UPDATE and another fine mural we found on Saturday

UPDATE: Today I had more of an appetite which led me to eat a bit more--hooray! Still very little pain or peripheral neuropathy which is usually diminishing by now anyway, based on the previous rounds of chemo. Thank you so much for your continued prayers, love, and concern.



#407SEMLK for this great mural on the side of River City Bicycles which is located directly behind one of my favorite places in Portland, the Architectural Heritage Center--the brick building you can see on the right of the photo. There's a cropped photo at the bottom of the post so that you are able to see more mural details.

About one of the artists, Celeste Byers: Celeste Byers is an avid nature worshiper from San Diego, California. Her work combines inspiration from the natural world, everyday life, inter-dimensional realities and the subconscious mind, and takes form in a variety of mediums including film and animation, paintings, drawings, music, murals and sculptural installations.

About the other artist, Aaron Glasson: In his previous lives, Aaron Glasson has worked as a fish and chip cook in his native New Zealand, an ocean activist in Antarctica, a snowboard instructor in Japan and a university professor in Sri Lanka. He now resides in California, where he works as a freelance creative director and paints his brightly hued artworks.



Looks like some fun being had by a mother and child, floating on a sunny day. The mom's tattoo's are intriguing, as is how her foot that is lowered in the blue water changes to purple from the pink of her skin in the sunshine. I love all of these colors!

UPDATE and Leland and I went looking for the Forest for the Trees, 2015

UPDATE: Slept well, woke up not hungry but eventually I ate a late breakfast, a late lunch, and a late supper. Not much at any one meal, but I'm not doing anything wrong here, promise. Eating right, just not too much. The peripheral neuropathy has started but hasn't hit too hard yet, in either hands or lower legs or feet. Thank you for your continued prayers, love, and concern.



Leland and I went out in his car for a couple of hours this afternoon after I had rested some in the recliner. We hunted for Forest for the Trees 2015 murals in inner Southeast Portland. What fun! Here are several photos that I took of the mural I featured yesterday. This is its hash tag, #525SEPine. The building's address is 525 SE Pine. I took these photos from the parking lot beside the other mural in yesterday's post; it's on the building behind the one on Pine and is at 524 SE Ash. I like this photo because I managed to get the glitter of the gold paint, fooling around with the exposure compensation. Yea!



Here's a more realistic photo of the north end of this narrow mural.



I managed to get most of the mural in this photo. You're able to read that is says, Nothing good comes easy. At least, I hope that you are able to see all of the words. Although I'm happy that this mural found a home, I wish that it had been on a wall that made it easier to see the whole thing.



About one of the artists: Originally from Kazakhstan, Ola Volo is a Canadian illustrator with a distinctive style drawn from history, multiculturalism and folklore. Her intricate works bring together animals, people, architecture and nature to articulate diverse stories rich with symbolism and elaborate forms. (She's listed on the Web site as being out of Vancouver, Canada.)

Zach Yarrington is a Detroit-born artist and designer whose large-scale catchphrases can be seen scrawled on walls across the Pacific Northwest. Drawing on influences from both traditional American sign writing culture and his work as a creative director for a graphic arts studio, his bold words engage passersby in uplifting visual conversations. (He's listed on the Web site as being out of Portland.)

UPDATE and what I saw from the bus window on the way home from work

UPDATE: All day Tuesday I was a tad less exhausted--hooray! I slept fine last night and look forward to Wednesday going as well as Tuesday. I'd like that a whole lot. Thanks for your continued prayers, love, and concern.



Yesterday afternoon I missed the connection to the streetcar, so I took a 4 bus downtown and connected quickly with a 19 for the rest of the ride home. I got the first seat on the left as you enter the bus, one of my favorite seats because I can easily look out several windows. I noticed this new mural on SW 6th across from the Big Pink and the MAX stop. Excited to get a photo through the bus windshield! I figured it would be enough to look for it online to find out if it's one of 2015's Forest for the Trees murals, painted in August. Lo and behold, it is! Here's it's hashtag and its artists: #221SW6th BY SPENCER KEETON CUNNINGHAM, JAQUE FRAGUA as found on FFTT's Web site.

Also, here's a bit about FFTT from their Web site: Established in 2013, Forest For The Trees is a non-profit project dedicated to the creation of contemporary public art in Portland. The festival brings together local and international artists in a collaborative setting and provides them with the freedom and resources to create artworks in environments that are freely accessible to the local community.



Next, while we waited at the traffic signal at West Burnside and SW 4th, I could see this through the window across the bus from where I sat. I managed to zoom in quickly before the light changed--hooray! This lion is one of two at the China Gate entrance to China Town in Northwest Portland.




One final shot through that window, a quick one, of a section toward the top of the China Gate. Here's a bit about the area that I found online: Portland's Chinatown is the old area of town north of Downtown proper and just west of Old Town/Skidmore, although the lines between Chinatown, Old Town, and Downtown blur in reality and are somewhat arbitrary as the areas are all essentially "downtown" in character and location. The most obvious distinction is Burnside, the great north-south divider of Portland, which clearly separates Chinatown from Downtown proper.

Murals around Portland, Forest for the Trees NW, seen on Sunday, August 31, my mural find #4

Forest for the Trees, August 18 through 23, is a not-for-profit public mural project in Portland, Oregon. (Seen on their Web site.)



The third mural I photographed while out and about in my Zipcar Kia Soul, named Greer. Artist: J. Shea of Portland, Oregon. Location: 1301 SE Grand Ave. This mural was the easiest one to find since it is just north of my work building and across the avenue. I saw him painting one day after work as I waited for the bus. On his Web site:

Was invited to paint another mural this year.............for the Forest for the Tree's Mural Project here in Portland.................this year I got to paint my own wall...........on the exterior of Kidd's Toy Museum..................it was fun week painting with all the other artists...........hanging with old friends...............and meeting new ones...................



