A Personal Amateur Photography Blog
An unexpected, brief, trip to Chicago left me without a camera – so this posting is solely the result of an iPhone camera.
A quick internet search for some of the more interesting murals in the city, plus discovering some not on the list by chance. I like to find murals that the surroundings add to the photo as well.
Many were in locations that made it tough to get a clear photo, but the varied angles also have added to the composition, rather than a ‘directory of images’.
Sedona, Arizona is a well known as a town with numerous spas as well as artists, who all have gathered among the amazing red rocks. We passed through town on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, and it was packed, taking away from the natural beauty.
The small west Texas city of Abilene has an impressive collection of public art and interesting architecture. Of particular note is a sculpture garden with Dr Seuss characters.
It made a great first stretch stop of day 2.
Another Sunday, another Ohio city on an art and architecture tour. Today’s tour in Cincinnati emphasizes not only the art, but the setting as well.
Despite all the changes in the world some things still occur, including the annual chalk art festival at the Easton Shopping Center. While I did not attend on the official times during the weekend I was there very early Monday morning before anyone else arrived so I had the place to myself.
The mural tour continues downtown and in Short North and beyond.
James ‘Buster’ Douglas was a heavyweight boxing champion from Columbus. A restaurant in an alley downtown has him taking down Mike Tyson!
Around the corner is a blues bar with a full back wall of murals.
Graffiti on the walls that seems to have itself been graffitied.
In the Short North area nearly every street corner along High Street has a mural or two.
Gentrified murals.
Sideway Mona Lisa in an alley.
The BLM movement has resulted in numerous additions to the collection, with relevant social commentary.
The artist Daniel Rona has many murals throughout the city feature characters with X’s for eyes.
How true – live every day like it is your last!
A retaining wall along Broadway showing the history of the Clintonville neighborhood.
This drive through carry out on Parsons Avenue had an eclectic collection of people, and the used car lot next door’s collection of cars.
Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD) has an entire alley of fantastic murals.
Next stop – the Milo Grogan neighborhood, and an artist group’s collection.
This food pantry had a nice mural, with the well placed left over paint bucket.
Our final mural is along a gym in Grandview Heights.
In the continuing effort to find subjects and maintain social distancing I have found that there are at least 600 murals scattered across Ohio. This posting will be the first in a series featuring some of these murals.
We start in the Franklinton neighborhood in Columbus. This neighborhood is home to a number of artist groups, but is going through a significant amount of gentrification, so they may be in danger of being priced out.
A few of the first group is in fact from a new residential building’s exterior walls.
Throughout the neighborhood is a mix of old and new, both celebrating the art.
The tour of Central Ohio counties continues with Knox County, with more photography approaching abstract.
For a classic car find the ultimate is to find a ‘barn car’. Basically a car someone owned then stored it in a barn for 40 years forgetting about it. The result is an original condition ‘gem’.
Look closely you will see a 1960s Chevy tucked into the side barn.
The small town of Gambier is home to Kenyon College. This small college has produced a number of famous people including President Rutherford B Hayes, Paul Newman and others.
Most of the buildings have a strong Gothic and Romanesque look.
Nearby Mt Vernon has a couple of well restored train stations, including the one below that serves as a (currently closed) visitor center.
A great stone bridge with a ghost sign on an old building is just across the river from the visitor center.
Aerial Foundation Park is on the grounds of a former glass factory, with some remains of the buildings left behind as art.
A perfect red barn with the flags flying in the breeze.
Just across the county line into Delaware County is the small town of Kilbourne. While most of the town appears to be abandoned it is making a comeback as someone has purchased the block and is in the process of restoring. It appears it will take some time to finish.
Time to visit the beautiful state of Washington.
1957 1958 2004 2006
State Capital – Olympia. The building is another traditional style set in the small town of Olympia. While it might seem strange that this small city is the capital when Seattle is just 60 miles away, in the early days of the European settlement Olympia was the most important towns, becoming the territorial capital.
State Symbol
State Tall Ship – Lady Washington
Boeing has a long history in the state, having been founded in Seattle in 1916. The factory in Everett is the largest building in the world by volume, but when you are inside it doesn’t feel that way because of separations. ( 2 photos below from Wikipedia)
Harold LeMay, a Tacoma refuse company owner, had one of the largest collections of cars when he died in 2000. His collection is displayed in 2 very different museum.
