Category Archives: USA

Casa Blanca, California style

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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

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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

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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

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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

Sold Out Art Show in NYC

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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!

below: Multiple personalities in one place

sticker by Sold Out Art Show, picture of a man with 7 eyes


below:  Very recognizable as Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Mona Lisa” even with the extra eyes and the pink hair.

pasteup graffiti of a version of the Mona Lisa painting, framed in purple and white

below: This fellow ended up with 14 eyes and bright green hair.
sticker by Sold Out Art Show, picture of a man with 14 eyes, green hair

below: And this shocked fellow still has the green hair, but his mustache is half green and half white.

sticker by Sold Out Art Show, picture of a man with 3 pairs of eyes, mustached that is half green and half white

sticker by Sold Out Art Show, picture of a man with 5 eyes, flaming red hair

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below: Collaboration with The Clay Universe aka Christopher G. Villano as well as Robots Will Kill – very blue and very hairy.

sticker

one more corner on Atlantic Ave

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Re-visiting Rochester to see how some of their older murals have fared.

400 Atlantic Ave. is a brick building that parallels the railway tracks. It was built in 1920 as an Ice Block Factory to service rail cars but has since been converted to offices and storage space.

The view at street level and still looking good – Abstract shapes stretch out along Atlantic in a painting by Italian artist Peeta, aka Manuel Di Rita.

below: On the other side of the building, is Aaron Li-Hill’s “Together we Fall” from 2015 Wall Therapy event.

Across the driveway, at 410 Atlantic –

Perhaps these squares aren’t really considered “street art” as they are more in keeping with the building’s prior use as a children’s centre/school,

but they do help to brighten up an otherwise dull and ordinary section of the street.

photos taken in May 2023

a little parade

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… at Atlantic & Crouch, Rochester

below: Brazilian artist Eder Muniz’s mural features vibrantly coloured animals and fantasy creatures dancing and swimming along the wall in their own little parade Blue of water; blue of air.

mural by Eder Muniz in Rochester, long mural with lots of animals such as snake, fish, humming bird, elephant, some real and some more from fantasy such as creature with bunch of leaves for a head

below: One of the most human-like character in the mural carries a long serpentine pennon in front of an elephant that is either eating a tree or that has tusks growing into trees.  

Part of a mural by Eder Muniz, on blue background, small elf like character carrying a pole with a long banner on the wnd of it, an elephant following behind, with a bird sitting on the back of the elephant looking backwards

below: At the rear of the parade, a hummingbird (or similar small bird) rides on the back of the elephant.

purplish bird with long beak sitting on a decorated fabric on the back of an elephant

below: A host of creatures in the mural’s mid-section – walking, sitting, swimming, floating.

middle section of Eder Muniz mural, creatures sitting, walking, and swimming through watery blue, bubbles, fish, birds,

below: Humanoid body; leaf head, all smaller than the long skinny bird legs.

part of a mural, sitting person but with head made of green leaves floating and billowing in the blue water

below: Instead of leaves, this little guy has a head full of crystals.

part of a watery blue mural, character in tuck position, hair is a wild collection of crystals,

below: Faces on creatures of fantasy. One with plumage like a bird and the other with squiggles and curls like nothing else. Eyes closed. Big lips.

part of a mural

below: Swimming together, a greenish fish and a striped snake.

part of a mural, a green fish swimming beside a snake striped in pastel colours

below: More fish swimming in the blue bubbles.

part of a mural, three fish

below: Taking the lead in this little parade is a large green beaked bird character. Following along with the fish and the snake is a snail and a pinkish purple frog. There even seems to be a scuba diver.

right hand side of a long mural on bright blue background, fish, snakes, birds, and other creatures

below: Here’s a closer look at that grinning frog as well as the spotted iguana beside it.

part of a mural with fantasy animals, a purple frog, a blue spotted iguana,

below: And last, the long finned fish gracefully makes it way through the watery blue.

part of a watery mural, blue, with an orange fish with long fins, a scuba diver,

Mural painted in 2015
Photos taken mid- May 2023

still staring on Crouch Street

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On Crouch Street in Rochester NY, this large face stares out at passers-by. When it was painted by Vexta in 2015, there was a lot more vibrant pink and red in it. What is now pale yellow used to be closer to neon green and yellow.

large mural on corner of building, face in black and white, coloured splotches on both sides of face in blue and faded red and green and yellow, by Vexta in Rochester

Time passes and colours fade, but the eyes still stare relentlessly ahead.

part of mural by Vexta, close up picture of eyes and nose of face in mural

Photos taken May 2023