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

below: Walking past number 133, frowning and grumpy.

man, street art, many colours, at number 133

below: There is a strong resemblance here to Olaf from “Frozen” – but this guy looks a little more deranged….

crazy Olaf from Frozen

below: Praying

street art mural of a woman praying, wearing green shawl that also covers her head, garbage bins in front of the mural

below: Dancers, front of the house.

bent nail in wood utility pole, spray painted pole in blues and green, graffiti gate painted with bright colours, with metal grille in front of it

Photos taken February 2025

hope and trust in Port Philllip

Posted on March 17, 2025 by Mary C

This structure stands in a park in Port Phillip (St. Kilda) Melbourne.

small square building with no windows, street art on the two sides that meet,

below: An owl on the left and a lion’s head on the right – with a can of spray paint in the middle.
mural with a brown owl on the left and a lion's head on the right top,

below: The interesting part of the artwork is the other wall. Here there is a large image made of ceramic tiles. You can find many familiar St. Kilda landmarks in the picture – the pier, Luna Park, and the beach for instance. The central image is surrounded by squares decorated with various symbols, pictures, and/or words.

central image in a street art mural made of ceramis. the central image has many elements, in general it is a seaside view of St. Kilda with Luna Park, and the St. Kilda marina.

below: “TRUST” as well as “Bad Spellers of the world untie”

hand decorated ceramic tiles arranged in a mosaic as street art on a building in a park in Port Phillip Australia, including words like trust, and bad spellers of the world untie

below: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” as well as “Belonging to something, to someone, that’s what health’s about”

hand decorated ceramic tiles arranged in a mosaic as street art on a building in a park in Port Phillip Australia,

below: “Silence never won rights. They are not handed down from above, they are forced by pressure below.”

hand decorated ceramic tiles arranged in a mosaic as street art on a building in a park in Port Phillip Australia

below: “HOPE” as well as as Thoreau quote: “The world is but canvas to our imagination.” It also asks a question: “Would it be a problem if you had a peaceful mind?”.

“Welcome to our site of community reflection, respect, recovery, resistance, compassion across difference. This is a place where differences are forgotten and your heart unites with others. This mural was launched on the 4th of Dec 2009 by Frank O’Connor (mayor), Serge Thomann, Mirka Mora, Carolyn Briggs, Aunty Jacks.

Legacy mosaics – 9 years later

Posted on March 9, 2025 by Mary C

ANZAC Centenary, Legacy Street Art Project

This post updates one from January 2016 (Legacy Mosaics)

Legacy is a charity that supports widows, children, and disable dependents of Australia’s injured or deceased military veterans. Drewery Lane in downtown Melbourne runs behind Legacy House. Over the four year Centenary of ANZAC period (2014 – 2018), held workshops that allowed the local community to interact and engage with the personal and shared histories of the Legacy Family. Workshop participants created clay tiles and plaques with some connection to WW1. The plan is to attach 1000 of these mosaic pieces to the back of Legacy House. In November 2015, the first tiles were installed.

A few comparison photos (more added since January 2016, and the majority are in good condition):

2016:

white square tile with the word legacy and a picture of three people, attached to an exterior wall with numerous small clay pieces around it.

2025:

Legacy project, adding clay tiles to a wall, each with an image on it
2016
many clay pieces, a sword,an anchor, some with words, attached to a wall, part of a Legacy project for ANZAC commemoration
2025
Legacy ceramic tile mosaic project

2016:
many clay pieces, a hand, some with words, attached to a wall, part of a Legacy project for ANZAC commemoration

2025:

And a few more views from 2025 –

below: Sir Stanley Savige (1890-1954), founder of Legacy, shown in mosaic.

legacy founder portrait in mosaic added to legacy wall of ceramic tiles, to commemorate ANZAC

below: A small green helicopter joins the group.

Legacy ceramics, plus a green helicopter

below: Invader mosaics, a green tank, and a couple of hearts.

invader mosaics plus legacy ceramics in drewery lane,

wall behind Legacy House decorated with ceramic tiles that have been made by legacy participants

below: Another mosaic portrait is on the wall – this is General Sir John Monash (1865-1931). He was commander of the 4th Brigade in Egypt, one of the many Australian and New Zealand groups that were involved in the Gallipoli campaign of April 1915 to January 1916.

legacy ceramics wall, along with portrait of

below: Some words: “My dad, he lived on Drewery Lane and Lt Lon. (Little Lonsdale) and loved the restaurants and shops and markets of Melbourne”

Other words: “My grandfather, Lieutenant Michael Harold Sorokiewitch, Southwick MBBS (RAMC) (1893-1957) Melbourne. Surgeon at Gallipoli and Lemnos (1915-1916) then served in military hospitals in Britain” Adele

close up of some of the ceramic pieces created for the legacy wall

a section of the legacy wall

Russell Place

Posted on March 7, 2025 by Mary C

below: A dominant feature in Russell Lane is a large yellow and blue mural by Kitt Bennett that runs along the wall of a parking structure.

part of a large mural in yellow and blue, includes a pigeon, a flower with many petals, and the wheel of a motorcycle

below: Meet “Princess” with her star wand – a mural commissioned by Melbourne City Council. She stands 24 metres tall in her sneakers. Her pink dress had faded a bit but she is as big and as tall as ever! Painted by Baby Guerilla.

Princess, a large 24 meter tall painting by baby guerilla, on a concrete wall in russell place, melbourne. a young girl in a faded pink dress and clunky shoes