ROAD TRIP ACROSS ARIZONA IN 2013 - MURALS - FROM MY ARCHIVES

I have shared these before but as it has been a long time, some of you may not have seen them and those who have, I hope you don't mind me showing them again. The information below this post was added yesterday. 

Going through our old photos the other day, I came across the smiling lady again. I had always wanted to identify who the mural painter was. Try as I might at the time and many, many searches online later, I never found out who it was. On a whim I decided to try again and technology being what it is, I found the painter's name.

Today's photos are from our road trip across country in 2013. We were driving through Arizona and in the distance, I saw what I thought was a smiling face looking up at all those clouds floating by.  It really was a phenomenal day for sky-watching. I thought my eyes were playing tricks but as we got closer, I could see very clearly. 

When a person smiles at me or I see a person smiling at others, I find myself smiling too, and this lovely mural painted on a building out in the desert, had the same effect. I could also see there were what I thought were wolves on the side. No, not wolves. The following is the only explanation I could find, this time.

"The painting depicts a local Navajo resident named Stephanie, whose portrait was blown up larger-than-life and wheat-pasted onto an abandoned roadside building - or home - locally known as "JR's House". Because the artist, Chip Thomas, often incorporates local wildlife, livestock, and community members into his expansive desert murals, it is easy for travelers to blend different installations together in memory."

This fabulous art is called "Stephanie on JR's House."

As we drove through that area we came across other buildings with different scenes on each wall.  

Added note: I also put this photo into the Google ‘camera’ in its search engine. More wonderful murals can be seen here.  As described, “The mural is entitled “Bluebird Diner” or “Blue Bird Diner Revelation,” and was created by artist Gaia in 2012 as part of the Painted Desert Project. It is located in the Painted Desert on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. The artwork depicts a stylized bird on the left and a hand with a beam of light on the right.”

These artists brought us great joy as we traveled on this very long road, and we were mesmerized. 

The old buildings had been turned into incredible works of art, but my favorite will always be the smiling face looking up at that beautiful sky.

Chip Thomas is the artist of the smiling lady. He is a family physician, born in 1957 in Raleigh, North Carolina. He arrived at the Navajo Nation in 1987 to fulfil a medical scholarship obligation and stayed for over three decades, transforming his clinical practice and documentary photography into an impactful public art movement. You can read more about him here and here.

This particular art piece is located on an abandoned building within the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The piece is part of The Painted Desert Project, a public art initiative that connects street artists with communities on the Western Agency of the Navajo Nation. (I don't know how long any of these websites will remain current. Years down the road they sometimes 'go away', but at the time of writing, you can see other artists on the project at this link.) The project was brought about for the aim of healing and community connection. The first link in this paragraph has the whole story and it is worth a read. Several links have been provided throughout my post.)

Finding out all this information while climbing down into one of my curiosity rabbit holes I fell into after all these years, was a delightful, mind-opening experience.

Thanks for visiting my post about Stephanie, 

Chip, the beautiful desert and State of Arizona. 

I hope your day is a great one.

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND - MURALS

 This was one of my two favorite murals I saw that day. I am sure I missed many but before I go again, I will find out where they are.

This is at the entrance of the US Naval Academy.

The ships were on the wall hidden by the car.

Veering away from murals for a minute, on the grounds of the academy is the statue of a goat, which is the United States Naval Academy Mascot. Its story on how it was chosen as the mascot can be read here.

The following murals were in various places heading home but on the outskirts of town, in a more industrial area. 

The next four photos of a mural painted on a wall, were done by local teenagers and they called it 'The Garden of Inclusion.' I couldn't find much about it except for a fleeting glimpse of a local newspaper article, before a pop-up appeared blocking everything and asking that I buy a four-month subscription to read it. I didn't want to do that so let it be.

"Tener Felizidad" according to google translate means "Have Happiness".

It must have been done some time ago as it seemed worn and faded.

There were good messages painted all along that wall, such as "Be Happy" and "Nosotros Somos" - "We Are".  

This was very nice but hard to photograph for one complete photo.

I missed a panel, but this was at the end and was my other favorite.

A mural map can be found here of the following.

There is a YouTube at this link explaining the art, and these murals are seen.  I looked for ID and didn't find them all. This one of the young girl below is called "Girl & Angler Fish", by artist Vermelho. It can be found on the Capital Teas HQ building.

I didn't know this until searching online for info on the murals, that we were actually in the Annapolis Design District, in an industrial area bounded by West Street, Chinquapin Round Road, Legion Avenue and Forest Drive. The photo below is a painting of a fox.

What I found: "Brazilian-born artist Roberta Pardo, is the force behind this particular mural collection. Roberta, an Arundel County resident, created Urban Walls Brazil, an arts residency program that brings young, international street artists to Annapolis. 

Thanks for looking and I hope your week has started well. 

POSITIVITY POST - MURAL - WE'RE ALL...

 

I liked this mural very much. You can probably guess why.  It fits right in with my positivity posts.

For our international friends to translate, it says:

“We are all neighbors.”

NO RECIPE TODAY BUT ANOTHER RESTAURANT

I am having a case of déjà vu, feeling I have shared these photos before. After my mistake of sharing one set of photos on two different blog posts not so long ago, I am doubting myself. So, if by any chance you have in fact seen these already, just put it down to my foggy brain, which I seem to have had a lot of lately.

