ART IS EVERYWHERE
The Gift of Graffiti
April Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Graffiti & Street Art”
Art can keep the soul alive.
My great-nephew Kaelan was only 17 when he died by suicide. He roamed around on his own terms, a free spirit, usually traveling by skateboard. He could not be contained. I adored him. So did most who knew him.
I had seen his art on canvas, but he was also a graffiti artist. I never knew this until after his death.
Almost immediately, these gorgeous works of graffiti sprung up everywhere — fellow artists remembering him the best way they knew. They comforted his mom, my niece — and all the rest of us who loved him.
His graffiti was signed ZEAL. I see his work around now. I probably saw it before and yet never knew.
The tributes used the name ZEAL. They popped up in all kinds of places. Some large, some small.
But this one used his real name. Kaelan.
It’s on the back of an old abandoned restaurant that’s supposed to be torn down. That bothered me when I first heard about it, but now I’m OK with it. Like people, art is not always here forever. Breathe in the beauty and let it become part of you. And take pictures.
Thanks to Mary Chang Story Writer, and the Six-Word Photo Story Challenge for this photo prompt that stirs my heart.
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Kim McKinney has always liked graffiti, but these days she finds her eyes looking for it everywhere. She hates she doesn’t know all of the stories behind it, especially those done in memory of an artist called ZEAL.
