Renovated home start of turnaround for Waukegan artist

Waukegan resident Drew Davis has been working on putting his life back together.

A major obstacle to that effort was a home that was in desperate need of remodeling.

After battling alcoholism for years, Davis was balancing raising his twins with holding multiple jobs - while carrying the burden of staying sober.

Davis' goal was to make money through his artistic abilities, so he could fix up his 1920s era Sears Roebuck kit house and move out.

He is now closer to that goal, thanks to the efforts of a caring sister, a reality television show host and local contractors.

Courtesy of the NBC reality television show "George to the Rescue," which airs locally on Channel 5 at 11:30 p.m. Sundays, Davis' home received an estimated $68,000 worth of work, which involved two Libertyville firms, Sweet Peas Design and North Shore Home Improvement & Renovation Inc. A housewarming was held Sunday to show off the new decor. Among the guests were George Oliphant, host of "George to the Rescue," and two people who helped bring the project to fruition: Susan Brunstrum of Sweet Peas and Bryan Davis of North Shore Home Improvement & Renovation.

The unveiling revealed a well-lit, extremely well organized space filled with Davis' sculptures and heavily textured acrylic paintings.

The before picture was a grim and daunting contrast.

"One of the branches from a tree had fallen through the roof, and the house was in desperate need of some TLC," Oliphant said.

Brunstrum said the work included replacing hardwood floors and a door, painting, and adding new furnishing.

"We're hoping this will springboard him to really develop his art into a full-time career," she said.

"It was a fairly easy project," Bryan Davis added. "Timing and coordination is always the biggest challenge on any project, to complete on time and within a certain budget."

That became an even bigger challenge with a three-week production window.

"I got the nickname 'The Taskmaster' from George," Brunstrum said.

The results will be revealed on the show's May 3 episode.

Viewers will see a living room area with a work table for his business, a fireplace that was tuck-pointed, and paintings that include a portrait of his 9-year-old twins, Hope and Finn.

"This has kind of always been a dream to have this room be this sensible and this user friendly," Drew Davis said.

Another area, formerly a television room cluttered with furniture, now functions as his studio, with desks for each of his children and room for him to paint and store his brushes, which are neatly gathered like shoots of asparagus in a grocer's produce section. Prominent is a large portrait - the size of one of the windows - of his late father, Dick Davis. There is also a place on the floor for his English mastiff, Hendrix, to lounge. Plus, the windows let in plenty of light.

"What's nice about working up here rather than in the basement is you can see all the light, all the really good natural light," he said.

Davis, who lives in the 800 block of West Grove Avenue, said his sister, Amy Davis Fahey, made a wish for him on the Meredith Vieira Show as part of her "Wish Booth" tour.

On the show, his sister said that her brother was in a tough place, explaining the issues in his life.

"The house had some issues. A roof was leaking. Organizationally, being an artist with a couple of kids here, I was kind of struggling," Drew Davis said.

He said that Vieira had Waukegan Roofing fix the roof. He was then introduced to Oliphant, who involved the other contractors.

"They just kind of turned this space into my dream space, really," he said.