Road Trip ~

I took a little road trip yesterday to Franklin Tennessee. Franklin is a little town about 25 miles south of Nashville. I had never been before, but over the years I have had several friends tell me "Oh, you just gotta go! The little shops are fantastic, the restaurants are amazing, and it's just a wonderful day trip!" Well, work and life have always gotten in the way of road trips, but yesterday I thought what the hell and went on up.
I learned a long time ago, unless you're just running down to your local grocery store, always take a camera with you! It never seems to fail; you go somewhere and don't have a camera and you're guaranteed to see something that will make you kick your own ass for not bringing one. Afterall, one never knows when a photo op will occur!
I have seen a lot of graffiti in my lifetime. I have seen graffiti walls, bridges, overpasses, train cars, buildings, road signs...you name it, I have seen it covered in graffiti. However, I have never seen a car covered in graffiti until yesterday. The detail was absolutely amazing and finding this car made me feel like a kid in a candy store!
Once again, I am simply in awe of the artistic ability of a graffiti artist! I'm just hoping that this car belongs to the artist and wasn't a late night work of expression!

It's all in the details!

Graffiti... I find it extremely interesting! It's everywhere, and I do mean everywhere! If you open your eyes and take a good look around, I bet you'll find some! I have seen graffiti in major cities, and I've seen it while driving down country roads. I've seen in on interstates and even while sitting still waiting for a train to pass. Graffiti is everywhere!
But, this is what I find so interesting: A lot of people hate to see graffiti. They believe that graffiti artists should be prosecuted, and at the very least, be made to clean up their mess! I look at graffiti and I see amazing art! I imagine the time and effort that goes into a piece of this art! Think about it... a graffiti artist usually works at night, and he doesn't use a paint brush, he uses a spray can! In addition, he must be constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure that no one is coming! And, he must work quickly!
Now, having said that, I certainly wouldn't be a very happy camper if I woke up tomorrow morning to find that a graffiti artist had turned the outside of my house into a "piece of art", but there is no denying the fact that graffiti artists' are exceptionally talented!
Do you ever wonder why a graffiti artist chooses to leave his work behind, for all to admire, knowing he will get no credit for his work? This boggles my mind! I have spent a considerable amount of my time wondering why they don't get pieces of sheetrock or large canvas, and make some money off of their talent!
I like to think that the majority of graffiti artists' are very young and don't realize just how talented they are! The sad thing is, I would be willing to bet that most graffiti artists' live their entire lives without the support and encouragement one needs in order to become successful.
That's really sad. How many artists' do you think are out there that could possibly be the next Monet or Picasso, but don't have anyone in their corner telling them that they can?
If you never thought about this I would encourage you to take a good look at the photo I have posted today. Just look at the detail... it's simply amazing!