love birds

Posted on July 31, 2025 by Mary C

Christina Angelina, painted this very large mural on the side of an Office Depot store in the Kaka’ako neighborhood in Honolulu.

large mural on grey walls of Office Depot, by Christena Angelina, two women warriors facing each other, with helmets on, long hair, each is holding a bird in her hand and they are holding the birds so that the beaks and bodies form a heart

It shows two women warriors (? or Roman goddesses?) each wearing helmets and holding a gray and pink bird. The long curved beaks of the birds almost touch and their bodies come close to forming a heart shape.

two birds in a mural, gray with pinkish heads

Aloha e komo mai

Posted on July 29, 2025 by Mary C

below: Seen at the corner of Cooke and Auahi streets in the Kaka’ako neighborhood of Honolulu – One building with at least three sides covered with street art murals.

below: On the east side is a large painting by Matt Eaton. Not shown in this photo is the tribute written in one corner that says, “In memory of our beloved uncle, Rabindra”

below: “Aloha, e komo mai” or Hello! Welcome, come in… a friendly Hawaiian greeting.

large mural on the side of a building in honolulu

below: Creativity is my freedom. The freedom to express not impress. To impress is to become a slave to others opinions.

below: Among the leaves and flowers you can see the words, “Don’t let anyone steal your joy”.

below: Finding peace under the old gnarly tree.

below: Sitting together at the table while the dog waits underneath.

below: Trumpet players and dragons with horns and spiky tails.

part of a street art mural, a young man with eyes closed, an older man playing the trumpet, a dragon with open mouth, horns on head, and a long spiky tail.

below: Circles and triangles form patterns on the wall around the entrance to Aupuni Space, an artist-run art gallery.

mural, with door in middle, circles made of triangles in black, on orange background

below: A giant turtle swimming in the clear blue waters of Hawaii in a mural by Artworkbykai aka Kaiili Kaulukukui

below: A painting by Tatunga aka Tatiana Suarez – yellow worm-like animals eating a piece of juicy guava.

below: The last mural shown here springs from the imagination of Alex Pardee

small part ofmural by Alex Pardee, on bright yellow background, many weird and ugly monsters, close up of one with out stretched green skinny arm

Photos taken July 2025

Coral Street concrete

Posted on July 28, 2025 by Mary C

Kaka’ako, Honolulu

below: Along a fence made of concrete blocks there is a series of street art murals… with a big fish at the south end.

below: They are out “fishing” but trying to hook a slice of pizza. Riding along in that fish – is it a real fish? Or a boat called Cheez?. The passenger – more like a shrimp or lobster or something else altogether? Mural by CKaweekS (aka Jahjahjitsu).

below: One fellow doesn’t look that happy to be onboard for this adventure!

lobster with human facial features, big claw hands, riding in back of fish boat, looking unhappyin a mural, by jahjahjitsu,

below: Predominantly in black and white and shades of gray, the next stretch of wall suggests straight lines and graphic designs.

street art paintings on a concrete wall, part is a 3 dimensional looking maze

below: “In loving memory” This part of the wall was painted by DropDead.Grace

below: A portrait and calligraphy. It would be interesting to know if it is supposed to say something. Can it be read? Is this section of the mural in his memory?

below: Bunnies! Lots of rabbits.

part of an urban art mural, a group of rabbits, black line drawing on white concrete block wall

below: IN/LM = In loving memory

murals on a wall including one with IN/LM meaning in loving memory

Photos taken July 2025

East Village paper and paint

Posted on July 24, 2025 by Mary C

below: Hooligan and Zero Boy with masked Anonymous

below: John Lennon

paste up graffiti on a green pole, portrait of John Lennon

below: “Pee on Hamas”

graffiti sticker on a green pole, text says pee on hamas, with image a dog peeing into a puddle

below: A cute little pink heart

little graffiti sticker on a red surface, white furry creature with a little pink heart

below: Remand

slap graffiti on a grey pole, one says remand in large black letters, the other is a drawing of a small creature with large head, big mouth,

below: “Where is Corky Lee?” Lee was an Asian-American photographer who died in 2021.

