Anne Leuck 4/7/10 Anne Leuck 4/7/10

A bigger truck...

Making bigger trucks is harder. Everything suddenly looks very angular and stiff...so after playing around a bit I realized if I make all of my pieces irregular imperfect rectangles and squares then I have a chance at giving the bigger trucks the whimsicality and personality of my small ones. So...stay tuned bigger and happier looking trucks coming soon...in a month or two you'll see where I'm going with all of this...

Anne Leuck 4/2/10 Anne Leuck 4/2/10

Sister Prints...

Over the years I have done some kids and family portraits, but stopped for awhile as kids are usually pretty challenging for me to capture (not having my own). My wonderful clients Brian & Gretchen asked me to do these for their new nieces both of whom were adopted from China, Gracie most recently this past December and Molly back in 2007. The kids are so adorable and it is such a happy ending story, it was a pleasure creating the images for these prints.

Anne Leuck 3/31/10 Anne Leuck 3/31/10

Chicago Social...

A client recently mailed me this press clipping from February's Chicago Social Magazine of a couple posing with the painting I donated to the Shedd Aquarium Art Sharks Fundraiser last year. It's always exciting seeing my work in print (even when they don't give me credit)...will have to track down this couple for my mailing list!

Anne Leuck 3/27/10 Anne Leuck 3/27/10

Art imitating life...

After 10 days of feeling not at all myself...I'm angry and done with feeling sick, so today I started some new paintings. The image above is really just about my nose and head and the expansive congestion and wanting to fly away from it, but still feeling grounded (not in a good way). My friends this week, scads of kleenex and hot beverages...sorry to be negative but glad that at least it has inspired some new imagery...even if it is on cardboard!

These next 2 pieces actually have paintings on the other side that I'm only semi happy with...interesting I omitted the border without even realizing it...this top one was inspired by a drawing in my sketchbook.

Anne Leuck 3/23/10 Anne Leuck 3/23/10

Industrial Zen Treasury

I was excited to have my Teal Night Scape painting included in this wonderful Etsy Treasury of Water Towers put together by jeweler Rone Prinz. I find them whimsical in spite of their industrial, utilitarian design. I used to paint a lot more of them but they are disappearing from Chicago's skyline. Another reason I love to visit New York city, they are everywhere...delightful urban dinosaurs.

Anne Leuck 3/17/10 Anne Leuck 3/17/10

New batch of paintings...

Just varnished 6 new paintings, here's a little peek.... I'll be posting all of them for sale in my Etsy Shop very soon!

Anne Leuck 3/11/10 Anne Leuck 3/11/10

Apartment Therapy....

As promised last week, here is a link to our House Tour on the Apartment Therapy Blog which went live on Monday. Thanks to Jason Loper now a Contributing Editor as well as fabulous Designer. Here's a peek at a few things that didn't make the House Tour...still lots of painting to do upstairs and art to hang:

Anne Leuck 3/9/10 Anne Leuck 3/9/10

Following protocol...

About seven years ago I promised myself I would do my best to 'either wake up or go to sleep somewhere I had not before, on my birthday'. So following protocol I woke up in Ottawa, IL on a very rainy Sunday morning. Fortunately we had made the short trip to the Starved Rock State Park area on Saturday where we had a great time hiking on a very spring-like day with temps in the low 50's and lots of sun. No tolls between here and Chicago, the park is free and you can bring dogs (we did not)... Semi-frozen water falls, which up until last week you could climb.The trails were mostly planked with lots of steps to different lookout points, a little muddy in places but otherwise very easy to navigate. Definitely got our heart rates up! Towards the end of the trail we came upon a great lodge where we enjoyed a little refreshment outside before finishing our exploration.This is overlooking the Illinois River at the Dam:

That evening we went to nearby South Peru, IL to try Mark Allen's Restaurant, owned by my friend Ann Weisbrod and her husband who is the chef. Great food and drinks and Ann's fun art work for the decor!So on the rainy morning of my 43rd Birthday we opted to drive back home to Chicago and relax with the dogs, it was the perfect lazy day...