Mini-Mural: Green Man of South First

320 S. FIRST STREET, SAN JOSÉ, CA (near 100Block mural)
sponsored by Kaleid Gallery

This is outdoor mural #3 for me in the SoFa District of downtown San José:

• Stop #1 is the Show Your Work mini-mural on Market across the street from Voltaire Coffee and on the way towards the South Hall of the SJ Convention Center (one of the former homes of Works/San José, and the first place I showed my work)
• Stop #2 is one block over on South First proper, the heart of the South First Arts district: there’s a giant patchwork mural of 100 artists and you can spot my Victory! mural near the far right.
• Stop #3 is this guy, who’s there if you round the corner of the building by the left edge of 100Block on your way over to Kaleid Gallery where I have a wall with art for sale.

Since this was a planter with a large plant sprouting from it, I envisioned this as the head of a guardian for the South First Arts district. I thought of it as a kind of green man, ever-present and tucked away in the environment. To tie him into the local greenery, I imagined him with a crown of the purple jacarinda that blooms along the street in the summer during the subZERO art market evenings.

To cover all directions I ended up painting two faces on him: one to look out towards Kaleid, and one to look towards the rest of South First. As I painted him he ended up with a decidedly Master Shake kind of vibe, and I dig it.