Category Archives: paint

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.”

stefen art, stefen mural art, broadway pet hospital, broadway pet hospital mural

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.

Claremont Hotel, Rockridge properties mural, stefen art

oakland mural art, stefen art mural, rockridge properties mural

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.

topiary, pet topiaries, pet topiary mural, stefen art mural

The topiaries are just wonderful. Nice work Stefen.

pet topiaries, pet topiary mural, stefen art mural, oakland mural art

Chaos Without ~ Peace Within

This one’s just down Broadway a few blocks from the last one, towards downtown. It’s unsigned, and unfortunately a little tagged up, but looks like the work of the same artists who did yesterday’s post. I love it.

I’m going to type out some of the beautiful quotes in case people have difficulty reading them in the pics… also then the text is searchable.  Here’s the first:

Hatred ever kills…
Love never dies…
Such is the vast difference between the two
What is obtained by love
is retained for all Time…

oakland mural, chaos without mural, mural on broadway

oakland mural, mural on broadway, oakland mural art, peace within mural

What is obtained by hatred
proves a burden in reality
For it increases hatred.

chaos within, peace without, oakland mural art

The duty of a human being
is to diminish hatred…
and to promote Love

~ Mohandas K. Gandhi

mohandas k. gandhi, mahatma gandhi, mural art, oakland mural

I was surprised that the quotes were attributed to Mohandas K. Gandhi, rather than Mahatma Gandhi. In looking it up, I realized that Mahatma was just his nickname… a Sanskrit word meaning “Great Soul.” I tell ya, I learn something new every day doing this. It’s humbling and exhilarating at the same time.

Another great work by the folks at Community Rejuvenation Project.

May all the beings in all the worlds become Happy…

Ok kids… so I’m going to continue the focus on murals for the next few days because:

  1. I am swamped with work and this writing stuff takes time
  2. The murals are so amazing they speak for themselves, so I don’t have to say much
  3. There are bunch of ’em in the Broadway and 40th vicinity we’ve been exploring lately

Here’s the next… it’s at the corner of Broadway and 49th, right in my old hood.  It kind of reminds me of the one I featured a couple weeks ago next to Ghost Town Farm… similar message of peace & happiness between all peoples, and an interesting mix of iconography… the moon, the earth, the sun, egyptian pharaohs, and the buddha… not to mention the classic graffiti style writing.  It’s pretty cool.

Oakland Mural at Broadway and 49th

The left side of the mural reads “Lokah Samasah Sukhino Bhavantu” which apparently is Sanskrit.
How do I know this? Google. Thanks Google! The phrase translates to the title of this post, which you will also see painted on the far right side of the mural.

lokah samasah sukhino bhavantu, Oakland Mural

lokah samasah sukhino bhavantu Mural

egyptian, oakland mural, lokah samasah sukhino bhavantu

The buddha depicted in the center looks almost female to me, resting on her lotus flower, floating above the Earth. The words “Infinite Potential” are painted across.

oakland mural, Infinite Possibility

oakland mural, community rejuvination project, broadway and 49th

As you can see here, the mural was created as part of a Community Rejuvenation Project by Little Village MAS students: Abicus, Daz, Dési, Fact, Jinx, and Raven. Nice work kids!

Oakland – California – U.S.A.

We Love Our Country Mural