Farsighted Fly Girl

The islands of Guadeloupe  presented me with quite a few surprises. I didn't realize that the main island is really made up of the twin islands of Grande Terre and Basse Terre .  And there are also three other islands that make up Guadeloupe to add to the confusion. That was just the first unexpected experience. Spotting a mural of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on a Grande Terre street was another. I've always been a big fan of graffiti art. It gives a creative glimpse of the local communitiy's focus and concerns. Seeing MLK told me a lot about the locals pride and awareness. I actually watched the artists complete this mural, they had just started it the night before. Street art is always interesting but witnessing an American icon be painted on a French Caribbean wall was certainly an image I'll always remember. Photos by R. Cummings-Yeates

When you visit the charismatic city of Cali, Colombia , you will immediately notice a few things. First, there is music and dancing everywhere but mostly at night and mostly salsa. Secondly, there are cats scattered all around the Cali River. Although music and dancing and cats might not seem to have anything to do with each other, in Cali, they are interrelated. In 1996, the famous Colombian painter  Hernando Tejada, , donated a three ton bronze cat sculpture to the city he called home. Called El Gato Del Rio , or the River Cat, he sits grinning on the banks of the river. In 2006, Calenos decided that the cat needed a few novias or girlfriends. So artists created 15 different cats that complete Parque El Gato de Tejada. If you stroll along the riverwalk, you'll see an array of pretty kitty sculptures, much smaller than the original gato. There's La Gata Dulce,  pictured in the first photo. She's covered in sugarcane branches and leaves to reference Cali's sug...

One of the fascinating things I discovered in Macau was the seamless mix of Chinese and Portuguese culture. It shows up in every aspect of daily life but I found seeing Cantonese and Portuguese languages side by side particularly interesting. The mural above instructs on recycling in Macanese style, using both Cantonese and Portuguese. However, I guess not everything translates into both languages. The funny mural below urges dog owners to clean up after their pets but there're no Portuguese words to be found!

Montreal overwhelms me. In a good way. For art lovers like me who live for connections with artistic and cultural expressions, Montreal is truly a dreamland. There is absolutely no place you can go in this stylish city where you will not be surrounded by art in some form. Metro stations, sidewalks, buildings, cafes, schools, markets, everywhere you turn, you'll be greeted with visual, musical or performance art. Montreal actually enforces a law that at least 1% of  a building's budget must go to public art. I thought it was just me honing in on every art form but no, Montreal really is covered in art. I find that it's an uplifting feeling to always have art close by. I think that's one of the reason's that Montrealers always seem so good-natured and vibrant. The mural above, was created during Montreal's Mural Fest (There is a fest for everything art-related in Montreal) and drew me in with the vivid colors and trippy designs. This painting lines a w...