below: A large mural by Dom Laporte featuring a Locomotive 2037 pulling a long freight train. The history of Smiths Falls was always closely tied to the railways. In February 1859 the first train arrived in town – on the B & O (Brockville & Ottawa) railway, pulled by a wood burning locomotive. In the 1880’s B & O was amalgamated into the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway)network. a few years later a second rail line, the Canadian Northern, came to town.
below: Smiths Falls railway station with its distinctive turret – built in 1912 for the Canadian Northern line on their Toronto to Ottawa route. It is now a National Historic site.
below: High above the street on scaffolding, working to “renovate” the lawyer’s office – a twist on the historic mural. Ryan, Knott & Dixon would probably be quite happy with the facelift that Craig Campbell and Chris Addy have given their brick building.
below: An older mural painted on wood and then attached to the wall. A winter scene on a downtown street.
January 23rd is Lunar New Year as we enter the Year of the Rabbit (except in Vietnam where apparently it’s the Year of the Cat).
below: Although this mural has nothing to do with rabbits (or cats), it is found in Toronto’s Chinatown. Three dragons cavorting on the wall on Oxford Street, painted by sightone in 2016.
below: Blue dragon guarding the door at number 5.
Nearby there is an alley where the Chinatown BIA has sponsored some murals with Asian themes.
below: A large koi, or carp, swimming towards a pink lotus flower.
below:“Flowers of the four seasons – Autumn Chrysanthemum” by rowdyradrat.
below: Another rowdyradrat painting – this one is “Flowers of the Four Seasons – Winter, Plum Blossoms” and it features Chinese plum blossoms.
Freeman Alleyis a private lane that runs parallel to the Bowery close to Sara Roosevelt Park and Bowery subway station. It has become a destination for graffiti both for those who make it and for those who want to look at it. Stencils, wheatpaste, and stickers are the most common and there is lots of it! There is probably more than one blog post’s worth so this is just the start.
below: No loitering in the alley. About to munched on – this one-eyed pink and purple banana by eye.sticker is i danger of losing part of its peel.
below: “Do you see this?” Eyes and hearts but with a tear or two.
below: Mickey Mouse crucified, and a feline love more, #nohatefamily. Something about hello mushroom in there as well.
below: “Black Lives Matter is a movement, not a moment, by Individual Activist,
below: Many faces here including a lightning struck David Bowie. In the center is an anti-war poster by Brad Heckman (aka hecksign) that features a portrait of Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.
below: Another Individual Activist anti-war poster. Ukraine is not Putin’s blank canvas. On the left is a big colourful beetle by modomatic.
below: Another modomatic, this time a multicoloured mask. Sticking out on the right is a yellow arm with a pink donut and half smoked joint while a Half Brooklyn Crooklyn’s figure is running away (the last is by TheOhioGirl).
below: Another modomatic creation – insect like? Botanical?
below: “So much love” on newspaper by jkosart along with a back and white intricate drawing of a creature of some kind (signed moose)
below: A picture of a painter painting a picture, by font147
below: Two women – one on the Sony screen along with one as a BLM tribute by Voxx Romana
below: Mother and Child on blue
below: A yellow duck below an old faded poem. Once there was a bouquet of red roses but it looks like someone showed their displeasure with pink paint.
below: At the very top, a multiple-eyed face by sold out art show. The woman with the black and white flower hair has her own post on this blog – see Unleashing Flowers.
below: A period piece, black and white in sepia, from 33wallflower33,
below: Oversalted broccoli and a boxer
In case you are interested in such things, there is a gallery/shop in the alley that features the work of many of these artists.
