And now for something completely different…

Well… a little different.  We’re still looking at murals in the Temescal/Piedmont Broadway vicinity, but this one has a distinctively different style.  We’ve seen this artist before… most recently on the flip side of this very building, in my Delightful and Disturbing post, with his “Promenade at Lake Merritt.”

The artist is Stefen, a self-taught painter who specializes in large murals, frequently on pet hospitals… go figure.

This one portrays a historical view of the Oakland hills. You can see the Claremont Hotel in the upper left. This historic hotel was constructed in 1915, so we get a clue as to the period displayed.

Aside from a few wooden structures, one which appears to be horse stables, there’s really not much else developed yet.

Below you can see a Hollywood type sign in the hills that reads “ROCK RIDGE PROPERTIES.” Does anyone know if this sign really existed?

There’s a wonderful neo-realism in all of Stefen’s pet paintings… the wild creatures of the Sierras in his Montclair mural, animals strolling the Lake Merrit promenade as people, or here… with pets displayed as shrubbery. I love that word.

The topiaries are just wonderful. Nice work Stefen.