CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — On perhaps the last warm evening of the year in Chicago last week, Zhanna Biletska was at the intersection of State and Randolph Streets, where she set up her canvas, her paint brushes and a light.
Biletska, a 32-year-old who moved here from Ukraine, was capturing the beauty of the Chicago Theater as cars, taxis, and pedestrians passed by on a very busy night.
She told WBBM she has been painting for 20 years and was employing the French "En plein air" method, which means painting in the open air.
In a few hours Biletska was able to capture the building, the marquee, the street and some of the background, but she was still working out some of the finer details.
Biletska has been in Chicago for nine years. She still thinks of her native Ukraine and all of its struggles.
"It's really hard," Biletska said. "I have all of my family over there...it's hard to miss all of the events going on there."
When a reporter kept gushing over how remarkable it is that she was able to create something so beautiful, from scratch, on a chaotic city street — especially while thinking of the war in Ukraine — Biletska laughed.
"It's what I do," she said humbly.
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