graffiti sticker that says where is corky lee, an asian american photographer who died in 2021, black and white drawing of his portrait, holding a large camera

below: Artificial Scarcity on a fire and police call box

red emergency call box in new york city with sticker graffiti on it including one that says artificial scarcity

below: When I tried a google image search, I learned that naked or semi-naked women on rockets is a thing….

two graffiti stickers including one with a woman in thong bikini riding on a rocket

below: Nicole Ruggiero’s “A Moment of Bliss”. According to Ruggiero’s Instagram page, this image is a tribute to, and reimagination of, the original wallpaper, Bliss, from Windows XP way back in 2001. It was part of an exhibit titled, “SCREENSAVERS” in Seoul in 2024.

below: Femarchy multiple times and colors beside Black & Essential

below: Sign on a pole – “You don’t need it but you want to buy it!”

Photos taken July 2024

Caledonia Lane – San Fran

Posted on July 5, 2025 by Mary C

….another Mission District lane with street art.

below: A black and white smiling cat with very big paws hangs out on a crazy colored garage door in the lane. Painting by Michael Kershnar.

abstract black and white cat in a mural with other geometric shapes and colours

below: A mural by Elle covers the entire side of a building.

door covered with graffiti street art mural

below: Be Cool … Look after each other, but also beware of the dog!

below: Someone loves Shannon

below: Did you know that Donald Trump is a rapist?

below: That’s a lot of words….

below: … and even more words

part of street art mural with bright coloured houses but lots of dead and bleeding bodies

below: King Topa 4ever

urban art in Caledonia Lane, San Francisco, with text that says King Topa 4 ever

street sign for Caledonia Lane, in San Francisco

Photos taken February 2025

another Hertel Alley building

Posted on May 27, 2025 by Mary C

with walls covered with street art murals

below: Bugs and balls – Ladybugs and spiders, billiard balls and eye balls, all on a bright green background, mural by Markenzy Cesar

below: A sweet mural with donuts and cupcakes, by Sakygrinu, aka Teouria Morris

below: The next three go together, a long mural by Jordan Weaver (aka Coconut Curry) with red dots, faces, a dragon, and many pink flowers

part of a large mural by coconut curry, pink flowers on grey background

below: Jumping for joy and leaping towards the sun on a bright blue sky day, in a mural by Courtney Haeick

below: These walls are bananas!

below: Keshanta Cleveland painted these colourful fish with the wonderful fins and tails.

mural in an alley, on brick building, two fish with fluffy long flowing fins and tail, a bit like angel fish, one is peach coloured and the othr is pink and maroon

Photos taken April 2025

Link to prior Hertel Alley post – the answer is love

For more information on all things Hertel Walls, check out their website!

famous people on Hertel

Posted on May 25, 2025 by Mary C

This is the second post about the murals found in the Hertel Ave area of Buffalo NY; it is a follow up to the previous post, “the answer is love“.

There are two large murals on Hertel Ave that feature well known people. The first is the Buffalo NY based rock band Goo Goo Dolls and the other shows author Mark Twain in conversation with John T. Lewis.

The Goo Goo Dolls were painted by Philip Burke whose illustrations have appeared in many magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone. John Rzeznik the band’s is the lead vocalist and guitar player while Robby Takac is the bassist as well as another vocalist (there have been other rotating members as well). Goo Goo Dolls appeared on the rock scene in the mid 1980s.

goo goo dolls, the rock band, mural by Philip Burke on Hertel Ave in Buffalo, on side of 2 storey brick building, large faces

Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens) and John T. Lewis were painted by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra in his now well-known coloured shapes such as stripes or diamonds. Both Twain and Lewis were born in 1835, Lewis as a free Black in Maryland, Twain in Missouri. Lewis eventually settled in Elmira NY which is where Twain’s wife was from and where the lives of the two men first crossed.

