Tag Archives: bear

GAWD’s animals

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This post first appeared in my Toronto blog back in 2019.  I am posting here because I have learned that this mural has been painted over.

In Toronto, just south of St. Clair West, Runnymede Road runs under the CP train tracks.   In the summer of 2017 the wall on the west side of the underpass a mural was painted by Christopher Ross (aka GAWD).  It is a collection of animals, mostly in shades of pink and blue – dragonfly, pigs, birds, and more.   Most of the animals are in pairs.

part of a mural by Christopher Ross on an underpass wall in pinks and blues, a dragonfly

mural on a wall, two fat pink pigs snout to snout

part of a mural by Christopher Ross, aka gawd, on an underpass wall in pinks and blues, a pink bird

part of a mural, two bird heads, very much like ducks or geese, in orange and brown tones

part of a mural by Christopher Ross on an underpass wall in pinks and blues, a blue animal and a pink animal

part of a mural by Christopher Ross on an underpass wall in pinks and blues, a large blue bear

part of a mural by Christopher Ross on an underpass wall in pinks and blues, the end piece of the mural, mushrooms

At one end of the mural, this little engine sits on a tree stump.

part of a mural by gawd, a little railway engine sits on a tree stump

Bordalo II in Lynn

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Portuguese artist Bordalo II (aka Artur Bordalo) is known for his animal creations using trash and found objects. There are now two examples of his artwork in Lynn including this bear. Another feature of Bordalo II’s animals is their ‘split personality’ – one half is colourful while the other is in shades of grey.

on an old wood building on a street in Lynn Massachusetts, an artwork by bordalo 2, a Portuguese artist, of a bear, using found objects

below: On the same building as the bear is another piece by Bordalo II, a mouse with perky ears and long whiskers.

bordalo 2 creation, mouse, 3 D artwork on a wall outdoors

below: A side view of the mouse gives a good look at the depth of the artwork.

side view showing 3 D nature of bordalo 2 art

below: A hardhat, vacuum hoses, a pink skateboard, and something yellow with wheels, are among the items used to make the mouse’s eye.

below: A closer look at the face of the bear and all the bits and pieces that were used.

below: Pieces of metal make claws on bear paws including a lone yellow one.

part of a street art piece by bordalo 2, bear paws with claws

on an old wood building on a street in Lynn Massachusetts, an artwork by bordalo 2, a Portuguese artist, of a bear, using found objects, a bright red door also in picture

Photos taken July 2024

If you like Bordalo II’s work, you might like the jellyfish that he made in Lisbon (blog post from December 2023)

Love’s the only engine of survival

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Or at least that’s what written on a wall in Tampa Florida that was painted by a number of artists during Tampa Bay Fresh Fest in early 2020. It’s a Leonard Cohen quote.

words painted on a wall in the corner of a green mural that says love's the only engine of survival
mural, green background with water drops, black silhouette of a frog and a gecko climbing the wall

below: Greetings! Peace. A very friendly doorman,  by Luisa Padró

mural around a double door, glass, of a large man bending over the top of the door, he is giving peace symbol with two fingers

below: The wall is on Franklin Street.

wall decorated with five murals by street artists on Franklin St in Tampa

below: A snake and a mama kangaroo with a joey in her pocket, the merging of two disparate animal species, by Jerry Cahill

mural by Jerry Cahill of an animal with the front of a mother kangaroo with a joey in her pocket, but the tail becomes a serpent with a head at the end

below: She’s got quite the hairdo. Are the pirates coming for her? Or is she just on the side observing the boatload of skull-like figures? This was a collaboration between Artcapco (aka Juan Pablo & Vanessa Parra and Ashley Cantero

mural of a woman with pink hair, up do, with a pirate ship in the background where the pirates are skulls

below: A bear, an arrow, some squares and rectangles, a mixed composition by noirsone

a mural with a brown bear, a white arrow that looks like a cursor on a computer screen

Photos taken April 2022

The Leonard Cohen quote comes from the lyrics of a song, “The Future”. There are many words in the song and you can find them online if you are interested. It’s a rather dark song. This is the stanza that the quote comes from:

“You don’t know me from the wind
You never will, you never did
I’m the little Jew
Who wrote the Bible
I’ve seen the nations rise and fall
I’ve heard their stories, heard them all
But love’s the only engine
Of survival”

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

Turtle Island, essential workers, and others

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in downtown Belleville (Ontario)

five cars parked in front of a large mural of a green shelled turtle walking beside a large body of water, many animals are on the turtle's back, fox, bear, deer, moose, wolf, bobcat, beaver, rabbit, many birds are flying around,

The mural was painted by Allan Bender, John Nobrega, and Stacey Kinder of Blinc Studios.

closer up view of the turtle's head and some of the animals, turtle's front feet are in the water

The name Turtle Island comes from creation stories told by a number of indigenous groups of North America. It represents North America (or the Earth).

animals in a street art mural, mother bear and cub, wolves, bobcat or cougar, beaver

There is another large mural in downtown Belleville. It is a much more literal representation of the city and includes a few of that city’s landmarks.

