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.