of “Ace of Spades” motifs.  I had planned a big series about my Father, whose nick-...
Hell’s Songbird (For Doc Holliday)

Hell’s Songbird (For Doc Holliday)

John Henry “Doc” Holliday was one of the West’s more storied gunfighters.  He was an ill-tempered motherfucker who was perpetually drinking and ...
The Sad Music of Change (A Songbird for Nick the Greek)

The Sad Music of Change (A Songbird for Nick the Greek)

Nicholas Dandolos (Nick the Greek) was a professional gambler and high-roller of legendary repute in the ’40s, ’50s and early ’60s.  Rumor has i...
Songbird for Nelson Algren

Songbird for Nelson Algren

I’ve made more than a few tributes to  the great Chicago writer Nelson Algren.  His shadow looms large over how I see the city.  Algren, of cour...
The Bruised Village

The Bruised Village

I live in Ukrainian village in Chicago.  A great many of my neighbors don’t even speak English.  They like being among themselves. They are susp...
Ueno Park Red Bird

Ueno Park Red Bird

I was thinking of my friends in New Orleans as I made this piece, the beads and ornamentation, the echo of Lafcadio Hearn who left New Orleans t...