We didn't do a new recipe this week and just stuck to simple foods, simple stir fries, sandwiches and ate what needed to be used up out of the veggie/fruit bowl, fridge, freezer or from the pantry. And more importantly it was one of those weeks where neither of us felt like fussing too long in the kitchen. There is a restaurant called First Watch that hubby suggested we try, and it was a good choice. A way of replacing my usual Monday morning recipe post, for lack of a recipe.

The mural was on the back of the building. I couldn't get a full straight-on photo. It is in a busy intersection of a shopping parking lot and there were too many cars going back and forth. I couldn't stand in the middle of the road so I took what I could. The second photo was taken from the passenger side as we were driving by on our way to exiting the shopping area onto the main street.

A view of the shops seen as we are at the entrance of the restaurant, looking to the left...

and straight on.

Hubby dropped me off at the door and went to park the car. I signed us in with the young lady at the desk, took a seat in the waiting area. 

Gregg arrived and within five minutes we were being shown our table. We had the information board right above us.

I had my own coffee pot and I was a happy camper. Gregg doesn't drink coffee, or tea for that matter. He said I had a big smile on my face when that was placed in front of me. True! It was good coffee. I used hazelnut creamer that I took out of the little pot of creamers on the table. I had two or three cups with my breakfast. At home I normally enjoy a single cup of black coffee in the morning.

It's probably too hard to read the menu but this is what it looked like.  Feel free to enlarge the collage, or any of these photos for that matter. Top and back of the menu...

and a separate one showing the spring menu. If you go to this link it will show you a clear look of their menu in pdf form. 

Ours was the skillet hash plus an order of their million-dollar bacon which we shared.

I liked this old rustic window on the wall...

and the male Nothern Cardinal on another wall near the exit.

We enjoyed this place very much and wouldn't mind going again sometime. They are open from 7.00 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.

I realized later on doing a search of my blog, that we had been to another First Watch in another location back in 2019, and that post you can see here. It closed a few years ago. This place is newly opened and replaced another restaurant in this location. There are a few of you who may have seen our previous visit as I recognize a few blogging friends there, but it's been a while so you might enjoy it again.

THE FAMILY SPENT A DAY IN NEW YORK ON MONDAY, APRIL 21ST, 2025 - PART 1

Before we went down to North Carolina, we were all together chatting, and our visiting family wondered how far it was to New York City. Son was right on that, did they want to go? They were hesitant at first but as our one-and-only loves New York and has been there a few times, the last being a couple of months previously with our dear daughter-in-law, he assured them he would love to take them, that it was quite doable to drive there and back in one day. The only decision to be made was which day he could take them, and after checking his schedule, it was eventually decided they would go on the Monday after we got back from North Carolina.

They would have to leave very early in the morning and would get back late at night. Son also loves driving - it was settled. Having just gotten back from down south a couple of days previously, they set off not too long after 6.00 a.m. It was between 4-1/2 and 5 hours to get there, and the traffic as it turned out, was lighter than usual. (The older folks stayed home.)

(view of the statue of Liberty on the upper left of the photo)

We are all connected on GPS so we were able to check in during the day. I got the map above off my phone and it was fun following along off and on. 

(Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge)

Son found a parking lot in downtown for $40 a day, which put them right in the center of things for walking around. He reserved the spot beforehand online after doing a search for parking areas. They were originally going to park in New Jersey and catch a ferry across, but this worked out much better.

A mural on a wall in Chinatown.

I did a double take looking at this photo he shared. There are figures climbing across and up one side. He didn't know anything about these sculptures, so I went on a search and found that they are named 'Dreams of Hyperion' (a nod to Keats' poem) and were created by artist Bruce Williams. 

The building was built in 1893 and is located at 24 Bond, a landmarked building in the Noho neighborhood. The artist has lived there since 1997. The sculptures are made of paper mâché and wire, with a faux-gold finish. Another snippet I learned was that the mother of actor Robert deNiro once owned the building, which now hosts the thriving off-Broadway Gene Frankel Theater on the ground floor. I have no idea if that is connected in some way.

He noticed the mural of Pope Francis on the wall, but did not notice the couple below. The lady's hands were held in prayer. This was the day that sadly the Pope passed away.

The following photo shows the Manhattan Bridge Arch and the Colonnade. It is the entrance to Chinatown and Little Italy.

I am not sure what their timeline was on visiting places but next I am sharing photos when they were in Time Square, and here's our son on the Red Steps.

I have to say I never knew about the Red Steps, and when I asked Gregg if he did, he had never heard of them either. According to Google, "The Red Steps in Time Square are a prominent feature that serves as the Theatre Development Fund's (TDF) reduced-priced and observation point. Located in Father Duffy Square, the steps are a ruby-red, bleacher-like structure that allows visitors to rest and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of Times Square without missing out on the action. Wikipedia states that the Red Steps are an internationally known landmark and a cultural hub for the city, with an average of 5,000 people posting photos of themselves there daily."

The cousins take a turn. This is most definitely a high up on the list favorite photo of mine.

One last photo from Time Square.

I still have a few more photos to share tomorrow but it's once again getting late and my inner battery is running out. I will be sharing two more places and that will be it for New York.

Have a great day everyone and 

thank you for stopping by.