Meet local artist, architect John Green

Buffalo Grove architect and world traveler John Green has found his work in pen-and-ink drawings to be a universal language that allows him entree to life in very distant places.

As Green sketched a Buddhist Teschu ceremony in the Bhutan Himalayas, children gathered around, and he gave them paper and pens. Soon, they were showing off their own sketches and studying his, clapping with glee at what they did and saw.

"We had so much fun," he said. " We had a great time."

Green, who has traveled to Antarctica, Tombouctou and more than 40 countries, using his art rather than a camera to capture his cultural impressions, is better known locally for such buildings as the Buffalo Grove village hall, the Raupp Historical Museum and the Kendrigan Baseball Field with surfaces specially designed for players in wheelchairs.

Green's art - and his ideas about art - will be the centerpiece of a champagne and chocolate reception 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Indian Trails Public Library District, 355 S. Schoenbeck Road. He will mingle informally with people and give a talk at 7 p.m.

The reception, titled "Reversing Your Perception of Art: The Language of Art From the Point of View of the Artist," will look at questions including there: Is a pile of candy on the floor art or is it just a pile of candy on the floor? Can the "bottom of the world" be both upside down and right side up?

Using his own drawings as well as other historic examples, the discussion will explore: the concepts of "conceptual art," the art language of "history," and how primitive "civilized" can be and vice versa.

Green, 58, is fascinated by cultural questions, such as whether western society with its technological approach to recycling is truly better than tribal societies that effectively recycle everything they use while leaving no carbon footprint. He explores such ideas in the more than 400 pen-and-ink sketches he has done in the last 16 years.

While sitting at a cafe in Paris sipping a cappuccino on the Champs Elysees, he found the significance of the grand boulevard now being home to fast-food restaurants by sketching a tree with a few flowers blooming at its base but vines climbing its trunk.

"The gems are still there, but the vines are growing to choke the boulevard," he said.

For that and about 40 of his other works he has written accompanying verses, sometimes humorous, to amplify on his works.

The concluding verses of the one for Champs Elysees go like this:

"Tiffany and Laurent and Prada.

Fur and leather and cashmere.

Croissants and cafe and souffles.

Champs Elysees.

Filene's and Crate and Barrel.

Nylon and blends and denim.

Burgers and chicken and tacos.

Champs Elysees."

Green is owner of the architectural firm Groundwork Ltd. and the Green Ink Art Gallery, both 351 W. Dundee Road.

Tickets to the reception are $25 and can be purchased at the door or at the library. You can sign up to attend by calling (847) 459-4100 or online by clicking on calendar at www.indiantrailslibrary.org.

Some of the funds from the event and a portion of proceeds from art sales will benefit the Indian Trails Library Foundation and the Bookmobile Services Program.

and click on calendar.