Urban Beauty – a Sunday Stills Perspective

For Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge where our prompt this week is “urban.” OK, wow, this is interesting. I’m kind of the anti-urbanite. I don’t really like cities and as much as I do love theater, symphony and ballet, I abhor traffic, light pollution, asphalt and crowds. I don’t even like going into “town” to Lexington, Kentucky. A small city of approximately 320,000. Still, I have visited many, many urban areas in several countries. One thing I have found the world over is that beauty is there, you just have to look for it.

Penny alley Mt. Home ID

Here Penny Alley in Mountain Home, ID. The alley walls run for about three blocks and are covered by various forms of art from this hand print exhibition to:

Penny alley Mt. Home ID

this more intricate reminder that adventure is out there, and so is beauty.

Kyoto Japan

Here in Kyoto Japan, a mural discreetly conceals a pedestrian walk way between stores.

Osaka Japan

In Osaka Japan, I simply looked down to find these beautifully cast decorative manhole covers.

Tianmu Taiwan

Here in Tianmu Taiwan the Little Free Library makes for an adorable and friendly bit of urban art.

Christchurch, NZ

Here a fabulous bit of storefront art in Christ Church, NZ. I couldn’t quite get a shot of the home next door but if you look behind the gate to the left of the screen, you’ll see some fanciful graffiti art.

Wellington NZ

And finally, I’m going to close with a small excerpt from one of the few cities in the world that I have ever truly enjoyed every minute of my stay in. Wellington, NZ. The blend of old and modern architecture, the ethnic diversity, the art, the ocean, the public transportation, the people, combined to put it on the very short list of “cities” I would consider living in.

Also linking up to Marsha’s PPAC Public Art Challenge

Hope you enjoyed this mini world tour of urban art, that’s all from Castle Serenity for this week.

Til next time ~ There is beauty everywhere for those who are willing to look for it ~JP