1975 1978 1982
Seattle is a beautiful city that has been booming over the last couple of decades.
It is the cultural center of the Northwest.
The Chihuly Museum has the best art that he has ever created.
Next door is the Museum of Pop, with an eclectic collection.
Mt Rainier 1959 1965 1967 1998 Cascades 1970 2003 2006
Olympic National Park has two major sections, the mountains above Port Angeles, and a rain forest closer to the Pacific Ocean.
The day we chose to go to Hurricane Ridge was a fantastic, sunny day, with views forever.
Mount Rainier is the postcard of the state. (photo from internet)
With the mountains and abundant rain amazing waterfalls are found throughout the Cascades. (photos from internet)
1992- Puget Sound – Lopez Island – Shaw Reef 1994 – Columbia River Gorge 2000 – Sagebrush & Phlox in Columbia River Valley 2002 – Olympic Peninsula 2008 – Skagit Valley Tulips
The Puget Sound is one of the economic and recreation centers of the state.
The Pacific Coast is rugged and fairly unpopulated. (photos from internet, but I wish I was there for the bottom one).
Texas!
Texas is a big state with a great variety of places for photography, therefore this is a LONG posting.
1952 1958 1991 2007 2009 2011 2012 2016
Austin – State Capital
The Texas State Capitol dates from 1885. The land it is on was acquired in a barter deal, 3 million acres of Texas Panhandle for this land!
Texas shows it’s Tex-Mex history in the state foods…
State Pastries – two – Strudel & Sopiapilla
State Small Mammal – Armadillo
The city of Austin is proud of it’s motto – Keep Austin Weird.
With the music scene, including a statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Congress Street bats it is a great place to be.
1949 1969 1972 2013 2014
1954 1964 1974 1975 1977 1978 1983 1987
I have more Texas Official Highway Maps than any other state. So many this section has combined the Prairies with the Highways which is appropriate because it features Amarillo and Route 66
Amarillo
You are half way there – IF you are going from Chicago to Los Angeles, or vice versa.
The legendary Cadillac Ranch. For more than 40 years people have been spray painting these cars. The good folks of Amarillo liked the planted Cadillacs they have expanded (in different parts of town) to VW Beetles and Combines.
1953 1959 1970 1993 2017
Terlingua – The ‘ghost town’ of Terlingua is a former mining town, but is not vacant, as it is a destination for tourist from Big Bend National Park.
Once a year they hold the world’s largest chili cook-off.
Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. These two parks cover much of the Rio Grande Valley of West Texas. Their natural scenery is stunning.
A plus is being able to take a row boat across the river to Mexico for lunch in Bouillas.
Marathon – Gage Hotel We had the good fortune of spending the night in this crossroads town on the way to Big Bend. The Gage Hotel is a historic property that attracts people just for the atmosphere and food.
Langtry – Made famous by Judge Roy Bean and his Law West of the Pecos, and even more famous when Paul Newman starred in a movie of the same name. The town is pretty much vacant, but the area is scenic.
Nearby is Seminole Canyon State Historic Park. This park holds significant cave art.
1961 1968 2015 2019
San Antonio. While the city is large, it has a feel very different than Houston or Dallas. The downtown is much more compact, with a significant amount of Art Deco architecture.
Missions – There are five missions in San Antonio, and four of those are maintained by the National Park Service (the 5th is the Alamo). Mission San Jose is the most impressive architecturally. Our day in San Antonio included a visit to Mission Concepcion.
Alamo – The most famous mission in the state, and likely the country, it is not known for it’s service as the Mission San Antonio de Valero, but more so it’s use as a fort in the Mexican independence effort when a group of Texas soldiers died defending it.
Houston – The city is the 4th largest city in the country, with 2.3 million people in the city. It is the 5th largest metro area (by some calculations) with 7 million people.
The city has more buildings over 150m (492′) than any city in the United States other than New York, Chicago and Miami.
There are still a few historic buildings downtown, but many have been destroyed over the years as they went taller and newer.
Houston Art – One of the great finds in our travels was the very cool, quirky art of Houston. From top to bottom. Giant Presidential Heads – Sanctioned Graffiti – Beer Can House – Luck Land – Smithers Park.
Parks and Rec Houston also provided some unique ‘park’ experiences – from going under the Buffalo Bayou Park to see the Cistern, to the Botanical Gardens, and finally inside for some baseball.
