So It Goes

Left Image: That’s the title of the stencil on a land use permit sign. Another huge chunk of Stone Way N is disappearing, below N 38th St where currently there is Rodda Paint Co and Morgans Electric & Plumbing. A new and interesting site Seattle in Progress tracks these projects. Here’s the project for this location. 

Center Image: Up the street and between N 40th St and N 41st St (west side of the street) is a mural on the south wall of a building used by WorldSpice Merchants.

Right Image: A fence in Wallingford, just above 45th on Bagley Ave N. Theme? Sea monster echoing the Seamonster Louge in the nearby building?

Slave to the Needle Mural – Cabron Mural

This 2014 mural is by Alex “Cabron” Forster and is located on the west wall of the Slave to the Needle in Wallingford, at NE 45th St and 4th Ave NE. Apropos to the business inside the building, this mural deals with tattooing. This mural reminds me why we go out hunting for murals, street art, and graffiti: the thrill of finding a beautiful and unexpected piece of art.

For more information on this mural, see Faces & Figures | Alex Forster, mural artist, an article in the SeattlePI.

Frame Central – Mark O’Connell Mural

I spotted this eye-catching mural while taking the 26 bus from Fremont to Wallingford. It is located on the side of the west side of the Frame Central location on NE 45th St and Latona Ave NE. It is a mural by Mark O’Connell (www.markoconnellvisuals.info) and features a distinguished gentleman with a large brimmed hat, thin mustache and goatee, and neck ruffle. I’m dubbing him Shakespeare’s brother.

Wallingford Mural

Close-up of the Wallingford Mural

Location: Wallingford, N 45^th St. and Meridian Ave N, on the west side of the building that has Tully’s Coffee. The mural features places you can find in Wallingford like the Guild 45^th Theater, Dick’s Drive-In, The Wallingford Ladybug, the entrance to Meridian Playground as well as mentioning some of the events that take place in Wallingford like the Wallingford Wurst Festival and the Wallingford Artwalk.

Icons of Wallingford in the Mural (left); The Mural from Across the Street (right)

Kabul Restaurant Mural

Kabul Restaurant Mural (left); Inspiration of Women in the Mural from 1985 National Geographic Cover? (right)


This Wallingford mural is on the west wall of the Kabul Restaurant, a restaurant that features Afghan cuisine. The mural is signed in the lower right with “Cliff Parshall 2002”.

The restaurant is named after Kabul, the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. The principal images in the mural, from left to right, are horse riders (Buzhashi or warriors?), the Qala-e-Bost arch in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, one of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, and an Afghan man and woman. The 11th century Qala-e-Bost arch, which appears on the 100 Afghani note, marks the principal approach to the ancient fortress citadel of Bost, later renamed Lashkar Gah. [ref] The woman in the mural, with her piercing green eyes, resembles the Afghan Girl on the iconic National Geographic 1985 cover.

The Qala-e_Bost Arch in the Mural (left); The Arch on Currency (right)


A Buddha of Bamiyan in the Mural (left); The Taller for Two Buddhas (1976) Before Destruction (image credit: wikipedia)

The TM (Toast Monster) Mural

TM – Toast Monster Wall Art (left); TM (right)

I have no idea what this mural is really called, but I’m going to call it the Toast Monster Mural because that’s what someone reinterpreted the TM (trademark?) in the lower right of the wall as Toast Monster. It doesn’t look at all like toast, rather, it looks more like a brain with legs, arms, and a big mouth of sharp teeth. The mural is located on the east wall of a building in Wallingford, one block west of I-5. The building houses Slave to the Needle Tattoo and Milano’s Pizza Pasta.

A Brain with Legs, Arms and a Mouth

Seattle Stained Glass Mural

Seattle Stained Glass Mural – In Progress (left);  Spray Cans (right)

Finally, we capture a mural in progress! The designer and executor of this mural for the Seattle Stained Glass in Wallingford is eidanmurals. The mural is on the west wall of the building, in a spot that is frequently tagged.

Seattle Stained Glass Mural – In Progress (left);  The Designer Scrutinizes the Mural (right)

Bob Dylan Nashville Skyline Mural – Golden Oldies

Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline Album Cover (left) and Mural (right)

On the east wall of Golden Oldies in Wallingford you can find this image of the Bob Dylan Nashville Skyline album cover. The album was released in 1969. On the flip side of Golden Oldies (the west side of the building) you can find the Abbey Road Mural. The Beatles’ Abbey Road album was released in the same year.

Wallingford Ladybug Intersection

The Wallingford Ladybug is another example of intersection-painting created when a community comes together to create something interesting and pleasurable to look, and more importantly claim their public space. There is a photo essay with examples of intersection-painting at Coloring Inside the Lines. The ladybug is at the intersection of N 49th Street and Burke Ave N in Wallingford. It was created in 2004.

Intersection-painting is one activity that is part of placemaking. The organization City Repair is a group that educates and inspires communities and individuals to creatively transform the places where they live. They call the ladybug and Bubbles the Turtle an intersection repair with the purpose of creating a public place:

“Intersection Repair is the citizen-led conversion of an urban street intersection into public square. Streets are usually the only public space we have in our neighborhoods. But most all of them have been designed with a single purpose in mind: moving cars around. With an Intersection Repair, that public space is reclaimed for the whole community. The intersection of pathways becomes a place for people to come together. The space becomes a Place – a public square.”

Some additional resources on placemaking included Transform Space Into Place (video) and the Project for Public Spaces webs site: What is Placemaking? After looking at these resources you may not think of an intersection in quite the same way again; this is a good thing.

A Leaf in the Ladybug Intersection, with Person (left), and Without (right)


The Ladybug Theme Repeated in Sewer Hole Covers
 

Bing Map of the Intersection

Street Turtle - Wallingford

Turtle Head (left) and Car Negotiating the Turtle (right)
A mural on the ground is a street painting? This one is at 41st Street and Interlake Avenue in sleepy Wallingford. The painting, called Bubbles the Turtle, was created in 2010 by neighbors. The turtle’s head is facing north. A spiral on its shell leads to a heart in the middle. The turtle’s shell is approximately where a traffic donut would be.Stylized bubbles and plants surround the turtle.
Looking Southwest (left) and Looking Northeast (right)

Looking North (left) and Looking South (right)


Bing Map of the Intersection

Bizzarro Italian Café Mural - Wallingford

The Bizzarro Italian Café in Wallingford opened in 1986. Recently, on our way to the Wallingford Postal Station we got a glimpse of this mural for Bizzarro. The mural on the east wall of the former auto workshop building announces the restaurant, its hours, Italian cuisine-themed imagery (garlic, tomatoes, grapes, wine) and a dancing couple.

Bizzarro Mural

Abbey Road Mural - Golden Oldies Records

Abbey Road Album Cover (left) and Mural (right)

While you are are eating a Dick’s Burger on 45^th in Wallingford, you might notice this rendition – across the 2nd Ave NE - of the Beatles’ famous album cover which is on the west wall of Golden Oldies Records. Of course, the album depicted is Abbey Road, the 11^th studio album by the Beatles. The graffiti on the east side of the building (you would see this if you are eating at the Rancho Bravo Taco tent) featuring Mr. Magoo, is to our eyes, more pleasing. No burgers or tacos were consumed for this blog entry.

Here's a blurb about the creation of the mural.

Golden Oldies Abbey Road Mural

Golden Oldies Mr Magoo and Colorful Graffiti

Happy Musical Notes