Tag: art

On Today’s Walk: Surprise Fence Art

We are still staying at the hotel in the town where my in-laws live. This morning, the hubs and I ventured over to a nearby residential area for our walk.

It was a nice little neighborhood, with mostly standard ranch homes. Several houses were decorated for Christmas or in the process of being adorned.

And then we rounded the corner to the sight of surprise butterflies painted on a privacy fence. What a delight, brightening up the street!

Privacy fence with monarch butterflies and caterpillars painted on sections.

You never know where you’ll find art waiting to be discovered.

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On Today’s Walk: More Neighborhood Art

Hey, look! I’m back. Soon, I’ll post about what has consumed my time the past several months, but today I want to show everyone some more little art around my neighborhood. I live in such a creative community, I find new pieces around the area all the time in my perambulations.

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Old wooden cabinet, blue and green, with two plants, a fake skull topped by a fake spider, some pick-up sticks, and miniature people.
This is very near my house. The display changes occasionally.

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hexagonal stepping stone with purple iris
Purple iris are in the running for my favorite flower, maybe because my mother loved them. Naturally, I like this stepping stone.

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Water pipe sticking up from ground, painted like a lighthouse with blue and black stripes.
If you must have a pipe sticking up in your yard, might as well turn it into art.

Get outside for a while if you can. It’s a good place to be.

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On Today’s Walk: Artfully Decorated

I haven’t made a “Today’s Walk” post in a while, but I talked my son into going on a three-mile excursion this morning. We decided to explore some streets we don’t usually cover in our walks and found a little pocket of houses that must be inhabited by artists. It was a delightful discovery.

Found object (?) yard art:

Yard with three small tower-like objects constructed from a variety of found objects, many of them glass vases or lamp shades. Some of the vases contain objects - doll head, ceramic cat. In background is a detached garage colorfully painted with a sunburst design on the door. Three large black balls are stacked pyramid style in the foreground.
Two arrangements of found objects into small towers in a yard. Both mounted on what appear to be bird feeder pedestals. One is topped with a large plastic or rubber doll head and the other with a black ceramic animal of some sort.
Yard art in the form of a small tower of found objects. White possibly ceramic pedestal with glass vase, plate and glass lamp with.

A colorful little free library.

A little free library, wooden red container with the words "offline reads" painted in white, mounted on teal post. A plastic yellow spinning flower is in the ground next to it.

And even more colorful garage doors:

Two side-by-side garage doors painted in squares of several vibrant colors. The surrounding house walls are shades of purple.

I really need to up my game at home.

Happy Labor Day!

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On Today's Walk: Artistic Expression

Did a two-mile afternoon stroll this afternoon, under cloudy skies this time. I found some interesting art. People find all sorts of ways to be creative.

I’m drawn to rocks and rock balancing. It looks like someone had fun in the woody area next to their house.

A few more blocks and I found this:

The same yard contained an eye-catching rainbow pinwheel.
https://youtu.be/ATNdMKN8VSE

You don’t always need expensive or complicated supplies to create art that speaks to others.

Public Art

After visiting Chicago, and particularly Millenium Park, this past summer, I started thinking a lot about public art. I decided I have an opinion on the subject. I’m strongly in favor of public art, for a lot of the same reasons I’m in favor of public libraries. Information and literature and music and visual art should be available to everyone, not reserved for a privileged few.
I suspect that even the most curmudgeonly of complainers against spending tax money on art do actually enjoy some aspects of it. I’d bet you could find a lot of these folks at the publicly funded fireworks display on July 4th, for example.
My favorite installation at Millenium Park was the Cloud Gate Sculpture. My family and I spent a good hour looking at this one piece of art from every possible angle.