COLORS OF INSPIRATION WINDY CITY'S 'GRANDPA PHIL' PICKS UP A PAINTBRUSH AND LEARNS TO LOVE HIS ART.

Byline: - Mike Chmielecki

Phil Luckerman, known as ``Grandpa Phil'' in his native Chicago, started painting in 1985, at the age of 74. His watercolors include scenes of Rogers Park near his Chicago home, as well as an elevated transit station, a bird-filled pier and apartments receding up the street.

``I call my work inspirational painting,'' Luckerman says. ``At no time before 1985 did I have an incentive or need to paint. I had no art instruction.

I was just inspired, like the writer who writes or the singer who sings. It came sudden-like, and left just as sudden.''

He had a near-photographic memory when it came to painting. Luckerman admits to only a few times when he'd have to return to a scene to look at birds, buildings or beaches. Otherwise, he took in a scene, went home and painted it exactly as he remembered it.

Luckerman stopped painting five months after he started, ending up with 11 paintings, which he displayed at the Rogers Park Historical Society and Museum. Since moving to Arleta five months ago, Luckerman has been exhibiting his work at Valley View Retirement North (9120 Woodman Ave., Arleta; 818-893-7846), where he lives.

AGE: 89. ``But when people see me, I'm usually referred to as about 71,'' he says.

RESIDENCE: Arleta

SECRETS TO STAYING YOUNG: ``One has to be conscious of diet and exercise. I do think it's definitely important to have an upbeat spirit, and also to have some faith. ... There are forces around us, yet we are still responsible for our lives. And when you do get the blues or depressed, try to get rid of them. See yourself putting these thoughts into a bag and putting them into a garbage can.''

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Phil Luckerman's artwork portrays his Chicago neighborhood and is on display at the retirement home in Arleta where he lives.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer