Notes on just a few days in Chicago

BITES:

Logan Square: Don Bucios Tacos for decent vegan + GF happy hour bites, mescal margs and pretty damn tasty mushroom asada and al pastor tacos. Chicago Diner for V+GF Cheesecake- really thick slice that is the NY “baked” style with gramcracker crust. Not too sweet and dense like the real thing. The plates of food are ok, and there’s alcohol and a good selection of options. Dairy eaters can have real cheese (a plus if you are bringing a non-vegan or regular vegetarian) but nothing to be excited about.

Wicker Park: Bloom Probably one of the best vegan restaurants I’ve ever eaten at and I can’t wait to return. Brunch was stuffed french toast with berry compote, and a mushroom burger that was INSANE. Not sure if it was a maitake, oyster or hen of the woods ( the waitress called it a “forest mushroom” but whatever the fuck it was was crispy and delish, seasoned with sechuan spice, dill cornichons and pickled cabbage. Man I want that again!! The place had such a light and beautiful atmosphere, like a mini trip to Tulum inside. Very tastefully done.

Andersonville: Chicago Diner (again) but this time at the original spot in the very LGBTQ+ friendly gayborhood. Cute retro interior, and a very angelic faced happy AF queer host. They’re known for their vegan shakes and the peanut butter chocolate one was delish.

DRINKS: 

Kite String:The only bar-bar we went to. Friends of a friend we were visiting and we loved it. A corner bar with non-discript gray wood exterior, with huge windows that open out so the space feels like a patio. Great mescal and tequila selection, as well as NA. G4 was a new reposada I tried- super super smooth. The GF+ NA beer was incredibly great: 

Go Brewing Freedom Cali Pale 0.5%  California-style pale ale is crafted without gluten. AND IT TASTES LIKE BEER. No idea why, but it had a cheesy American (ironic?) flag on it. Whatever the reason- I want that in my fridge please, as well as some cans of Marz- a 30 mg full spectrum cbd sparkling soda with hops.  Fave one so far! The wife of Andrew the bartender (Katie? Sorry I forget her name) is an amazing chef and has all these premade taquitos to take away or eat at the bar. Of course we had to try both GF V versions- a butternut al pastor and a nacho cauli. Both great, and I think I like the first of the two the best. Good vibes, food, drinks and company= kinda fuckin perfect spot. 

CAFFEINE: Bru in Wicker park has great matcha and cbd coffee, gaslight in Logan (pretty decent but not the right vibes for us) and Wormhole in Wicker had fun atmosphere and great music. 

Besides constantly stuffing our faces, we also made time for the Art Institute, I ALWAYS make time for that place! and plenty of walking around. I think in two and a half days we clocked more than 22 miles, which makes me happy because it’s one of my favorite things to do on a vacation. just wander around and see what happens. The smoke from Canada wasn’t around on Saturday so we headed to the breezey riverwalk. Not my fave part of town, but a nice place to enjoy breakfast on a park bench, people watch and take in the old architecture. Nighttime walking was exhilarating with rain and lightning blowing about, and on Sunday the winds must have shifted with the sporadic storms because the air was a thick and oppressive haze. Fortunate we had such great luck already, the city showing off a little of her best behavior for us.

Every year another lil wayward soul crosses our paths, usually on walks in our neighborhood.

This time it’s a baby Spice Finch, aka Scaly-Breasted Munia, aka Nutmeg Finch. We only know this because all the wildlife rescuse places we’ve contacted have identified her and said they wouldn’t help. She(he?) was too young to leave her nest- but somehow survived the fall onto concrete from 20’ above!

This is what we’ve learned over the past 5 days:

• She’s about a week away from being a fledgling, so she was much to young to be out of her nest
• She needs to eat every 2 hours from morning til night
• “Exact” bird formula is easy to use and she loves it
• We need to get her socialized and with her kind if possible soon and then ideally she can be released to be her own little wild self
• She’s crazy and ridiculously cute

Thank you to all 36 artists who made the dark arts show such a fantastic event!

