Tattersall and Stevenson Lanes

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Mary C

below: Step Right ….. and Follow along!

below: In Melbourne’s CBD, Tattersall and Stevenson alleys are connected. They are also covered with a lot of paint and paper! As I wandered through these lanes I tried to capture some of the more interesting things, both big and small.

stevenson alley, lots of graffiti and street art, trash bins, metal kegs stack against one wall,

below: Spiderman likes taking pictures

graffiti in an alley, an image of spiderman with a camera, a pair of red underpants with waistband words going going gone, also a sticker with words end medical weight stigma

below: The Street Art Hunters (aka SAH) are dressed in hot pink!

graffiti poster by the street art hunters, group of three dressed in bright pink coveralls with black masks, psychadelic colours background

below: A purple Frankenstein along with his bride, also in purple, hanging out together behind bars. Artwork by Moon of Jupiter Art (aka Ryan Callisto)

graffiti poster by Ryan Callisto, a purple Frankenstein, along with a purple bride of Frankenstein, on a wall behind green metal bars, in an alley

below: Now in green. A small Complimentary Nuts paste-up is immediately below this version of Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein, “7 out of 10 dentists say that your teeth are awesome. The other three need your cash”.

below: A third poster by Ryan Callisto. This time Frankenstein is just a tattoo on her arm.

below: “You’ve got to love Melbourne!”

below: Fall in love, not in line

below: “Sending you love because wow! what a shithow” and Love is Hell.

below: “What if we kissed in the smouldering ruins of capitalism?”

below: Little beaded diamond shapes like these have appeared all over downtown Melbourne.

below: Every deck of cards needs a Joker

below: Two artworks, paper paste-ups. A woman’s portrait on top and a playing card style image of Jimmy Hendrix, the H of Hearts, below.

Graffiti paste up image, playing card style, I of hearts

below: Prince, in purple, becomes the P of Hearts in this playing card style image.

graffiti paste-up image of Prince singing, in purple, P of hearts,

below: When someone came along with a can or two of spray paint, the little girl with the “Just doubt Fascism” sign survived. The bug on the right is probably not too happy with the situation.

below: A musical bluebird by Lukas Kasper.

below: Is it smiling? or smirking?

painted street art on a brick wall, blue and yellow striped snake like creature with one big eye and a small mouth with yellow teeth, looks to be smiling

In an alley, wall and shared street zone signs are covered with stickers and spray paint graffiti

below: Two megaphones… and a very determined look on her face

black and white paste up a woman holding up a megaphone in each hand, partially obscured with pink spray paint

below: It’s always fascinating to see how some bits of graffiti last so much longer than others. Even if they are left untouched, they slowly weather and fade away until almost ghost-like.

below: While we are on the subject of “vintage” graffiti, there are four pieces on this wall by Junky (aka Daniel Lynch) They are looking a little rusty and forlorn. I first encountered ‘recycled’ cans like these when I was in Melbourne in 2016. See post, Junky Recyles

below: Button-eyed face

below: What is a Lost Form?

below: Door covered with posters, street art images

below: Closer view of the posters on the bottom half – SAH, Tweet

about 6 pasteups on a door in an alley, all images

below: top half

below: Scrawny alien-like character with big yellow eyes and spikey hair. Is there a pop culture reference for this guy?

below: The Postman and David Bowie

below: A blue Care Bear sticking out his tongue, and Robbo-T times two wandering in the forest.

below: Pink hair and blue eyes, times two

below: “Praise be the form eaters”. Any ideas as to what this means?

below: Looking a little closer… Still not sure….

below: Red eyes burning small but intense.

below: Parrot

below: Little yellow LEGO guys from Street Art Hunters, one with a gun and the other holding what looks like a container? a camera?

below: That’s probably Michael Jackson in the middle.

below: Dried flowers.

below: “Woman with Feathers”, a collaboration between Adnate and Shida, 2012

portrait of a woman, surround by wispy feathers, high on a brick wall, by adnate and shida

paper paste up graffiti, a realistic image of a hand holding a marker, and a drawing of a blue scooter with an orange balloon

below: “How cool are you in the hot city?” – and more ‘messiness’ in Stevenson Alley.

