VIEWS OF A FARM BOY

RETURN TO HOMEPAGE>>>>>>>>>>

PAINT THE WALL

I like wall art and I know many of you do, too. I am sure many of you do not snoop around as much as I do--so when I find these special treasures, I like to share them with you. This time I didn't arrange them in any special order, either by artist or topic.


APRIL-2017

This beautiful new mural occupies the entire west wall of the Exile Brewing Company, at 16th and Walnut in downtown Des Moines. I thought it was perfect timing for me. Today, October 13, 2016--I arrived at just the right time to see artist Ben Schur put on the finishing touches.

Des Moines artist Chris Vance teamed up with Robb Romero for this great comic art on the wall of “The Library”-- a bar-grill at 3506 University Ave.


(Above) I am veering a little bit off track here to kill two birds with one stone. This art mural by well known mural artist, John Hartman, consumes the entire side of a business building. It is located in Pleasantville, Iowa--home town of legendary Knoxville race car driver Earl Wagner (1935-2009). (Right and Left) Here is the real thing--Earl Wagner’s 777 as it was displayed in a downtown car show last summer.


"Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam." Mural artist Dennis Adams painted this beautiful bison-native American-early settlers scene (left) on the wall of a business building in Woodward, Iowa in 1982. It was in recognition of the town's 100th anniversary. I often stopped to admire this beautiful work of art when I went to the farm or made a little side trip from the bike trail. Then I was overjoyed last fall when I discovered Dennis had given this masterpiece a fresh coat of paint and a new look (right). Same story--new look. It tells so much about the history of Iowa and the Old West.

This mural is truly in "Old West" country. We saw this last fall on the back wall of the Murray Building in downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming. I loved it, so I researched its history. The surface of this building required a lot of prep work before the artist, Michael Cooper, from Franklin, Tennessee could begin his work. Michael applied a special super mural paint that would adhere to the building surface and hopefully last for decades. This southern guy from Tennessee, working in the old western town of Cheyenne, chose a surprising theme of this great piece of art. This beautiful mural is based on the cherubs of Donatello (1386-1466)--an Itallian artist who lived in Florence .

Art murals on the outside of one of my favorite lunch places--Tasty Tacos at 14th and Grand, Des Moines, Iowa. The mural artist is John Neal.

Now what is this all about? On my way home from downtown last week, I came across this beautiful art mural by Ben Schuh.  It is painted on storage units placed in an L-shape on a vacant lot on the northwest corner of  MLK/I-235. I had never seen this before, but it may be one of my all time favorites because it is so Iowa. It has an all Iowa theme featuring so many places meaningful to me. I love the Iowa farm scenes, Sculpture Garden, High Trestle Bridge, Iowa State Capitol and more. Of course, I really LOVE the theme word--LOVE--you know--like "LOVE your neighbor as yourself."

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? And He said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (ESV) (Matthew 22: 36-39)