Friday, November 23, 2007

Urban mural

Trees on brick
London, ON, October 2007
[Click to enlarge]


I'm a big fan of anything that takes the endlessly repetitive landscape of a built-up, run-down city and tries to make it unique and memorable. Even when it's done on a small scale, like this mural on an old building in London's east end, I have to believe that it improves the life of the neighborhood - and of its residents - in some way.

I don't know who painted this. But whoever it was clearly saw a reality that extended well beyond the dusty brick and empty glass storefronts that surrounded this place. A sliver of hope where there previously was none: I like the feel of that. I hope you do, too.

Your turn: Something small that gives hope. Please discuss.

14 comments:

Shari said...

I don't know. How about rebirth-of nature (spring) and newborns, whether human or animal. There's just something "magical" about it and watching it/them grow.

Or something simple, like the times when your child comes to you with sticky fingers and says, "I love you, Mommy, " just because. No reason. And that stickiness becomes minor as you hug your child back.

kenju said...

It gives hope because someone cared enough to share their artistic abillities with the masses.

stephanie said...

Oh, this is indeed beautiful.

Check out my little flickr banner at the bottom of my blog - it's a series of pics I took in Victoria, BC of poetry painted on a fence. It's about my favorite thing ever.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful work of art. That blueness is marvellous.

A few writings have given me hope.

Whenevever I have despaired, I have taken inspiration from newly laid grass which have a great tenacity to survive.

Babies give us hope. I suppose everyone gets mushy when thinking of newborns.

On your blog, I tend to get voluble. Is that good? Is that bad?

I suppose Michele should answer that!

Sheila @ Dr Cason.org said...

This is lovely! I'm so glad you stopped by Beauty...on the Weblog! May I look around and use you for a future post?

Sincerely,
Sheila

Lara said...

my friend tina. her motto is "tiny, but powerful." it's totally true, because she is.

mckay said...

i adore paintings, especially traditional american impressionistic oils. this mural you found looks like it rivals some masters.

thanks for sharing. hope your thanksgiving was fab.

mck.

Jodi Cleghorn said...

Something small ... casting a vote! It was election day here today in Australia and we finally voted out, as a nation, one vote at a time, our current Government. That gives me hope.

That and the mushy moments where my son tells me that 'I'm his best'.. I'd like to add that 'I'm his only' but I relish the moment because in a few years he may be too self conscious to tell me that any longer. It gives me hope that I am doing more than an adequate job of being a Mum. There's hope too that in a few years he will still believe that 'I'm his best.'

... and the muriel is beautiful. Especially in a city scape that can be so far removed from the cyclic beauty of nature.

John said...

Wonderful painting. What gives me hope. The doorknob on my front door. Every time I reach for it I know that something new is waiting for me out there.

Sara said...

Hope! That's a tough one - because it implies that one has to believe that things will be better!

Being one of the hopeful - I always see the "better" and think that it is achievable.

Love the painting...and maybe it's not so much about hope but about seeing the beauty around you. Even in the not so attractive there is still beauty to be found. Just sayin'

Sara said...

P. S. I forgot to tell you that Michele sent me - and she would love that painting, too.

She is a Hopeful person - as she hopes we will all learn about each other.

November Rain said...

hi from Michelle


Yes I like Murals too
That one is real nice with the tree...

Kerri Farley said...

Very nice mural....what talent!

What gives us hope: a blade of green grass sticking up under a dusting of snow....
The sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening..... the very first time your child says "mama" (or "dada")..... when you see your parents as the wonderful people they really are....not the "meanies" you made them out to be when you were a child.
I could go on and on....

Smiler said...

I like that picture, I like the way the colors in the mural blend with the brick, which creates some sort of optical illusion. Cool pic. A small thing that brings me hope? Flowers. Tulips especially. Not sure why. They're a spring flower the colour is intense. Something like that. Michele sent me.