iT'S STreeT arT THurSDay iN eaST HoLLyWooD! - Thursday, August 25, 2016

Dear Street Art Lovers,

The King of Pop may be gone (his birthday in 4 days, August 29) but he continues to inspire street artists no end.

Artists various, Thrilling from Beyond the Grave and Beyond, paint on supply house.

This mural appears on the side of an electrical supply store on Hollywood Blvd. I don't have a context shot so you'll just have to get the sense from a bunch of details. I will go from left to right.

Detail: Image #1 - boy with lightbulb and bird

Detail: Name art #1

Detail: Image #2 - The King!  

Detail: Name art #2

Detail: Name art #3

We've got 2 images and three identity marks covering the entire wall of this establishment.  If I could decipher the names, I would, but I can't. So, you'll just have to enjoy them for what they are.

I think the lightbulb being held by the kid in image #1 is a nod to the business within, but that's about as far as it goes.

This is in a very colorful parking lot. the wall of eyes that I posted several weeks back sits just opposite this mural AND there is another one as well -- I'll probably show that one to you next week.

OK kids, gotta pay the rent. We'll see you next week at this time.

Love,
Pops

iT'S STreeTarT THurSDay iN MaLiBu! - Thursday, August 18, 2016

Dear Street Art Lovers,

Artist unattributed, Malibu Action Figures, paint on back walls of shopping mall.

After more than two decades, I am no longer part of the daytime working population of Malibu and find myself now ensconced in the lovely West Valley community of Calabasas, which, if you recall your schoolbook Spanish, means "squashes" or "pumpkins." There is nary a squash nor pumpkin to be seen save a visit to the local Albertson's grocery store. So, your intrepid blogger will eventually find out for you ...

In the meantime, you may have wondered why I never shared any Malibu street art on this blog. Well, there ain't any ... I guess in a neighborhood where no house is priced below 7 figures, such a thing never occurs to anyone, and if it ever showed up, the paint crew would be called immediately.

There is public art in Malibu. The nearby shopping area has a statue of a humanoid hammer. And, as you drive along PCH and cross the bridge over Malibu Creek as it flows into the lagoon, you will see these backwall murals probably put there by the local sporting goods store:

They are definitely eye catching and they speak to the active, athletic life that is had around Surfrider Beach.

Flipping the usual Thursday order, Malibu is on top and here's a view out the office window of my new location, looking toward the hills between us and Malibu:

Across the street is a shopping center with very minimal services and what's there is expensive. Kinda like Malibu.  The white lines in the sky are reflections of our indoor overhead light fixtures.

OK kids, gotta pay the rent. See you next week.

Love,
Pops

Butterflies of La Cienega and Farewell to the Malibu Morning Picture of the Day - Friday, August 5, 2016

Dear Gentle Readers and Fans of the Malibu Morning Picture of the Day,

Today is my last workday on the campus of my employer whom I call "Malibu Community College." My office is being relocated to the lovely village of Calabasas on the other side of these Santa Monica Mountains. I will miss the daily ocean view, being able to see the vista and the water in all types of weather, all year round; most Angelenos will get to the shore during the summer months.

It's been my mission the last few years to show it to you all year long so that it's no mystery. I hope you have enjoyed it. Only millionaires get to see this all-year, all-seasons view, as well as our students who pay lots of dollars to live here for 4 years, and the handful of us Malibu daytime population "worker-bees."

Artist unattributed, Dream Big Butterfly Field, paint on commercial building.

So the Malibu Morning Picture of the Day blog comes to an end. The Street Art component will continue on but I'm putting that on hiatus for a bit as I rethink this web presence. As a cheerful exit I offer this wall of butterflies that is to be found on La Cienega Blvd. just north of Melrose. A reminder that as one thing goes away and dies (like a caterpillar/cocoon), something new inevitably follows like a moth or butterfly.

And here's the PANO shot

The view from Malibu, for the last time:

And of course, wouldn't you know it? We have a repeat of June Glume. The So Cal coast is just like that, so this is very appropriate.

Took a PANO shot too.

