Artful graffitti

Passed by this wall the other day and couldn’t help but wonder if the individuals responsible for this graffiti took into consideration the excellent color choices, compositional placement, and methods of application. Absolutely gorgeous …

Dream

11 May 2012

Over the past few days I had been going back and forth between somewhere and a greenhouse. I had claimed an unused section of soil and began planting plants there. I found some plants outside and some were left over from greenhouse orders, just left sitting in their plastic containers. I had a few wispy, leafy ones, and a few with thick, dark green leaves—possibly kale. Some were planted in rows, and others were set alone.

One day I was spending time near a large construction vehicle in a field, with a female friend of mine. It was a bright sunny day, with diffused atmosphere. All the textures were smoothed out by the immensely bright noontime sunlight. The field was cut in large portions: some tall grass remained, but most was quite short. It was all very dry. In the distance by the greenhouse, the large oak trees looked healthy. I think I found some moss in a small plastic container, and I knew I should put it over with my other claimed plants. I went there, wondering on the way if anyone had noticed or cared that I’d been planting and taking up space.

I dug a small hole in the moist soil for the plant. It seemed too deep, but I put it in anyway. I put it next to and kind of under the leafy plants, so it would get some shade. I then noticed there was a long hole in the dirt where the row of plants used to be.

I went back the next day and found all my plants removed; all that remained were scrappy holes in the dirt. Perhaps some people were going to cook with the kale, but they didn’t know that I was making a small garden for those plants.

Drawing for Anne Guthrie

This is a quick iPhone snapshot of a drawing of mine which will be used for Anne Guthrie‘s forthcoming Notice Recordings cassette release,

” so it’s inverted
occupying the same position as always “

Release date is sometime in June.

Pictures from City Park, New Orleans / Horses

I finally got to explore a fair amount of City Park in New Orleans. From what I’ve heard, this park is larger than Central Park in New York City. The southern end begins about a quarter of a mile from where I’m currently staying; it then extends north, almost flush with Lake Pontchartrain. There’s an exceptional variety in this park: Innumerable types of landscaping both old and new, yellow and green fields spotted with pure white storks, a vast network of wide bayous, bird sanctuaries, unknown deteriorating concrete structures with no lasting purpose other than to act as immovable objects of a time since past (unintentionally re-purposed into art), thick overgrown vegetation on which a kind of audible heat settles, and gorgeous old brick buildings (many abandoned and easily accessible, as well as some still functioning). I could go on for a while.

Anyway, it was hot. I hope these pictures convey that.

Also, I came across a large equestrian farm, about half way through the park, but on the eastern border. I went through the gates and briefly visited some of the horses. There were a fair amount of trees, so they had lots of shade, which was good. One was in the sun, however, leaning over the corner section of a white fence. He or she was a very affectionate horse, and reminded me of this one, a pony I met while walking along side the road in Ireland (taken with an actual camera, too !), while hitchhiking. This horse, however, was even more friendly, and she put her nose on my shoulder for about 5 minutes. Really, really sweet.

Drawing: City Park, New Orleans

City Park in New Orleans, 9.45 / Apr. 2012

Old perfume bottles and a white wall

I recently visited the New Orleans Museum of Art. Aside from an exceptional collection of contemporary pieces, they also have a lovely collection of old perfume bottles. I can’t for the life of me remember any dates on these, nor can I find any information on this small exhibit. I don’t think any of these are older than, say, 300 years. I could be wrong !  But they are gorgeous, aren’t they ?

And just to round out the gallery, I’ll include a nighttime shot of a white wall with blown-out levels, just because I see a similarity.

Some unintentional art

While making some “intentional” art, this scrap paper was at my side, and on it I refreshed my gold marker, previewed a few colored pencils and spilled a bit of coffee. I decided that this was equally if not more desirable than what I was creating (not shown here).