McMahons Hall: A visit to the old family Homestead

Today was a day I'll remember with mixed emotions for the rest of my life.

I received an email a couple of weeks ago via my website inquiring about the drawing below. I had done this ink and coffee wash drawing as a gift to my nephew David McMahon on the occasion of his wedding, because he is so into his Irish heritage. The drawing was done from the old photo shown below it here. This is McMahons Hall, the grocery store my Irish-born great grandfather built about the year 1900 on south Archer Avenue in Chicago.

The inquiry came from a woman who now owns one of the condos. An historian, she wondered what I knew about the history of the building. I got goosebumps hearing from her, because I'd always wanted to visit the building, and find out more about the history myself. My father passed away several years ago, and we only have sketchy details about his grandfather, a few facts handed down over the years and a couple of old census reports I found online.

Michael McMahon met his bride here in Chicago, an Irish-born young woman named Catherine McMahon (Kate). So this is a very strong family name for us. Michael must have done a good job, because the building still stands, looking much as it did 100 years before. Besides the grocery store, there was a dance hall on the second floor, and their living quarters were on the third floor, with a separate street level entrance. Michael and Catherine had 6 children. They came to the US around 1870, he was born in 1853, she in 1857. Their kids were born between 1882 to 1894. They lived and worked in the building until at least 1930. My father was a meat-cutter as was his father before him, taught by Michael.

Now the building is converted to high end loft condos, joined with the building next door. At one time the buildings were a coffee and tea manufacturing business, and the sign for that business can still be read clearly on the brick exterior of the building next to McMahon Hall.

Below is a series of photos of how the building looks today. I took the pictures when the gracious new residents opened their doors and hearts to me today and gave me a glimpse into the life of my ancestors. I'm afraid they were able to provide me with more background information about the building than I was able to give them. So, this was a joyful homecoming for me, although I had never stepped foot inside "The Hall" until today. It was also a sad day, because my mother so wanted to see the place her husband visited as a child. Unfortunately a flare-up of her arthritis ended in a trip to the emergency room and she wasn't able to come along. I took lots of pictures and listened to the stories about the building the new residents were able to share. Tomorrow, I'll visit mom and share the pictures and stories while she's recuperating.

I know mom will be delighted to know that the new occupants of McMahons Hall love and take great pride in the building as my great grandparents did. The spaces are each unique and carefully but comfortably decorated to reflect the style of each resident. They are teachers, artists, photographers, musicians, interior designers, cat and wounded pigeon lovers, and music aficionados. They allowed me to snoop in all the nooks and crannies of their homes, opened up the for-sale ground floor condo that was once the M. McMahon's grocery store, current asking price$500,000. They offered me coffee and homemade blueberry muffins, invited me to a barbecue and told me stories of the not so good days of the building. Back in the 80's there were unauthorized raves held on the premises, mirrors and graffiti on the walls.

It's only been about 3 years since the building underwent it's latest incarnation, and the neighborhood is thriving once more, partly because of artists who moved into the area, such as the Zhou Brothers from China who opened their art center not far from "The Hall".

So, if you are reading this, McMahon Hall current residents, I thank you from the bottom of my heart once more for the two hours you shared with me this morning. I entered a stranger, and left a friend. I wish you many years of happiness in that special home. I'll be sharing your kindness with my very large Irish extended family.

Peace!

Chains to be shown at the Saatchi Gallery, London!

I received an email today from the Saatchi Gallery in London, regarding my placing in the Saatchi Showdown online competition. "Chains" will be shown at Saatchi Gallery, scheduled to open in October 2008.

At first I didn't believe it, I hadn't heard about the gallery opening, it is a year behind schedule. But there is a link to the virtual tour of gallery on The Saatchi website. It looks too good to be true! I'm beside myself!

Thanks again to all of you for your constant support! ~ Alice

Black Butterfly

It was our 28th wedding anniversary yesterday, so I did this as a gift to Steve. The past month or so working on the portrait ended up being a kind of intense period of introspection for me as well. I think this was partly because of completing my White Album series of portraits of my kids, and feeling more like concentrating on myself at last, but it has also been a time of personal growth and transformation.

