December's Street Chair

There are a thousand delightful, surprising cameos on our local streets and lanes...everyday.

And abandoned chairs seem to be a part of many of them.

Street. Find. Colour

This beautiful palette was found in a back street of Limassol, Cyprus.

The tiles were adorning an old store front, which had clearly been closed up, shut, for a long time.
A sad sight in general, but the wall tiles glowed, radiating a positivity which pulled me across the road.
There are colour conversations all around us, it is just there for us to see, hear, feel, and learn from.
Colour is a key part of our lives. It signals danger or a find. It triggers emotion and reaction. It is the stuff of life. 

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ChalkTalk = Play

Chalktalk: is the evidence of play. 
And play equates to inventiveness, idea generation, amusing oneself, being involved, enjoyment, creativity, solution creation, messing around, enjoying oneself.

Basically all things positive.
Go buy some chalk and draw something that does not make sense to anyone but yourself. 

Street Chairs from the Fern: No. 19: A Couch

There is something about an abandoned chair or couch, placed randomly on a suburban footpath, that one simply cannot ignore.

Their presence often makes us reflect on many things.

 “The most luxurious thing to me is having an hour of my day, which rarely happens, to listen to my iPod and sit on my couch.
That's how I unwind.”
Grant Achatz

ChalkTalk Pixelations

A pink pixel-like creature lies flatten on the deep grey tarmac.

A pair of bright orange Mary Janes and navy blue nail polish bears witness to the chalktalk. 

Place: William St., Redfern, Sydney. Time: Afternoon. Evidence: Play sometime after school. Engagement: Imagination and some hot pink coloured chalk. Result: Delight from all who come across the drawings.

Wallism_Serendipity

Walking home can sometimes be a drag.  Sometimes it throws wonderful things in front us.

Pure ‘corner of the eye’ stuff.

This example of Wallism is to be found at the intersection of Cleveland and Regent Streets, Redfern / Chippendale.

It wont be there for long as it is but a happy accident of actions and reactions.

Just love finding something I was not looking for.

The subversion of everyday objects

Artist Brad Downey’s unauthorised artworks in public spaces often explore the relationships between ideas, and objects against their context.

He does this by subverting everyday objects like pavement tiles, brooms, road signs and bicycles in a surreal manner, making for some very visually arresting scenes.

Unfortunately for Brad he also has had “run-ins with police while working in cities ranging from London to Amsterdam”, 

as his art and “guerilla marketing projects” straddle the border between art and vandalism.

Check out Brad’s other installations on Pinterest as they are delightful and challenging.

Brad shifted a little.

ChalkTalk_by Jack

‘Life is like art done in chalk, beautiful but temporary, enjoy it while possible.’ www.searchquotes.com/search/Chalk/

Place: Redfern Park, Sydney Australia.
Time: early morning.

Evidence: play from the evening before.

Engagement: imagination and multiple coloured chalk.

Result: delight from all who come across the drawings.

The Colours of Melbourne: sugar and spice

Old school cake shops and inner city Melbourne go together like sugar and spice:
Lemon Slices, Rock cakes, Hazelnut biscuits with chocolate cream or jam filling, Apple cakes, Apple slices, Lamingtons, Neenish tart, etc, etc, etc
fill the shop front windows in Fitzroy and St Kilda.

A story constructed from pastels coloured morsels punctuated with rich chocolate browns, and many sugary possibilities await the passer by.

But when we speak of sugar and spice, an associate with the notion of the passive female is often evoked. 

In recognition of International Women’s Day on the 8^th of March, here is another take on the expression ‘Sugar and Spice’ 

thanks to Bethany Hamilton.

“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts.
That's what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice."

Bethany Hamilton

Wallism_A Universal Language

Wallism is a creative activity which knows no boundaries, borders, or limitations.

The degree of thought and planning and execution is a constant source of delight and admiration.

The above examples were found in the heart of Athens (2015), a place rich in energy and art. Wallism rocks

A Street Tableaux

Street Chairs: A street tableaux. 

“Haven't you felt a peculiar sort of worry about the chair in your living room that no one sits in?”
Nicholson Baker http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/chair_2.html#4Gj8uLOdA0MoSVjg.99

This may be one theory behind the never-ending supply of Street Chairs. They just never sat right in their environment.