In another 100 years…(PPAC #69)

…this iron statue will still stand in Sugarland, Texas. selfish.

Summer thoughts (PPAC #68)

Here is some early morning public art for you. These butterflies make me think of summer on a cold morning.

Note: Taken when waiting in traffic.

Spray-brushed murals (PPAC #67)

I was walking around the NoHo West shopping center and I came across this entire hallway of murals. The artistic style looks very similar to the mural in the parking garage in the same shopping center. It turns out it was painted by the same muralist, Kyle Boatwright. I just love the way he paints the faces — what’s impressive is that he uses spray paint to achieve a photo-realistic face. In contrast, I used spray paint when I was re-doing my dining table because it was faster than using a brush (haha).

Decorative Paving (PPAC #64)

More art from the Getty Villa in Malibu. Admissions are free and you will find art in every part of the building — even on the ground.

Light up the world (PPAC #31)

I was walking along Glendale Boulevard and came across this painting on this large planter. I’ve seen people paint on utility boxes, walls, sidewalks, along reservoirs, and construction barriers. I learned through this Public Art challenge that the world is your canvas.

Lens-Artists Challenge #181 – Double Dipping

This week’s Lens-Artists challenge is to explore and try out different blog challenges. I always enjoy a good blog challenge to connect with other bloggers, go through old photos that are in my hard drive and make its way to my blog, and exercise my creative muscles. I always love a good mix of writing and photography. Here are some blog challenges I participated in:

Just crossing the street (PPAC#25)

This metal sculpture looked so interesting that I decided to copy the pose. Julie tries to play with public art yet again.

Apple Rose Tart

One of my signature dishes is this apple rose tart. I regret to admit I did not take a lot of photos of my finished apple rose tart nor did I track which recipes I’ve tried. I’ve served it as a warm pie fresh out of the oven and as a cold pie with fresh pastry cream as the base and fresh tart apples on top. There was no iteration I did not like.

I made this frequently because it was a dessert dish people always requested; my coworkers wanted this pie for an office gathering and my friends asked about this pie when they came over to my place. I guess there was a reason why I did not take or share photos of the pie. Everyone was asking to make this pie when I wanted to make other pies.

Construction barriers as canvases (PPAC #15)

Reykjavik, Iceland has a lot of stunning public art, but this caught my eye because someone used a construction barrier as their canvas.

Pre-pandemic in LA, it seemed construction was going on all the time: new apartment building, new stores, reviving abandoned buildings, etc. I don’t recall seeing any art on any construction barrier — it would be nice there was. It would have made my work lunch walks more enjoyable than seeing blank eyesores. It’s like a pop-up art display or a temporary exhibit.

PPAC#15

Stray dog (PPAC #13)

The other morning, I got out of my car to go to work and I hear a RIIIP! I looked down and I saw a tear on the inner thigh of my workpants. I’ve had these work pants for many many many years. I was figuring out what I should do. Do I grab a sweater from the trunk and wrap it around my waist to hide the tear all day? I mean it was not a big tear…but then…I knew as the day progressed the tear would only get bigger. Hiding the tear with a sweater won’t do. Or do I call my supervisor and tell her what happened and call out for the day? Or do I call my supervisor to tell her what happened and let her know I was going to be running late so I could buy new pants at Target? By the way, my kid was still with me. I was also suppose to drop her off at daycare at my work but I decided she was going to join me on an adventure to get some new pants.

The Apple cultivar so far…

I’ve taken plenty of photos of apples in many forms from hard ciders to salads. They’re in the media gallery just waiting to be shared. Rather than put all the photos into one post, maybe it’s best to divide it up. For this post, I want to focus on some of the cultivars I’ve tried so far.

I mentioned that whenever apple season rolls around, I like to try all kinds of cultivar. It’s one of my many “quirky” traditions to celebrate the changing of seasons. It’s like how in January people give up alcohol for a month after a bacchanal holiday season. Or how some people’s go to Starbucks to buy a pumpkin spice latte to welcome autumn. My pumpkin spice latte is just eating different apples. I do enjoy the very occasional PSL at Dunkin’ however. Los Angeles not really have seasons so I make mines up. Do you have any “quirky” traditions?

Large LEGO buildings (PPAC #12)

I believe this photo was taken in 2015? The Glendale Galleria had this pop-up called the LEGO Americana Road Show where they would go around to different malls to display replica of iconic American buildings.

This qualifies as public art because it was free to get in and it’s at a highly accessible location. I wish I had more photos of these LEGO displays from that day because unfortunately this large scale LEGO model of the Capitol building is all I could find :-/.