A close-up for you. That watch chain gets me. And the fish hook on the end of the string attached to the toy sailboat. Perfection.



Another close-up. A coordinated on the unicycle. A campfire burns brightly as the fish swim by and the wind-up cat looks on. A teensy tiny knight upon a robust steed.



One more close-up. My favorite part of the mural, this bee, perfectly curved segmented body, wings gracefully aloft.



More from FFTT Web site: Forest for the Trees is a not-for-profit public mural project in Portland, Oregon. The mural project promotes public visual expression; collaboration; and community engagement with contemporary art and the creative process. In August 2013, FFTT united seventeen artists from around the world to paint ten Portland murals.

This August, twenty local and international artists will come together for a week in Portland to paint more than a dozen pieces on public walls. FFTT aims to bring opportunity for local and visiting artists, and to share their gifts on a large public scale in Portland—a city already known as a creative hub and home to many talented artists.

Murals around Portland, Forest for the Trees NW, seen on Sunday, August 31, my mural find #3

Forest for the Trees, August 18 through 23, is a not-for-profit public mural project in Portland, Oregon. (Seen on their Web site.)



The third mural I located while out and about in my Zipcar Kia Soul, named Greer. Artist: NoseGo of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Location: 842 SE 3rd Avenue. On his Web site:

Yis "Nosego" Goodwin ​

NoseGo is a Philadelphia-based artist with a passion for illustration and media arts. He mixes fine art with a contemporary style to deliver highly energetic work. His designs feature an assemblage of patterns, vibrant colors and characters derived from his imagination and his surrounding environment.​ 



The part of the mural that mesmerized me--those bits of brick, I suppose, which seem to be attached to the wall, sticking out form it. They're painted there! Not three dimensional at all!



The wall where the mural lives!



Another close-up of a part of the mural.



More from FFTT Web site: Forest for the Trees is a not-for-profit public mural project in Portland, Oregon. The mural project promotes public visual expression; collaboration; and community engagement with contemporary art and the creative process. In August 2013, FFTT united seventeen artists from around the world to paint ten Portland murals.

This August, twenty local and international artists will come together for a week in Portland to paint more than a dozen pieces on public walls. FFTT aims to bring opportunity for local and visiting artists, and to share their gifts on a large public scale in Portland—a city already known as a creative hub and home to many talented artists.

Murals around Portland, Forest for the Trees NW, seen on Sunday, August 31, my mural find #1

Forest for the Trees, August 18 through 23, is a not-for-profit public mural project in Portland, Oregon. (Seen on their Web site.)



The first mural I located while out and about in my Zipcar Kia Soul, named Greer. Artist: Rather Severe of Portland, Oregon. Location: 3602 NE Sandy Blvd. On their Web site: Murals and Artworks by Jon Stommel & Travis Czekalski. This mural is part of Portland's 2014 Forest For The Trees Mural Project. The wall is at 3602 NE Sandy Blvd on the side of Pulse PDX, painted over a 6 day period. It was such a great honor to participate in the project and represent local artists in Portland!



It's a miracle that I found this mural as easily as I did, since I was driving Greer east on Sandy, and the mural faces west. I knew I was close, from what the iPhone GPS I had plugged in was telling me, so I decided to pull into the lot to turn around and go back west on Sandy. As soon as I entered this empty parking lot, I saw this beauty out of the corner of my eye. Wow. Wow. Wow.



Something about its colors and shapes and vivid-self made me slowly shut the car door, staring at it and  deciding subconsciously not to shut the door all the way, not to make a sound to interrupt my mural-induced reverie.



More from FFTT Web site: Forest for the Trees is a not-for-profit public mural project in Portland, Oregon. The mural project promotes public visual expression; collaboration; and community engagement with contemporary art and the creative process. In August 2013, FFTT united seventeen artists from around the world to paint ten Portland murals.

This August, twenty local and international artists will come together for a week in Portland to paint more than a dozen pieces on public walls. FFTT aims to bring opportunity for local and visiting artists, and to share their gifts on a large public scale in Portland—a city already known as a creative hub and home to many talented artists.

Public Art - a vivid mural on the corner of NE Grand Avenue and NE Broadway Street

Click here for a trip to City Daily Photo, transporting you around the world every day.



I took this photo on Saturday, April 27, while waiting for the Portland Streetcar so that I could go to the Farmers Market at Portland State--I decided to take the scenic route on it instead of a couple of buses. I got off the streetcar for a quick stop at Walgreens, looking for a wristwatch. They don't sell wristwatches at Walgreens! Gosh! Anyway, while I waited for the next streetcar, I finally got to take a photo of this mural. Next time maybe I'll have enough time to walk across the street and try to get one without parked vehicles covering up a bit of the lower border.

Naturally I'm curious about the subject of the mural, so I went Googling.

Found on another photographer's Flickr: Sponsors of this mural are the Portland-Mutare Sister City Association and Africa Aids Response. It was hand painted by the people of Portland in 2007. It is located at NE 6th & Broadway.

Also found on the Internet:

• Hope is Vital, 2007 Artworks: Mural (painted) 
•  Artists Matt Bellingham, Heidi Schultz 
• Collection City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council Materials 
• Latex paint on concrete 
• Dates: Installed, 2007 
• Description: This mural's purpose is to create global solidarity and educate the Portland community about Portland's sister city, Mutare, Zimbabwe, and humanitarian efforts there. Underneath the inspiring message, "Hope is Vital," the sun shines on a yellow medical clinic Portland helped build for its sister city. In a show of support, persons from both Portland and Mutare hold hands, dance, and drum to celebrate life, above the text "it takes a planet to save a village."