If you like to clean grime from old city walls, you too can create “reverse graffiti” murals as coined by the street artist Paul Moose Curtis, the self=proclaimed “professor of dirt.” Of course you have to have the artistic vision and it doesn’t hurt to have talent. He creates huge (140 feet or so) mural templates or indigenous plants are first that are cut out with jigsaws, then placed over a dirty wall and blasted clean through the openings, which leaves a magical image among the grimy backdrop. You just may get in trouble with the authorities for doing it, however, as he’s been arrested for his beautiful artwork.
Reverse graffiti mural by Paul "Moose" Curtis via SmartPlanet
Here’s an interesting video that explains the artist’s creative process for the “Reverse Graffiti Project” that SmartPlanet includes with their post on this subject. I like the music.
He mentions that his murals give the realization that the world is just a dirty place but then he couldn’t create his murals as he does without the dirt. Unlike the Alexandre Farto who sandblasts his murals into walls, these murals are only permanent by how clean they stay.
This post was set to draft and never posted last week – so it is now the post for this week…After my last post regarding collaboration of collective art media and initiatives that generate positive public art, I was inspired to think more holistically in my blogging approach. It is not the quantity, well sometimes it is in the blogosphere where it can be only about the SEO rankings, but the quality of posts generated. After reaching over 500 posts — this is my 512th — I’ve decided to cut back to one post a week. I realize this is bucking the trend of posting more not less but time, mental health, my other business and my family are all more important. It takes quite a chunk of time to write blog posts and I’ve been doing this since 2008, so no fly-by-night here, but with more things needing my attention, there is just so much time to be able to spread my self any thinner. I had thought about ending this blog altogether, although, I have always received enjoyment from writing it, in particular due to the discovery of all the new things out there each day. I would never be able to post all of the 60 pages of 12 entries on each that I’ve collected to write about over the years. Some of them, although interesting, are out of date, needless to say.
This is the end of the month and start of a new fall season so it seems an appropriate time to switch my posts to Wednesday’s Once a Week. I’ll still keep reporting on all of the same topics, Murals and Kick Starting the Weekend won’t go away but they will share the post time and will most certainly alternate with other subjects. That is what this blog is about — many subjects with Art being Everywhere.
On this note, I saw this sculpture by Segun Aiyesan and thought about the past meeting present and it seemed to sum up my state of mind. Blogging has been an education – always reflecting on what has come before in relation to what is new and there is joyfulness within the search, correlation and discovery. I thought this interview on Next with the artist was quite interesting to learn that he was self taught, coming from an engineering background and to learn about his creative process and what inspires and drives him to create art. Learning about this from other artist’s perspectives gives introspective insight that is always enlightening and often inspirational to me.
Segun Aiysean's sculpture
Michelangelo's Creation of Man
You see the reference right? On a humorous note, I’ve been saving this mural below and can’t resist posting now….and how cyclical it is. This mural, a spoof on God’s Gift to Woman, is by Studio Vertu, as described here on The Huffington Post, and painted in Cincinnati (see last post, where this one started).
George Clooney as God's Gift to Woman painted by Studio Vertu in Cincinnati
Now you know what is weird about this trail, is it leads me really full circle, back to my decorative art business. I’ve been following this group for their Fresco Wall™ technology, where a mural can be commissioned and ordered as a portable fresco to install — either permanently or with Velco®. This has been interesting to me ever since I first learned about it over a year ago in my Faux Finisher magazine, which has since stopped publishing. I’ve been following because it generalizes the same concept of my decorative painting being transferred to a wallcovering substrate that is independent of the wall and in my case, removable and reusable, Casart coverings. We’ve gone one step further in being able to also customize the work.
I can’t leave this without sharing recommended readings for the following: 1) Blogging is Big Business (2008 / WTAE.com) — where the state of blogging started (when I began) to although not saying goodbye yet but cutting back, and Saying Goodbye (ArtTalk – Chicago, 2009), which states some great parting sentiments regarding art reviews from writer Kathryn Born – well worth reading.
Finally what you’ve all been waiting for, a little music to Kick Start Your Weekend (and in this case, your week, as this is posting late ) — a collective One Love by Bob Marly by various artist around the world through the effort Playing for Change.
It’s pretty inspirational to me to see projects that come together based on innovation, talent and public participation.
