Tag Archives: heart

the smaller stuff too

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…in Graffiti Alley

My previous post was also about a walk down a section of Toronto’s Graffiti Alley (Spadina to Portland).   This post is from the same walk –  because there were so many  images that I wanted to share, I decided to divide the fun into two parts.  This second part takes a closer look at some of the smaller pieces.

graffiti stickers covering signs at the entrance to graffiti alley where there is lots of street art in the background

below: Peeling paper hands….  A 33wallflower33 group of three women in their dashing outfits … and a charming man with devil’s horns and red glasses.

paper paste up graffiti on a door

below: Although it’s getting more difficult to see, there’s a Poser rabbit by the door.  The door is disappearing behind a layer or two of paper and paint.

a door covered with graffiti, with more street art paint on the walls beside it

below: There is a little pink stikman on the light above the door.

pink stikman graffiti on a light over a door in an alley

below: Once upon a time this skinny little guy was pink but ooops, a layer of paint and now he’s prematurely grey.

white stikman graffiti on a white wall behind metal bars

below: In her face – another stikman

small red stikman on yellow paint with a woman's face at the bottom layer

below: Last stikman for today… sometimes you find them tucked away in hard to see places.

green and black stikman hiding behind a hook with a black strap on it

below: Party line?  Four hands phone.

old phone booth but with 4 receivers, all covered with paint and graffiti

below:  A bleeding heart, a pansy flower, and a woman with a red hat and big ear rings.

small graffiti in graffiti alley, a red painted heart, paper paste ups of a pansy flower and a person's head

below: Polly wants a cracker before she takes over the world, or at least that’s what she told me.

paper paste up graffiti, one is a green bird with text that says bird takeover

below: A young woman with blue lipstick and jagged pink make up on her cheeks.  A spiked collar is around her neck.  Make of it what you will.

graffiti, woman with blue lips and spikey black hair, beside word peace stenciled twice in paint

below: Another young woman,  this time she’s a little softer (at least in appearance) – drawn by Catchoo.

below: Multiple Sailor dudes (trp613) in two varieties hanging out with a happy little catchoo critter and its smiley daisy balloon.

lots of paper pasteup graffiti in graffiti alley, one is a catchoo character holding a daisy shaped balloon

below: “Save me”!

paper pasteup graffiti in graffiti alley, including a blue floppy disc with text that says save me, by catchoo

below:  It looks like catchoo has been busy.

graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: More of that wall.

lots of slaps, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: Darth Vader makes an appearance too.  Who’s that man peeking through the hole?

orange skull, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley, also Darth Vader,

urban ninja squadron and others, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: One flower sprouts a bald person while the other produces a sunny orb.  That black octopus doesn’t look very happy – perhaps in this winter weather it needs more than just a woolly toque.

paint graffiti in graffiti alley, black octopus wearing a red toque

below: There are those women again!

33wallflower33 sticker of three flapper women

below: Dogma slaps standing tall in his puffy jacket and bright red mitts.

2 slaps graffiti on a wall already covered with street art paint. One is a dog, standing on two feet and dressed in human clothes - or perhaps it is a man with a dogs head

below: Riding a D7606 crayon – T-bonez always finds new adventures.

paste up graffiti high on a wall, t-bonez, from urban ninja squadron is riding a large orange crayon with D 7606 (name of another artist) on it,

collection of stickers, graffiti alley,

below: A collaboration between Tamm Shinzo and April Showers Art produced this little round piece – sitting on top of the clouds with the moon shining over her shoulder.

round paper paste up on a utility pole in Graffiti Alley,

below: Cryptid Supremacy – a rat with a very long tail

pink background with drawing of a rat sitting on a bench, long tail, words: cryptid supremacy

below: More rats, this time “the rat race is rigged”.  Also another skull (skulls are very popular!), this time by Broke Canvas (aka Colin Green) on yellow.   And third, is it a rainbow or a very sad face?  – slap by Rider Waitress (aka Frances Sousa)

graffiti on a wall, a black rat with words the rat race is rigged, a yellow square with a drawing of a skull by broke canvas, and last a rainbow with two flowers that looks like a sad face, by rider waitress

below: While we’re dealing with rats – Squee!  They are all fleeing from an NYC trash can.  Don’t litter!

a sticker on a wall in graffiti alley, mice fleeing from a trash can, squeee

below: Another small collection – Catchoo shows up on a soy sauce bottle while a Sentient Cookie (aka Cecil Tian) character gets taped to the wall… remember that banana?!   And last, in the top left corner, a Cartoon Car Slaps.

catchoo soya sauce bottle, sentient cookie paste up and a cartoon slaps slap, garffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: Juice box time. By Clem Crevetz

sticker on metal pipes in graffiti alley, man sitting, with juice box in his hands

small green fish sticker beside a lock on a door

small graffiti painting, black line drawing of a face, with very pointy chin, on white background

elicser elliott painting of a woman in rabbit ears, drinking a can of pop

graffiti where is my $$

alley graffiti stickers, blepser and nervo
pasteup little character in white suit, probably marcel morceau, the mime artist

elle was here, written on sidewalk in pink

Photos taken January 2026

Stornara murals – Stramurales

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Stramurales curated by the Stornara Life association. Since I visited the city in February 2024, many more murals have been painted on Stornara’s walls. Even though this is my eighth blog post showing Stornara murals, there are many that you will have to go to see for yourself! …. or of course you could check out the Stornara Life website.