There were several unusual spiritual moments for me while working on this portrait. One was a near out of body experience while on a walk in the park, which spurred me to write my first poem in 30 years. You can read the poem "Fairfield Avenue" back further in my blog. A few days later, I started seeing black butterflies. Not so unusual in summer I suppose, but I don't remember seeing this particular type in Chicago, maybe it's due to our changing weather patterns. The odd thing was that I had just found a photo of a black butterfly online at RedBubble had favorited it and commented on it. Then a black butterfly fluttered around me several times while I was walking that same afternoon! It happened again a couple of days later, this black butterfly flying in loops around me as I walked. Odd that the only black ones I saw, also seemed to notice me as well! Almost like they knew of my transformation. So, that inspired my second poem, "Black Butterfly" and I decided to incorporate a black butterfly into the drawing.

Just a couple of days ago I came up with a way to add the text of the poem to my work. I used my home printer to print the text onto a letter sized portion I cut from the pink backing paper. After I printed it, I pieced it back together with acid free tape. The mylar film is translucent, so the text shows through in a subtle way.

The piece was made to fit a vintage distressed frame I found at my local antique shop. It is really in a bad way, but I think it suits me - I'm a bit rough at the edges myself these days. But I figured it's now or never to expose more of myself. :)

Steve likes the gift by the way.



The Poem:


Black Butterfly


Bemusing muse

Black butterfly

Came through the ether

Mystical wings

Encircled me along the way

Enraptured on a summer day

Music painted on the sky

Black butterfly



Blown in from far off dust

Astral soul

Dressed in stardust

Black butterfly

Draw me perfect

Emergent from this coal black shell

Wet wings spread in joy to stand

Transformed

Flawless at the artist's hand



Evanescent passion lies

In our wavelengths intertwined

Black butterfly

Never caught

Light gently in the mind

Bring luminous thought


(c) Alice McMahon White 2008





"Black Butterfly" 22 x 18" charcoal on mylar drafting film (c) Alice McMahon White

Poem: Fairfield Avenue

Walking long to the essential

Lonely

Fair field



Glinting cut-crystal-challis-brilliant summer afternoon



Recalling the morning

Soul meeting soul

Hungry for Your Love touch and gaze

Yet

Found deeper

Expression in shared thought



And so

Spirit

Overflows flesh

Once

More

Joyful

In the fair field

Half-century of being

Finally down decades

Lay back childlike on perfumed grass

To lift face to vapor mist clouds

Just now masking sunshine



How many years since this child play?

Neglected play

Forgotten play



An artist's game different with maturity

No longer hunting hares and lambs in cotton candy clouds floating through opal sky

This time

More metaphoric visions

More abstract thoughts

Up on

High breezes

Painting pastel strokes

Fast and slower

Eyes entranced by wing-feather

Cloud edge wisps

Rhythmic movements

Tendrils break free and rejoin

Come Together

First meeting

First kiss

Long separated jigsaw puzzle pieces

Found again

Bliss

In the interlocking re-union

Timeless inevitable moments of

Anam Cara



Too soon

Gusts blow off the muse

Revealing blinding sun

Moments of truth lost to reality

Shared words

Music

Touch

Imagined?



Back on the path from fair field

Down Fairfield Avenue home

Mourning morning

Dove and blood red songbird

Sing requiems for

Love

Found and lost before it occurred


© Alice McMahon White 2008

Swell Season & presenting the portraits to Glen and Mar

Teagan and I attended the Swell Season concert last night at the landmark Chicago Theater. If you don't know, that's the touring version of music from the Indie movie "Once". I blogged a few posts back about the charcoal drawings I made as a gift to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, lead actors in the film. Glen is also the front man for the Dublin based band The Frames.

The concert was blow-the-top-of-your-head-off good. Most of the Frames members are touring this trip along with Glen and Mar - and there was a good mix of tunes from the movie soundtrack and Frames standards. Glen's vocal range is stunning, from rumbling lows to incredible high notes without falsetto, back to the crescendo of his signature passionate leather lunged wailing. Amazing! Colm Mac Con Iomaire, the violin player is absolutely astounding! His sound is so full and rich you'd think there were several violins playing at once. And Marketa's piano and gentle singing style add an almost hypnotic quality to the mix. It was without doubt the best show I've ever seen.

