WISDOM LISTENS

No, we're not getting into a philosophical discussion here. It's something I found painted on a wall. Probably the most profound bit of graffiti I've seen. And they say our youth are troubled. I don't know. This tag has a great deal of intelligent logic to it.

But I have another one that's pretty much equal in the line of the mesage.

  

I particularly like LIVE. It's something to many people forget to do. In fact, I use this image on my photography/graphic design business card; just as a reminder to anyone I may hand it out to. Not that I'm some grand philosopher here. I just like the message. Unless, of course, it's actually an adoration for the now defunct group Live. I guess we'll never know.

And then there's this one - which sets a completely different tone.

I call this one DOOMED YOUTH because of the message it screams. It makes you wonder what's brewing in the tagger's mind.

All this comes about because every time I snap a shot of graffiti, the question pops into my brain - is graffiti art? I do know it makes great art. I see these three shots and could easily envision them in some retro record store, some funky used book store or a kick ass coffee shop. I like a little graffiti with my latte, thank you.

But back to art. Is it art? I know one thing about many taggers, they're usually damn good artists. Many years ago, I read an article about convicted taggers taking part in an outreach program with the sign industry. Now for those of you that don't know, I've been part of that industry for too many years, and over the course of that time, I've seen the artistry of signage turn into cookie cutter slap on the vinyl and put it up garbage. Yeah, it's gotten ugly. If you take a look in the Sign Gallery, you'll see most of the work I shoot is hand painted. At a certain point, they're also known as ghost signs. There's a definite talent with hand painting. I worked with a hand painter at one time and it was fascinating watching his skill. He tried to teach me a few things, but it was useless. I just didn't have the knack; or the patience. I also worked with a muralist. This stuff takes skill. And it's becoming a lost art. In regards to the article about the taggers, they joined up with some sign shops and found these young people to be quite talented on the hand painting side of things. There was hope in the industry that the lost art of hand painting could be found again.

So, is graffiti art? It's hard to say. Are taggers artists? Quite well could be.

But, if nothing else, taggers can be quite profound in their wisdom.

Quick Note: Take a look at the link Lost Art of Hand Painting. It's really quite interesting on how a hand painted sign is done. Not as easy as you'd think.

ON THE CORNER OF SOPHIA AND HANOVER

Last weekend, I spend Sunday morning roaming the streets of downtown Fredericksburg. The great thing about Fredericksburg is that I can go there every day of the week and find something new to shoot. And so it happened on Sunday.

I always start my excursion at the Silversmith House (the Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts) and just start walking in whatever direction my feet take me. On Sunday, I stopped at the Silversmith House to take some shots of their beautiful marigolds, then walked half a block to end up on the corner of Sophia and Hanover. Now I have walked this route many times in the past five years, but for some reason I only noticed this particular work of art that day.

There's this mural on the wall of what appears to be life in Fredricksburg in the long ago past that has unfortunately deteriorated over time. At one point, it was a beautiful work of art. My best bet was to shoot pieces of the mural.

I have a fascination with murals, wall art, signs painted on old brick from the days I worked with muralist Tim O'Connor in California. No, I didn't have anything to do with the murals, I worked other areas of his business, but I was intrigued with his work. He's produced three murals in 29 Palms, Good Times at Smith's Ranch; Jack Cones; and Johnnie Hastie. I had the opportunity of seeing Smith's Ranch from its conception to its completion. Tim's a great artist and I learned many things from him. Because of him, I appreciate what I see painted on the sides of buildings.

So, back to our mural. The next time you visit downtown Fredericksburg, take a walk to the corner of Sophia and Hanover and take a look at what once was a beautiful piece of art. In many ways, though the paint is peeling and faded, this mural is still a fine piece of art.