We’ve been stopping in Llano, TX every year on our way south since 2019.
I found the subject for my feature photo during a walkabout on our first visit there.
Tag: Art
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A Timely Message
Now that we’ve finally settled in to our winter home, I’m able to resume some of my normal routine for blog posts.
I still have several murals to contribute to my Monday Murals theme, and a couple of other travel posts to add to my 2016 theme.
The M/W/F posting schedule seems to be working out, so my plan is to continue with those days.
I’ll also continue with Foodie Friday posts.
The mural in my feature photo is in Weslaco, Tx (a town a few miles from here that we visit often).
The mural’s message is a good reminder.
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Taos Plaza and Pueblo
In 2023, en route home from our winter in Texas, we explored New Mexico from bottom to top and side to side.
My feature photo is of a mural at the Taos Plaza in downtown Taos – an extremely artsy and cultural area.
Our main reason for visiting Taos, NM was to tour the Taos Pueblo. Both the town and the Pueblo were among our favourite New Mexico stops.
We did a leisurely self-guided tour -
They’re Everywhere!
In 2013, hubs and I spent 10 days exploring the Caribbean island of Curaçao.
On a walkabout around the capital city of Willemstad, we came across a courtyard adorned with two giant murals that depicted both every day life and some of the history of the city.
Here’s a closer shot of one of the sections of my feature photo:
Here’s the historical one:
This one needs lots of post processing. I’ll edit out a few of the distracting elements in the photo, and try to improve the clarity. This is a complicated one so I’ll wait until I’m further along in my photo editing course.
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Decorated Dugouts
I recently walked over to one of our many parks because I learned that this past spring, murals had been painted on the backs of some of the baseball dugouts.
The one in my cover photo spells out our city (Weyburn) in symbols.
These works have brought art, colour, and fun to the site.
There are a few more dugouts in this park, slated for completion next year.
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Murals at Home
Sticking with my Monday Murals theme, I decided to feature a few from where we live.
This mural was completed in panels by the community. The artist who created it, made it a paint by number, so that anyone who wanted to, could paint a part of it.
That artist/designer won a $1,000 award for her idea and for including community involvement.
Each hand is holding something that defines our community, and the tiger lilies scattered throughout the painting are our provincial flower.
The sunset in the background gives a shoutout to our province’s motto “The Land of Living Skies” (our sunrises and sunsets are nothing short of spectacular).
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Practice
This spring, instead of transporting so many things back and forth every six months, I chose to leave all of my art supplies in Texas.
I recently decided that I want some practice on brush stroke and acrylic paint techniques before I head back, but didn’t want to spend a lot of money for 6 weeks of practice.
Enter: Dollarama. I purchased all of the supplies in my feature photo for $16.59 CDN ($12 USD) and this is all that I need.
The paints and brushes aren’t near the quality of the ones waiting for me in TX, but they’ll suffice for the time being.
For now, I’ll practice on a sketch pad and poster board.
When we get back to TX, I’ll continue with folk art (my fave) on my “free” canvas … Palm husks that drop from the trees during big winds.
These were my earliest attempts in 2021 My current goal is to learn Norwegian rosemaling so I can paint those designs on the palm husks too. I’m not Norwegian, but hubs is.
Making a bit of progress, but still a very long way to go -
Everyday Life
This mural, also in the Cathedral Area of our Capital City, possibly speaks to times long ago (when folks still dried their laundry on a clothes line).
There were some distracting elements in the original photo, which I removed by cropping and by using the clean up tool in the native photos app on my phone.
Despite removing some of the bottom designs, I think the cleanup tool did an ok job.
Original -
Artsy and Fun
The Cathedral Area in our province’s capital city is an artsy-fartsy district that a person could spend an entire day exploring.
From little clothing boutiques to sidewalk cafes, to a variety of bookstores, and to art installations on the walls of both businesses and homes, the Cathedral Area holds an “old meets new” sort of charm.
In a previous post, I featured a photo of a mural that I was disappointed in because I was too close, so cut off the end of it.
I returned last week and used the 0.5 lens on my camera and voila!
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Easter Eggish
I’d often heard about the excellent meat offerings at the Ukrainian Co-op in our capital city, Regina, Saskatchewan.
When I Googled the address, the images that came up were all the incentive I needed to convince hubs to take me there to get some photos.
All sides of this building are covered with colourful and historical murals.
My feature photo shows where we parked our truck on arrival. We soon discovered that this was an exit, so we had to walk around to the opposite side to locate the entrance.
The walk was worth it.
If you’ve ever seen a hand painted Ukrainian easter egg, you’ll know how I chose the title for this post.
From Google Images
Radically Retired 