A Museum In The Streets

Last week was such a great week! First of all, another one of my photos found a home with a couple who will be celebrating their wedding anniversary in Georgia.  And, I got a job in my field of practice. Yes, this last one does not necessarily relate to my photography, but having a job will actually help me continue to pursue my photography around the world, which is what World Photos by Paola is all about!

On Monday last week I received a message from a man (let’s call him Don) asking me about the story behind one of my photos. The photo was of a tree-lined path called Lovers’ Lane in the San Francisco Presidio. I told Don what I knew about Lovers’ Lane, which is that the path used to be used by soldiers who lived in the Presidio to walk towards the city to go visit their loved ones. Actually, a very fitting story behind a photo destined to celebrate love.

Don and I went back and forth over email trying to figure out what would be the best size to print the photo in, and what would be good ways to frame it. He wanted to frame the photo himself and was hungry for ideas on how to do it. I told him about places to look for good frames online, and also told him to stop by his local Goodwill store, as that is where I tend to find the most fun, most beautiful frames I have ever found. In fact, I have framed most of my art at home using Goodwill-bought frames. I also cut my own matting, which allows for lots of customization, something I absolutely love!

And just like that, after a full day of exchanging emails, I sold another photo. Lovers’ Lane will be beautifully displayed, I’m sure, at Don’s house as a 16x20 anniversary-present work of art!

One of the things that I loved the most about this sale was Don’s enthusiasm about creating something himself. We are all artists at heart. Art is not necessarily just expressed in terms of painting, drawings, sculptures, etc. Art does not have to be displayed in a museum in order to be called art. And there is no need to be a “professional” artist in order to create art.  Informal art is what brings me to this week’s blog post: Street Art.

The reason why I’ve been thinking about street art recently is that I will be painting a type of mural for the Market/Deli on the ground floor of my building.

A few weeks ago, I stopped by the store and offered the owner, Tony, to touch up the store signs he had on the outside of the store. Apparently, my offer was perfectly well timed with the landlord having just stopped by the store to ask Tony to change the outside signs and to create a new image for the space that used to advertise a particular brand of milk.

So, my offer to touch up some signs turned into a project to design new small signs and to come up with something for the bigger space. Because I had never created a mural in my life, this posed a huge challenge, but I’m not one to shy away from challenges, especially not those of artistic nature!

Coincidentally, I have always wanted to work on a mural, or to be a part of team working on a mural. I used to think about creating a program back in the Twin Cities where youth who had been caught doing graffiti would be enlisted to beautify alleys or walls around the city. After all, they had already shown artistic skills related to wall painting, right? A similar program exists here in San Francisco, Precita Eyes Murals, but I haven’t had the chance to see if they were in need of additional volunteers.

After spending weeks thinking about what to do and what to draw, and after a failed attempt at a design, I finally came up with a good idea and was able to put it in paper to show the storeowner what I had in mind. He and his wife were very pleased with the design I showed them and, last Friday, Tony and I went to a paint store to get some supplies. After a weekend of work, I finally finished the small signs and now I am ready to start the bigger one.

This store mural has given me the opportunity to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. It will also allow me to become a lasting part of my city by contributing to its beautification, which I’m thrilled about! I mean, this mural might be here longer than me! That is such an exciting idea!

Street art is universal. Most everywhere I’ve traveled to, I have seen some sort of street art, mostly in the form of murals, or graffiti art. Sometimes this art has the purpose of emulating a particular person, but other times the artist is simply trying to express him/herself and the final result is the creation of beauty, beauty that will be enjoyed by everyone without having to pay for it.

Other times, you see art that has been created with the sole purpose of selling something, as advertising. I still like this kind of art as it still adds color to our often dull streets.

One of the countries that, in my experience, showcased the most street art was Portugal, especially Porto, where one of the metro stations (Lapa Station) is included in a well-known travel guide as a must see due to “its massive, ubiquitous and spectacular” graffiti.

Everywhere in Lisbon and Porto, you can find street art.  In fact, even train cars and cable cars have been decorated by the creativity of those artists who seem to find the streets and its components to be the best canvas.

Here in San Francisco there is a plenty of street art as well. Graffiti doesn’t seem to be as common, which might be due to the association of graffiti with vandalism and gang activities, but who knows? What I do know is that San Francisco is full of street art. Whether it is some fish painted on the sidewalk, or colorful murals tucked in alleys, this city is full of color and creativity everywhere.

