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October 20, 2013 by tomdalzell

Birds #2 – Painted Birds

The popular culture allusion here, I suppose, could be:

Birds Poster

But there is something oh-so-much better.  Put a bird on it!

I mention this not simply as a cultural allusion, although it is a good one.  Portland will come to play a role in later Quirky Berkeley postings.  You see, there is a QB partisan with strong feelings about Portland.  If something happens in Portland, it is not quirky in Berkeley.  Example: urban chicken coops.  A cliche in Portland, thus not even open for discussion with her here.  Example two: donuts.  Because of Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland, no donuts here can be quirky.  So she says.  And so on.  So just keep Portland in mind.

Okay – reset.  Birds painted on mostly homes in Berkeley!  I drive by this Escher-esque bird painting on Oxford Street almost every day.  It is faded but cool:

 

1282 Oxford

1282 Oxford

This one harkens to the National Recovery Act, at least to my eye:

1115 Bancroft

1115 Bancroft

And then a handful of just plain painted birds:

580 Vincente

580 Vincente

587 Santa Clara

587 Santa Clara

587 Santa Clara

587 Santa Clara

1735 10th

1735 10th

907 Oxford

907 Oxford

1540 Prince

1540 Prince

1630 Blake

1630 Blake

901 Hearst

901 Hearst

1863 San Antonio

1863 San Antonio

1519 Juanita

1519 Juanita

The ultimate Painted Birds house is found at 2200 Sixth Street, on the southwest corner of Allston and Sixth.

Sixth 1 Sixth 2

Sixth 3Sixth 4 Sixth 5 Sixth 6

2398 Parker

2398 Parker

And where better to find painted birds than the Audubon Society?

2530 San Pablo

2530 San Pablo

2530 San Pablo

2530 San Pablo

Stefen painted this door mural in 2012.  Stunning!

I asked my friend what he thought of the painted birds.  He reminded me of a trip we took in the spring of 1969 to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey where we bought an unpainted wooden duck.  “No paint, dude, on that bird,” he said.  He then said, as he often says, “Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?”  The photos?  He was, frankly, more interested in watching Hitchcock, but he did say:

IMG_3677

 

 

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