YOLO

Since I'm on a kick of posting street art I've seen outside of Chicago (also because I haven't had time to traipse around the city with a camera lately), I found it necessary to include these shots taken at Bondi Beach in January 2010. I got to spend a month traveling throughout Australia and New Zealand with my pal Amanda, with whom I've been friends for nearly 15 years. Although we only got to spend two nights and three days in Sydney, we did get a taste of what the city is all about, and much of it revolves around the Pacific Ocean. Beach life is a way of life for many Aussies, and I can't say I blame them! 

I'm not quite sure why the color is so dull in these photos... these were taken with my old digital camera- now I generally use my iPhone to take photos, which seems to produce better results.

Happy Saturday!

Spring Street, NYC

In 2007, I took a two week, art-intensive course in New York City with my dear friend and former professor, Susan. It was a fantastic experience with friends and classmates, jam-packed with as much art and culture as we could handle. We spent hours upon hours feeding our souls at the Met and the Guggenheim, the Whitney and the Brooklyn Museum. We feasted our eyes at P.S. 1, MoMA, and the Neue Galerie, along with countless galleries in Chelsea and SoHo. We blew glass in Brooklyn, ate BBQ in Harlem, made paper at Dieu Donne, saw street performers in Times Square, visited Ground Zero, rode the Cyclone at Coney Island, and took the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty (which was still closed to the public at that time because of 9/11). I was brought to tears standing inside a giant Richard Serra sculpture at his MoMA retrospective, and I had my first experiences with real sushi (none of that California roll crabstick crap), stuffed grape leaves, and authentic Italian gelato. Words cannot express the ways in which this trip shaped me as both a human being and an artist, and I am eternally grateful to Susan for this, and many other things.

However, I'm getting sidetracked. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Spring Street, which has long attracted street artists from around the world. I remember being overwhelmed by the chaos and beauty of it all- I was practically drunk on the juxtaposition of vibrant colors and the grit of the urban landscape. Unfortunately, I had an issue with my digital camera while I was there, so the only photos I have from the trip were taken with a disposable camera. Here's a few shots I do have, including one of me being a dork and a 30 color silkscreen print  of Spring Street that I created upon my return to Illinois.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Psycho Killer

Howdy, y'all. I'm so excited to hear that friends are enjoying this blog! Seeing the pageviews in my Blogger Stats makes me smile. I started Love & Wheatpaste about a month or so ago because I'm constantly photographing the street art that I encounter in my daily life, and have been doing so for years.The city of Chicago is filled with unexpected (and sometimes temporary) beauty, and I want to share the bits of inspiration that I come across with the blogosphere. Too many people walk by art on the street, or glance passively at it through the window of a CTA train without really seeing anything. Or perhaps they're too jaded by the gang tags that litter city buildings to consider street art a form of art to be taken seriously.

This mural is located in Bridgeport, on the south side. Somewhere near 32nd & Morgan, if I remember correctly. I lived there briefly after finishing my BFA degree. It was my first experience of city living, and while I don't exactly miss living there, Bridgeport does have a blue-collar charm and independent art scene that I find endearing. Plus, I've always been more of a Sox fan than a Cubs fan, so living near Comiskey (U.S. Cellular if you want to get technical) was a lot of fun in the summer.

For some reason, this mural reminds me of my Nickelodeon childhood and the Talking Heads. Excuse me while I immediately put Remain in Light into my CD player (yes, I still have one of those).

Piano Man

Mutton Chops

Oak Street Beach

Heart

Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square

MCA Sunday

Today, I decided to check out the Skyscraper exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, which closes on the 23rd. It may not be street art, but the exhibit revolves around our street encounters, and I am therefore including it. Suck it. I wasn't gaga over the exhibition as a whole (despite many friends' enthusiastic recommendations), but it's worth checking out if you have the chance.

Rubber Duckie