Bird Watching

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Mary C

“The Vision of St. Dominic”, 2017, by Paulina Nawrot and Ola Adamczuk, one of three murals sponsored by the Dominican order of Łódź in honor of its 800th birthday.

mural by Paulina Nawrot and Ola Adamczuk in Lodz, of St. Dominic sitting in a tree reading a book white a flock of bluebirds fly

below: Part of one of the other St. Dominic murals. There are three birds in the mural.

below: ‘Ptak” by Axl Studio, aka Alexander Mehlhorn, 2016

mural of a girl standing by a large hummingbird, fence is blocking part of the mural.

below: Chasing the bluebird but not quite able to catch it.

part of a mural, a small blue bird is facing a larger blacker bird with a yellow beak.

near Picoas metro station – Lisbon

Posted on March 30, 2022 by Mary C

The Cronos Project initiative involved painting murals on the walls of three large abandoned old building on Av Fontes Pereira Melo close to the Picoas metro station. They were painted by several international artists including the Brazilian Os Gémeos, the Italians Blu and Erica Il Cane, and the Spaniard SAM3. Since the murals were painted in 2010, smaller graffiti – both paint and paper – has been layered over the lower portions.

below: She seems to have a ball of string in her hand and that string goes all the way to the next mural on the corner of the building (out of view in this photo)

below: She appears to be keeping an eye on that kraken, octopus that has appeared. Note the string across the picture.

below: View of two sides of the building

below: He holds the end of the strings in both hands.

below: A closer look at the man with the gold crown and the bendy straw. Whatever he was drinking has been painted over.

below: A large silhouette in the darkening sky.

below: Painted windows make a starry sky while wrought iron railings speak to a past elegance.

below: A silly yellow cat on the balcony

below: A large green crocodile (alligator?) clumsily crashing through the building.

below: A cute little couple, paste-up by Costan with a wolf (fox?) prowling in the background.

below: Wakeup! to a bright green alarm clock.

below: seeing triples, stencil featuring Elton John by A.L. Tony

below: Rui Veloso, Portuguese singer, another stencil by A.L. Tony

below: The Costan couple again, still with their hands forming a heart, along with some black stencils by Dalaiama – black birds in flight and two euros.

below: Another Costan, this time a cat with a hat.

new murals on South Wood Street, Chicago

Posted on August 20, 2019 by Mary C

A couple of stretches of concrete wall in Pilsen have recently been opened up to street artists in Chicago. One of these is on South Wood Street immediately north of the railway tracks (by West 15th Street). This past week, August 2019, a group of artists painted the wall. This is a selection of the murals that now adorn that wall.

below: Some of the new murals

a person walks past a wall covered with many murals beside a street, South Wood Street

below: As you emerge from under the bridge, this is the first mural that you see on the west side of Wood Street.

a mural that is partially under a railway bridge, metal supports for the bridge in the picture,

a mural on South Wood Street, a person with a wide brimmed hat carrying a ghetto blaster on her shoulder

below: Peace mural by @sob_e (aka Eliza Riley Delgado)

two murals on a wall beside a street, one has the word peace

below: Warrior City Tribe by Mero

warrior city tribe mural on a wall on Wood street in Pilsen

two murals on a wall, both with birds

below: Breaking down walls and letting the rats and vermin out.

two murals on a wall, painted like hole in the wall with rats, cat, and skunk

below: Two alligators (Crocodiles?), one break dancing and one stepping out in a hoodie and bling.

mural on a concrete wall in Pilsen, two alligators or crocodiles, one in a hoodie and one standing on one front leg and smiling

two murals on a wall, one is mostly red and has a wizard cap with a star on it and the other is mostly yellow

below: Sponge Bob Square Pants tries his hand at singing while Bart Simpson spins.

mural on South Wood street in pilsen illinois, a dance scene with an angry sponge bob square pants singing while Bart Simpson is the D J with two turn tables, a man is trying to dance

a small tree in front of two murals on a wall

below: On the left is a mural by Yo Loco

two murals on a wall

below: by @All_CITY_COWBOY, helicopter, music, and mayhem in the city.