A mural with images of Belleville landmarks

below: The mural and the street it is trying to depict. The tall tower in the background is Belleville City Hall.

part of a mural with images of Belleville landmarks, Front Street, stores, cardinal

below: The white semi circle things on the right side are the Moira Bridge, an old double arched bridge built in 1930.

part of a mural with images of Belleville landmarks

below: Belleville water tower, a Monarch butterfly, the old train station, and the Quinte Skyway Bridge.

part of a mural with images of Belleville landmarks such as the water tower and a large bridge

below: A train pulls into the station. Artwork by Christopher Bennett.

And last, there are other paintings by Chris Bennett around Belleville including this tribute to Essential Workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

in a Madrid park

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The following photos were taken in a walled park (or community garden) in Madrid in March 2018.

below: Face and fishes by Lazaro Totem

large realistic painting of a man's face on white brick wall, with some fish swimming above his head, signed as

below: El Indio

El Indio street art painting of a yellow man, skinny arms and legs, arms raised above his head and spear in his hands, red mask over eyes, loin cloth of red, yellow and green

below: Por Favor is a street artist whose work can be seen around Madrid.

poster by Por Favor of a woman's face in pink and purple

below: Ianah

painting on a wall of a girl's head and shoulders, in water, with fish covering her head, and fish swimming in the water,

below: The front of a large ROA animal

front part of a large mural of an animal by ROA

below: And the back part of the animal, and the left part of the mural

back part of a large mural by ROA, pigs,

below: Another El Indio.  He’s wanted for something!

El Indio street art painting on brick wall, large Wanted sign on the top, picture of a yellow man with red mask and blue skimpy underpants

below: A long drawn mural with lots of detail.

wall separating park from high rise apartment building with balconies, on wall is a mural

below: A close up of part of the mural above

close up detail of mural on white brick, trees and plants in front

below: The Madrid coat of arms is the blue shield shape with a bear and a tree in the middle, similar to what is painted here.  The man chopping down the tree is definitely not on the coat of arms!

mural of someone working on the Madrid coat of arms

below: Vegan bunnies

vegan bunnies street art

murals, Rochester New York

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Wall/Therapy

Wall Therapy is now an annual event in Rochester New York. It started in 2012 with 11 street artists painting 16 different walls in the city. From their website, Wall Therapy is “a public community-level intervention using mural art as a vehicle to address our collective need for inspiration.” The Wall Therapy website also has a map of the locations of the murals. They are spread around the city. It is possible that some of these murals are not actually a part of the Wall Therapy project.

photos taken in June and September of 2015

 

below: ‘Anabel’ by Faring Purth, on 4th Street.

mural on the side of a black brick building, of a woman done in wide strokes of different blues, yellows and white. Upper body, mostly in profile, with her elbow bent and her hand turned towards her arm.

below: ‘Rhapsody’ by Faith47 with a close up of the skull below it.  Pleasant Street.

mural of a woman looking upward with a light radiating from her hands, a skull is below and beside her.

detail of a larger mural - a large skull with a flower

below: Jimi Hendrix, by Ernest Shaw Jr., 2014, on King Street

A brightly coloured man's face, that looks like the famous guitar player Jimi Hendrix, is painted on the back of a building, but it is behind a chain link fence. There is a vine growing on the fence that looks like it might be the man's hair.

below: ‘Untitled (Eagle and Wave), by DALeast, on West Main Street.

A bird in flight, street art mural, black on red brick.

part of a mural, an abstract looking boat with a wave of water, all done in black

below: ‘Etty’ by Faring Purth, under the railway bridge at Brown and Silver Streets.
The bridge is in a dark spot and the mural is long. (4 photos)

mural of a woman's head, lying on her side, under a rusty railroad bridge, by Faring Purth

Detail of a large mural. This picture shows a bird in flight swooping down to catch a worm that is being held by the fingers of a hand.

middle part of a long mural of a woman lying down, her hand is in her pocket which is also a bird nest. Five or six birds are in the picture, a couple tucked under her arm, some lying on her.

part of a long mural under a railway bridge, the end of the mural with a person's feet and large toes, with two birds also in the picture.

below: `From the Ruins` by Mr. Prvt and Msshaftway on the side of Cook Iron Store, Andrews Street

Long mural on the side of Cooks Iron Store, many falcons in flight over a city skyline at sunset. Taller buildings are in the background, empty parking lot is in the foreground.

