Williamsburg murals

Posted on October 3, 2023 by Mary C

Most of these murals can be seen on, or close to, Bedford Avenue.

below: A large snail by Australian artist Mike Makatron, but not just an ordinary snail – this one has stairs leading up to a fire hydrant on top of its spiral shell.

close up of snail mural, fire hydrant on top of shell

below: “Song to the Siren” by Naveen Shakil Khan, 2021

mual in black and white of 5 women's faces, long hair, composite of 3 portraits, by Naveen Shariz

Where Bedford Avenue meets Broadway and South 6th Street is a large mural of a young woman with her hands under her chin. The title of the painting is “Lost Time” but it has become known as the Williamsburg Mona Lisa. The mural (by Colossal Media) is from a photograph by Steven Paul (of his friend Nina Attal). Paul was a high school senior from Brooklyn in 2014 when he submitted the photo to a contest sponsored by Scholastic … and won.

large mural in greyish blue tones of a young woman in a striped long sleeved shirt, short hairr, resting with hands on chin,

below: Eduardo Kobra boxers but not really boxers, Andy Warhol is on the left and Jean-Michel Basquiat is beside him.

kobra multicoloured mural of andy warhol and jean michel basquiat in boxing shorts and boxing gloves, with arms crossed in front of themselves, mural at bedford and ninth in williamsburg new york city

Jean-Michel Basquiat and # Fight for street art

below: This anti-war Elvis Presely mural was also painted by Kobra. Unfortunately it has been defaced, almost literally as it is mostly Presley’s face that has been painted over.

below: The Moxy Hotel Williamsburg recently opened on Bedford Avenue. On the upper level, south side, of the hotel is a mural by DFace. It can be seen from the Williamsburg bridge, and is near the pedestrian entrance to the bridge. DFace’s style is reminiscent of paintings by Roy Lichtenstein.

mural by d face on upper storey of moxy hotel in williamsburg, a woman passenger in a car, man driving, woman is thinking, just get me to the moxy

On a black wall, a Chris Tuorto hand with clenched fist beside a very simple donut

mural of a clenched fist in pastel colours, with black outline, on a black wall

Williamsburg street sccene, mid rise buildings, traffic, water tower on roof,

street art on upper levels of building exterior

Photos taken August 2023

a trail of broken pieces

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Mary C

…rearranged into mosaics.

Starting back in 1985, “Mosaic Man” Jim Power began covering street poles in East Village (New York City) with mosaics of broken pieces of ceramics, coloured glass, bits of mirror, and other little treasures. The trail follows E. 8th – St Marks Place between Broadway and Tompkins Square Park.

below: Over the years, some of the poles were removed by the city and others were damaged. Back in 2017 a Go Fund Me page was set up to help Power restore the poles.

mosaics on outdoor street lamp posts, East Village mosaic trail

below: At the corner of 2nd Ave and East 8th Street (where it is St. Marks Place).

mosaics on outdoor street lamp posts, East Village mosaic trail, some pieces of broken ceramics have Japanese theme images on them

mosaics on outdoor street lamp posts, East Village mosaic trail, some pieces are made into letters that spell words on the poles

below: At 3rd Ave and East 8th Street

mosaics on outdoor street lamp posts, East Village mosaic trail, picture of a man, Rasputin of the bronx

mosaics on outdoor street lamp posts, East Village mosaic trail, yellow pieces make letter to spell St. Marks

ceramics on a lamp pole, woman standing beside, some of the maosaics spell words in blue, records, taylor, mead, also a red glass star on white

mosaics on two lamp posts, one closer and in focus, the other in the background, some people standing on the sidewalk too

mosaics on a pole, glass beads, squares, pink coloured lego figure that has been damaged,

More information can be found on the East Village Mosaic Trail website.
Photos taken August 2023

crossing the Williamsburg Bridge

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Mary C

between Manhattan and Williamsburg, over the East River

crossing the Williamsburg bridge, with pinkish red metal railings and girders, pedestrian walkway is beside and slightly above road and subway lines.

A little yellow dinosaur trying to look fierce as he growls at your feet.

I’m happy you’re here, keep going!

I crave you

Shy white cat says meow

Homesick and Lucky Star writ large on a grey wall. The American flag image below them is made using painted car doors.

view from williamsburg bridge, buildings, one with graffiti street art on it

It’s just love in a rainbow of colours.

… and love is gold

Pacman wears a gold crown, king of the streets

Looking down at Williamsburg streets including a mural with two faces and two flowers.

Blackface pink walker

Reaching out in peace and love

Stencil by go4tart aka GOAT, rat on a scooter; a rat loves NYC

Seek Discomfort

Sold out art show yellow face with three pairs of eyes.

I wonder what Jane’s reaction was?

….. Maybe this is Jane ?!

on the railing – mask? and master?