Street art of a slightly different kind…. Seen pasted on a wall on a street in Paris – a display of black and white prints of famous paintings by women artists from over the centuries.
below: ‘Game of Chess’ by Sofonisba Anguissola (c1532-1625, Italian)
below:Self Portrait by Judith Leyster (1609-1660, Dutch)
below: Portrait of Antonietta Gonzales painted by Lavinia Fontana. (1552-1614). She was possibly Italy’s first professional painter. The subject of the painting, Antonietta, suffered from a condition known as hypertrichosis (aka werewolf syndrome), a rare genetic disorder that results in excess body hair. Antonietta’s father also had the disorder as did two of her sisters.
below: A man’s portrait by Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757, Venetian)
below: ‘Portrait of a Lady as a Vestal Virgin’ by Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807), a Swiss Neoclassical painter. Her father was also a painter. He started teaching her at an early age and by 12 she was already known as a painter in her own right. Kauffman was one of only two women founders of the Royal Academy in London.
below: “Still Life with Flowers and Gold Trophies” by Clara Peeters (1589-1657, Flemish)
below:
Another still life with flowers, this one by Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750). She was a Dutch artist whose painting career lasted more than 60 years; she was a master at painting still lifes with flowers.
below: ‘The Redeemer’ by St. Hildegard von Bingen (c1098-1179), with a copy of the original (in colour and unfaded) underneath. St. Hildegard, or Sybil of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess with many accomplishments to her name.
below: ‘The Penis Tree’. Between about 1325 and 1353, Jeanne and Richard de Montbaston printed books and manuscripts including the “scandalous, rude and misogynistic” poem, the ‘Roman de la Rose’. The first 4,058 verses were written by Guillaume de Lorris in the early 1200s and they describe a courtier’s attempt to win over a woman. About 40 years later, Jean de Meun (aka Jean Chopinel) wrote another 19000 lines. This was before the invention of the printing press so each manuscript was hand drawn. The picture shown here of a nun picking penises from a tree is attributed to Jeanne de Montbaston.
There is a path that runs along the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, leading to the new Hassan 2 mosque. Beside the path is a wall that has been painted with street art. When I walked here in October 2019, these are the murals that I saw. I have only been able to identify some of the artists.
While walking around the city of Plovdiv I found a lot of great street art.
below: A floating candle in the night sky,
below: Behind the Drama Theatre in Plovdiv, on one of its bright red walls, is a large mural by Bozko. Is this older man in a jester outfit a political statement?
below: These red walls were also painted with a large horizontal mural (next three photos). A woman sleeps among purple flowers. Is she dreaming of skulls and hands? Is it a nightmare?
below: As much of the mural as I could get in one photo.
below: Another woman sleeps but with books as her pillow. Transported into dreamland by the words she’s read.
below: Another painting by Nasimo called “The Chain Rockers”. It looks like he has just broken the chain with his teeth. Behind the head is an open book with words written on the pages. On the left is “raja-vidya raja-guhyam pavitram idam uttamam pratyaksavagamam dharmyam su-sukham kartum avyayam”. On the right is the partial translation of this Krishna text into English: “This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct”
below: Watermelon seeds make the eyes and nose of the watermelon face… but then he eats the watermelon? Two paintings by Viktoria Georgieva and Nikolay Bozhinov, aka Mouse and Nikkawhy
below: A boy with a large black bird painted on a box.
below: Four eyes, one of which is the handle for the box.
below: Cupid in browns pointing his arrow at an unsuspecting victim.
below: Bare toes, blue jeans, and a striped sweater. A comb in one pocket and a little critter in the other.
below: Some whimsical, cartoon-like characters on a blue cloud.
below: She’s wearing flowers in her hair – is that hair being held up with chopsticks?
below: A very long tongue from a happy frog wraps itself around a dragonfly.
below: My Bulgarian is non-existent so I’m not sure what this says. Covered in tattoos and puffing on red smoke as he takes a rest on his bike.
below: And last, a quiet cup of tea by the mail box in the shadow of little triangular flags hanging across the street.
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.
below: Another mosko creation, a leopard.
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?
below: A pink fish dreamily swims past.
below: There’s a zebra under the window.
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.)
below: A close up view of the bottom of STEW’s heron mural.
below: An elephant head, and mouton white sheep above the cordonnerie
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.
below: A wide mouthed big teethed snake
below: A pink cat
below: Two birds standing together
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.
Eyes on the Streets 