Rhyolite, Nevada, USA

Listen up friggatriskaidekaphobes! Today is Friday the 13th. Beware! Bad luck may prevail. It certainly did for Jesus, who was crucified on a Friday. And the night before, at the Last Supper (à la Leonardo di ser Piero in this ghostly masterpiece), there were 13 guests. [2016]

Boise, Idaho, USA

"Emma Edwards Green: Artist and Designer of official Idaho State Seal". The year was 1891, and her design included both a man (representing work) and a woman (representing justice). Mrs. Green remains the only woman to have designed a state seal. Today, its significance is even more impressive because it is the centerpiece of the Idaho state flag. [2020]

New York New York, USA

Banksy, the world's foremost graffiti artist, still lives in the shadows of the pop-art underworld. Geographically Yours could not pass up a chance to see a curated collection of his art (unauthorized, 'vandalous,' photographic). In 2008, London's CCTV mural appeared and disappeared almost instantaneously. But, apparently, more than my photograph survives. [2022]

Carmel, California, USA

Odds and Evens, Ones and Twos, Singles and Doubles, Which one be You? Here is a loner-artist (aren't they all?) who may be proficient in two different arts: painting (obviously) and photography (judging by the re-purposed tripod). The setting: Carmel-by-the-Sea, home of a flourishing arts colony since 1906. [2010]

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Odds and Evens, Ones and Twos, Singles and Doubles, Which one be You? Here is one singular, young artist whose masterpiece was so good it won a blue ribbon from the Spanish Colonial Arts Society. The setting: Santa Fe Plaza during the Traditional Spanish Market. [2017]

Baxter, Tennessee, USA

Blooming flower or multihued octagram? Actually, it's a home-made quilt and the quilter who made it. When you are driving the blue highways of America, be on the lookout for roadside placards announcing quilts for sale out of somebody's home. Cash only! [2019]

Kraków, Poland

Landscapes, still lifes, and portraits: all on the wall. To which one are your eyes drawn? Probably, the portrait. And, you are probably asking yourself: "Is that Gandalf?" It could be, since the Lord of the Rings movies were released in 2001, 2002, and 2003. BTW: The years in brackets throughout this blog are when the pictures were taken. [2004]

Baxter, Tennessee, USA

She spent her 86 years hand-stitching quilts: some for her family, some to give away on special occasions, and some to sell. Keep your eyes open as you travel America's blue highways. You just might spot a roadside sign: "For Sale Quilts Hand Made." [2019]

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Artists at work qualify as performance artists. It is usually true that watching a muralist make the mural is much more mesmerizing than the final masterpiece. [2011]

Antwerp, Belgium

The penguins have chosen to emerge from the refrigerator behind them, probably because they like to be the center of attention. Perhaps, they will be immortalized by this artist or one of his companions. If it could happen to the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, it could happen to them. (She now lives in the Louvre.) [2015]

Las Palmas, Jalisco, Mexico

Give up screens for a week and you'll be making things like this, too. Screens? Flat surfaces on which images appear electronically. They have become ubiquitous. Ubiquitous? Occurring everywhere. How addicted are you? [2008]

Panama City, Panama

A new generation keeps the memory of Martyrs Day alive by coating a wall with 21 national flags, one for each Panamanian killed during the 'flag riots' of 1964. Today, they are revered as martyrs because they dared to challenge the very existence of the US-held Canal Zone. It all happened on January 9, exactly 53 years before this picture was taken. [2017]

Ürgüp, Cappadocia, Turkey

Carpets are one of the foundation stones of Turkish folk culture. The tradition came to Anatolia from Central Asia, where weaving was essential to life on the steppes. Originally, all materials and colors were natural, and the designs were handed down across the generations. [2000]

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Spinning at the Spanish Market: It happens in the summer on the plaza in old town. The weekend festival attracts artists and craftsmen like her, plus lots of visitors who want to see how their ancestors lived. It's the perfect time to be in northern New Mexico. [2017]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Do you agree with Tennessee Williams? "America has only three cities: New York San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland." Now, substitute state names for cities, and make a quote of your own. Then, look around for the streetcar named Desire. [2018]

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

The Huichol people of Jalisco and surrounding states have given Mexico one its most internationally recognizable folk arts: bead work that captures centuries of tradition and capitalizes on the talents of local artists. In addition to a menagerie of chimerical animals, the beads are used to decorate vases, bowls, and masks. [2008]

Marrakech, Morocco

Here, an artist displays his paintings in what was an old funduk, a courtyard hotel for merchant traders along with their wares and pack animals. One of the biggest changes to hit the Marrakech medina over the past thirty years has been the transition to fine arts. It has gone hand-in-hand with rising tourism. [2017]

New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA

It's both Thanksgiving and the 100th anniversary of my father's birth. Happy Birthday, dad. Here's one of your oil paintings that has survived: Baughman Memorial Methodist Church, the very place Geographically Yours was baptized so many decades ago. [1948]

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Around Cambodia's royal palace, the statuary industry thrives, and some of the country's master sculptors can be seen working on the street, carving Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for homes and temples. [2016]

Hancock, Maryland, USA

Almost inexplicably, in a state that wasn't even a member of the C.S.A.....
Almost inexplicably, while Confederate flags are disappearing from America's public squares...
Almost inexplicably, as the Civil War's 150th anniversary came to a muffled end...
A Confederate battle flag was given new life on a main street in western Maryland. [2015]