Kiss me

More words on love

… but in the end, the virus gets you.

Photos taken August 2023

Casa Blanca, California style

Posted on September 13, 2023 by Mary C

The historic Casa Blanca Citrus Fruit Crate Label is the center focus of this mural recently painted by Juan Navarro in Riverside California. It is located on Madison Street by the small “Welcome to Casa Blanca” sign that marks the start of this neighborhood (see bottom right in photo).

Images of three old Casa Blanca landmarks were provided by the local historical group – the original adobe Saint Anthony’s Church (1923-1975), the old elementary school, and the railway depot. The depot was built in 1897 and serviced the Santa Fe railway that ran between San Bernardino and Los Angeles; the building was demolished in the late 1960s.

The soldier in the mural represents Medal of Honor (WWII) recipient Ysmael Villegas who was from the neighborhood. There is also a park named in his honor.

Photo credit: Esther Valdez, September 2023

from ceramics to a wall

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Mary C

When St. Michaels church in Riverside California built new apartments for low income and homeless people, they decided to include a mural on one of the facades in the complex. This mural was painted in the fall of 2022 by Rowan Harrison of Two Tribes Pottery.

20 by 30 foot mural on the ide of a 2 storey building, with small trees in front, semi circles in blue, swirls in red, and black dots make up most of the design, incorporates two windows of the building

Support for the mural was provided by Art From the Ashes, a non-profit group based in southern California

More information about the mural, as well as pictures taken during the painting process, can be found on the Two Tribes Pottery website

Photo taken by Esther Valdez, September 2023

Ybor City murals

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Mary C

Ybor City is an historic neighbourhood close to downtown Tampa Florida. It was founded in the 1880s and was home to a large immigrant population, many of whom were employed in cigar making factories. The cigar industry, and the city, flourished from the 1890s to the Great Depression of the 1930s when demand for cigars dropped.

below: Viva Ybor! Painted by Chico Garcia in 2012. It features a portrait of Vincente Martinez Ybor who brought the cigar making industry to this part of Florida.

Viva Ybor mural with Cuban flags, a rooster, I love Ybor, a portrait of Vincente Ybor for whom the city is named after

below: Faded paintings of Ybor City scenes

Faded mural, paintings in panels, cars, buildings,

below: The 1920s – with old cars

faded painting of 1920s street scene with old cars on the street

below: Historic buildings

faded paintings of 2 historic buildings in Ybor City

below: The far righthand side of the mural

below: Rolling cigars

women sitting around a table rolling cigars, in history mural in Ybor City Florida

Photos taken in April 2022

Bushwick bears, bees, and other animals

Posted on September 4, 2023 by Mary C

below: Bees with pink and blue translucent wings on a brick wall with a bear keeping a watchful eye on them.

part of a mural, two bees around a real light on a brick wall

mural on a wall beside a closed door, a bear is sitting on the ground, leaning on door, with a bee buzzing above his body

below: Honeybee

below: A mural by Hiraku with cats

…. or perhaps humans in cat costumes. Love and peace and a frilly tutu.

mural by hiraku of human-like cats, or people in cat costumes,

below: More cats, cats climbing up the wall, signed by eunice.music (aka Eunice Brito) and kosuke_james

narrow vertical mural on exterior wall, white cats climbing up a cat climbing frame

below: A concerned looking cat – maybe the ball and chain around his leg is going to be a problem?

below: The yellow and red background pattern was painted by 7 Line Art Studio (aka Duel Ris) and I suspect that the dog was added later by someone else.

below: A second dog, this one in bold shapes and bright primary colours.

large mural of a stylized dog with red body and blue head, and big white floppy ears with yellow and blue diamond shapes, yellow and white spots all over body, red tongue sticking out, yellow button nose

Photos taken August 2023

Chasing Dreams

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Mary C

“Don’t come to New York City to chase your DREAMS If you can’t walk fast. “

Seen on a New York City sidewalk, August 2023

NYC Love on the Highline

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Mary C

This large mural was painted along the Highline Park by Nina Chanel Abney in 2022. It is titled “NYC Love”

large mural painted on an exterior wall that faces the Highline, an elevated park in New York City. Pink background with stylized drawings of pizza slices, pigeons, hands, faces, the pizza slices have faces, blue waves, large N and Y letters, red hearts,

Sold Out Art Show in NYC

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Mary C

This is a post about collecting pictures of all the stickers and pasteups by the artist who goes by the name Sold Out Art Show. We found many as we walked around Brooklyn, the Lower East Side, and other parts of New York City. Sold Out’s characters all have multiple pairs of eyes, often six or seven eyes in total. They also all have a little red broken heart and the word OH! in a corner.

below: Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”

Last year, canvases with paintings of these ‘portraits’ (and many others) were hung around the city and each was free to take. They are long gone now!