And who knows? If I can find a regular vantage point in the West Valley that is similarly interesting to track day after day, why not? Wish me luck. Thanks for following along on this journey. Pops will have further messages definitely, so do drop in.

Love,
Pops

iT'S STreeTarT THurSDay iN eaST HoLLyWooD! with Malibu morning picture of the day - Thursday, August 3, 2016

Dear Street Art Lovers and Gentle Readers of Mine,

We here in So Cal like to say we live in a desert. It's not exactly true. It's semi-arid, it's a Mediterranean climate, it's chaparral; not exactly a desert, but pretty close. However, in the summer when it is hot and dry, it can feel like it. So I've got a mural celebrating our desert sensibility today.

Artist Rafael Escamilla, Atwater Memorial to Russell Lorette, paint on commercial building

Who is Russell Lorette you may ask? Obviously the artist indicated he was in the movie business. Google the man and you discover he was a camera operator who passed away in 1999, the year that this mural was originally painted.

The utility box in front is painted to complement the main mural. I have the details of the 4 panels here:

Two more rat cheer ...

If you're of a certain age, you will remember when this color scheme of Southwest chic was all the rage in interior decorating.

You can find this mural on the Atwater side of the Hyperion Bridge connecting Hyperion and Glendale. If you go this way you probably breeze past it all the time. Do stop and take a look. You won't be sorry. It goes up even higher than the first pic shows.

AND NOW, BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE

Blue sky, high clouds, low clouds -- something for everybody today.

And sometimes a stupid bird just gets in your way.

Oh, you wanted the downstroke too? Oh all right...

And some more back lit clouds.

Time to pay the rent kids. We'll see you tomorrow.

Love,
Pops

Disciple of Kandinsky of Long Beach and Malibu AM pic of the day - Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

We have an offering from the "Out of Bounds" Gallery today to kick us off. Here's a mural I found in Long Beach downtown on my way to the light rail station.

Artist unattributed, Wall in the Spirit of Kandinsky, paint on brick wall facing alley. (Long Beach)

The eye starts on the left on this one and ends up here, but I wanted the ending image to hit the top of the Facebook post, so here it is first. It's a long wall with bright, hard-edged blotches of color that vibrate hard against one another. It seems to move all on its own as you stare it in person.

Starting on the left.

So there you go! It's massive.

And here's a context shot.

And now back to Malibu:

This morning the light on the land was rather silvery, but over the water, it was mostly blue with some of that silvery trim.

Gotta go finish packing. Have a great Wednesday.

Love,
Pops

Malibu morning picture of the day - Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

No this is not a mistake, Tuesday is going up on Wednesday. I was trying to have all five days covered in my last week in Malibu, but sh!t went down Monday as the saying goes. So this goes up so that in retrospect at least, I've got a shot at keeping the whole week covered ...

Lots of clouds Tuesday AM with some blue breakage. It wound up being a clear day of course--it's August!

Wednesday's pic is going up in a minute.

Love,
Pops

Malibu morning picture of the day - Monday, August 1, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Happy Monday to you. There's a light marine layer over the coast this morning, making the colors very soft in the landscape.

The sky is almost grey, and the sea is light blue, very unusual today. Here's a view looking toward the canyon over land.

So August starts. This is my birth month. I always sort of looked forward to it as a kid, but since my birthday falls at the end of the month, it was nice to get a cake and receive presents, but it was also the prelude to returning to school (which I didn't like), and so the advent of August was the prelude to the prelude to something I didn't like.

This is the kind of thing that starts to form an ambivalent or conflicted soul, I think. But that's OK. The world needs people who are stuck in the middle of things to moderate others. I was also third among five children in the family. I was in some ways the youngest child of my family's early period (a strict, orderly household), and after my older brother moved out, I was the oldest child of my family's late iteration (a lax, libertarian household). I think you have to be a "middleton child" yourself to understand the dynamic. There's probably a social science doctoral thesis for someone there if you're hunting...

Are you still reading? God help you! Come back and look at pretty pictures the rest of the week cuz the blog will go on hiatus after that as I rethink what this can possibly be about once I'm OUT of Malibu.

Have a wonderful Monday.

Love,
Pops