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Box Turtle

Fragile, handle with care:

That turtle in a box is part of a longer mural by Jerry Wagner Jr:

The left side:

Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger images.

Freedom -- thanks to a motorcycle, thanks to veterans

Thanks to Monty SES Esposito for that photo of his mural on the west side of Standup Bill's Annex in the parking lot of American Legion John P. Burns Post 36. He took it on March 10th after he had finished painting. I stopped by on March 21 to snap two closeups:

He painted another mural nearby with help from two other artists. It's in our October 8, 2021 post Greetings from ARIZONA.

Another big Joe Pagac mural: Zion City (Murals being made, part 70)

Q: How big is Joe Pagac's new mural?

A: Look at the bottom left below. The red box marks an SUV in the parking lot under the mural:

It's pretty big: 6800 square feet, Joe says.

For another perspective, here's an aerial photo taken April 25 by BG Boyd Photography (thanks, BG!):

Next, a photo of the blank wall from @joepagac on Instagram, February 14. By comparing it to the photos above, I'd say it's showing less than half the width of the wall. And if you look closely, you'll see a tiny person in the middle at the bottom. That's Joe:

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A post shared by Joe Pagac (@joepagac)

I stopped by on February 21 and was lucky to find Joe there, just starting to paint:

An Arizona Daily Star article said he planned to finish around mid-April: Tucson artist Joe Pagac works on his largest mural yet.

On April 6, Joe's Instagram had a photo of volunteers painting:

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A post shared by Joe Pagac (@joepagac)

I came back on April 27th to see the finished mural. Here are photos from roughly left to right:

When I stood next to the prickly pear at the bottom left of the photo above, I noticed that Joe used loose brushstrokes, as you'll see below. When you stand back a ways (which is normal for such a big mural!), the brushstrokes look just fine:

I'm always interested in how muralists deal with parts of the building like doors and pipes. For instance:

Next, looking in from the right side and at the middle:

The signatures of Joe and his crew are hard to spot. Usually they're at one end of a mural. In this case, they're below and to the right of the lion. I've highlighted them in the first photo:

Welcome to Palo Verde Park Neighborhood

New muralist Angela Pittenger, whose bench at Palo Verde Park we posted three days ago, has painted a similar mural at the entrance to the Palo Verde Park Neighborhood. It's at the neighborhood entrance along Kolb. Thanks to Angela for these two photos:

Here's my photo of the right (northeast) side, taken May 22nd:

A detail from the left (southeast) side:

The center (east) side, the right edge of the green circle:

As I mentioned last time, her website is www.AngelaPittenger.com. Her Instagram is @angelapittenger; you can see some of it without an account, but don't click on any photos or you'll be asked to log in.

Watch for her mural at Teal Saguaro here in July or August.

Cheerful bench at Palo Verde Park (Murals being made, part 69)

When you're in Palo Verde Park at Palo Verde Pool (which has a mural outside), walk west to the northwest corner of the park. You'll find a bench painted by Angela Pittenger. Here are the north (front side), then the south side:

Closeups around the bench:

In the last photo above, her signature is at the bottom right:

Just by chance, I found Angela's email address after I took those photos on April 26th. I wrote and asked if she'd share some info about the mural and maybe photos of it being painted. She did! Here's what she wrote and five photos of one part being painted:

The Palo Verde Park Neighborhood has been trying to improve the neighborhood and asked me to come up with a bright, happy, flowery design for that little wall to liven up the playground area. I incorporated a bee and a butterfly because they put in a pollinator garden so it ties the whole park together.

Once I drafted an idea, they took it to the City for approval and then raised funds to pay for it. Members of the Palo Verde Park Neighborhood went to work preparing the wall, which took a lot of work. They scraped and torched it to get it smooth enough to paint.

I painted it on my own. The handprints on the opposite side were done by children from Kellond Elementary School, which is next to the park. It really makes it a kids’ space and creates a sense of whimsy and playfulness. The wall was very chipped and dull before I painted the mural. That wall has always kind of been a gathering spot for parents while their kids play. I know I spent many hours sitting there when my son was little. It’s really cool to help improve the park that I love in such a joyous way. Kids love it. They look at all the flowers and get excited when they find the lady bug that’s painted on there.

Let's finish with five photos Angela sent. They show how she painted the flower at the center of the first photo (the north side of the bench) above:

Her website is www.AngelaPittenger.com. Her Instagram is @angelapittenger; you can see some of it without an account, but don't click on any photos or you'll be asked to log in.

Thanks so much, Angela! We'll be showing another of your murals next time.

Mural for sale: $464,900! (home included)

At the northwest corner of Broadway & Bryant is a mural with a home behind it:

That's taken from the northeast corner. Here's the northwest view:

The asking price is just $464,900. Deal! :)

Next, part of the front (north side) of the home. Don't miss the borders around the window and door. (As always, you can click for a slideshow of larger views.)

Let's move east and around the corner to the left edge of the mural, along Bryant Avenue, and see closeups from here until the west end of the mural next to the home:

Flashback to February 17, 2010: There was a different mural. The wall was topped with curved tile. (Now the wall is topped by simulated, painted-on tiles with a fence above.) Here's the northeast corner of the wall back then:

The post Three streets, three murals: #2 shows two more views from that date.