a mural by @all_city_cowboy, helicopter, shadow silhouette figures

below: With the green lizard character standing by

two murals on a wall, one with green lizard character

Quito Ecuador

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Mary C

There is a lot of street art in Quito. It covers a lot of concrete walls that are part of the city’s infrastructure (supports for elevated roads, walls around buildings, etc). Here is some that I saw in February 2018.

below: Two people, one inside sitting pretty in pink and one outside.

grey and white painted stencil of a man including head, upper body and one arm. on a yellow wall beside a window with a pink window frame. There is a sticker or pasteup of another face in the window looking out. Quito Ecuador

below: A bird in flight. One wing looks like flames while the other wing resembles water. Signed by yo-ho-ho.

street art in Quito Ecuador, a bird in flight, one wing looks like flames and the other wing looks like water, painted by yo_ho_ho. mural in Quito Ecuador

below: Many, many faces in pink.

on a wall with ivy growing over the top of it, many faces in shades of pink , overlapping each other. mural in Quito Ecuador

below: Part dragon and part fish?

on a yellow wall, behind a small tree, a colourful painting of a dragon

below: A painting by BEGO

on a house beyond a white fence, a painting on the upper storey of a woman with red hair and red flower

The next few paintings were on a wall surrounding an house that was falling down.

on an old stone wall, two animal heads, a dog and a cat maybe.

painted in blue, a pig with sunglasses and crossed arms, words say smoky pig

on a crumbling stone wall is a large green face with many pink eyes, and pink liquid spewing from his mouth

below: This is the last of the photos from the ruined building – note the broken bottles across the top of the wall. That’s very common in Quito… although electric fences seem to be replacing broken glass as a means of keeping trespassers out.

mural of a boy's head in profile, short hair, wearing goggles, all in blue shades

below: Crab (lobster?) hands

stylized painting of a man upper body with large crab hands, lack hair and blue writing (illegible) on both sides of his head. ‘

below: Laughing and pointing

large man's face with laughing open mouth, moustache and short hair, pink shirt collar, hand with index finger pointing , mural in Quito Ecuador , Hecho salsa

below: Someone stole an orange cone.

graffiti on a wall

below: Covering his mouth and I don’t think that it’s because he’s coughing.

mural in Quito Ecuador , large red face with a blue hand covering its mouth

below: Me

wall painted part red and part blue. on the blue part is a large ME in white with black border. Quito Ecuador graffiti

below: Pasteup over his face, a mouse and a mousetrap

part of a larger mural with soldier, wearing helmet with three gold stars on it, someone has put a red dot in the middle of his forehead, also a pasteup now covers his face, with a rat on it, mural in Quito Ecuador

below: Another gorgeous bird. Signed by Pagach? (Pagache?)

mural in Quito Ecuador , realistic painting of a bird with a black and yellow head.

below: Painted on a rusty metal gate. Reaching for the skull. I am not sure of the words but if it’s “ponte y las alas” that translates to ‘stand and the wings’ but there are more letters. Any ideas anyone? Painted by Aster in 2017.

on a rusted metal gate that is locked closed, graffiti of a person with outstretched arm, as well as a skull

below: Resiste

small paste up of a face and star with green and red parts

below: Graffiti behind the fence

graffiti on a wall beside an outdoor stairwell, behind a chainlink fence in Quito Ecuador

below: Supay Corpus in a residential area.

below: Someone likes to paint underwear, men’s brief to be more specific.

large black and white painting of a pair of men's briefs, underpants in Quito

below: A very realistic portrait of an old man with one green eye open.

realistic, and large, painting of a wrinkly man's face, one eye open and one closed. The open eye is green.

faded red concrete steps leading to a black door with a metal grille covering it,also some graffiti tags. Two bottle brush trees are in front with their red flowers

circular pattern painted in black and white with a cat's face ferocious in the center circle, painted mural

And last, there were some word stencils….

below: #2mayo and “ecuador ama la vida” which is ‘ecuador, love life’ is now someone’s love note to Mina.