part of a mural, falcons flying over a city skyline at sunset

below: I Got You, by Elicser, West Main and Canal

mural on the back of a red brick building, beside a metal exterior staircase, of a man carrying a woman on his back. Above the picture are the words I Got You

below: ‘Avery’ by Jarus, 2014, on Palmer Street (Fedder Industrial Park)

A mural by Jarus of a woman on a water tower (or silo shaped storage tower).

below: ‘The Red Dress’ by Jarus, Seward Street.

mural on the side of building, woman in a red dress lounging on a couch, dark background

below: ‘Love is Sacrifice’ by Jeff Soto and Maxx242, at Rochester Public Market

Love is sacrifice mural showing a woman with yellow hair that could also be a bird. Two vibrant blue roses are by her ears.

blog_rochester_blue_roses

below: `Martin Luther King’ by Case, on Park Avenue.

Mural of Martin Luther King on the back of a building. The building has a balcony on which is a barbecue and some chairs. In the mural, his hands are coloured, one in greens and one in reds.

below: by Troy Lovegates, 2014, Fedder Industrial

very large mural on the side of a building, three men and a cloud. One man has blue hands.

below: by Conor Harrington, on the wall of Historic Houseparts, on South Ave.
On a photo of the original mural there was no red colour.

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, in black and white, what looks like one man murdering another, the blood is red which is the only colour in the painting

below: by Cern, 2012, Pennsylvania Ave.,

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, whimsical elephant, cat, and other animals,

below: by David Walker, 2014, on Goodman St.

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, two large bluish faces looking up towards the sky. A car is parked in front of it.

below: Untitled (Fish Market) by Alexis Diaz, West Main Street

mural in a blue triangle of a person like shape with a three eyed fish as it`s head, upper body made of a tightly woven vine, heart with a keyhole in it, hand

below: Fox and Rabbit by Mr. Pvrt, 2013, on Comfort St.

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, A very realistic looking fox with round beady eyes

mural painting of a verylarge rabbit head on the second storey of a store, A and Z South Market.

below: Armand from House of Guitars, by John Perry, 2014, on Pennsylvania Ave.

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, a very large hand is hold a TV screen. A man with big bunny ears seems to be coming out of the screen along with a word bubble that says "hop hop"

below: Pixel Pancho, 2013

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, a picture of a boy hugging a robot head that has plants starting to grow up around it

below: Sea Creature, by Bile, on the wall of Stanley Steemer, South Ave.

A pink squid like marine creature under the water, but it's tentacles become very tag like

below: Mermaid, by Case, 2012, on Pennsylvania Ave.

A large mural of a mermaid swimming in the water with another woman on her back - the other woman is wearing a white bathing cap and orange arm floaties.

below: by Liqen, 2012, on Pennsylvania Ave., by Public Market

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, black line drawing of a very large eagle on its back, tied down as well as locked and chained. A soldier with a machine gun is guarding the eagle.

below: by Mike Ming, South Ave. on the north side of Personal FX Hair Studio

mural of bright coloured swirls and curved shapes.

below: by Sam Rodriguez, 2014, on Greenleaf St.

Mural of a large pink and purple face with letters in different colours painted on top of parts of it. One eye, nose and open mouth are visible.

below: by Omen, on Greenleaf St.

mural of a woman, very realistic looking, lying on her side with her eyes closed. It covers two garage doors.

below: by HowNosm, on Pitkin St. by Harts Local Grocers.

blog_rochester_mural_red_hand

blog_rochester_mural_red_hand_detail

below: Understand, by Adam Francey, South Ave. on the south side of Personal FX Hair Studio

colourful mural of abstract figues, faces, birds, and fish on the side of a building, There is one word written on mural and it is "understand"

detail of one of the faces in a colourful mural of abstract figues, faces, birds, and fish on the side of a building, There is one word written on mural and it is "understand"

blog_rochester_mural_understand_word

below: Discount Evolution by DALeast, 2012

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, a long whale in grey and black

below: by Omen, July 2014, on East Main St.

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, a three storey high black and grey woman looking over her shoulder

below: The World is Yours, by Queen Andrea, 2014, on Greenleaf St.

Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, colourful words in capital letters that say "The world is yours" in blue, pink, and red, and orange

below: by Thievin’ Stephen, 2012, on Pennsylvania Ave.

