Travel Items

Continuing on from my previous sweet shoppe post, my Dad and I visited the Mission in my hometown...Mission de Tolosa of San Luis Obispo. A huge tree was recently removed (where that woman is standing) and I wanted to see if any character was lost. I decided there wasn't, plus the bells are new, the building has a fresh coat of white paint...you'd never know it was built in 1772! There has been major retrofitting inside as well.

Outside in the plaza where only foot traffic can enter, the Madonnari teams (originally this term was for Italian street painters) were busily chalking up the walkways with their original art. This first one was my favorite...something about those simple colors and the mystery & delicate nature of the dancers...

Most of the squares were 6 feet by 6 feet, but the really professional artists had 10 by 10 foot squares, and THIS basketball drawing was so detailed it looked like a photograph. No other work produced that feeling and of course, it's not coming through on this photo. But, the artist used Rembrandt style coloring...which is: when getting very close to the painting, , you see lots of odd colors you don't see in a person's face via the naked eye, but as you pan away you suddenly reach a point where it all works together and you see the final image....and the reason for all those little bits of what seemed like unnecessary colors.

Now, this brick work was the ONLY one in the style we were hoping for, where it totally fools you into feeling like you are looking beLOW the surface upon which it has been applied. It feels you are looking down a chimney, right? That is chalk on a completely flat surface...the street, as a matter of fact. Very cool to see in person.

And this gumball machine had what I thought was the best use of color. All the chalk was crisp and bright.

That's my tour for today, but I've got more since I AM achieving my goal of shorter postings on a more regular basis.

Hope you enjoyed the show!