Graffiti Muralis Border Creative Genious

One of the most talented and gifted custom Muralist that I have had the privilege to see work. Last week, I was able to see Ponchaveli  finish the Mohammad Ali mural  a couple of blocks from this venue.

Last week end, while making my circuit rounds, a muralist that is noted in Dallas was working on a large mural of Mohammad Ali. It was the featured post for last week end. Today, while following the water discharge on the Trinity (the USGS has a great digital set of meters) that are published live on their website. The radar units measure the rate of discharge down stream. When the USGS Field Office in Ft. Worth was installing the units there was a post made. Ever since, especially with the rain we have experienced again this year, I have followed the "trash" pile-up that comes down from upstream parks, storm drains, ditches and the like. Yes, as one would guess, what you see along the Trinity near downtown is that very discharge of items from those sources. Today, was of special interest because the discharge rate was still very fast but the level of water had dropped some.

I did the shot of the typical pile-up points..... ever notice why the bridges have those little slots spaced evenly along the side barriers--the pile-up was deep,wide and high on the banks. It was solid for ten or fifteen feet from the bridge back upstream. As the water reached the height of the bridge, the slots allowed the water to continue to flow downstream, but all the wood and trash and what ever else (i.e., coolers, footballs,basketballs, many, many soccer balls, shoes, flipflops, milk cartons, etc.,etc.) that could be seen under the pile as well. Most of the paper labels were gone, having started their bio-degradiable cycle already.  The only labels left on the plastic bottles were the companies that use the plastic overlay labels that are sealed and glued. When done, it was on to Deep Ellum. However, today, I never made it that far east. Being in the neighborhood of the most condensed and creative art canvas in the city, it was time to check out what had changed this past week.

A very interesting thing happened. I met an artist that was just about to paint a new mural. While the site was being prepared, we talked about the other cities in Texas that have such a like venue. The artist went about his work like a pro. Making the outline didn't take much time for him to sketch the full mural outline. Filling in the full mural was going to take some time. Before next weekend, I'll try to get down there again if my route doesn't cause any delays. Each day, I allow myself about 3 hours for the 38-mile route. Sometimes, the shoot time and the drive time get out of sync and my shoot list gets stacked  up. The summer in Texas heat does limit my activities at my age and with the medication that has limits in the direct sunlight. Dehydration is a problem that can cause major problems with the meds so while I do drink a lot of water on the route, take brakes in the cool of the AC in the car, one does continue to loose that valuable hydration. Still, I could not help but think how lucky I am to have so much creative people around. The guy today even had a creative producer with him. That was a first and put this custom muralist near the top of the list of those that I will follow from now on.

Don't Mess With Texas message needs rebroadcast.

The  Flooded Trinity River's currents were discharging at a very fast rate today. You can see the current in the center ripples.

Another Fine Job by Ponchaveli

Yesterday, while the temperature was still under 100 degrees F., venturing out was done in a abbreviated version. There were several projects that I wanted to check to see how they have changed. It never fails. There is always a discovery that turns up as a serendipitous event. For years, I have well discovered the old biblical saying that where the Lord closes one window, He opens another. In this case, it was shoe stores. One popular shoe store near Love Field closed and yesterday, I discovered on a walk-about a very nice shoe store that I have missed somehow. And, who happened to be celebrating their two year anniversary in business. They liked the printed canvas.  I even found one print pattern on one of their shoes that I have on the canvas low cuts.

Then, as I have done for 16-years, I either walk or drive down one Deep Ellum street and this street really is a named alley. My first trip down that street (alley) was when I was doing the research for the Fortune 100 for a Deep Ellum Foundation grant. This garage door was open and the sound of voices was coming at me. As it turned out, I'm standing in the owners living room by accident. Since then, I have discovered it is a loft and a photo studio. Yesterday, as I turned onto the alley, I saw the man sitting in the alley in a chair with camera on his lap. A photo shoot was going on and the assist personnel were changing models. Work is work and while it might have been observed for a while longer on foot, I was in the car and did not want to distract. It's kind of like shooting and some wiseguy goes by on the street and blows his horn to distract or break your concentration. I didn't want to be that guy with the horn if you understand the thought here.

On the crossover from Deep Ellum to downtown, I wanted to see Jackson street as it comes out on Harwood. The news that DART might be running the new rail line underground rather than down the middle of Jackson Street had me curious. First Presbyterian Church is a beautiful architectural domed feat and it is also a very active church with Dallas' homeless. So, it makes sense to run the train subway-style rather than on-grade right through the First Presbyterian campus. The two Masonic Temples on the opposite corner agree.

I drove Jackson (which to me is more of an alley than a street) down to Lamar and then took Commerce Street across the Trinity to a place that is a source of colorful art. Some would call tags or graffiti. It's also a noted place for photographers. It is somewhat common property for shooting but there is a respectfulness between artist and photographers. That's the part I like best. It's old school respect that my grandfathers knew as a deal with a handshake. While there, a guy told me about an artist (who he did not know by name) that was just about to finish a mural of Mohammad Ali nearby. In a flash, I was on my way to check it out. I had been waiting for the so-called "break out" when someone would do a large scale mural of Ali. This was the photo call so to speak. I was stunned. Not only was the mural a living tribute, the artist, Ponchaveli, was still there. I was able to get some shots and with a signed release, submitted the image to a world-wide live feed. The image is up an running as I write this.

There is so much going on in Dallas. Things are happening all over the Metroplex. Every one is chomping at the bit to get the first shots of the "THE STAR" the new home of the Cowboys in Frisco. Friday was the last day at Valley Ranch, the home for the past 31-years. For those of you that don't know..... that's the office or where the players go to work every day. The AT&T Stadium is where the games are played. Two seperate venues. I'm more interested with what is going to happen to the old place in Valley Ranch.

Now that hot weather has set in..... it's up early in the cool of the day now and I'll be shooting with morning sun rather than mid afternoon over my shoulders. The change will show up in the images. However, I am still having focus issues with the camera at the present time. I need to call support and talk to them again about the issues, but, until then I work around it the best that I can.

The old Pythian Temple in Deep Ellum--if ever there was a building that needed to be restored to its days of grandeur, this is it! The ball room is on the 5th floor.

The barrier between downtown and Deep Ellum appears to be coming down. The real question is when? The view looks west into downtown on Elm street.

If you want to see the full image, go to my home page, click on the far right tab, scroll down to the button "alamy", click it on and either click on the dallaspaparazzo above the search box or type in Ali mural in Dallas, but for the next 24-30 hours check the live news feed first.