2nd Semester here we goooo!

        Okay, bigggg breath!!! Finally finishing my last exam for an amazing class on street art and fashion today! Woohoo! After that I'll be able to get back to all of you on city life, sunny days, and what's new of course. Just to hopefully send you all off on as great a day as I'm having here's a picture of the AMAZING Giardini Margherita (Gardens) where I got to happily run and frolic like a little puppy this morning. Here's to Mondays!!!
      ..... I know, I know.... this is probably the first time in my life I've ever said that too.....  :)

A Little California Street Art

Wrapping up this project on Street Art, I wanted to put in some images of amazing works around San Francisco and Oakland, two hot-spots for graffiti and art. Here they are!

Oakland, CA

Oakland, CA

Wall Murals:

Detail, "Carnevale" Wall Mural Mission District, SF

"Picnic" Wall Mural  by Mary Holman, SF

Detail of the "Culture and Crossroads" mural

 -decorating a wall of the McDonalds on 24th and Mission, SF

Round Two!

Hi everyone! Here are some more images that I thought were cool to add to my collection for this street art project!

The neatest door. Ever.

While walking around the city one week I found what I considered my favorite door in the city. Besides the fact that it related to my Street Art project, it was also simply.... YELLOW! However, after about two weeks of not walking by it habitually, I came to find an entirely different one in it's place! Same door, very different design.

 

Project Recyclable Plants...

And just when I thought I had seen it all, while walking through a corridor here in Bologna I found... a plastic bush! Eco-friendly and never needing water, someone had installed it as an art piece related to the nearby gallery.

Detail 

 

Ingenious recycled cans used as place-holders at a local restaurant. This image and the second one, being a small flier, both show how sometimes all we need is a pen (or crayon) to make something uniquely ours. :)

Art and Street Work from Italy

 

        Hi everyone! Some of the most amazing things that have caught my eye here in Italy include amazing street art and store decorations. The aspect that has become so fun to search for is finding just exactly where anyone can stick their art! Even advertisements in store windows and particular print styles on purses or backpacks add originality to something that is mass produced.


      Something that I am particularly interested in is how art can be used to advertise. Obviously, this happens evvvverywhere on Earth, but a lot of times we can find a really beautiful piece that we enjoy simply on its own... without needing to purchase anything. Bright colors often do the trick, but the most important thing is being creative enough to use them in new and original ways.

        While walking through the city, numerous store fronts and retractable doors have really amazing pieces of artwork painted on them. This clock, even though it stressed me out, was a really great find, and when walking around the city at the perfect time in the city, this door had been lowered while the other shops around remained open. Needless to say, it made for an awesome effect with this being the only piece of art standing out from graffiti along the street!



         The two images below were fun to take. Immediately looking at them while wandering around some store fronts, they were just objects set among others on display. The colorful, and beautiful backpack was with other school related objects, but this one was the only one with such vibrant colors and great design that I liked. Taking a picture of just the backpack, I realized that it changed the entire context of the image. The bag no longer looks like one small piece in a large display, but became a piece of art itself because I took interest in it as art. The same happened for the last image in this blog, advertising designer shoes in Via dell'Indipendenza. The attention of any viewer was mainly on the shoes displayed for sale, but while looking for something interesting to photograph, this advertisement ended up being amazing on it's own, especially with the looks on the young womens' faces. With big boots and earth-tone clothing the image itself was more tranquil than any of the various shoes on display; it was nice to see! 

A day in the life...

Hey there followers! Walking around the narrow, winding streets and the large, expansive piazze of Italian cities inevitably requires, as usual…. A camera!

Here are just a few of the day’s shots with some cool street art, the prettiest bicyclist I have ever seen and of course, a coffee break! Here’s to inspiration  in every form! Have a great weekend!

 

Shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes, shoes, poster......

Venice and Mass Consumption

What better place to explore artistic objects than Venice? For the photo series I wanted to explore how objects are sold as art or cultural property, especially with store windows full of anything you could ever dream of. Of course there are many, many beautiful things, but I couldn't help but get overwhelmed when simply browsing through things! With these pictures I was trying to share how I felt while walking down the streets of the city. While a single person may only want to purchase one thing, the variety and selection available in the stores made for an adventurous photo-taking session. A store in its own way can be artistic, and showing differences between one or two photographed objects and a whole flurry of things pushes us to wonder which one we prefer.

Street Art in Advertisements

A cool piece of art that can be seen off of Via dell'Indipendenza here in Bologna. It was applied using wheat paste, which is the process that I based my own street-art project on. Using any particular kind of starch, even flour or rice and water, you get.... glue! With just a few layers, any piece can stick to the chosen surface. Pieces of art can cover just one small area, such as this one, or entire walls. The choice is yours, try it! (And no, it's not illegal, no criminals here) :)

 One of the coolest uses of street art and design that I've seen yet in Bologna! This little store called "Pekora Nera" is the first one that has a street-art related logo on the inside of their shop. 

The world's greatest door handle, and something that favors design over function!! Who ever said we had to be practical?! Some of the stores in Bologna end up being the most artistic and creative places in the city. What's new and inventive often attracts attention, and it's interesting to see how retail, art, design, and consumption can all interrelate.

The hand drawn self portrait of a Maori chief's tattoos as an advertisement for a local tattoo parlor! I actually studied body-art and decoration at UCSC. Seeing a familiar and such unusual image 5,000 miles away from home is amazing!

Example #2! The exact same design in a different tattoo parlor of Bologna. It's exciting to see how something that was once so diverse and even frightening can be turned into an advertisement for local shops. What was once done out of morbid curiosity is now a new means of creativity and self expression.

Below are several examples of fliers for local bands, events, and films. While picking up at least a dozen of these every week around the city, I realized that I enjoyed looking at them more than actually reading them. As the fliers are used to catch someone's attention quickly, most of them happen to be amazing little pieces of art all on their own. Whether with catchy graphics, hand drawn images, or new patterns, they can prove to be just influential as something more permanent on the street. After all, most of the street art that is created isn't meant to last forever, that's the beauty of the entire process. There will always be more creativity, more artists, and more spaces to cover. Why not start with the art that we actually get to handle every day? The fliers also proved useful in my eco- fashion project, for after photographing those which I liked most, they were then used to make an environmentally friendly jewelery collection. Pretty cool, huhhh?? :)

Dedicated to a great friend!

Now, as we can all imagine, when it comes to women and  the idea of shopping in groups, there is no such thing as a 15 minute sweep of any store! Running off of caffeine and hormones, we usually tend to like dressing our friends or playing stylist for the day.

That said, I'm doing a day and night look for my amazing friend Julie, who is always combing the isles of H&M with us for the next perfect piece. Coupling light, feminine fabrics or prints with tough-looking jackets or blazers are always an awesome combination.

Here's to you girl! Dawwwwww. xoxo... Gossip Girl...(KIDDING!) :)

Day

 

Rose Shoes, White Blouse, Black Straight Ankle Paints:
H&M
Sunglasses:
Ray-Ban Online

Denim 3/4 Sleeve Jacket:

TOPSHOP

Necklace:
Urban Outfitters

Night

                                            

      

Gold Wedges:
DSW Shoes
Green Twist Clutch and Biker Jacket:

TOPSHOP

Rose Dress:
H&M

Shade The Pretty Face!

What better way is there to step out on the streets in the beginning of  Spring than with new SUNGLASSES?

• 1.         They cover up any “I-slept-in-my-makeup-last-night” faces

• 2.          They draw attention to the upper portion of your body

• 3.          There’s so many funky styles, why not?!

Check out these fun examples from FredFlare.com, $14 each!