When I first saw this mural, I thought I recognized the unique stylistic hand of C.F. Payne, one of my favorite contemporary illustrators, but with all the scaffolding in front and even with the resource post, Mural, mural on the wall by Soapbox Media, it seemed unclear and I wasn’t sure I understood. After several reads now I see, or at least I think I understand the background and how it has come together.
Singing Mural by CF Payne - Photo by Scott-Beseler of Social Media
This Singing Portrait Mural is by C.F. Payne, who’s not known as a muralist, but MuralWorks in Cincinnati (a public art sub-branch of ArtWorks) has painted it in collaboration and according to C.F. Payne’s illustration. This is what I like about ArtWorks’ MuralWorks program:
ArtWorks employs teen and professional artists to work side-by-side with communities to transform our region. Since MuralWorks began in 2007, ArtWorks has painted 34 murals in 25 neighborhoods in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Your neighborhood can be next!
Here’s a little secret — they even hold Secret Artist Events called Secret ArtWorks. The next one is November 18 but wait, you can attend the best of all their past Secret ArtWorks events on October 6 at their MasterWorks event.
The other part of this collaboration was in in relation to JR, a street artist who won the 2011 TED award with his international Inside Out idea to get everyone and anyone involved in art by submitting their portraits, in which they would receive posters on which they were printed and they would then paste the posters in a public area in order to be a part of the public art, global community project. The teen artists painting C. F. Payne’s Singing Portrait Mural for MuralWorks participated in Inside Out with their own portraits that they had pasted on the wooden planks surrounding the scaffolding on which they were working to paint the mural.
INSIDE OUT is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Upload a portrait. Receive a poster. Paste it for the world to see.
I like this idea but I do not consider individual photographic portraits pasted to singular spots in public spaces as murals. They are more like pin-up posters or similar to something you could see as billboard advertisements in Times Square. However, I did a post on JR and the strategic placements of large scale photographic portraits that he uses in his own work is different in how they are used collectively to transform an entire village or community or public space and it’s people is truly remarkable. No wonder JR is the winner of the 2011 TED Prize.
From the streets of Paris, where he started to the heart of the Middle East conflict to Brazil and Cambodia, here are a few of his works from the latter location. The changing eyes on the train is brilliant.
This is where “street art” can be powerful and leaves a lasting impression long after the artwork is gone.
The second part of this two-part post about two artists who stood out among the crowd at Old Town Alexandria’s Art Festival.
Part 2 - Jim Roberts does Gyotaku = Japanese for Fish (gyo) + Rubbings (taku). He had a large triptych that I wish I had photographed of what looked like a large grouper. It was wonderful and was printed on handmade rice paper.
Jim Roberts, Gytoaku print starts with a fresh catch, in this case grouper
Perhaps you may remember doing fish prints at camp? Well, this takes it to whole new level and scale (no pun intended). What I like most about his prints are actually seeing the scales. This brings reality to the artistic print that can’t be overlooked. It adds character to the print that would not exist without the subject. In this sense, you can fish for your dinner in a double way — both immediate and with the future purchase of prints.
The Gyotaku print
Jim Roberts, book on Gyotaku
Not all of his prints are black and white or monochromatic. I love these colors in his fish prints below and the movement of water suggested with the ink or paint used in the process.
Jim Roberts, Yellowtails Rising, Gyotaku
Jim Roberts, Rainbow-Trout, Gyotaku
I’m partial to blue and green myself.
Jim Roberts, In the Zone, Gyatoku
Radiohead’s new music upload, Mrs Magpie – Modeselektor RMXto Kick Start the Weekend is below. They are appearing as Saturday Night Live’s musical guest this coming weekend to kick off their new fall season. It will be interesting to hear what, if any, of these new songs or remixes that they might play. Their music has been heading in a dubstep direction. Here’s a pretty fascinating video from alberito80 to help visually explain, as it mixes this electronic music style with fine art masterpieces. See if you can recognize some of the paintings. Here is some of Radiohead’s newer music.
Lotus Flower (+ disjointed dancing that a bit disconcerting if not mesmerizing to watch).
Supercolider, which I like and has some meditative repetitiveness that is more typical of their older music.
