La Jolla murals

Posted on August 5, 2025 by Mary C

I hadn’t planned to spend much time in La Jolla. I had just spent a couple hours walking the beach at Torrey Pines and all I wanted was something to drink. If you’ve ever been to La Jolla you’ll know that parking can be a challenge (especially free street parking)! After taking an unplanned driving tour of the city I found a spot beside one of the murals. A pleasant surprise. A quick stop at Starbucks, and their wifi, to find an online map of the mural locations and I took to the streets (on foot, my tired legs!). With a little additional help of a woman at the Visitor Info Center, I managed to find most of them. They are predominantly printed on what looks and feels like plasticized canvas and then mounted on walls. Many were in shadow but I may never get back so I did what I could. Here are the photos:

below: ‘Opening’ by William Wegman, 2014

below: ‘Applied’ by Richard Allen Morris, 2012

below: ‘One Pointed Attention’ by Kelsey Brookes, 2014

below: ’53 women’ by Ryan McGinness, 2011

below: ‘At Sea’ by Ann Hamilton, 2012

below: Ooops, my apologies to the artist.

below: ‘Sexy Cash’ by Mark Bradford, 2015

below: ‘The Shores’ by Catherine Opie, 2013

below: ‘Expecting to Fly (for the Zeros)’ by Fred Tomaselli, 2013. From his Instagram page: “This mural honors the late, great Chicano Punk band, The Zeros, who emerged from Chula Vista and left an enduring impact on the punk scene. The title, 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙁𝙡𝙮, references the 1960s Neil Young song performed by Buffalo Springfield, connecting different eras of music and counterculture.”

below: ‘Tear Stains Be Gone’ by Jean Lowe, 2015

below: ‘Girl from Ipaneme’ by Kim MacConnel, 2010 (painted on the wall)

below: ‘Favorite Color’ by Roy McMakin, 2010 (colored tiles)

Link for more information about the Murals of La Jolla, including a lot of newer paintings!

Photos taken 2015.
They originally appeared on a different website, but I am in the process of consolidating all my street art blog posts.

Chicopee’s people

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Mary C

below: Chicopee mural along the ground floor level of an apartment building in the center of town.

many cars parked in front of a 4 storey brick apartment building, with murals painted across the lower level, the word chicopee in large red capital letters, a red and white tram with people, a woman on a bicycle, poppies,

below: From a different angle

red and white tram, with people, part of larger mural

below: The poppy as a symbol of remembrance. I haven’t been able to learn why it appears in at least three murals in the city unless it is coincidence). There are poppies in the Chicopee mural above as well as on this smaller painting. The state flower is the mayflower so that is not an explanation for the poppy….

below: “Work and Progess”, Commonwealth Murals, 2022

mural with title workers and progress, people in different jobs, different ages, men and women, and children

part of a larger mural, workman in a hardhat

woman, grandmother, and children in a mural

below: “Paint the Woods” by Christina Bryden, 2020 – A stained glass rose window makes this building look like a church but it is actually Chicopee City Hall. It was built in the early 1870s and the architect was Charles E. Parker of Boston. It was modelled on the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence Italy. Chicopee is on the Connecticut River.

mural by christena bryden titled paint the woods, shows chicopee city hall on the shore of a river, Connecticut river

below: USS Chicopee – During WW2 she served as a station tanker, or as an escort oiler, helping to refuel ships along the eastern USA coast or in the Atlantic. In the later stages of the war she saw service assisting the US Pacific Fleet (during Iwo Jima and Okinawa). In 1946 she was returned to her owners, Standard Oil; she ended her life as a container ship, under a few different names. She was scrapped in 2010.

black lives matter mural, portrait of three people with a word associated with each, valued, beloved, worthy,

below: A large white dog on a blue leash, a painting by Betz (half of dou, Etam Cru), aka Polish artist Mateusz Gapski. Painted March 2024 – it is on the same apartment building as the Chicopee mural at the top of this blog post. This painting was also a Beyond Walls project.

large mural of a white dog with a blue leash

Photos taken July 2024

Along the Riverbank

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Mary C

There is a new mural (2022) in Toronto by Nick Sweetman featuring animals and plant life commonly found along Ontario’s rivers, especially the Don River that flows nearby. It adorns a wall/fence that runs the length of a new park, Riverside Square, which is southeast of Queen and the Don Valley Parkway.

below: The east end of the mural

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: A blue-fronted dancer damselfly (A very long name for a very small creature!)

below: Mink, toad, and a water insect called a water strider.

below: Catfish

below: A raccoon eyes the fish swimming past

below: A happy dog among friends, a raccoon and a cotton tail rabbit. If you look closely, there is a bridge in the background by the fox – Torontonians might recognize this bridge as one of the many that cross the Don River.

below: Red fox, coyote

below: In the middle

below: Egret diving for fish

below: White-tailed Deer

below: North American beaver

below: Painted turtle

below: Northern Leopard Frog

Tensoe2 and Moises (Luvs) also contributed to ‘Along the Riverbank’

Photos taken January 2024

Barcelona red door

Posted on March 25, 2023 by Mary C

Marvellously layered. Contributed to by many. Evolving over time.

below: “Please point the camera toward me” and a Salvador Dali portrait by Pat Brazil. In the middle, a large black and white object that resembles a bomb, a needlepoint bomb.

below: With hope in her eyes, by RAF Urban whose work reflects the idea that diversity is hope. Orange paint has partially hidden the bottle of pills (was there a label?) as well as the woman’s face and hands (what is she holding?).