mural by Kobra, Mark Twain and John T. Lewis

Photos taken April 2025

I’ve just learned that I missed murals of Jerry Garcia and of the ‘Rat Pack’ (with Frank Sinatra). If you are in the area, don’t forget to keep an eye open for them!

the answer is love

Posted on May 24, 2025 by Mary C

… and that answer is found in an alley behind Hertel Avenue in Buffalo NY

below: An intriguing orange and black image of a lion’s face by Jay Hawkins (aka Revolutionary Strokes)

large orange and black lion face, in a mural by Jay Hawkins

below: Vibrant flowers by Chuck Tingley

below: Hertel Alley Gallery – the “gallery” encompasses three blocks of Hertel Alley (runs parallel to Hertel Ave between Traymore and Colvin). It is the scene of the Hertel Alley Street Art Festival, first started in 2019. At present there are more than 20 murals. I haven’t presented all of them here, instead I have featured the ones on this building. The others will follow in subsequent postings.

building in an alley with street art murals on it, with sign that says Hertel Alley Gallery

below: Buffalo Strong by Nick Bonvissuto

below: Another Chuck Tingley painting, this time it’s a Covid theme… a thanks to those who worked through the pandemic.

murals on the side of a black building in an alley in buffalo new yor, alley is behind hertel avenue, one of the mural is a large image of a lion's head in orange and black

below: We’re Talking Proud, by The Left-Handed bandit

we're talking proud mural in an alley buffalo, balloons on strings being pulled, by left handed bandit

below: Cheerful mural by Flour Pail Kids

mural by flour pail kids in an alley in buffalo new york, yellow background, a young person is using a camera to take pictures of brightly coloured shapes and flowers, stylized

Photos taken April 2025

Cobblestone Commons

Posted on May 10, 2025 by Mary C

Along a stretch of wall in the Cobblestone District, next to the Buffalo River, in Buffalo NY, there is a series of large paintings …

below: by Detour303 aka Thomas Evans

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Cyrielle Tremblay

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Jason Brammer, a framed view of the ocean

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Ellen Rutt, a collage of shapes, colours, and textures

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

These images are presented by Albright-Knox Gallery and they date from Covid times, 2020-21. From the words on the wall: “The commons are what belong to all of us. In the nineteenth century, this area, so close to the Erie and Hamburg Canals and the Buffalo River and Harbor, was the site of a jostling mix of brick layers and dock workers, deckhands and lock tenders, machinists and millwrights. Producers of all kinds walked down cobble streets alive with the energy and pleasure of other people’s company. The commons are the exciting site of diverse perspectives and unexpected communions, shared together.

copy of the words on the wall for the Albright Knox Gallery series Cobblestone Commons, a grouping of 12 large outdoor artworks

below: A patchwork couple standing together, by Lauren Mckenzie-Pearce aka Lady Noel

a coupe with white hair, dressed in patchwork clothes, white woman, black man, man has a beard and mustache.

below: Obsidian Bellis, human? floral?

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Karle Norman

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons, by Karle Norman,

below: by Monet Alyssa Kifner

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: A jumble of houses and other buildings, by Miriam Singer

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: “Be happy” by James Moffitt

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Colourful cyclists by Morgan Blair

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons

below: Rough and tumbling pastel people by Bradd Young

large painting outdoors, part of Albright Knox's project Cobblestone Commons, in pastel colours,

The Albright Knox Gallery sponsored another set of artworks during Covid that still hand the wall in a downtown Buffalo lane. You can see them at “Locked Down but Still at Work”

Photos taken April 2025

Locked Down but Still at Work

Posted on May 2, 2025 by Mary C

Sixteen paintings lined up on a wall in a downtown Buffalo alley…. a series presented by the Albright Knox Gallery. It is titled “Works, from Home” and it represents the thoughts and feelings of sixteen artists on their experiences with lockdowns during the Covid pandemic of 2020. Presented here in no particular order (with the artist’s name underneath) –

a row of paintings, part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery