I am all for museums and masterpieces, and I appreciate the impressive works donated to public spaces by the luminaries whose names grace the pages of Art in America. But I also appreciate unsung creators of public art like this whimsical palm tree mural on the wall behind the G&M Food Mart and gas station. What could have been just another beige building is, instead, a happy canvas. Isn't it fun?
Friday, January 2, 2009
Everyday Art...
I am all for museums and masterpieces, and I appreciate the impressive works donated to public spaces by the luminaries whose names grace the pages of Art in America. But I also appreciate unsung creators of public art like this whimsical palm tree mural on the wall behind the G&M Food Mart and gas station. What could have been just another beige building is, instead, a happy canvas. Isn't it fun?
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18 comments:
I hope you have a fantastic 2009, may you stumble across many more palm trees in your travels!
Sunshine Coast Daily - Australia
It's early in the morning of a New Year and I am greeted by palm tree art on the front of a store. How lovely not to waste this vast canvas and hooray for the artist. Art is where you find it and I think it finds you, Laurie. May health and happiness prevail for you and your family for this, the New Year. I feel blessed to be a part of your blog family. It is so much fun.
Laurie, murals are a great way to dress up a cityscape. We have a few cities around here that have turned them into tourist attractions.
Oh, Happy New Year --best of wishes
When I firt looked at your photo, I thought they were real and my thought was "how did they get them so close to the building". You are so right, they make a huge difference.
I've seen the radio towers that are dressed up as palms, but I've never seen palm murals like this. Interesting! And I'm sure the grocery appreciates having some palms that don't require insurance against falling fronds that injure children and old ladies. ;o)
If it looks real or almost real, and these do, I'd call it trompe l'oeil. Of course you'd have to be back a ways to be tricked by these.
I don't know how it's done but I admire the ability to create large scale images like these.
I've just glanced at the temperature (50º) in SoPas.
I hope you have your toque on Laurie.
This mural makes me feel silly-happy, as if I made a milk run and accidentally ended up in Toonville. With art like this on the building, Roger Rabblt must be right around the corner.
What DO you SoPas citizens have in your drinking water... and can you bottle it??!!
You have gotten me looking and seeing palm trees everywhere I never noticed before. ha ha
I'm big fan of using big blank walls as canvas.
Happy New Year to you and your family, Laurie.
This is a great way to dress up a drab building. There's a several story old building in downtown Los Angeles that used to be next to another tall building that has since been torn down resulting in a huge, blank wall. The building owners painted windows that matched the existing windows on the bare, including window washers at one of the windows. I wonder how many people have driven by wondering why the window washers were always working on the same window.
This So Pas building has an interesting history. It's solid concrete and originally housed some form of manufacturing. It's next life was as a storage facility. The firm that is going to build the South Pasadena redevelopment project bought this building several years ago and turned into residential lofts. I watched the renovation and sale of the 16 or so units. They did a high quality job and the lofts are nice, if you don't mind not having a yard to play in. The way that the developers took an old, run down building and turned into nice housing, and also created a whimsical piece of art where a blank wall stood bodes well for what we'll see in the redevelopment project.
Very cool!
Hmmm. We have no palms in NYC. Guess graffiti will have to do...
I looked at the tag on a palm in a nursery today. It said the Mediterranean Fan Palm is okay down to 6 degrees Fahrenheit! This wall is much improved by the art.
I guess anything will cheer up such a drab looking building.
I love Palms
I love street art, as it were. Nothing beats a fledgling artist (or even a famous one) displaying their creativity on an otherwise spance of nothing concrete or stucco. Those trees are GREAT!!!
Hey kids,
Happy new year to all of you I haven't visited yet in 2009!
And welcome bitingmidge!
Dbdubya, thank you for filling us in on the history of these great trees! I was wondering about the building, as well. I'm excited to see how the downtown revitilization project comes together. I've looked at the plans in great detail and I'm very excited about the direction.
Wayne, I'm in my parka right now!
Yak, I do think these look like toon town... and that makes me love them even more.
Elaine, a freezing-temp palm tree? Is this a palm to be planted when hell literally freezes over? :-) Ah, those botanical geniuses and their mad science labs...
Thanks for all the great comments today, everyone. Until tomorrow...
where you come from!
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