Photos taken March 2025

downtown Vancouver murals

Posted on April 6, 2025 by Mary C

Large murals seen around downtown Vancouver.

below: Flowers growing beside the entrance to an office building in a painting by Anais Lera

below: “Dreamweaver”, 2020, by Lauren Brevner and James Nexw’Kalus-Xwalacktun Harry (aka James Harry) in part as a response to the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. Commissioned by the Vancouver Mural Festival and Hudson Pacific Properties.

below: On the side of a parking structure at Seymour and West Pender, Carolyn Wong has painted a large mural featuring aquatic life in a pond. Ducks and fish swim among the water lilies.

below: In the fading light of late afternoon, “Earth Justice” by Shepard Fairey takes on a yellowish glow. Financial help for this mural was provided from the Burrard Arts Foundation and their ‘Surface Series’

below: Another Lauren Brevner and James Harry mural; this one, also from 2020, is the story of how salmon came to the Squamish people.

below: Ola Volo’s “Wall for Women” at Burrard station.

below: A collage of musical elements adorns a wall behind the Lennox Pub in a lane off of Granville Street. It was painted by Nada Hayek.

below: “Street art”

Photos taken April 2025

Hosier hearts

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Mary C

Recently? Or at least in early 2025? many of the walls of Hosier Lane in Melbourne were painted with hearts.

below: Frida Kahlo too

below: A note from the Complimentary Nuts as well – “You shine like the sunlight rays on a winter day.”

below: He comes bearing his heart in his hand, a real heart at that.

below: Pink Panther

Photos taken March 2025

panda, dragon, and a foxy lady

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Mary C

Baptist Place, Melbourne
One small section of a yellow wall.

below: him: I’ve waited a long time to carry you over the threshold, her: Finally a tent of our own!

below: It doesn’t take many lines to make a compelling portrait.

below: Two simple but cute puppies selling their wares.

below: Two Marilyns

below: upper: “Without leaving my House I know the whole universe.” Panda Philosophy. lower: T-bonez rides with trp613 (aka Ty Pro), Visual Noise & Urban Ninja Squadron.

below: A little dragon creature, by stenandoli

below: The sad grey man with the very long arms and bad posture is another creation of stenandoli. In the middle is an Australian White Ibis by tweet – I wonder what it is trying to say to the cat?

below: A foxy lady, by Susi Foxy Art, aka Susi Luard.

below: Carried away by a yellow balloon…..

below: left: “T Phobia is rooted in White Supremacy” with a purple flower. middle: “Don’t be dick”, with a yellow flower. right: He seems to be holding a fish. Seems fishy?

below: Look out everyone, there’s an angry looking Blastoise pokemon character coming your way!

below: Think!

Photos taken February 2025

More Osage Lane, but possibly Orange Alley too

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Mary C

When I walked around the Mission District back in February, I walked Osage Lane and Orange Alley one after the other. Later that day when I was sorting my photos, I messed up where one set of pictures ended and the next set started. It’s possible that the photos that I posted a week or so ago were not just Osage Lane either! (Mission District: Osage Lane) The two laneways run parallel to each other, one on the east side of Bartlett Street and the other on the west side.

below: Someone is a Gladys Knight and the Pips fan with a quote from their song, ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’, “Trying to get back to a more simple place in time….”

below: A Cheech and Chong themed mural celebrating the famous comedy pair. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong rode the free loving, hippie era to success with stand-up routines, records, and films based largely on drugs/cannabis and other counterculture subjects.

below: “My name is…” a 2022 mural by Precita Eyes Muralists. Directed by Flavia E. Mora. Assisted by Teresa Benson. In collaboration with 6th and 7th grade arts electives students at Synergy School. It’s a mural that touches on most social justice issues of the day – Missing Equity, Land Back, Black and Trans Lives Matter, Equality, and Reproductive Rights.

