Eye Candy

I have obviously been off my blogging game recently.  It's funny.. how I was reluctant to start this up again, and now I get this nagging feeling on a daily basis like I have this unattended responsibility when I slack off.  

Let's just say, I've angered many a line of traffic to slow down and read graffiti in my day.  I am enamored by it and I'm not quite sure why.  Maybe it's the idea that someone stood right there on the sidewalk (or hung right over a bridge, etc.) and no one stopped them as they decorated the outer walls of some public area.  It's not the quick spraying of a four letter tag name that intrigues me. 

It's the graffiti that makes you think.  The stuff that tells a story. The inspirational phrase that gets me through the day simply by driving under a certain bridge.

This Scampi fellow from New Zealand caught my eye on Street Art Utopia.  

This picture really made my mind reel.  All I could think was, 'what you water, grows.'  This had me spinning into an all out self-reflection of the things I have watered in my life and those that I've left to welt.  Scampi certainly has me doing a little mental gardening.

Hopefully, I have a good camera in my future.  I have been dreaming up this blogpost about my favorite art pieces around town.  I really can't wait to share a drive through the art gallery that is Atlanta.  I'll send you off with something I did find on my own, venturing through Little Five Points years ago.  This one spoke to the journalist in me (and the skeptic, too).

Inspiration

Throughout my years of customer service and now bartending, I've grown quite accustomed to striking up conversations with people.  Some days, I feel like the stars are aligned or something, because I come into contact with some of the most inspiring people.  The world is not full of people who will react to my print journalism degree with scoffs and remarks like, "So, you don't want to make any money."

When my passion for of journalism sparked, it wasn't about the money.  I wanted the experience.  The opportunity to be the one asking the questions in the stories I watched on television.  I guess I just wanted to be the one digging up the grub.

Point being, I met someone today who tipped me off to the art gallery just around the corner from my work.  Naturally, I began talking with him about his art career and he was generous enough to invite me to the next opening.  I'm super stoked to attend the artist Sammy Peters' exhibition at the Alan Avery Art Company; Atlanta's oldest, around since 1981.

I also could not end this without giving some props to Susan Davidoff for the beautiful works spawned from nature itself.  I need her work on my wall.  There's something about the rawness combined with her choice of colors reminds me that nature is the most complex and unique form of beauty.

Takin' a page outta Robert Frost's book...

Today, my best friend and I were headed to (often crowded) Piedmont Park for a quick trip around the lake that we've walked around too many times to count.  On our way, though, we drove past The Morningside Nature Preserve off of Lenox Rd.  With a quick flick of the blinker and a split second change of plans, we quickly discovered our newest favorite stomping ground. 

The steep, yet short hills we gradually conquered lead us beneath the power lines and eventually to a stunning far-off view of the downtown Atlanta skyline.  After crossing the valley beneath the power lines (having ventured deeper into the grass for an even better view.. don't let the shrubbery bewilder you.), we discovered an extensive path through a wooded area.  Aside from the apartments in the distance, through the trees, I felt very far from the city surrounding us.

We came across several people walking their dogs.  Or their dogs were walking them, rather.  The dogs greeted us off of leashes, with panting tongues.  (And while, personally, it does not bother me as long as I'm allowed to pet the fur balls, I have been informed this is not customary according to park regulations...)
At the site of two girls hiking, sans dogs, one bearded and bundled dog walker exclaimed, "What are you doing out here?  It's too cold!"  

 I'm hoping now that the forty degree weather was the only thing keeping the crowds from this peaceful nature preserve.  I just find it so much more intriguing to leap across rocks and feel the burn in my thighs pulling my legs uphill.  On real mud and grass and leaves.  No concrete.  Only in the most necessary areas is the Morningside park accommodated with steps and a wooden pathway.  Otherwise, it's good ol' hiking all the way around.