GEORGIA O'KEEFE MEETS THE STREETS OF LA

"Georgia O'Keefe meet's the streets of LA"

It was the day I met Edward Cervantes painting an outdoor mural (see art in my July post) that I decided I must certainly bring the outside in.

When Edward arrived with 45 cans of graffiti-quality paint (imported from Germany and Australia) I knew I was in the presence of a pro.

The mural (about 10 feet wide and four feet high) was completed in stages.  Since spray paint dries so quickly the layers had to be put down fast but to achieve the shading and depth the mural was completed in four phases.  Each time, despite fans, open windows, face masks and cross draft, the fumes drove us from the house in less than two hours.

The finished product was an indoor masterpiece, in which, like cloud formations, everyone sees something different.  Me? I see a wolf eating a river.  My friend sees a fire breathing dragon.  But most see a beautiful orchid.  Like beauty, meaning is in the eye of the beholder,

To the artist?  It's a no longer discernible abstract of a tag name from days gone by.

To me?  A movable feast for the eye.

SIONARA CROSSWALK

The glorious bastards came with their jackhammers under cover of darkness and took our crosswalk away.

YOUNG GRAFFITI ARTISTS IMPROVE LINCOLN HEIGHTS

I had the funniest experience today. There's a mechanic shop at the Broadway/Spring Street V (Bill's). There has been a graffiti art mural there for a while (I assumed by the same artist); and today I saw eight young men each working on painting an area. Of course I had to stop to see what was up. I asked for permission to photograph their works in progress (have to go back with the good camera tomorrow when they're finished). Anyway, the problem was the boyz wouldn't let me take a picture of the artist with their work; it kinda broke my heart because they probably have records and probation that prohibits them from spray paint, etc. Here they were, really wonderful artists, and they had to hide their faces. Needless to say I respected their wishes, so none who wished to be anonymous are identified here.

My favorite was done be Edward Cervantes (who gave me permission to use his name); a beautiful free style mural. His is the third photo below. Edward is also a tattoo artist working in Eagle Rock.

I asked a few about their stories, I assumed someone had organized a whole art project; one of the guys came up and I asked him, and he said "yeah, it is a project" and I said "what's it called?" and he said "it's called "up your ass""; I gave him a "puh-leaze" look and he started kinda backtracking. That aside, here's a sample of their work in progress: