Photo by the bumblebee via Flickr

Just as Banksy was hosting the Cans Festival in a London derelict train tunnel this weekend, New England artist Caleb Neelon hit La Brea near Melrose this weekend to paint a beautiful mural of leaves against a cloudly blue sky in preparation for his West Coast debut at the Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art.

Neelon uses leaves from beech trees. For Neelon, they are a symbol of strength and hope. Beech leaves are naturally acidic and as they fall in Autumn and cover the ground, they prevent anything but their kind from sprouting through the earth. “The leaves, even in their deaths, are acting to preserve their own to come and keep that hope of the future going,” he says.

Neelon's exhibit, which will feature a sculptural centerpiece and more than fifteen new acrylic and gouache paintings, opens this Saturday at 8 p.m. and runs through June 1st.

Previously at Carmichael Gallery: German Streetartist Duo, Herakut