Own Gemini Studios

What starts out as friends fooling around often leads to bigger things: who'd have thought a ragtag bunch of kids stumbling around on the ice would eventually lead to the Flying V, and a borderline uncomfortable relationship between Pacey and Gordon Bombay? Churning out art like a champ, Gemini Studios.

The work of a Chi graphic artist who started creating mixed-media art pieces as gifts for friends left his day job last week to pursue hawking them to strangers, GS has an eclectic range of designs that combine photography, typography, graphics, and hand-drawn art all mashed up on computer, then printed and applied piecemeal to canvas, creating a vintage, layered appearance a la Joan Rivers.

Several pieces evoke Chi's rich baseball history (and the artist's affinity for the Northsiders), including an image of the venerable Wrigley scoreboard hovering over the 368 mark with "Swing for the Ivy" in bold red lettering, another Friendly Confines-themed piece with an old-timey ballplayer being taunted with "Hey Batter!", and, in an effort to placate Southsiders, an homage to the old Comiskey featuring the Sox pre-World War I logo, a great gift for all your Franz.

Other Chi-themed goodness comes in the form of numerous notable 'towns (Buck-Up-Old) and streets (Wacker, Michigan Ave, Clark) all in white-on-black typography, and a few faded blue poster-style Shedd Aquarium works flaunting squid, octopi, and a beluga -- when people point and comment on "the whale", don't go home and make yourself throw up.

Since actual pets are messy & gross, there's also a bevy of dog and cat pieces that feature fictional animal-themed businesses like Greyhound Records, King Cat Vineyards, and a Black Dog Cigar Co number featuring a stogie-puffing pooch, who doesn't fool around and can finish his cigarillo in a few Mighty Sucks.