The abundance of art had actually inspired my creativity as well. Art inspires more art, right?

Whatever it is, I know that I love the fact that everywhere I look, there is art, there is color, and there is self-expression.  All of which, I believe, contribute to a better and more peaceful world. If we could all find a way to express ourselves the way street artists do, what would our world be like? Sometimes it feels like we are so bound by rules and restrictions, that we are not able to be ourselves. I’m glad that all around the world, there are people going out on a limb to create, share and express themselves.

Enjoy this week’s photos on street art. For more fun photos from around the world, visit my Etsy store at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WorldPhotosByPaola

Use your feet, walk places!

What a fabulous weekend this last one was! I had been waiting for a weekend like that for a bit now.

On Friday, Peru celebrated 191 years of independence and we celebrated it by going out on a long walk that took us all the way to Fort Mason.

When we walk around the city, we make a point of trying out new streets. Even if exploring means climbing up steeper hills, we usually choose to walk on streets we haven’t been before. Poking around unexplored areas usually has its rewards. A few weeks ago we ventured into a park that looked more like a private walkway, and we discovered a super cool, and super private, alley where blackberries grew wild. Unlike most blackberry bushes in the city, this one was untouched, full of ripe, juicy and tasty blackberries! Obviously, this alley does not get the foot traffic other places in the city do!

 

Well, our curiosity paid off once again on Saturday. While walking towards Fort Mason’s grassy fields, we walked pass a community garden! Yes, a lovely garden that is cared for by community members.

Because we had Bomber with us, only I was able to walk in while Joe waited outside with the puppy. No dogs allowed inside the community garden, which makes total sense.

Once I opened the gate and entered the garden, I felt as if I had entered the Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens in Santa Barbara. The smell of flowers was so intense, and the variety in shapes and colors was incredible.

I walked around the garden for a while and then went back outside where Joe and a very anxious Bomber were waiting for me to continue with our walk.

We ended Peru’s independence day with a fabulous meal at La Mar, one of the best Peruvian restaurants in the city, and one of the many restaurants owned by our celebrity chef, Gaston Acurio.

Sunday started early and we decided to head West to Ocean Beach. We took the train there and rode for about 40 minutes all the way to the beach.  Once there, we unleashed Bomber and started walking on the beach. We went back and forth about 3 times.

The beach is such a relaxing place. When you are at the beach, you don’t have to worry about anything other than the steps you take, and that’s not even something to worry about.  At the beach, the only sounds are those of the ocean, the birds and other beachgoers. Such a soothing place. After a long week, a little bit of beach time was all we needed!

Ocean Beach is also the perfect place to find sand dollars!  We saw people looking for them and we saw many of them as we walked along the shore. Most of them were broken but, nonetheless, they were still very pretty!

Because we left the apartment early, we started getting really hungry around noon, so we decided to head back to the train station to find some food.

After we fueled our bodies, we decided to start walking in the direction of home, following the train tracks. We had never walked around the Sunset, the district south of the Golden Gate Park, and this was the perfect opportunity to check it out.

Walking around the Sunset was fun. We crossed the entire district and enjoyed seeing how colorful the houses are there.  I have never really understood why there are ordinances or rules about what colors to paint your own home. In the Sunset, those rules do not seem to exist as you can see a pink house next to a blue one, next to an orange one, next to a white one. The end result? A very colorful neighborhood where the houses light up the streets given that the sun seems to hide behind the clouds most of the time.

Once we passed the Sunset, we entered Cole Valley and then Parnassus Heights before hitting Buena Vista Park. At this time we were quite tired after having gone up all the way from the ocean to this point. We still ventured into the park but decided to come back and really explore it some other day. While walking through it, we found some blackberries. They were not totally ripe but we still ate some.  A bit bitter but still refreshing.

I think it was around Parnassus Heights that we saw the coolest and possibly the wackiest succulents I have ever seen in my life. If any of you have seen Pink Floyd’s The Wall, you’ll be able to picture them as they looked exactly like the animated flowers on the movie.  I indulged in a full 15 minutes of photos of just these guys!

We went up and down, over the hills and through parks and new neighborhoods. In total we walked about 9 miles before deciding to catch the train back by Duboce Park. At the end, I was very happy to have seen all these new places. After all, I might live in Nob Hill, but there is nothing stopping me from enjoying all the other fun neighborhoods that exist in this city. And, only a train-ride away, I can always position myself to start a long walk through unknown streets!