My friend, Chicago photographer Zoran Orlic is friends with the band, and he offered to do all he could to be sure I could present the drawings to Glen and Mar in person after the concert. There was a scary moment for me when security wouldn't allow me to bring the drawings into the hall. I had Zoran's cell and he soon met me at the coat check and claimed the framed drawings to bring backstage. He then arranged for Teagan and me to attend the backstage party after the show, so we went down to the hall with probably about 40 or 50 others who had passes. There were drinks on the house, and we got to chat with Zoran, his wife and friends, and my friend Mary Beth and her son and friends.

We met all the Frames members and some of their spouses, but were told Marketa would not be down. Glen came down later and visited for some time, and then he was gone before I met him! Even some of the band members didn't know where he'd gone. The manager of the band was really concerned that Glen should see my drawings, and everyone who knew about the gift was so kind!

The crew phoned around and located Glen, outside at the back of the theater, saying goodbye to some friends and getting ready to board the bus back to the hotel. So they grabbed Teagan and me with the drawings and hauled us out to where they were. I walked out the door and came face to face with Marketa. I spoke with her a few moments and showed her the drawings, and she smiled and thanked me.

The manager brought me over to where Glen was chatting with friends, and in a few minutes he was craning his neck to look at the drawings with wide eyes, so Zoran introduced him to Teagan and me. Glen seemed to be moved by the art - and I think he must be still bemused by the sudden fame and attention after all of the years of struggling. Glen picked up each of the works in turn and just poured over them, he said he loved them and as I looked at him looking at the portrait of himself, I could see I'd nailed his profile perfectly - he even has the same beard and hairstyle just now. :) He liked Steve's frames too, "The Frames are great!" he said, then joked about that. He thanked me sincerely and profusely, and I thanked him for the tunes. I was greatly impressed with this guy with an enormous talent and now success, and yet so humble, grateful and gracious in a quintessentially Irish manner. Wow!

Teagan loved the show too, and even put up with waiting around chatting with the adults for a chance to meet Glen. She's such a fine, mature young lady now, I was very happy she was with me so I could brag on my talented and beautiful daughter.

Mary Beth had stayed on just to take pictures of me with Glen and Mar, so thanks for that Mary Beth! Otherwise I wouldn't have a record of it.

I don't make much of a "fan" and didn't talk very long with Glen and Mar, I hope the art speaks for itself.

Thanks for the tunes and inspiration Swell Season! I love it!

Guinness for Gobshites

Boston's Irish Pub band "The Gobshites" contacted me and commissioned me to do a group portrait, Irish session style, for their next cd's cover art. Here's the result.



Working on the washes, and drinking the leftovers.



I painted The Gobshites with Guinness!




Commissioned drawing for Boston's The Gobshites
cover art for their new cd "Songs Me Da Got Pissed To", 16 x 20" pen & ink with Guinness stout wash, by Alice McMahon White

The Gobshites will have you gobsmacked! Check them out.

Norwegian Wood triptych

"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" triptych, 24 x 48" charcoal and pastel on Mylar

This ended up a much more difficult project than expected and was on the easel for a full month. Finally finished my "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" triptych today. It's the next in the ongoing White Album series.

I used three photos of my daughter for the work, cropped and manipulated in the computer until I found the composition I liked. I decided to do a triptych because I liked all three photos and thought they looked well together. I took the photos 2 years ago in the cemetery down the block from our home. My model was fascinated by a fallen mature oak, and was sitting on the trunk in the second view photo. She chose the clothing for the shoot, but I changed the t-shirt design to work with the theme for my piece, which is bird extinction.

The triptych is charcoal on a heavy weight mylar drafting film, and was worked on the frosted side. There is a backing of Canson pastel paper in moonstone (a pink gray) because the translucent paper needs some backing, and white was too stark for the effect I was attempting to achieve. There are small touches of "white charcoal" - white pastel pencil for highlights, I also used a gray pastel pencil in some of the tree areas.

The mylar is a very slick surface and fun to work on, and has more of a sensation of painting because of the "oiliness" of the charcoal on the mylar. Delicate areas are quite difficult to achieve. If you rub your finger over a fairly lightly covered area, the paper wipes clean, so soft gradations are troublesome. You can build up dark layers of charcoal and lighten it to gray by rubbing with your fingers, or erase back down to the surface with a kneaded eraser. I purposely left much of the work rough because the surface works so well for that. The finished work has a very interesting glow in person that doesn't photograph well. The frosted finish is quite lovely - almost like human skin in sheen.

I plan one or two more of these larger drawings on mylar for the January show.