Had a blast painting “Anicca” which is available for purchase at the Regime Contemporary Gallery in the Mayfair Hotel in DTLA.  Graffiti Art fans should check out the space- RISK has done a great job of curating interesting and fun fine art pieces with neon and mixed media.

 CHECK OUT the latest Elder poster and t-shirt design that I’ve been fortunate to jam on for the lovely Ms. Rynne Stump. LIMITED RUN of posters will be available at the show this SUN AUG 12 @ Mississippi Studios. 

If you like this check out more Stumpfest work in my CLIENT page

I just LOOOOOOOOOVE drawing and painting your animals, and I really get into the details of each little speck of color, or the way the light hits your fur baby's eyes. To get a great painting and composition requires some photography on your part, and I can give you advice on lighting, angles, etc to complete the right look you desire. 

Because I tailor-make each piece to your needs, please convo through my contact page here and send photos for estimated sizing, pricing, and turnaround, and I will send you more details. 

Here’s my Loteria #26 EL NEGRITO for Cactus Gallery’s 11th Anniversary show this weekend! This 8” x 10” acrylic on canvas is a portrait of Toussaint Louverture “The Black Napoleon” and can be purchased through the Gallery at this link:

https://cactusgalleryla.com/collections/loteria-ii-group-show/products/el-negrito-26-toussaint-louverture-the-black-napoleon-by-artist-brooke-kent

Tidbit: François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture was the best-known leader of the Haitian Revolution. His achievements set the grounds for the Black army’s absolute victory and for a declaration of the sovereign state of Haiti in January 1804. Toussaint’s prominent role in the Haitian success over colonialism and slavery had earned him the admiration of friends and detractors alike.

A night of death rock and erotic art- surrounded by blackened eyes, with heavy doses of cocks, skulls, and wine….

Saturday, Dec 12th was my first time as a vendor at this highly anticipated sale of all things dark and lovely and handmade- just in time to get all those holiday gifts for everyone, (or for yourself if you are bad at planning like me!) If you happened to have missed out- I won’t rub it in too much that it was pretty much the best shopping event of the year, and combined with a friends-from-all-corners reunion made for a helluva party atmosphere. I was lucky to have Tina B from Littlecat Pottery as my super adorable booth partner. I just love her ceramic wares and I have some myself and they have also made great gifts- (ok I guess I’m not ALWAYS that bad at gifting!) Some more good luck that day was that I was actually able to make it to the event even though I was recovering from surgery, so A HUGE THANK YOU to the friends who came to my rescue and hauled all my stuff for me. I’m so glad I didn’t miss out on all the fun and I can’t wait till next year’s event.

Bitchcraft is thoughtfully curated and run by an amazingly talented and supportive team of ladies- Rachel Hsuing-Crystal Habitats, Erica Clum - Goldmine + Earthling Jewelry,  Alex Comacho- Acid Queen Jewelry, photographer Tanya Barr photographer, and Kristina Boudreau- web developer/designer.

After years of being away in teacherland, it was really great to reconnect with gallery owner Sandra Mastroianni and include my six tiny bird drawings in this fun cash and carry show. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to the opening on Dec 12th- but I’d like to extend my gratitude to the gallery and to the six collectors who purchased them!

Erotic Artist Michael Manning curated the Dog and Pony Show - a pet-play themed fetish show with yours truly at Antebellum Gallery in Hollywood on August 1, 2015

Happening this Saturday July 11th and goes for Two Months! I’m so thrilled to be showing my two antique framed crow drawings alongside some of my favorite artists at Q Art Salon. The show opening goes from 7-11 at the beautiful gallery at 205 N Sycamore st. in the art district of Santa Ana. For RSVP- please email INFO@QARTSALON and I’ll see you there <3