Thievin Stephen is the title, Wall Therapy mural in Rochester, on the side of a building, a man's torso in a light grey shirt, but with a cow head, pink background

below: `The Giant Storybook Project` by Herakut, Oct. 2012, on St. Paul Street

blog_rochester_power_mural

top part of a tall mural showing a man's head with a white creature covering his head and looking like long wavy hair. With the word 'Will power always consume the ones that seek it?'

below: It rained the day that I was there and I didn’t realize that my pictures of this building were taken with raindrops on my camera lens.

six storey red brick building with two tall vertical murals on it, one on the left side and one on the right side.

below: A bear by Mr. Pvrt at Rochester Public Market

A mural of a grizzly bear face up close, his mouth is open and his teeth are showing

below: ‘Sleeping Bears’ by ROA, on St. Pauls Street,

Black and white and grey mural, very large, on the side of a building by a parking lot by ROA featuring 2 bears, one on top of the other. A car is parked in front of the mural. It is raining.

below: Luong Mural by Addison Karl, 2014, on Palmer Street (Fedder Industrial Park)

A large four storey mural of a man, upper body, in profile, in blues and purples. His hands are in front of him.

very large street art hand, part of a mural, in blues and purples on a turquoise wall

below: Untitled (REXY) by St. Monci and Justyn Iannucci, behind 700 South Avenue.

A low building has been painted grey and then rectangular shapes in red and turquoise have been painted on top of that.

below: ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ behind South Ave near Gregory (and next to the one pictured above).

 

rock, paper, scissors mural in a parking lot with cars parked in front of it. Another mural is in the background

Detail of a larger mural. Showing two feet - one where the bottom of the foot is seen, and the other where the calf and toes are seen.

part of a larger mural - two hands, a red open hand and below it a closed green fist

below: The next four murals were on the side of the same building. I am fairly sure that it was at the end of Flint Street. It is definitely on the west side of the Genessee River by a street that dead ends at the Genessee Riverway Trail.

 

A mural by LanShonda Davis, yellow background, two faces in profile, both black tieh dreadlocks, one man, one woman, they are face to face and their noses are almost touching.

by LaShonda Davis

.

A mural by Myron Hall on the side of a wall of many people, mostly men, standing around talking, singing and generally being social.

by Myron Hall

.

a wall of a building, steps with a yellow metal rail lead to a red door. To the left of the door is a mural, green background, a man playing a saxophone with musical notes coming out of it. A pregnant woman is in the mural, she looks like she has just walked up the stairs. Instead of a baby, she is carrying a globe, the Earth.

 

A mural on the side of a building. Blue background. A young man with an Afro hair style is wearing red boxing gloves. The words on the mural say " To be once defeated is to find cause for an everlasting struggle to reach the top" It is a quote attributed to Marcus Garvey. The mural is signed by Lujar.

by LuJar

.

below: The next three photos are at 400 Atlantic Avenue.

Three older buildings on Atlantic Avenue in Rochester. Two of the buildings have painted boards in their windows. The third building is a taller brick building with a mural at street level alongside the sidewalk.

street art art mural on the side of an embankment wall and lower part of a red brick building on Atlantic Ave in Rochester New York

below: ‘Together We Fall’ by Aaron Li-Hill

Together we fall, a mural by Aaron Li-Hill in white, grey and black on the side of a dark red brick building. Abstract looiking people.

below: At 430 Atlantic Avenue – this building was painted on three sides by four different artists, Daze, Nate Hodge, Eder Muniz and Vexta. Daze’s contribution is on the east side:

A mural on the side of a building in Rochester New York showing a large eye that is half green and half pink. Lots of swirls of colour as well. Also a small section is painted as a grid of different colours.

below: Vexta painted this face on the northeast corner 430 Atlantic

A very large man's face painted by Vexta in a mural, with a background of different coloured splotches.

below: The southeast corner of 430 Atlantic Avenue.

The corner of a one storey building that is covered in a blue and white bubbly looking mural. With a sign for Meier Supply, HVAC Specialists.

Front of a building covered with a mural in blues, yellows and white, clouds like blobs, yellow lines, very abstract mural.

below: ‘Untitled (Boy on Heart)’ by Icy and Sot, South Avenue.

a small street art painting on the upper storey, side of a building above 701 South Ave in Rochester. A boy in black and white is straddling a large red heart. She has a red rose in her hand

brick wall painted orange. A skull graffiti stencil is on the wall, just above ground level. A snowflake shaped graffiti in white next to it with the word gyde written in cursive

 I haven’t found any information on the remaining murals.

large mural of active people over the front entrance of a three storey building,

mural on a garage door of a dog and deer meeting nose to nose

mural of a boy and a bird. The bird is sitting on the boys head such that the feathers of the bird look like the boys hair.

blog_rochester_mural_industrial

below: I haven’t been able to find any information yet about the next two murals either. They were both on South Ave. Liquor Store, to the south of most of the other murals that I saw. By the way, it was a nice little store with an interesting selection of wine.

on the side of a building, large eagle taking flight

mural on the corner of a building, The word home is written in large blue letters around the corner, and on one side of the building is a pair of eyes over a real window, and a woman sitting beside the window. It looks like she is sitting on the ground, one knee up and she is turned from the waist to look back at the viewer.

blog_rochester_box_peace_sign