two black stencils, the first is a raised fist with the words #2mayo and the other says ecuador

below: “Sigue to corazon & disfruta el viaje” which means “follow your heart and enjoy the trip”.

black stencil on grey concrete, sigue tu corazon a disfruta la viaje, written twice

below: Natura Insurrecta? and “Mineria responsable cuento miserable”. The direct translation for the latter is “mining responsible, tale miserable”.

green stencil on top and black on the bottom that says mineria responsable cuentu miserable

street art animals, Bristol

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Mary C

More Bristol street art
This time, focusing on those featuring animals

below: A debonair lion stands in the doorway, by Alex of lucas-antics

a lion standing in a doorway, by lucas_antics, green vest and green hat, holding a cane, tail curled up and a white mouse on the tail

below: Another mural by Alex covers the front of The Little Shop on Cheltenham Road. This time, she has painted bunny rabbits and pineapples.

bunny rabbits and pineapples on a blue store front, The LIttle Shop on Cheltenham ROad in Bristol

close up of mural - bunny rabbits and pineapples on a blue store frnt, The LIttle Shop on Cheltenham ROad in Bristol

below: A red dinosaur

street art mural, animals, red dinosaur, with some text graffiti too

below: A bird mural by Aspire

street art mural of a bird, blue and grey and black

below: Another Aspire bird, a robin on a tree branch. Beside it is an orange telephone box by D7606 (instagram)

a robin on a branch, mural, on green background, on a wall beside another street art piece of an ornge British telephone box

below: Bite the hand that feeds you. Someone is missing an arm!… it looks like it might by Ronald McDonald’s arm?

a graffiti fox, standing on two legs, with words, bite the hand that feeds you.

graffiti, cat head,red lips with green tongue sticking out, plys yellow triangle and blue circle

pink pink graffiti on a brick wall beside sign that says Princess Road

below: The ice cream in the cone is looking horrified as the teeth and beak of a yellow bird-like creature hovers above him. There is also an owl that was painted by Dscreet (Australian). The words between the bottom two windows say Burning C which is a reference to Burning Candy Crew, the group that Dscreet once belonged to.

a yellw bird creatre with a long beak, an owl and an ice cream cone

birds on a wire, silohuettes on blue background

blue cat like ceature with gold crown, sitting in window sill with two clay flower pots in front of it

graffitis animaux à paris

Posted on December 11, 2016 by Mary C

Little animals, big animals.
Pasted, painted and stenciled graffiti animals.
Real animals and those just imagined.
All on the walls of Paris.

below: A very realistic tiger walks towards you. Painted by mosko.

pasteup graffiti of a very realistic tiger drawn in oranges and black, almost life size, walking directly at the viewer

below: Another mosko creation, a leopard.

pasteup graffiti of a very realistic leopard drawn in oranges and black, almost life size, walking directly at the viewer

below: What cows order when they stop for fast food. Human meat burger with a side of human finger nibblets. I wonder if he’ll order his burger with meadow grass or cheese?
a poster showing a cow in a fast food restaurant ordering a human meat burger. Another cow is behind the cash register. Pictures of items on the menu are above the cashier. Done in cartoon style

below: A pink fish dreamily swims past.

big pink fish graffiti, with a half open eye and a moustache

below: There’s a zebra under the window.

stencil graffiti of a greenish coloured striped zebra

below: A very tall mural of a blue and white long-necked bird. Un héron bleuté, painted by STEW in the Chinatown area of Paris (13th arrd.)

very large mural on the side of an apartment building of a large blue and grey bird with a long neck. either a heron or a crane

below: A close up view of the bottom of STEW’s heron mural.

part of a larger mural, a white bird in flight, with a long nexk, surrounded by blue sky with a lot of flowers in the sky . The flowers are line drawings in yellows and white

below: An elephant head, and mouton white sheep above the cordonnerie

on the side of a beige concrete wall, two pieces of graffiti, one is an elephant's head and the other is a white sheep with black face and feet.

below: A pink and blue teddy with a few bits missing. It seems to be passing something to the window. Amor! A creature stands under the cross.

