Rock On. And Zapped!

Long Live Rock!  That's me at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.  It was a major stop on our big road trip, along with the Cleveland Museum of Art.  On the right in the picture you can see the slanted roof of the museum, these words are in the front plaza.  It's fun to wander through this museum, looking at all the videos and displays.  

Our favorite thing to do is to find the screens where you can listen to the top 100 songs from any one year and see the videos or film clips that go with them.  There are also special booths where you can listen to songs by groups/individuals that were what we call "a one-trick pony".  In other words, there was one hit song and never anything else significant produced by that group/individual.  Our favorite example is this song, which did wind up being appropriated by several other artists and used in a movie. You can't listen to it without feeling like you are in the 50's. If you were a boy you had sideburns, if you were a girl you were wearing a poodle skirt.

Zapped!  All I was doing was riding my bike and I'd stopped to look at the graffiti (above) by the side of the road and I was attacked!  He flew right onto my chin and inflicted major damage.  In this picture he looks a little small but honestly, he was about 2 feet long with a huge wingspan and an enormous stinger.  Susan inspected my wound when I got home, listened to my sad saga, and just then just picked up her newspaper and kept right on reading. A cold, cold woman. See if I decorate her hard-boiled eggs again!

Bump It Out

This pot stands about 12 inches high. I like the glaze effect I got but not the fact that it looks like a snake that swallowed a large frog.

Susan says it brings to mind this quote from A. A. Milne (the Winnie-the-Pooh author):

 

A bear, however hard he tries,

Grows tubby without exercise.

 

 

The latest in street art (aka Graffiti) as seen on my weekend bike rides.

 

 

Give-Away

 

Here's another Give-away near where I live. I'll leave it up to you to do your Google Earth deal - it's where the red car is, right at a bus stop. He was going to be another big Dude but wound up being an Anguished Man so it was time to set him free.

My favorite street-art/graffiti wall. It's been painted over so many times it could probably walk. The little tile piece is at the top left. If you aren't from the south just remember that "y'all" is the same as "you guys" but is gender neutral.

Latest Netflix movies: Lunchbox - 5 stars for creativity and because I had to have Susan explain that the ending really did resolve the Final Question of Did He? (If  you aren't sure, replay the first few minutes and then look at the ending again.) Her - 5 stars to Joaquin Phoenix and for eerie creativity. Bad Words - 5 stars for holding your attention, sappy ending but you kept wondering the next day what had been so horrible in the guy's childhood to make him such an evil yet strangely sympathetic character. The little kid was incredible.

Breaking News

My Blog Wrangler is, as usual, whining about the fact that I never do any of the work on the blog, never tell her what to say unless she pries it out of me, and never give her any pictures to work with. Never? Never? Maybe.

So I'll give her a break from our travel reporting and show you two little Squash pods I made, and that have already, warm from the kiln, been sold. Below are two new birdies. I've been trying to capture the feel of a baby bird, as opposed to an adult bird, and think I've pretty much got it on this one.

We continue to be amused by the fact that the city (or the railroad) keeps trying to paint this graffiti "canvas" clean. The little PacMen have been repainted numerous times. In the background is a new apartment building going up in downtown, oblivious to the fact that we have just been awarded the distinction of being #4 in the nation on the "Worst Traffic" list.

I'm A Bookie

Sort of. Actually I'm taking a class to learn how to make my own sketchbooks. That makes me a Bookmaker!  The white one is a strap book, the straps can come off and the cover lifts off and you can replace the block of white pages with fresh ones. The leather book is very manly. That's politely saying it looks like a Guy book.

We were in Houston recently and got some good shots of the building next to the Contemporary Craft Museum.

While we were there, Susan defied death once more by stopping in the middle of an intersection to take a picture of a Graffiti Man she spotted.  Her technique is to stop suddenly and yell at me "Tell me when the traffic starts up!" and then ignore me while she takes her picture. 

If you use Google Earth she said you can go here to see where she took the picture:
Latitude 29°43'32.55"N and  Longitude 95°23'22.84"W
I have no idea how to figure these out but I've been watching The Bridge on FX (pretty good but not as good as The Americans) and some brainy young kid knew exactly what numbers like that meant.

Here's to a New Year of Art

Graffiti that is gang tagging isn't art, it's just a signature. Graffiti that makes you smile or blink or look again isn't graffiti, it's Street Art. Sometimes Street Art is legitimate (as in permission granted) or sometimes it is not. Whatever. These images flashing by will make you think twice about art being just something you see in a museum.

