SF Murals - Monkey Cycles

Monkey Cycles

SF Murals - Lower Haight #2

They have record stores and murals in Lower Haight too. But with a different flavor from murals in other parts of the City. I was muddled after a dr's appt., so I found these by being a little lost, one street over from my usual route outta town. I was distracted enough to allow a stop and snap these photos.

Edo Salon

603 Haight Street @ Steiner

 And across Steiner, you have these:

Black Pancake Records "Hot stacks of Wax"

593 Haight @ Steiner

and
Lower Haters Gallery @ 597 Haight,
which installed a new mural series on the walls of its building.
Of them, this is my favorite:

by Michael Kershnar


This guy and his friend are weird adornments by muralists 'Skinner' and '2501' that express the element of dark horror lingering below the surface of the lower Haight.

 

Crabby urbanites courtesy of Galo, an Italian artist:

Don't Forget to Look Down!

These guys look like they're part of a dark kids' book,

with adventures in grey places:

SF Mosaics: Haight Street

This is the exterior of the Cold Steel America shop.  Tattoos & Piercings. Nope, I haven't been inside, *yet*. Its nice on the outside. I'm thinking  if the next round of surgery doesn't go well, I might just stop in for some incision jewelry.

The clear/white tiles are mirrors and shine nicely.

SF Murals - Lower Haight #1

As seen on a small wall on Haight Street.

SF Murals - Hampshire Street Paper Lace

I'm disinclined to write anything about this at all. Cut paper. Deteriorating.  Ephemeral, you could say. Hampshire @ 24th Street. You can see it on Google Maps. Swoon-Wiki.

Swoon's Mission?

SF Murals - 24th & Florida

This image above is shown on Google.Maps for the intersection of 24th & Florida Streets in SF. But if you were at this very intersection just last Thursday, in the pouring rain, you would have seen  this cool thunderbird.

Detail:

SF Murals - 24th & Bryant

It seemed surreal to discover this during a wet-out in SF. It's new and the group Galleria de la Raza takes credit.

Hydroplaning, drifting, buffeted by winds

Walls of water, freeways flooded, puddles wide & deep 

An ornery spring squall

Makes a trip to SF worth it all.

SF Sculpture: Three Heads / Six Arms - Poof It's Gone!

I visited SF's Civic Center Plaza Feb. 5, 2011, and snapped this shot of a huge 15-ton, 26-foot tall copper Buddha sculpture by Zhang Huan, entitled Three Heads / Six Arms. It is part of the 30th Anniversary celebration of  San Francisco-Shanghai Sister-City project.  You can watch a slide show of the sculpture being installed on May 4, 2010. You can see this slide show of it being dismantled on February 11, 2011.

Coit Tower Hidden Niche - SF

Back in the day, I used to work on the east side of Telegraph Hill in SF. For fun, I'd climb the steps at Greenwich , up to Coit Tower, down the other side to Columbus and ... lunch at Molinari's Deli or fresh focaccia at Liguria Bakery. It was always a worthwhile walk ~ scenic, calorie crunching, muscle toning, visually beautiful, and lots of fresh air. 

Today, the rain was welcome and I'd wandered up to Coit Tower, again admiring the WPA-era frescoes. Afterwards, I meandered down the stone-lined path, where a neat discovery was made. I am sorry not to have a photo (yet!), but the poor lighting together with inclement weather obviated photography. 

Tucked into a little niche between the rocks of a low wall was a small diorama, a scene with a tiny human, small buildings, a few sprouting seeds. all this fitted over with a custom-made plexi-glass cover shaped to conform to the irregularly hewn rocks, and held in place with tiny tabs of hook/loop.

This little niche was well below the line of vision, located at about knee height, and again, I'm reminded to keep looking Down, and Up.

SF Ad Art - Sandwich Themed

The local Stop & Shop Market, Mission at 26th in SF, sports a bit of subliminal advertising by adding sandwiches just about anywhere--from Dagwoods crossing the Golden Gate Bridge to Stop (for a Hoagie) signs. Then there was that denizen of bad tobacco's advertising with the Camel logo...bet you can buy cigarettes there too.

The Corner Store Project: A Collaboration between Stop & Shop, San Francisco Art Institute's Painting and New Genres Dept, and the Center for Public Practice, with Tony Labat and Carlos Villa ..."

SF Murals - Boswell Place: Immortal Battle Dragon vs. Octopus

Map to Dragon Murall / Donuts & Pastries!

Boswell (Avery) at Geary Blvd., SF. It's one-way here, so you have to look back to see the monumental clash between Dragon and Octopus.

As Seen On Haight Street...

I've always thought it's important to look up. 

Here's what you see when you look down:

 ...Haight St. in SF near Amoeba

Wiki Hindenburg Omen

Murals - Pachyderms

Detail from Ferndale Mural      

An elephant does not get
tired carrying his trunk.
                                 --Burundi Proverb

Detail - Arcata

As seen on the Great Highway in SF:

SF Mosaic - Soto Bart Elevator

Give Respect to Gain Respect

The star points show "Joy, Love, Care, Trust, Respect Yourself and Respect Others"

Break the Chains of Prejudgement

We are the hearts of our community    

SF Murals - San Bruno Launderland / Art In Progress

Another work-in-progress I stumbled across on the wall of the local Launderland Coin-Op, located at 2246 San Bruno Avenue in SF.  Apparently, it was sponsored by the Portola Neighborhood Steering Committee.

Background: The PNSC applied for a capital improvement grant to paint a mural on behalf of the property owner of Launderland, 2444 San Bruno Avenue. This wall is constantly tagged with graffiti. Even though the property owner does paint over it very often, we thought it would be great to have something there to beautify the neighborhood and deter graffiti.  The property owner was award the grant and we have hired Fiona Glas, a muralist, to paint a mural on the 25 ft by 10 ft blank wall on Launderland.

                                       --Portola Neighborhood Steering Committee (PNSC)

Next time I visit Portola Neighborhood, I'll try to post the completed mural

Another example of the hand as mural element:

SF - Japantown

target="_blank"

California Japantowns - SF

http://www.californiajapantowns.org/exploresanfrancisco.html

Footsteps lead to destiny

We dance honoring ancestors
who claim our home,
and freedom to pursue our dreams

Our voices carve a path for justice
Equal rights for all.

We prevail
Our future harvested from generations
From my life opens countless lives

The journey continues.

--Janice

Detailed Japantown Map


Ruth Asawa - Japanese American Artist, Sculptor

Ruth Asawa at Wikipedia

Capturing Faces in the Moment

DeeDee's SF Blog mentions Ruth Asawa

Ruth Asawa: On Form and Growth
This film offers an intimate look at Asawa's life made by filmmaker Robert Snyder. Running time is 30 minutes, grades 7 and up. ISBN: 1-55974-530-4.

At bottom, the inscription is faint,
and appears to say:

A journey detained

interned by injustice

....

What was before us?