Stopping The Nation

I've shown you these traffic signal boxes before; a community project where anyone can apply to paint them, making their own mark around the city. I'm a day late with this post, but it fits in very well with yesterday's BIG horse race, The Melbourne Cup - "The Race That Stops The Nation". Seriously, everything really does seem to grind to a halt for a few moments as all eyes are turned to watching the race. This year the race was very exciting with an unexpected winner. 

Wash Day Blues (TSB #2)

I've mentioned before that there is a scheme here in Brisbane where artists of any calibre are allowed to apply to decorate the traffic signal boxes that are dotted all over the place...in face anywhere  you see traffic lights. They are a wonderful source of 'street art' and certainly cheer up otherwise dull metal boxes. This box sits at the end of my road and with the current strong winds captures the essence of the day.

TSB #1

You may well ask what TSB stands for. This is one of them. A traffic signal box, and they are dotted all over Brisbane and the suburbs controlling the sequence of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. These drab, grey boxes are often a target for graffiti and in a bid to discourage vandals, the city council set up the initiative to allow artists to apply to paint them. They are a great outlet for artists and certainly cheer up an otherwise boring metal box. I particularly like this one with it's take on a famous Australian poem 'My Country' by Dorothea MacKellar.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!