'Kingdom is Within' in Greensboro, NC

'Kingdom Is Within' // Painted for @createyrcty at Tracks Bazaar in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Since this mural is painted in the South I thought I'd put a flip on something profound and mystical Jesus said: "Lift a stone and you will see my face, break a twig and you will hear my voice. The Kingdom of Heaven is Within." In essence saying that we have the seeds of happiness and self-realization built in us as a human beings, if only we had the attention to see it and develop it. Interesting that this concept also appears in Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. Very similar to a Zen Koan.

The silo represents 'any old structure', useful yet mechanical. Sort of like us as people. We more or less all look and behave the same when looked at from a far enough vantage point. Eat, secrete,sleep and reproduce or simulate reproduction. The notes pinned to the outside of the structure represent 'notes to self' and have 5 symbols painted on them which represent some of the possible ways to gain access to a deeper understanding of the Self once contemplated and/or experienced:

1. yin/yang - balance

2. key - problem solving

3. infinity - boundlessness

4. death - the counter part to life

5. merkabah - mysticysm

The cluster of eyes represent Awareness, Playfulness and Creative Life Force.

I'll let you guys decide what the optical illusion part of the mural means.

Special thanks to Ryan Saunders and Kotis Properties!

'Putting Legs on a Snake' in Venice Beach

'Putting Legs on a Snake' - painted on Pacific and Brooks in Venice Beach for Elly Nesis. First painted at Art Center, Pasadena for the Outside In Show, yet I felt that it belonged in the street.

Inspired by the Zen saying 'Don't put legs on a snake'. Along the lines of: 'If it ain't broke don't fix it'. "Kindly let me help you from drowning" said the Monkey to the Fish as he put him up a tree. 'If you think you need to therapy you oughtta have your head examined'.

The hands in the composition are lighting up one of the three eyes (symbol for Awareness, Trinity). Having Awareness is not enough for the figure, it wants more. The figure was brought up in the Judeo-Christian West, so the very core of the figure's thinking is fundamentally influenced by Judeo-Christian thought (symbolized by the tattoo of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe - Catholic) and a Ceramic view of Reality (God made the world and breathed the breath of Life into the clay figurines of Adam and Eve. God as Creator, as opposed to Eastern thought and its Organic view of Reality where things 'result from' or 'grow' out of this world much like an apple 'results' from a tree.) The figure still wants more. This seeking of Awareness and Spiritual Growth is quite a happening for the figure and took quite some effort, it required 'breaking through' a wall (a term in psycho-analysis). We get a glimpse of the origins of the figure (the Universe, stardust) alongside the Dodecahedron, Merkaba, and Octahedron (Sacred Geometry) and it is revealed that the figure was in Harmony with all that Is all along, unbeknownst to the figure because the figure defined itself as fundamentally flawed. The symbolism of the wall aims to promote the idea that we can all work to better ourselves, but proposes not get lost in that work to the point of it becoming our identity. When we look at the clouds we never point out an ugly one or an irregular one, but we do it to one another all the time and the judging is particularly harsh towards ourselves. So relax and do you booboo! Special thanks to Elly Nesis for letting me paint this wall for the last 18 years!

For Stand LA in Los Angeles

Mural for Stand-LA in the West Adams District of LA to help raise awareness regarding the little known neighborhood oil drilling in Los Angeles. There are currently 1000 active oil drills in neighborhoods and near parks and next to schools in Los Angeles. 580.000 Angelenos currently live a quarter mile or less from an active well. The use of chemicals and acids for drilling along with the pollutants are affecting 100,000s of people. We have no means of comprehensively tracking oil related activity in Los Angeles, leaving residents in the dark about industrial activity taking place near their homes. #KeepItInTheGround #LAOilProblem