Banksy & His Buddies

Prior to settling in Vermont, I had a number of adventures in a variety of Latin American countries in which I mixed cement on top of a roof in a mountainside village, snorkeled with penguins and discovered a deep appreciation for the agave plant.

In addition to these things, I also developed a curiosity for political graffiti and other forms of street art.  Every once in a while I see a piece of street art in Burlington that makes me giggle.

This particular depiction of Obama was on the back of the YMCA facing the City Market parking lot last year.  I took the picture with my cell phone after walking by it several times, and I'm glad that I did, because soon after, Obama's face was gone and all that was left was a splash of light yellow paint.

There is Street Exhibit happening in Burlington this month that features the photography of Ned Castle in which two photographs are displayed side by side depicting the high point and low point in an at-risk-youth's life.  I stopped today to take a photo of the two that were showing on my way out of the parking garage.

Next to the photographs is a poster with a 1-800 number that you can call for a narrative to go along with the photos.

[Street art project combines large-scale photographs 

and narrative on city walls :: Burlington Free Press]

In July, my 1.4 square mile city featured a "Pop-Up Gallery" in the empty store fronts that have been vacant since our "downtown revitalization" about 6 years ago.  It was pretty sweet and featured some great local art!  One of the galleries was selling greeting cards, which was perfect because I was looking for some good Vermont art to send to my cousin Katie who had recently relocated to England.

[This photo is not my own!]

I found a greeting card with the above scene depicted on the front.  How cool!  I paid for my card and left the gallery.  Walking back to my house, I turned the card over to see where the photograph had come from: LONDON!  I had just bought "local" art that actually depicted London Street Art, to send to my cousin who lives only 2 hours south of the city.

This ended up being a pretty great find because not more than a few weeks later, I received a postcard from Katie with the following image on the front:

[Banksy Is Awesome]

Apparently both of these images were made by a mysterious England-based graffiti artist named Banksy.  It got me to Googling him and finding many more interesting (and many politically charged) images that he has tagged in public places.  Apparently he has even made a documentary called "Exit through the Gift Shop" that I am now planning to watch!

I'm not much of an artist myself, but I think that street art is such a neat way to express a point, whether it is social, political or just for laughs.  The last time I used spray paint, it was for a disastrous DIY project that stained my porch and left Michael and I black-listed from Big Lots.  This seems like a much better use of paint...

I especially loved all of the graffiti that I found in Ecuador.  One afternoon, we went to this little neighborhood called Guapulo.  It was affectionately named by my guidebook, "The Bohemian Enclave that Progress Forgot".  In addition to being a windy road with cute little houses and shops, there was also a ton of political graffiti and street art.

My Spanish is rusty, but roughly translated I think this says, "truth hurts that much."  "Mande?" in Ecuadorian slang asks you to repeat yourself.

This is Bill and Alex making friends with some lady-graffiti.

So what about you?  Is there any fun street art where you are?  What do you think of it?  Is Banksy someone whose work should be cherished or whitewashed?  

Thanks for sharing in my little corner of the world tonight. :)

Grattitude

[Buy This Beautiful Print Here!]

I am currently sitting on my couch, waiting for my beautiful boyfriend to come home so that we can go out to dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday.  While waiting, I am able to talk to BOTH of my favorite [blood] girl cousins who are on opposite ends of the United Kingdom.  Sometimes I'm not sure if my life could go on without the power of the Internet.

I'm also listening to a cover of "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Ingrid Michaelson which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and want to plan weddings.  My dog is snoozing and my dishes are all done.  I spent too much money between Starbucks, Barnes and Nobel and the post office today.  All totally worth it, because what could be better than a good book and keeping in touch with people you love all while fully caffeinated?  (Not much!)

Yesterday, despite having almost no voice, I talked to my favorite pirate-hunting cousins for the first time since his wedding.  He is safely back from oversees and living closer than ever!  This year has been filled with an unusual sense of loss for me and I'm pretty tired of having to say goodbye to people I love.  Talking to Tom reminded me that thankfully none of the goodbyes this year have been permanent.  Whether the people I love are in Scotland, England, Iraq or Idaho, there will be a time where I will see them again and I am so lucky to have all of these people in my life, whether they are in close proximity or a phone call / Skype date away.

The day that Sabrina and Tim left Vermont happened to coincide with our First Annual Saint Mike's Camping Reunion, which lessened the blow for sure.  Mike and I spent the weekend with ten of our closest college friends, sharing home brew, lounging by the lake and catching up.  Many, although not all of these friends were local and it was a great reminder that even though my family was spreading out, we are still surrounded by so much love and companionship here in Vermont.

So anyway, I have some mixed feelings about change at the moment but can't help but feel so lucky for all of the wonderful people (and canines!) in my life.  I'm also pretty sure that I am going to save the US Postal Service by spending all of my money on international postage.  Silver linings all around! :)

Love, peace & postage stamps,

Nicole

Back in [Lights, Camera] Action!

Hello friends,

Long time no blog!  I decided yesterday that my true calling in life is to be a photo blogger.  The only thing that stands in my way is about $800 for a DSLR camera.  My sassy cousin Sabrina has one of these and then last week my staff went on a canoe trip and I got to be in charge of the canoe company's camera!  Well, that might be an exaggeration, I was in charge of it before we got into the water.  (Apparently Eric heard about that time I was a Girl Scout and intentionally flipped my canoe.)

Anyway, it was not just the cameras that convinced me that the life of a photoblogger would be awesome and glamorous, but also this blog that I stumbled upon yesterday: Simply Stardust: The Photomnibus Blog.  If you poke around, you will see that she has cuddly kittens, awesome red hair and is working on a project that involves cooking, taking pictures of food and being paid for it!  Yes, I think this might be my calling.

In addition to procuring a very nice and expensive camera, I might also need to start blogging some more, which brings me here, to you, my internet people!  And if I'm really honest with myself, I know that there are about two cousins and maybe a friend out there reading this in the interspace right now, but that's three people more than if I wasn't blogging at all!

Cheers!

Nicole