a pink and blue teddy bear paste up pon a wall, partially torn. He's beside a window. on the other side of the window is a small red cross with the word amor written under it.

below: A wide mouthed big teethed snake

two graffiti pieces on a wall, a blue and silver diamond shape an a green snake

below: A pink cat

stencil of a realistic grey and black cat on a pink wall

below: Two birds standing together

reddish stencil graffiti of two birds standing beside each other

below: The next two may not be animals, but they certainly aren’t human either. Two creatures just playing tunes and boarding on by. The first is labelled Les Impressionoures.

on a metal box on the sidewalk pavement beside a street, a red creature with a band aid on its cheek rides on a skateboard while holding a ghetto blaster near its ear . The words les impressionoures is written below him

below: And last, a little yellow dinosaur.
stencil graffiti of a little yellow dinosaur

Bacon St., Shoreditch

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Mary C

As you can see, Bacon Street is E1 London. It’s another street that runs east from Brick Lane, this time just north of the overground tracks.

London street sign, Bacon St., E.1 with its Arabic counterpart below it. Also, a PANIC sign that is supposed to look like a street sign under that.

below: Two owls, mirror images of each other; “You know the day divides the night and night divides the day. Try 2 run, Try 2 hide, Break on through to the other side”

street art mural of two owls with text, one owl is black on white and the other is white on black. They are mirror images of each other. The text says You Know the day divides the night and night divides the day

below: A portrait, a tribute to Charlie Burns 1915-2012. Charlie, The King of Bacon Street, was the oldest man on the street. He used to sit in the backseat of his daughter’s car and watch the world go past on nearby Brick Lane. The car was parked in front the family business, C.E. Burns & Sons, a second hand furniture store.

large mural portrait of Charlie Burns 1914-2012

below: A pig on Bacon Street! How apt. It seems to have an admirer too!

black and white paste up of a pig below a window, looks like its sleeping on the sidewalk

below: A collection of paste ups on a wall including a life sized young woman with long flowing orange hair by Saki & B where B is for bitches. This piece is tamer than some of their other art as seen on instagram. The greenish woman’s portrait is by georgie, another London based artist.

pasteups on a wall, a tall life sized girl by Saki & B, with long orange hair, yellow tights, black boots and a red dress, a woman's portrait in greenish tones by georgie artist, a phoebe, and a black and white pig,

below: A cat on the phone by d7606.

top part of a paste up by Saki & B along with a dagog cat upright on two legs, holding a phone and receiver.

below: In the bottom corner, a small ‘Rebel’ Phoebe New York

phoebe from new york pasteup with rebel sticker on her

below: Did you know that a serving size is 2010 skulls? A poster left behind by Arrex when he visited London from Portland Oregon.

poster by arrex, or rxskulls, from Portland, Poison, and the nutritional content of it, e.g. calories,

below: I am not sure who painted the long necked white birds, but the portraits on the door are by Paul (Don) Smith and they were featured in a previous blog post.

a mural of long necked white birds in foilage, around a window and beside a door. On the door are two other pieces of street art, a portrait of two different people, a woman on the top and a man below.

four or five pieces of street art beside and above a store front where there is a lot of activity going, moving items, delivering items.

Photos taken September 2016

Belfast street art

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Mary C

Belfast is home to more than 250 murals. Most of them are political or historical in nature and concern the recent “Troubles” in Northern Ireland’s past. But there are other murals in this city, and other street art. This post features some of the apolitical murals that I saw late in September of 2016.

below: A large mural by Smug One on High Court Street (One of his murals previously seen in Melbourne – Smug on Wood Street)

below: Keep Her Lit, keep the furnace in your heart burning, keep the fire alive.

below: These fingers are pointing at you in a mural by EMIC. 3D glasses are available in Sunflower, which is a store across the street. It’s difficult to take a photo in 3D!

below: This blue woman looms over one of the smaller streets in downtown Belfast.

below: Fighting with swords while a dead (or injured) dog lies on the floor. Surreal?