below: Only some heads remain.

below: Frija, Goddess of Fertility with her antlers and long white hair.

below: Faded.

below: Pablo A. Medina, “There is so much love in this city”.

below: All in green – a large tree…. and a hand on a paint roller… and everything in between.

below: A colourful fellow with whiskers and button-like eyes, in a mural painted by Sune Nesu. It also has a little glowing halo; is this a memorial to a lost friend?

below: San Francisco under the window with the Golden Gate bridge in the background.

below: Cheer up!

below: Forever in our hearts.

below: Oranges!

Photos taken February 2025

Santa Batman and friends

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Mary C

Batman delivers. Unfortunately, the image below is cut off but the words say, “Oh Clark, the Christmas street art is amazing!”

batman flies over a house with a big sack on his back, and drops a toy down a chimney, graffiti street art

And Christmas street art it is, a whole double door in Hosier Lane covered with Christmas themed graffiti, stickers, and paste-ups – part of the Melbourne Street Art Collective meet-up on 15th December 2024.

Hoier Lane, Melbourne, double doors, completely covered with CHristmas themed stickers, paste ups, street art,

“Have a crackin’ good Christmas” nutcracker by Lisa D. as well as a Christmas tree full of guitars. The “pin-up women” Christmas images are the work of Srta~Dolores. In the bottom right corner is a painting of a woman done on a drinks list menu; Moscow Mules, Bellinis, Brambles, and Dark and Stormys for $9 each. It is the work of Jimzina

Christmas theme graffiti

Minnie Mouse and a grandmotherly Mrs. Claus make an appearance along with another Lisa D. illustration, this time candy canes.

Christmas theme graffiti - a woman wearing candy cane earrings, and a pink sweater covered with little candy canes

below: Rock on Santa, love the cool shades. The yellow LEGO guys have “SAH” on their jackets – Street Art Hunters!

Santa Claus in sunglasses, a squirrel wearing a Santa hat, two men in yellow uniforms in Santa hats, graffiti in Hosier Lane

below: “Gnome means gnome.”, Homer Simpson as Santa Claus, and Robbo-t gets dressed up like an elf.

Homer Simpson as Santa Claus and elf on a shelf as a robot, sticker that says your bod is magic, graffiti in hosier lane

below: Batman is still delivering gifts but now he’s wearing a special Batman Christmas sweater. A very Australian koala looks on.

Christmas theme graffiti including Batman in a Christmas sweater and carrying a big bag of toys on his back, also image of snowman sledding down a snow covered hill

below: This Santa wears big pink glasses and a rainbow hat.

short little santa claus with big pink glasses and black boots, his hat is rainbow coloured

below: Bart Simpson spray paints a Christmas message while Lisa Simpson stands by.

Bart Simpson spray painting Christmas messages as graffiti, Lisa Simpson in a Santa hat.

below: The bottom of the image is cut off, and a blob of blue spray paint gets in the way, I’m afraid, but there is a pink and white cowboy boot filled with Christmas goodies by Alice Mole. Also here, SAH – Street Art Hunters, ‘playing cards’ with Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer….

below: I think that it’s Marilyn Munroe surrounded by shiny Christmas baubles.

below: Santa Sleighs

below: Even pokemon characters celebrate Christmas, as do the characters from ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’.

Christmas theme graffiti including characters from the Nightmare Before Christmas, a pokemon character, and some Santa gnomes with text

Santa gnomes with text: “Damn we’d like a kiss from a beauty like you. Come on mistletoe, work your magic” and top right: “With looks that hot, you’re melting any chance of a White Christmas”. These were brought to you by the Complimentary Nuts

below: Santa and Mrs. Claus baking in the kitchen together – maybe they’re making gingerbread men!

christmas theme graffiti, gingerbread cookies, Santa and Mrs. Claus baking in the kitchen together

below: Santa celebrates a successful night of sleigh driving and toy delivering with a well deserved day at the beach with a friendly kookaburra and a playful platypus. christmas theme graffiti, Santa on the beach with a surf board

below: “It’s okay to say No, No, No” by Katie Ruby

Santa says

Photos taken early March 2025

Familia Santana

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Mary C

In the 1960s, Josefina and Jose Santana migrated from Jalisco Mexico to the San Francisco Bay area. Both of their sons, Carlos and Jorge, became famous musicians. Carlos Santana is world famous for his guitar playing; Jorge played with a Latin-rock bank, Malo.

Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family,

Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family, including parents Josefina and Jose Santana

On Osage Street by the 24th and Mission Street BART Plaza there is now a 60 foot mural celebrating the family’s contribution to the music scene. The mural also shows Carlos’ son Salvador on the keyboard.

Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family, a guitar playing Carlos Santana

Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family,

“La Familia Santana” was painted in 2021 by San Francisco artists Crayone and Mark Bode. It incorporated sketch designs provided by Randolph Bowes and Jorge Santana.

small part of Large 60 foot mural in Mission District celebrating the Santana family, Carlos Santana's hand playing a guitar

Photos taken February 2025

Mission District – Osage Lane

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Mary C

There are many pop culture references to be found in this lane!

below: Animal from the Muppets

below: A row of cartoon characters on a bright red fence – Bart Simpson, Hello Kitty, Speedy Gonzales, Pokemon, and what looks like a giant green pickle.

below: Rapheal from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

below: South American influences

below: mmm

below: Mama Imelda from the movie “Coco”

below: Sonic

below: California Love

below: “All thru California …

below: … Mission be Kracking, a recent painting by H2DAK about surviving fires and earthquakes!below: Money flies at 2982

below: Bird sticker. Bird, May 1984 – July 2021

below: More stickers – Cheers!

Beaney Lane

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Mary C

Beaney Lane is a small lane in downtown Melbourne. Once it was nondescript, now it has colour. Along one wall there is a large street art painting with a portrait of a blue lady at one end. The words “Inner Dream” are written beside her head. Her hair is covered with a net-like cap; a waterdrop shaped jewel rests between her eyes. She was painted by Mongolian born artist, Heesco.

Australian artist Matt Adnate was also involved in the making of this mural. A pair of green eyes peers out from behind a head covering.

Presumably his name is Unger

Mission District – Lilac Street

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Mary C

The Mission District in San Francisco is full of street art of all types from messy graffiti to fabulous murals. Back in February I had the opportunity to walk around the area with my camera. This is the first of many posts that should result from my walks.

houses on either side of entrance to Lilac Street, Mission District, San Francisco, two storey clapboard houses, with mural on the side of one of them

The first sign that Lilac Street might be an interesting street to wander down is this San Francisco mural on the side of a house.

mural featuring golden gate bridge, text says San Francisco

below: Mother with a child looking over her shoulder

black and white shades of grey mural of mother and child, mother's back is shown, child looking over her shoulder

below: Norm on a black garage

four large letters painted on a black garage door, N O R and M. Spells norm

below: A portrait in blue.

mural on a garage door, woman's portrait in blue

below: A tribute to Sharon Jacobs (1982-2019).

woman's portrait on a garage door

below: Anti Skateboarding Hero.

torn sticker, or paste up, on a utility pole, text says anti skateboarding hero, pole is painted black and red with graffiti

below: Higher up, a purple rhino and a yellow bird by chilovia – a pair of South Americans, Pancho Pescador and Pablo (aka Raiz)

below: Contrasts – the empty, graffiti covered old building beside the newer redevelopment. A common urban theme found in most cities as they age and re-new.

abandoned building with vacant lot in front, behind a fence, building is covered with graffiti

below: A wish for peace in Palestine.

palestine protest street art mural of woman with two fingers raised in peace symbol

below: This street certainly has its scruffy and neglected looking sections. In small doses, streets like this have their charm, especially from a photogenic perspective.

chainlink fence