At this year’s Garage Galleries walk, artist Chuck Michalak, earned several hundred dollars from selling his paintings. These are watercolors and oils on canvas. They depict fantasy landscapes, populated by unicorns, nymphs and other mythical creatures. Chuck has been creating landscapes like these ever since he was a boy growing up in the working-class neighborhood of Brighton Park.
His journey from Brighton Park to Forest Park has been marked by many detours, adventures and assorted occupations. His mom and dad emigrated from Poland and had a large family. His dad, a laborer for the railroad, took Chuck to hear the blues on 47th Street, Polka music at Pilsen Park, and classical concerts at Grant Park.
His mom was also a fan of classical music. Chuck woke up every morning to the strains of Chopin’s Polonaise. The Michalak family was Slovak, and Polish was spoken in the home. When Chuck was 8, his father died. His mom continued to provide for her family under difficult circumstances.
He attended neighborhood schools and went on to Kelly High School. He couldn’t relate to kids his own age and school bored him. During class time, he drew his imaginary landscapes. This got him in trouble when he was 15, but he has never stopped drawing them. After high school, he went to UIC, where he obtained a degree in Graphic Arts.
Chuck tried to break into the world of art and fancied himself becoming the next Peter Max or Andy Warhol. He had some success selling his paintings at the Old Town Art Fair. In fact, he made enough money to backpack through Europe.
Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain, but Chuck somehow made it to his family’s ancestral village. His relatives greeted him like a prodigal son. He also visited Chopin’s home where he enjoyed concerts. Music is as important to him as art and his taste runs from classical to Iggy Pop.
Back in the states, he tended bar, sold used cars and became a sign painter. He started a company called Sign Design and hand-lettered signs for boats and cars. Hand-lettering was already becoming a lost art and the signs were not cheap. (He later painted signs at Kangaroo Korner for a tuition break for his kids).
After working for a spring company in Ft. Lauderdale, Chuck returned to Chicago. He tended bar at workingman joints where he cashed the patron’s paychecks. He was tending bar at Chesdan’s Pizzeria, when he met his wife, Deb. She was a waitress supporting herself through nursing school.
The couple moved to Forest Park 30 years ago. Their children, Claire and Charlie, attended St. Bernardine’s and thrived, taking dance lessons at Panda Studios. Meanwhile, Deb was completing a 30-year nursing career at Misericordia.
Chuck became a real estate broker for his brother-in-law and worked there for 20 years. The real estate crash of 2008 crippled the business and Chuck was forced to sell foreclosed properties. In 2015, Chuck suffered a stroke that paralyzed his right arm. The formerly right-handed artist had to learn how to draw left-handed.
The stroke caused Chuck to revert back to a primitive style, but it didn’t stop him from painting. He has hosted Garage Galleries for the past five years. He impressed patrons by painting the Solar System on his garage floor. He has partnered with potter Bridget Lane the last two years. Customers were taken with his paintings and purchased them. Not bad for an artist who had to reinvent himself.
Chuck continues to find joy producing the kinds of paintings that got him into trouble when he was 15.