Many years from now will these images be what people look at and say "This style of art was practiced in the early part of the century"?

Great website, great work: http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/

Have a safe and Happy New Year.

Graffiti Guy Again

The sharp eye of a Magpie spotted these Graffiti Guys.
Go here to see some others.

Graffiti Guys

Thanks to A New York Magpie's Eye, I have two more Graffiti Guys to add to my collection. The one on the top was spotted in New York City in Chelsea, the one below it was spotted at 34th and 10th Avenue.

The pictures above and below are reruns. The two guys are really the same one, photographed about a year apart, in front of the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.

This guy was spotted in Sommerville, MA, by a loyal blog reader.

People, keep your eyes open for Graffiti Guy!!!

Graffiti Guy Once Again

We have a new sighting of Graffiti Guy! The picture above came from Angela Cunningham and he was spotted in Davis Square in Somerville, MA. Congratulations, Angela, on your sharp eyes and thanks for the picture. He looks a little different now but it's still him. Blog Readers, be on the lookout for him!

Who is Graffiti Guy? I have no idea but we've spotted him ... correction: Susan has spotted him in New York City on 53rd St (seen in photo below in April 2008 and then again, looking a little bit worn down, in April 2009).

The last sighting (below) Susan made was on 17th Street in Washington DC in April 2009. Somehow she thinks having a camera up near your face makes traffic automatically stop for you as you stand in the street. Wrong.

Finally, who is Angela Cunningham? Go here to see some really cool stuff she has done and go here to see what I've said about her before. And, for a preview, here is sample of her work.

Washington DC - Another Graffiti Guy!

April 2009, Washington, DC

Does this guy look familiar? Did Susan get yelled at twice by cars full of people while she was standing in the middle of the street taking this picture? Did I ignore her when she said "Don't let anyone hit me!" when she ran out into the street? [Like I was going to throw my body in front of the cars? Not a chance. I believe in Equal Opportunity near-death experiences and it was her turn.] This picture was taken on 17h Street, at the north corner of the Corcoran Gallery, right across the street from The White House.

In case you forgot, here are the pictures from April 2008 and April 2009, on 53rd street in front of the American Folk Art Museum.

April 2008 <------------------> April 2009 (New York City)

Anybody else find the Graffiti Guy on their streets?

Taken inside the National Portrait Gallery

We left Washington DC, to head down to Hampton, Virginia, for Art and Soul. No pictures from that, we were both too busy to bother. When we left there we had to do a lot of zig-zagging to avoid nasty weather so we were really tired when we got home. After 23 days on the road and being together 24 hours a day, we were still talking to each other. Barely. I missed my naps. Susan missed her pillow. Home, sweet home.

Trick or Treat? A Two-for-One

Look closely. This artist is taking care of both Halloween and Valentine's Day at the same time.

Buddy Holly Glasses

About two months ago Susan asked me to take a picture of some street art (aka "Graffiti") near downtown while I was on my Sunday bike ride. It was just a pair of Buddy Holly glasses she said, very graphic and large (about 3 feet high) but on a railroad overpass near an intersection where there was construction and no place to stop a car .

Of course I forgot. ("I was listening, I just didn't remember.") When she brought it up again it was to tell me an eyeball had been added. And by the time I finally got around to taking the picture, the boys had been added. The next week it had been painted over by the construction crew.

Yesterday, driving through Zilker Park, Susan noticed this hanging from the trees and made me take her back today to get a picture. It looks like it's made of foamboard, is about 3 feet across and spins in the wind. She'd like to have gotten a better picture but traffic was crazy in the park so this is as close as we got.

I don't know who's doing this but I'm starting to look around more as I drive. However, Susan has been given strict orders to quit looking around so much as she drives. The only thing worse than a bad driver is a bad driver who's looking at stuff.


Late update: We took off on an errand. No sooner did we get down to Barton Springs Road when Susan spotted another set of glasses. Fortunately she wasn't driving. Who is doing all these?

Dispatch to LA

Susan: I made a trade promise: Three technique questions answered in exchange for posting three of my stencil graffiti pictures. I'm a big fan of clever Street Art (yeah, I know --it's really just rude graffiti, illegal, tagging, destructive, messy, yada yada yada) but I can't help it, I still like it. I promised three pictures but I'll give up four. Now Mary Ann of the fantastic Dispatch from Los Angeles blog owes me one.

The church graffiti was on a church and it was only about 2" high. The dancer was nearly life size, as was Balloon Man, who is definitely telling me a story about something very interesting. The last one I call Dumpty Man and he is saying "See what happens when you put lipstick on a pig!"