Who said, “Things come to those who are patient,” and I’ll add persistent? Just like these 3-d brick murals, brick by brick by brick and the amount of patience involved in the production and details for it all to add up to create a large mural, some positive press mentions are coming our way. I’ll get to that in a moment but for now, here are some three-dimensional brick murals and a few followups to note, where time and patience is evident and pays off.
Meade Bank Oak Tree Mural by Mara Smith, in Brandenburg, KY
River City Bank Derby Theme Brick Mural by Mara Smith
Detail of River City Bank Mural by Mara Smith
Mara Smith works on brick mural
Artist Mara Smith working on preparatory designs for brick mural
2) Detroit has Brixels. ArtCorpsDetroit is a public art foundation via Wayne State University that addresses abandoned spaces and how they can be refurbished using art in public education programs. In this case, existing bricks were painted using paint donated by Sherwin Williams and the geometric design was painted by volunteers.
brixels = combination of bricks and pixels mural by ArtCorpsDetroit
3) Shepard Fairey may need to move over because Alexandre Farto, the Portuguese street artist (Vhills) about whom I had previously blogged has been tapped by Cincinnati to produce some public art murals as well as by Levi’s to be a part of their ad campaign “Go Forth”, in Berlin to carve portraits of four Berliners who exhibit the pioneering spirit. Maybe it was this video that caught their attention. This shows a little bit of his creative production in using mini explosions to create his murals….Just remember to stand back.
Lucky for us we have Chris Stegner’s account and visual pictorial reference of Vihlls revealed and in action creating his Cincinnati portrait. Usually he takes pictures of signs on buildings after they are created but he had just happened to run into Vihlls creating his. How fortunate.
Getting back to some good news mentioned at the onset. Check out this post over at Slipcovers for your Walls and just like Farto’s portrait creations, just when you’re unsure of all the hard work, all is revealed once there.
Ahh, its’s now a work week again and I’m still thinking of memories of the beach, wishing we could have that relaxed pace all year long. But alas, we’ll just have to reflect on these times that help make vacations all the more appreciated. Meanwhile, here are some stunning beach photos that will leave a lasting impression.
Light painting on Britain’s beaches by Jamie Wardley from the UK’s Daily Mail.
Next time you’re burning a bonfire, you may want to consider this beautiful and sculptural Beach Burner by John T. Unger.
Firebowl by John T. Unger
Firebowl by John T. Unger
There are a lot of songs I could use to Kick Start the Weekend with this post but Starlight by Muse seems a fitting way to put a sunset on the beach scene until the next vacation.
Happy Labor Day!!…It was nice to see TBD, (all over washington) blog pop up in my alerts for murals with their post “The Perks of Being a Wallflower“. They posted 20 photos of murals in DC some of which I’ve mentioned before and others I have fond memories of, such as this one from Chief Ike’s Mombo Room, which is still on our list of dance places to check out when the gumption gets us out dancing that is. This photo must have been taken during off hours because normally this place is packed with dancers shakin’ their groove things to cool 70′s + music.
I’ve written about this fantastic mosaic mural in National Harbor by Cheryl Foster. I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t have my camera to take pictures of it when I saw it the first time. I love that the artist used actual crab shells and other Chesapeake touch-and-feel items to really give recognition to the theme. The counter facing mural on the opposite side is just as well done and I think I even like it better. I’ll have to go back just to get that picture.
I’ve seen this mural many times in Georgetown and it always delights.
Check out TBD for the other 17 murals as well as many other articles, like the very humorous Funniest videos yet of Hurricane Irene. Also don’t forget Art Around Us and Mural Locator, also on my blogroll for other examples of public art in DC and around the world that you can help document.
Post Irene and while writing this I’m not sure where I’ll be. On vacation, finally, or stuck working still?….As I write this with an hour upon the big bands of 85 mile winds approaching that have caused 20,000 people to lose power in Virginia, I’m not sure if power will still be on in the morning. But, at least I can envision signs of rainbow — hoping all will be well.
Here are views that you may be seeing “after the storm” captured in a Morning Drive by watercolorist landscape painter and illustrator,Nick Swift, who I’ve just added to my blogroll. He has an interesting background being partially color blind that brings extra fascination to his work. He also has an instructive painting demo that show the process of his work. I’m intrigued with the artist’s creative process.