below: Kandin ski. There are quite a few of these pictures around Barcelona – a whole series featuring different well known people. This Kandin-ski was the only one on this door. I haven’t been able to find out who the artist is – clues may lie in the top line of ‘text’ in the upper left corner but I can not figure out what it says.

below: Some wheatpaste in various conditions including a very torn and peeling Ironmould black and white drawing and a red capped Amar Garpa. Unsigned, and therefore unknown monkey, dog, little kid, and man with red beard and glasses.

below: The square in the top right corner reads, “The purpose of this festival is to use art as the attraction of the Qr code, generally used in transactions involving money, purchasing, and capitalism.” (last word in red). Then it is repeated in Spanish (where it might make more sense). “…. es utilizar el arte como atractivo del codico QR, en general utilizado en transacciones implicando dinero, compras, y el captilalism’.

Photos taken March 2023

Tintin and friends

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Mary C

Catching a glimpse of yellow, Tintin from afar

looking up a short Paris street with a mural of Tintin in a yellow shirt at the end of the street

below: Tintin and the captain – Captain Haddock, another character from the The Adventures of Tintin comics and books created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi. The mural was painted by Combo in 2018.

Tintin and captain Haddock kissing in a mural

with other friends as well, all together in a small corner on Rue des Petits Carreaux in the 2nd Arrond.

below: Wild Wonder Woman – Quand la nuit nous transperce (or in English, When the night pierces us).

wheatpaste graffiti in blue tones by wild wonder woman, naked women in yoga pose with night sky behind

below: Boxer dog with a tear in his eye, “I don’t want to fight anymore” by Canvaz

street art by canvaz, large size boxer with dog face, a tear in his eye, with ear protection, boxing shorts, and boxing gloves, on a wall

below: White bearded but multicoloured skin Namaste partially hiding behind the bushes with a flower

street art of a multicolored man with white beard and mustache sitting in yoga pose

Pink lady poster (Indie red studio?)

poster on a wall, outside, edges starting to peel, portrait of a woman, red lipstick, lots of pink paint

Photos taken March 2023

Elicser and Sweetman at West Lodge

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Mary C

Along a wall beside the playground at 103 and 105 West Lodge is a mural painted by Elicser Elliot and Nick Sweetman a couple of years ago. It’s theme is the outdoors and it includes scenes like kids playing baseball, people reading and sitting outside enjoying themselves, as well as people planting gardens and admiring the flowers. There are also lots of animals – a large dragonfly shows off its wings, bees fly by, squirrels hoard nuts, a robin pulls a pink worm out of the ground, and a very large hedgehog sniffs the flowers.

below: Hedgehog covered with thousands of protective spikes.

large hedgehog in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman

below: Playing baseball and keeping an eye on the bees

outdoors theme mural on wall at west lodge ave apartment buildings, parkdale

large bee in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman

below: An encounter with a skunk

woman in blue uniform sitting on ground beside large skunk, kids watching her

below: Playing with friends. Great dunk shot!

mural by elicseer elliott, people outside, two boys playing basketball

part of a mural along a wall by elicser elliot, a girl with a white head scarf holds a large orange flower. winter time, snow on the ground

below: This robin has found very large worm

mural, nick sweetman, brown dog standing beside a large robin that is pulling a pink worm out of the ground

mural, boy outside, kneeling on grass and playing with large pink worm, another boy is hiding behind a tree

corner of wall, interior angle, with mural painted on it

below: A blue dragonfly with translucent wings

blue bodied dragonfly in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman, 103 West Lodge Ave., wall, snow on the ground, beside some large trees

elicser elliott mural, three kids outside, one in purple top and orange shorts sitting against tree, reading a book.

below: A black squirrel and a grey squirrel and thousands of nuts!

mural, outside, close up of a black squirrel and a grey squirrel and their piles of nuts

two people sitting in a garden, part of a mural on a wall, one person in a green t shirt is planting a small green twig in the brown dirt, the other person is female and has a purple head scarf

portion of wall painted by Elicser Elliot and Nick Sweetman, people outside,

snow covered playground with one wall covered in a mural painted by elicser elliott and nick sweetman

The people in the mural scenes were painted by Elicser Elliott while Nick Sweetman painted the animals.

Photos were taken December 2022

a girl and her dog

Posted on April 24, 2022 by Mary C

Close to Tropicana Baseball Field is this large mural. It is 30 feet high and 148 feet wide and covers the east wall of Modern Furniture. The girl resting with a doberman was painted by Evoca1.

at 1st Street North & MLK

Posted on April 23, 2022 by Mary C

below: The northwest corner of Martin Luther King Blvd and 1st St North in St. Petersburg Florida where there are a few murals on the buildings. The mural of the cat and dog in the foreground was painted by Matt Kress.

below: On the other side of the building (an animal hospital) are more cats and dogs.

In the first photo, you can see small parts of another mural. This one features well known cartoon characters such as the cats Felix and Garfield, as well as Disney’s Donald Duck, Daffy Duck, and Goofy. It was painted by Greg Mike as part of the SHINE mural festival in 2021.

below: The whole mural

below: The last mural here, on the far side of the back building, is another recent painting. Also part of the SHINE 2021 festival is “Tell Me How You Feel, Part III” by Bakpak Durden.

BASK in black and white

Posted on April 22, 2022 by Mary C

and… on central avenue in St. Petersburg

This large mural was painted by BASK, aka Alex Hostomsky, in the spring of 2014.

The mural continues on a nearby box but with orange.

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.

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

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