Recently, I was driving to work along my usual route when I noticed some major remodeling going on at a local dive bar. There were dumpsters lined up in the parking lot and piles of debris being hauled out by the workers. Over the next few days I watched each morning as they peeled away layers from this nondescript building, covered with diagonal wood siding from the 70s.
On the particular morning that the picture above was taken, they had finally removed all of the wood and uncovered the original building underneath. I just love this sort of thing! Even though I was running late to work that day, I had to circle the block, park and snap a few pictures. I was certain that tomorrow this view would no longer be visible.
Turns out this bar had once been a corner market and liquor store dating back to the late 1930s. At some point, the building was added onto, converted into a bar and then covered with layers upon layers of siding. I love that, like a time capsule, the ugly siding trapped a view back in time. As I suspected, later that evening when I drove home, the whole building was sheathed in plywood, once again encapsulating the painted wall and hiding it from view for countless years to come.
I really like how “chalky” these colors look. Even though they are obviously degraded, they are still a beautiful and powerful combination. Perfect to play around with!
The first thing that comes to my mind with these colors is something with an Art Deco feel.
Wouldn’t this fern-like pattern make a great fabric?
And last but not least….a happy homage to a famous Los Angeles googie sign:
-Susie
January 18th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Love it!
That chalky seafoam was the first thing that caught my eye on that image, too! LOVE the way the paint aged on the building!
Inspired!
January 19th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
it’s wonderful to see the thought process of you being able to see beauty in something forgotten.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
thanks Kim & Brandy!
…and thanks to my digital camera. Having that baby in my purse everyday is perfect. I never hesitate to pull it out and snap a picture of anything that catches my eye!
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:08 am
Chalky is the right word for them - the combination works beautifully with the clean illustrations - really like them.
January 27th, 2010 at 10:08 am
I love this kind of thing! I had a similar experience a few years ago in Seattle when an old brick building on my street was being demolished. There was a huge ad painted on the side of it that I loved (coincidentally, it was also a 7-Up ad!). I knew that it was going to be gone forever in a day or 2, but unfortunately, I didn’t make it down there in time with my camera. : ( I try to always have it in my purse these days for just such an occasion! P.s. Your patterns are gorgeous!
January 27th, 2010 at 11:58 am
Beth,
Thanks for your comment. After our last big earthquake here in LA (1994). Quite a few buildings in my old neighborhood had damage. In the days after the quake, I saw so many vintage signs exposed for the first time in ages. Painted brick walls that were now exposed or on storefronts where the modern facade fell off revealing the 1930s building underneath. I meant to take pictures, but by the time I went back to do so, the damaged buildings had already been demolished and the signs were gone forever. I so regret not photographing these, so I’m extra diligent to capture these when I see them now.