below: The vertical painting in browns is done by KVLR

below: A mural by Kashink who is an artist from Paris. She has painted in many cities around the world and some of her work can be seen in Montreal.

below: A colourful dog by Verz, a local artist.

below: A mural showing streets at night, lights and reflections, by Dan Kitchener

below: One of the hazards of taking pictures of street art is the usual presence of parked cars. They get in the way. A lot. Sometimes you just have to make them part of the composition.

below: And then there are the times when the cars are just in the way and there’s no way around it. This black bird was painted by Spanish artist Sabek. It would be nice to think that the arrow is aimed right at the car roof and that it missed the bird.

below: Continuing the bird and arrow theme is this mural titled “The son of Protagoras” by MTO (French born, now Berlin based). The mural is located in the yard of Northern Ireland War Memorial. Note the markings on the arrows. Protagoras (about 490 – 420 BC) was a Greek philosopher; he was either an agnostic or an atheist.

below: This snake and arrow mural was painted in 2015 as part of the ‘Hit the North’ event when 30 murals were painted in Belfast. Some of the other murals in this blog post were painted then. If you watch this video on youtube you might recognize them!

below: A fantastical dragon creature in purple and orange walks along the pavement.

below: A cockatoo by Dan Leo sits high on a wall, brightening up the side of a building.

below: On the fence beneath the cockatoo is this mural. It seems to be a deer hunt? The woman and her dog are chasing the deer? Or running with the deer?

below: A Faigy mural, The owl doll Millies

below: A wonderful portrait of a man by DREPH. I saw a few slices of bread with feet… The signature on the side of the bread seems to say Artista. The himbad signature on the left goes with the cat in the picture below

below: Himbad cat, wide open mouth and many sharp teeth!

below: Now it’s Puinsai Hawaii at any time.

below: On the Restore Charity Shop, a woman by Emic.

below: ‘LOST’, a man with harp antlers and a pink nose, two lonely whiskers and a grille over his mouth. My apologies for the fact that the quality of the photo is such that the smaller words are illegible. I think that what is lost is dip-py but could be dup-py.

below: More pasteups. A Citizen Nobody poster is surrounded by other pasteups in various states. “The will to consume terrorises you.”

below: Ireland is not full of leprechauns. There is one on this wall but I didn’t see too many others, real or otherwise! There were no pots of gold either. I saw a few nuns though including this one by David Creative.

below: Pull up a mattress and make yourself comfortable.

below: A mural or an ad?

Sligo walls, murals

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Mary C

On the walls around the Adelaide Car Park, Sligo Ireland, are a number of small murals.

mural, stylized painting of a person playing a blue guitar with a cloud in the background, yellow sky, and a bottle of something floating beside the musician
on a brick wall, with houses behind, a mural of a man in grey monotone, some blur highlights in the rest of the mural which is a picture of ships at sea
mural on a brick wall in a car park, with houses behind, three stylized women with bright red hair, flowing to their shoulders, all holding bouquets of flowers
a mural of a woman in blue tones, frontal image, staring straight ahead. Two birds are in flight, one on either side of her, flying towards the center of the picture

a woman's face, black hair, looks like she's coming out of the center of a purple flower, a yellow bell, a bird and a bone are also in the picture

two cars parked in the corner of a car park, blocking views of two small murals, one on each wall of the corner. One is a stylized young man's face in blue and yellow.

below: Shligo Shtyle, Nooneboy

text mural, white letters on black that say Shligo Shtyle

Elliott Street, Melbourne

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Mary C

Street art on Elliott Street, Fitzroy,
photos taken February 2016

below: irate on a brick wall.

large text graffiti that says IRATE, purple on the top and blue on the bottom, on a brick wall on the side of a building.

below: Birdies for lunch.

two garbage bins and a motorcycle in front of a mural on a grey wall. Mural is of a large rhino with its mouth open, trying to catch birds in its mouth, two leaping lemurs and leaping away from the rhinocerous.

below: Super Lemur? Super Animal of some sort?

street art painting of an animal with a black and white striped tail, wearing a fuzzy white band around its head, and a red cape. Also wearing a shirt with a big S on it.