I also like his shells, which I hope to be collecting by the time this post is published. I love beachcombing in the early hours before any ones else is awake and the beach gets crowed — and I’m NOT a morning person but this gets me up.
But I hope I’ll be seeing signs of a rainbow by this time too:
1) Rainbow Door to Paradise by Agnieszka Cuprys from Poland (designboom).
2) A Rainbow “house” stairs by Ab Rogers and DA Studio (modern house deco).
3) Plexus no. 8 by Gabriel Dawe is lovely and reminds me of a translucent rainbow (St. Louis Riverfront Times).
4) and even Rainbow Sheep — now that’s really seeing rainbows (moonbattery).
Better be careful where you step when viewing Motoi Yamamoto’s sculptural artwork. He is the Japanese artist who creates elaborate and incredibly large detailed mazes made of salt.
Motoi Yamamoto salt maze via fastcodesign
This sculpture below uses 2,200 pounds of salt that is carefully distributed from the back corner moving forward as to not disturb the groundwork. I was touched by his personal reason for using salt in his creations. His sister died of a brain tumor and he uses salt to honor her memory, as salt in Japan is symbolic for purification and mourning. It must take a meditative state to have patience over 50 hours and 5 days to create such artistic labors of love.
Once the exhibit is finished, Yamamoto encourages viewers to take the sand and redistribute it elsewhere like the sea or the soil or where it will aid in nutrients for new life.
Motoi Yamamoto Salt Maze via fastcodesign
Motoi Yamamoto Salt Maze via fastcodesign
Yamamoto’s work brings a whole other level to Japanese style rake work, which is what his work reminds me of, in Zen gardens.
Japanese Zen garden via gaia landscape design
Perhaps a painted crab shell, a salty creature that probably could adeptly meander through this maze and ties in Monday’s aquatic sea-life murals to salt, might be a worthy prize for such an accomplishment.
Tom Matarazzo's painted crab shell via Baltimore Sun
I have collected some crab shells, but for their natural beauty. Who knew they could become an artist’s canvas. Strangely interesting.
I have forgotten about how much I like Pure Cult’s song when I came across She Sells Sanctuary in my search for music to Kick Start the Weekend. The title reminded me of children’s rhyme She Sells Seashells….
Serge Toussaint Water Mural via Miami New Times blog
Side note: You can take Miami’s graffiti murals tour on vespas if you like.
Miami-graffiti-mural-vespa-tour via Seatle PI
While your touring around in Capitola-Soquel, CA, take notice of the traffic signal boxes. They are painted by Bruce Harman in underwater sea life themes.
Bruce Harmon's painted traffic signals via Capitola-Soquel Patch. Photos Maria Grusauskas
Oregon may not be known for its murals but this underwater ocean view is quite nice.
ICM Seafood Restaurant mural web via Suislaw News in Florence, Oregon
This ocean mural landscape was painted for the lobby of Lowry Pediatrics in Denver by Kamala and friends Alan Klemm and Whitney. What a great fantastical surrounding this makes for kids coming into the doctor’s office. I would think it would help distract them from why they are there.
sea-mural-panorama by Kamala
What a fabulous mural by Douglas and Mallori Rouse at the Warehouse restaurant in Colorado Springs. I like how those penguins are swimming jet-stream style right toward you.
Underwater-mural-Douglas Rouse via Colorado Springs Indy blog
Murals in Port Orchard, Washington are a public treasure trove.
Port Orchard Murals via Ronb(o)log
This group of orcas by the late Jack Champayne in Bandon, Oregon, makes me think of Wyland and how he may have had some competition.
Orca Whales painted by Jack Champayne via Bandon Western World
These sea turtles in the surf murals painted by Michelle Obregon make you think of Hawaii, maybe because they are in Kailua-Kona-Honu, Hawaii.
Hawaii-Kailua-Kona-Honu mural by Michelle Obregon via Roadtrip America
I really like these realistically painted murals in the Muskegon’s Wesley School by Dorv MacLaren, who painted the school’s 40-foot ocean themed mural. The students can get a biology lesson without leaving the building. These are beautifully painted and Dorv has is own website where you can see the entire mural by clicking on the last Under the Ocean photo link below.
Under the Ocean Mural by Dorv MacLaren via Paint Arranger