Hope you enjoyed the photos from this weekend. For more photos, check out my Etsy store at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WorldPhotosByPaola

Stop and Smell the Roses

This week I have nothing in particular to write about. The past 10 days have been kind of busy, kind of hectic, and a little bit stressful. Joe had a very intense week at work, and he continues to work long hours. Last weekend, my in-laws came over to San Francisco for a visit that turned into a family vacation. It’s always nice to have family around, but we all know the stressors that come with it. While they vacationed, our lives in San Francisco continued to happen around us. Joe still had to work, and I still have to take care of my projects, the apartment and Bomber. On top of that, yesterday we hosted a party for the summer class at Joe’s firm. The preparation was quite time-consuming. I don’t know if we’ll be throwing parties for work again.

 

Life, today, is back to normal. My day has gone slowly, but not as slowly as I would have wanted. It’s funny because, in some ways, I want the day to be over so Joe can come home to nothing else to do but hang out with the dog and me.

I’m so ready for a relaxing evening that, at 2:00 p.m., dinner is made and sitting on the stove!

But, of course, not all was running around and being busy over the past few days. In fact, one of the best things about the past few days is that summer seems to have finally arrived to San Francisco! Yes, it’s sandals weather and time to wear sunscreen.

 

Starting last Friday, every day has been sunny from the moment the sun rose. No fog for us lately, which is wonderful! Sunny days bring such a positive vibe into my life. When the sun is shining, the park is crowded with people having fun, everybody seems to be happier, the dog enjoys his walks a lot more, and I feel in love with the warmth on my face and the kisses the rays leave on my skin.

Over the weekend, we went to wine country with my in-laws. Because there were 6 of us, we couldn’t drive our own car there, so they booked a private tour to take us to Napa and Sonoma. Joe, his sister and I had already been there. This was the first time for Joe’s parents and for my sister-in-law’s boyfriend. In fact, this was her boyfriend’s first time ever to the West Coast!

The boyfriend brings me to another positive aspect of the past few days.

We had never met this young man before so there was a lot of expectations and a lot of curiosity about what he would be like. We weren’t worried. My sister in law has a history of only dating nice guys and, this time, it was not any different. Her boyfriend was quite charming, good-natured and very easy going. We liked him and are happy for them.

Wine tasting was fine. We went to wineries we had not been to before. In fact, our tour guide took us “off the beaten path,” which was fun, but we didn’t get to see some of the iconic wineries that are all over the area.

We did end up tasting some delicious wines and we enjoyed meeting the people who made them. Well, I enjoyed all of them except for one: a winery ran by a man named “Bob”. I don’t really want to go into details but let’s just say that Bob was one of the most offensive people I have encountered in quite a long time. Did he serve us good wine? Yes, he did. Was he incredibly generous about his servings? Yes, he was. Did he joke about hidden cameras in his bathroom that were not aimed at your face? Yes, he did. Would I ever go back to taste wines at his place? No, I would not.

Continuing with the highlights of the past 10 days, we also visited the Golden Gate Park with the family.

It had been about 7 months since we strolled around this awesome park, so our visit on Sunday was definitely a highlight!

At the park, we walked around the many gardens but weren’t able to go into all of them because of the dog restrictions. A bummer, but I totally understand that dogs can cause damage to flower beds and landscaping. Also, there is the fact that some dog owners seem totally incapable of picking up their dog’s droppings, and I’m sure we all know how unpleasant it is to walk on grass and step on poop!

Many flowers were blooming at the park and that’s what I took photos of. Actually, over the past few days, I’ve only taken photos of flowers. California has such a gorgeous variety of flowers. They seem to be more complex in their form than the ones I saw while living in Minnesota. When we moved to Santa Barbara, I was so excited about all the new flowers I saw. Every month a new beautiful kind of flower would bloom. I’m glad San Francisco has more than its fair share of gorgeous flowers too!

So many things happened over the past 10 days, and I had my camera with me every single time. Most of the photos on this blog post are of flowers. In addition to being totally drawn to the beauty of flowers, being with other people makes it hard to constantly stop to try to frame the photo you want, but flowers can be easily captured. After all, no matter how big the group you are with is, there is always time to stop and smell the flowers, right?

So, I guess no matter how stressful or busy life gets, there is always a silver lining. I think it's just a matter of taking the time to take a deep breathe and look at the bright side of things.

Enjoy this week’s photos. For more fun photos, visit my Etsy store at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WorldPhotosByPaola