Work is busy busy busy, so you get a quickie today…
This clever bumper sticker made me smile. For those who don’t get the double reference, look here.
Winter showers bring…
Flowers!
Sunday’s break in the week long series of winter storms – which reminded us all that sunny seventy degree weather in January is NOT normal – inspired me to shoot the incredible variety of flowers that have sprung up in my yard recently. Most of ’em are small so I busted out my macro lens.
Just another installment of nature’s incredible artworks… like my Chasing Spiders post.
I was told this is a South African Daisy- very drought resistant
Rosemary on left; and unknown tiny purple star flowers on right (some kind of lily?)
Marigold: I rescued this plant from a crack in the driveway... I had no idea it would turn out so pretty!
on left is an aloe flower (I think) and to right is a mystery plant that sprung up in a pot of lilies, which have not yet flowered (anyone?)
These blossoms are from a tree that dumped a ton of tiny cherry-plums in the yard last year - I was told it's a "weed" tree!
on left is an iris plant moved from west Oakland; on right are geraniums that amazingly bloom all year long
Our neighborhood has a lot of camelias... must have been fashionable years ago. Sort of reminds me of Los Angeles...
Lovely calla lily
not sure what's on left (anyone?); on right is a flower from one of my succulents
I'd never heard of Euphorbia before moving into this home, but we have a variety of these South African plants
Another type of Euphorbia... these plants are super drought-resistant
Snowdrops - these were some of the first blooms of the year... popped up all over the yard.
Alstroemeria - we have big clumps of these in pink, orange, and red. They mostly flower through the summer and are great for cut flower arrangements, but this lone flower sprouted early.
I have no idea what this is. It produces big flat heads of flowers, sort of like Queen Anne's Lace, but yellow. Anyone?
Another plum tree, but these plums are bigger!
Not sure what's on left, flowers are shaped like Monkey-flower bush but are fuschia colored; on right is a highly invasive weed (I've been told) and I've ripped much of it out, but I really love the tiny clusters of pink flowers
I think this is called a daisy tree (or shrub) - it's a pretty big perennial, covered in tiny flowers.
another view of south african daisy on left; blooming lavender on right
This plant was faring terribly - I was told it's called Poor Man's Rhododendron and was in too sunny of a spot. I moved it into the shade and it's much happier!
WHEATPASTES!!
Well, I was gearing up to move on from the whole street art thing I’ve been doing for the past week or so, but then I watched Exit Through the Gift Shop. I know it came out like a year ago, but lamely I had yet to see it…
All I can say was it was fascinating. Both from the perspective of traveling along with the likes of Shephard Fairey, Banksy, and others during their nighttime escapades… the sheer scale of which, at times, are mind-boggling. But also following the invention of Mr. Brainwash and his ability to completely infiltrate the conventional art scene with a little PR and a lot of hype, ultimately duping collectors into paying sh*t-tons of money for his seemingly inane pieces of rehashed pop-street-“art,” if you can call it that. I can’t figure out if the guy’s an idiot or a genius. But this article in the Economist (Con or can do) poses that his real success may lie in ability as a performance artist above all else…
In any case, right after watching the movie, I came across these large wheatpastes by three different artists…
I love this sleepy owl! The scale of it is quite impressive… I’m assuming it was a smaller sketch that was blown up during reproduction. The girl below seems to be the same artist.
Here’s a new one by Get Up I hadn’t seen yet… It’s hard to tell from these pics but this one is larger than life… maybe 10 ft tall?
The one below looks to be a hand-drawn original and includes the words (and image) “Get on the Good Foot”. Makes me wonder if this artist has any relation to the KALX DJ The Good Foot who starts off every set list with James Brown’s “Get on the Good Foot.” Good stuff…
STENCILS!!
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