Tag Archives: beetle

Jadal and Al-Kalha stairs

Posted on by
1

The city of Amman is built on a series of hills, ridges, and valleys.  Many of the streets in the central part of the city run parallel to each other with few streets connecting them because of the hills.  The result is quite a few sets of stairs, often long and steep!  One set of stairs, Al-Kalha Stairs (top part) and Jadal Stairs (bottom part), has some small shops and cafes.  They connect downtown Amman with Jabal Al Weibdeh neighbourhhod. The walls on the side of the stairs have also been decorated with street art.

At the top of the stairs

street art based on the Jordanian flagbelow: A gold coloured face looks to the sky, by Batool Edais. 2018.  It’s difficult to tell now, but on the right one boy is standing on the back of another boy.

two street art paintings on the sides of a shuttered window. on the left, a gold coloured woman with braids looking to the sky, on the right, a person reaching for a piece of watermelon up on a shelf below: Laila Hajri has painted someone reaching for a section of watermelon.
street art painting with Arabic writing, a person reaching for a piece of watermelon up on a shelf

top portion of Kalha stairs in Amman with street art on the walls of the buildings beside the stairs

below: Mural by Wafa Asmar. The eyes, nose, and mouth on the girl were added after as were the black letters in blue swirl near the bottom (I rebel therefore I exist).

van gogh inspired blue swirls painted in a mural with an orange square in the center. in that square is a heart. To the right of the swirls is a pink vertical bar with a black picture silhouette of a girl holding a bunch of balloons

For my part I know nothing with any certainty but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

.

between two shuttered windows, a street art painting surrounded by white Arabic calligraphy on red, in the middle is the back of a dancer with red hat and long white robe tied at the waist, long skirt that twirls outward as dancer moves

black and white street art painting of Omar Shariff on a black background, some of the paint has begun to peel off black and white street art painting of a woman on a black background, some of the paint has begun to peel off

wings, the universal instagramable wings

on a wall beside a book store, a copy of Van Gogh's self portrait and a copy of his sunflowers painting, by Batool Edais

street art on Al Kahla stairs in Amman black stencil of a large building over the rooftops of Amman

multi coloured face with words below that say Don't let the noise of other people's opinions drown out your own.

“Don’t let the noise of others opinions drown out your own”

.

below: Lots of people have added their names along with a note or two. black and white painting of a woman, 2 colours only, profile portrait

below: By the book seller’s table

shades of grey, stylized man's face on a wall behind a table with books on it

old and peeling street art painting of a green eye with lashes and eyelid on a wall with some books

at a bend in an outdoor set of stairs, art cafe signs, street art on the wall, Jadal stairs, Amman

below: Portraits by Miramar Mohammad (Miramar Al Nayyar) 2016.  Marcel Khalife, a Lebanese singer, composer, and oud player, is depicted on the left.  The other portrait is of Mahmoud Darwish, a Palestinian author and poet.

portraits of two men in grey tones, street art on a wall

on a blue background, street art painting of pink elephant's head, frontal view, with Indian symbols on it painting of a bald child with green shirt, yellow petals coming out of its head looking like a flower

little things in Amman

Posted on by
1

As I walked around Amman, I saw a few small pieces of graffiti and street art.

below: A metal box with half a face on the left and Arabic writing on the right side.

metal box on street painted, dark blue background, left half is half a face while right side is Arabic letters in yellow

below: We claim the sea

stencil on a wall, black letters that say we claim the sea

below: Keeping an eye on the stairs.

realistic painting of an eye on a wall between two windows on a set of stairs

below: A very small fellow walking with his hat

a little black stick figure person painted on a stone wall

below: A beetle climbing a wall

a black beetle graffiti on a yellow wall graffiti on a wall on a wall beside a driveway, a blue and white graffiti

below: She flies by her own wings. she flies by her own wings, written words painted on a wall, graffiti

below: My wishness marshamello (marshmallow?)

my wishness love marshmallow, words wirtten on a wall, graffiti

below: Blue beard and long hair.

a blue graffiti painting on a wall, down low near the ground, of a man with beard and long hair.

sprayed on the sidewalks of LA

Posted on by
Reply

As you walk around the Arts District in Los Angeles, watch where your feet are going.
You’ll see many stencils that have been spray painted underfoot.

This first one, women in head scarves, is obviously a political statement.
It was also the only stencil that was in two colours.

Stencils on the sidewalk, spray paint, in red and turquoise, the heads of 6 women in head scarves, shown in profile, One is in a scarf that is turquoise with red polka dots and one has red and turquoise striped pattern on her scarf.

below: Dangerous insects, with scoped rifles for wings.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, a beetle with folded wings that are automatic rifles

below: … and a dragonfly too.  Weaponized terrorist bugs.
No wait, they’re Homeland Security agents in disguise.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, a dragonfly with wings made of automatic rifles.

below: No money, No honey.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, outline drawing of a man with long hair and a cowboy hat, with words written inside the drawing that say No money no honey.

below: Social media is selling your shit.  Apparently there is a third one that says “Seeking your applause, your digital mirage” but I didn’t see it.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, outline drawing of a man with long hair and a cowboy hat, with words written inside the drawing that say Social media is selling your shit. Facebook and instagram symbol are also there

below: A red extremist.  Love extremists.

red stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, outline of a heart with the word extremist written inside it.

below: A dove with a rose in its beak, La Rosa

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, a dove in flight with a small rose in its mouth, words written underneath are La Rosa

below: I am fairly certain that the word says iagily but I haven’t been able to find any info online.

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, shoulders and head of a young woman with her hands up to her face

below: Got love?

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, of a small milk box with a heart on the side. Words written underneath are got love?

below: I have always seen you.   That’s the chorus/refrain from the song ‘Harriet’ by American Appetites.  There may be other references?

black stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, words I have always seen you

below: Campbells soup made of vegans? or for vegans?

green stencil on grey concrete sidewalk, campbell soup can, vegan soup

below: The last one is not actually a stencil but I couldn’t resist including it here.

words written in black that say love me anyways.

Photos taken February 7, 2017