Wellness center provides blank canvas for artist's work

He stopped in for a workout, then walked out with work.

Rolling Meadows resident Dave Ryan was signing up at the Wellness Center at Northwest Community Hospital last year. An artist by trade, he noticed an abundance of white space in the lobby.

It was a veritable blank canvas for someone like him.

"David came into the office with a membership question, and we started talking about what he did for a living," Jennifer Fiore, membership consultant and personal trainer. "We said we're looking for an artist."

Ryan remembers, "I said my business is faux finishing and artwork, and she said 'Tell me a little about it.' "

That's when Ryan suggested that he create an art piece for one of the large walls. He was quickly hired.

Among the ideas he proposed for the 4-foot-by-7-foot painting was a collage showing various aspects of wellness. He showed Fiore samples of a technique that uses pictures from antique magazines in layers with paint in between.

"She saw those and liked the feel of them," Ryan said.

He worked closely with the center to come up with a design. "With a collaborative approach, you can make something more interesting than you would have pulled out from your own head," he said.

Ryan spent three months on the painting, and it now hangs prominently in the spacious lobby of the Arlington Heights fitness center.

Ryan, a Moline native, has lived in Rolling Meadows for 15 years with his wife, Terry, and their twin daughters. You can view more of his work online at www.artforfood.biz.

Get certified to help: After a long hiatus, Rolling Meadows firefighters are again offering CPR/first aid classes. The first will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday and costs $40 per person.

Chris Mennella, fire department executive secretary, said the firefighters had taught the class in the past but not recently. "We always got a lot of calls, and I had been directing people to the American Heart Association," she said.

Now that the class includes training on automated external defibrillators, there's been more interest, she said.

If you can't make that date, the class will be repeated March 12, and then once a month through the end of the year. The class also is offered offsite to area businesses. Call (847) 397-3352 for more information.