Monday Mural: Ursa Major Ursa Minor

Found in the Laurel District, this is the companion piece to the starry bear posted a month ago.  This one was a little tougher to photograph because it was in the shade.  I was thinking the constellation stars would be found in each bear, but I'm not seeing it.  I find this to be quite inspiring.  By Roger Peet.

Welcome to Monday Mural. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.  Word Press is not allowing me to leave comments on that platform.  Sorry.

I'm pleased to report that Sami of https://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com has volunteered to take over the hosting of Monday Mural.  The meme will transfer to her website at the beginning of February.  Thank you, Sami.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: California grizzly

I found this mural by Roger Peet in the Laurel District in East Oakland.  Although the grizzly bear is on the California flag, grizzlies no longer can be found in the state.  It and a similar mural on a different building are sponsored by the Center for Biological Diversity, the city, and local residents and businesses.  As you can see, it's massive and mystical.  Perhaps the stars are a nod to the constellation Ursa Major.  Because it is by a freeway exit, it is also a very cool entrance to the Laurel District.

Welcome to Monday Mural. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

I'm pleased to report that Sami of https://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com has volunteered to take over the hosting of Monday Mural.  The meme will transfer to her website at the beginning of February.  Thank you, Sami.

Monday Mural: Aztec echos

Found in East Oakland, I think this mural's abstract quality has roots in Aztec iconography.  I've seen circles and scrolls like these on codex drawings in Mexico.  The chrysanthemums remind me of flowers on the Days of the Dead ofrendas.  Painted by Corazon and Chamuco.  I find the shades of gray with a touch of color very pleasing but it may not be to everyone's taste.

Welcome to Monday Mural. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: magic breath

Found in the Fruitvale District.  I love the magical realism that you find in so much Latino art.  I don't know who she represents but clearly magic is afoot.

Welcome to Monday Mural. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: fish tondo

Found in Solano Way alley in East Oakland.  By FBRC.  At first I assumed they were carp.  But I thought their faces looked more like birds.  Then I realized their backs were more like shrimp.  Now I have no idea what I'm looking at.  What do you think?

Welcome to Monday Mural.  If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below; you decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.  I'll be out of town for several days so won't be able to leave comments.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson
  

Monday Mural: the corner tropics

Found this tropical mural by Malcom Stuart in Jingletown.  It curves around the corner of the building and features psychedelic 3-D geckos.  Hey, that reminds me we're coming up on the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love.  Feelin' groovy.

Go Warriors!!

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: Ghost Ship

In December there was a terrible fire in an Oakland warehouse where 36 people lost their lives.  Near the warehouse site, this mural has gone up to commemorate the fire and honor those who died.  The doves represent the souls lost and all their names are listed at the far right side of the mural.  Painted by Vogue and the TDK crew.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: abuelita

This mural of a girl and her grannie is on the other side of the building shown last week.  A sweet image of familial love.  The furry looking item to the left of the girl is a continuation of the quetzal bird tail you saw last week.  A bit of it can also be seen above the grandma's head.  I spotted this mural in my rear view mirror and had to turn around to check it out.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: quetzal bird

This mural is found on Foothill Blvd. in East Oakland.  In the long tradition of Mexican murals, there is pointed social-political commentary on the right side of the mural.  I think enlarging that section of the photo should help you view it better.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: another Doty bird

Another fabulous bird by Ernest Doty.  It's on a side of an apartment building over looking a gas station.  This is the best shot I could get even though it's quite large.  Hence, the unlovely view of station advertising banners.  Found on Foothill Blvd. in East Oakland.

Welcome to Monday Mural.  If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.  

I'll be gone for a few weeks and won't be able to leave comments on your posts.  The meme should go up weekly via auto-posting.  If there is a glitch, I won't be able to fix it from afar.  Begging your indulgence in advance.  Arigato.

Church of Tonga

The Church of Tonga is situated in the San Antonio district in East Oakland.  The brightly painted church rises above the neighborhood and calls people to it.

Monday Mural: mujer muralista

I love everything about this mural.  The composition, colors, technique--everything.  For some reason this one just makes me happy.  From this angle you can really feel the energy she's putting into grinding corn on the metate.  Close to the grilled window is a sweet hummingbird and heart shaped cactus.  Come to mention it, her braids are also linked hearts!  Found on a small restaurant on Foothill Blvd in East Oakland.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

“Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson.

Monday Mural: Polly want a cracker?

This large parrot (or possibly a parakeet) head adorns a neighborhood market wall on the corner of 14th Avenue and E. 18th Street.  It is by Doty who has been featured many times on this meme.  His birds are always wonderfully detailed, seem self-aware, and always have a whiff of danger.  The bird seems to be speaking;  I wonder what it is saying?  I think the tiles are original to the building.  Many Deco-era buildings in Oakland have tiled facades that I believe came from local manufacturers.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you; just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: Yoda on a lotus

Here's another section of mural alley otherwise known as Solano Way.  Yoda sits on a lotus blossom just like the Buddha.  Are those light sabers forming his halo?  There are so many signatures on this part of the wall, that I don't know which belongs to the Yoda image.  Strange it is--or is not.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Follow the Linky instructions below and be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.  If the Linky works this week, it means the problem has been fixed.  Fingers crossed.

 “ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: Solano Way

Solano Way in East Oakland is chock full of street art, much of it changing over time.  I've previously shown you many compositions here from local artists.  This lovely gal looks like she comes from the cover of a 1950s detective novel.  She is surrounded by several "pieces" or signatures of artists.  The intention is to make them so stylized and ingenious that reading them is a challenge.  Or, in my case, impossible.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward to your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.  We're still trying to figure out why the Linky is not appearing, so please follow the links meme participants leave with their comments.

 “ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: the eyes have it

I love this mural.  It's like she's channeling cosmic energy through her eyes.  She doesn't need that razor wire crown to make you think twice about climbing over the wall.  True to form, I failed to look for a signature.

Welcome to Monday Mural.  If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.  I'll be gone for a few weeks and won't be able to leave comments on your posts.  The meme will still go up weekly via auto-posting.

“ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday mural: ninja girlz

These Ninja troops are an extension of last week's posted mural.  But they seem so different in tenor, that they feel like separate works.  Again, I couldn't discern an artist's signature, although the writing on the nearest weapon strap may be a big clue.  Found on International Blvd. in East Oakland.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

 “ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: singing like a bird

This mural is relatively new and replaces this one posted a year ago.  The tone in this one seems a little less tranquil than the previous one.  I don't know what it means, but intuitively it feels like it has its roots in mythology.  Found on International Blvd. in East Oakland.  Could not find a name for the artist although I suspect it's right in front of me if only I could read the font.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

 “ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: then we will wear

Jayne Cortez was a jazz poet who died at the end of 2013.  You can feel the rhythm in her words.  This mural was found on International Blvd. in East Oakland, a beleaguered part of town.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

 “ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

Monday Mural: Valentine's Day

A local carpet store creates these mini murals for various holidays or special events.  I thought this one was pretty funny.

Welcome to Monday Mural:  if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters.  Looking forward your mural finds posted this week.  Google+ users, please configure your post so we all can leave a comment.  Thanks.

 “ Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson