Dear Neighbors,
I love your little camper. I hope you have plans to pack up and escape into nature for a little bit. The world is scary right now. This is hard. It’s good to escape if you can. Just stay safe. Wear your mask, wash your hands, then get out into the wilderness where you can breathe free.
Love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
Zoom zoom. That’s all I’ve got today. I’m packing up for my annual trip north. Tomorrow we hit the road and escape from the heat and Covid spikes. I’ll see you in August, Austin. Save some queso for me and stay safe.
Masks on. Let’s go!
Love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
This one was by a specific and special request by a passerby who stopped to watch us paint on Monday. She lives down the street in this pink house. “This packaderm need to have authority and strength. It's a very powerful mama elephant!” How could I say no? Do you have any special requests? Send me a photo and I’ll doodle on your walls too.
Love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
I saw your little rainbow drawing in the window. It’s beautiful. I thought I’d give you a little extra rainbow love on your house today. Kids nationwide have been posting rainbow drawings in their windows as a sign of community, love and hope during the Covid-19 pandemic. We need those signs.
Signs are important, whether they are tiny rainbow drawings or massive Black Lives Matter (or Black Austin Matters/Black Artists Matter) street art. I’ve seen arguments that painting the streets is just a performative act. It’s not real change. That’s a silly argument and isn’t the point. Art is a visual, a voice, a message that is easy to understand. It’s a symbol of the action, a call to arms. Art can be a sign of anger, a sign of protest, a sign of power, a sign of love, support and solidarity. We need these signs. Thank you for sharing them.
I’m with you. I support you. I’m sending you all the love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
I see how it is. You think putting up a fence and a bunch of bamboo can keep me from doodling on your pretty white walls? Fine. I’ll doodle on your fence. K, bye!
Love and light,
Avery O
P.S. If you want a REAL fence mural, the first $1000 (my minimum) can be paid directly to a social justice organization, community organization or mutual aid fund doing the really important work. I started with a $1000 personal donation to the @colorofchange, my earnings from my last project. Let’s see how much we can donate together. If you are interested, send me an email to averyodesign@gmail.com. I may have to fit your mural in around scheduled commercial projects, but I will make it happen. Check out my previous “Dear Neighbors” posts for some available designs.
Dear Neighbors,
Today’s mural mockup is in honor of yesterday’s historic Supreme Court ruling establishing new protections for LGBTQ people in the workplace. Yay! We have to remember to celebrate the wins during these crazy times. Happy Pride, y’all!
Love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
I know nothing about birds but I do love watching and drawing them. I am always in awe of birders’ knowledge and tenacity. Did you know that last week was Black Birders Week? This campaign was organized in response to the incident in Central Park, where a hysterical white lady called the police on a Black man who was birding, and falsely claimed he was threatening her life, which could have resulted in his arrest, brutality, or worse at the hands of the cops.
In the words of co-organizer Corina Newsome: “For far too long, Black people in the United States have been shown that outdoor exploration activities such as birding are not for us—whether it be because of the way the media chooses to present who is the ‘outdoorsy’ type or the racism experienced by Black people when we do explore the outdoors, as we saw recently in Central Park. Well, we’ve decided to change that narrative.” Check out the wonderful work that @outdoorafro is doing to celebrate and inspire Black leadership in nature. Now go outside and find some birds!
Love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
Another day, another neighborhood mural mockup. don’t know or how I feel about this one but the mindless act of drawing lines and dots is self soothing. You should try it sometime.
Love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
Let’s chat about white privilege.
A wonderful @chalkandbrush post this week has made me think about some of the privileges that I have from being a white mural artist. Clients leave me the keys to their businesses or access to their homes without giving it a second thought. I can paint murals on the street without being questioned. People find me by word of mouth often in white and wealthier circles. It’s an uncomfortable thing to sit with and important to understand how much white privilege still exists even when we (white people) work really hard to get where we are and earn what we make.
I am hoping to put this privilege to work. If you want and can you afford a mural the first $1000 (my minimum) can be paid directly to a social justice organization, community organization or mutual aid fund doing the really important work. Send me an email at averyodesign@gmail.com.
Now here’s a rainbow.
Love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
Oh hey! How’ve you been? So, I live here in a neighborhood with expanding privilege and resources. I’d like to use what we have and do what we can to create change. Are you in Austin? Do you want and can you afford a mural? Great! Here’s the deal. First $1000 (my minimum) can be paid directly to a social justice organization, community organization or mutual aid fund doing the really important work. I’m starting with a $1000 personal donation to the @colorofchange, my earnings from my last project. Let’s see how much we can donate together. If you are interested, send me an email to averyodesign@gmail.com. I may have to fit your mural in around scheduled commercial projects, but I will make it happen. Check out my previous “Dear Neighbors” posts for some available designs.
If you are looking for other ways to take action and support, I’ve been sharing info and resources in my stories that I’ve found helpful. Black lives matter. Now let’s put privilege to work.
Love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
Have you read that news story about how city rats are starving for lack of sidewalk food scraps and have started eating each other? Horrifying. I hate rats. I detests those long creepy tails. This was my attempt at immersion therapy, but it didn’t work. I still F*ing hate them. I hope your days are rat free.
Love and light,
Avery O
Dear Neighbors,
What if our walls could change color to show the world what kind of day we were having. Feeling bright and sunny? Maybe I’ll pull up a lawn chair and have a drink with you. Let you brighten my day. Feeling blue? I’ll check in, send love notes and cookies. Feeling calm and peaceful? I’ll just wave as I walk by, let you enjoy the quiet. Some days I feel all the feels and the colors change by the hour. I’m hanging on to the bright and happy colors as much as possible. I hope you are too.
Love and light,
Avery O