below: Graffmatt painted this child with a leaf among the bags of trash, all in blues. It’s title in “Desperate World”

street art mural by Graffmatt of a child holding a large blue leaf that hides most of the face, many bags of garbage surround the child

below: “No Looking Back” by Zabou. In case you can’t see it, the title of the book is, “Unione Europea, Repubblica Italiana”

street art mural in Stornara by Zabou, of a young man with baseball cap on backwards, a backpack on his back, a book in hand, and a white bird on his shoulder. man has slight mustache and beard, painted on a building with 6 windows, some with shutters that are closed.

below: Liberami da tutto il male (= Deliver me from all evil) by Brazilian artist Alex Senna; his murals are almost always in shades of gray.

in shades of grey, a mural by Alex Senna of a young boy kneeling by a large heart shape on the ground made of lit candles

below: “Love overcomes death”, by JDL (aka Judith de Leeuw). The same woman in three different, but similar, positions.

residential street with street art murals in Stornara, side of houses, the nearest one is by JDL, also known as Judith de Leeuw, which shows a woman in three similar poses combined into one person, middle one is holding a red flower

below: Only the flower has color.

street art mural by JDL, also known as Judith de Leeuw, which shows a woman in three similar poses combined into one person, middle one is holding a red flower

below: Caratoes painted this portrait, titled “La Ragazza Meccanica”. This translates to The Mechanical Girl. A machine, or robot, with a mask to make her look human.

street art mural on side of residential building in Stornara, by Caratoes, robot women lying on back, neck and head only

below: Both of these pieces are by No Chance (or No Chance Crew), Mona Lisa with her Anonymous mask, and the elderly couple in “Eternal Love”

2 pieces of street art, one is Mona Lisa holding up an anonymous mask and the other is an elderly couple hugging.

below: Someone has left a drink for Ghost

in a niche in a cement wall, wood frame, someone has left behind a white paper up, also the word ghost has been written there along with a little drawing of a skull with a white hat

below: Zip is the artist who created this little piece – a barefoot girl and a teddy bear.

below; A plain brick wall has been transformed – this mural by Vesod looks so real! The 3-D effect is so well done!

mural, three dimensional effect, mathematical instrument with rotating circles seems to come out of a brick wall , street art mural by Vesod

below: A field of red poppies and a blue head scarf in another Zabou mural, “Girl Lying Among the Poppies”

mural by Zabou of a young woman with long black hair and a blue head scarf, lying in a field of red poppies

below: “Positive Light” by Alaniz – a mural with bats and a white dove that seems to glow.

a mural by Alaniz of a woman holding out her hand to a white dove that seems to glow with light

below: Your dream, dreaming as you drive, by Antonio Giuliani – but the needed context is that this was painted in August 2020 so she is dreaming of freedom after the COVID lockdowns of 2020.

mural with text, your dream, woman driving a car, moon and planets and swirly clouds outside the window, wraps around the corner of a house

mural with text, your dream, woman driving a car, moon and planets and swirly clouds outside the window

below: A bit creepy, this skeleton is trying to kiss the girl (or it could be the other way around?). It was a collaboration between Diamond and Solo (Flavio) and is titled “Sommernacht” which is German for Summer Night.

murals on the side of a residential building in Stornara, as well as on the concrete fences beside the sidewalk, cars parked on the street, mural is of a skeleton trying to kiss a woman with long orange hair

below: “It’s Too Late for Revolution” by Lucione Samoa

mural by Lucione Samoa on a concrete wall, fence, beside sidewalk with parked cars

below: “One of my Friend” (with a pug looking on), by Artez

murals on fence beside street as well as on the wall of the building,

below: This mural is a collaboration between Zabou and Bifido.

street art mural on side of residential building in Stornara, zabou and bifido collaboration, girl in orange top

street art mural on side of residential building in Stornara,

below: Another piece by No Chance; this one is called “Giovanna Darkness”.

two women standing on a street corner talking to each other, one of the buildings beside them has a street art portrait

below: The first of at least two Dale Grimshaw paintings in Stornara is this one in blue.

Dale Grimshaw mural, portrait in blue, young man in hoodie, naked people on his forehead and under his chin
naked people in a Dale Grimshaw mural

below: The second Dale Grimshaw portrait is also a male, but this time it is a Papuasian holy man.

two small cars parked on street in stornara, with one building covered with street art murals including one by dale grimshaw

below: “Two Ancient Faces”, one male and one female combined, in a mural by Aero.

in a residential area of stornara, side of apartment building covered by mural by aero, large mural in shades of reds and orange, a face made of two elderly halves, on side male and the other side female, with 5 birds flying around
large mural in shades of reds and orange, a face made of two elderly halves, on side male and the other side female, with 5 birds flying around

below: A little mouse with a magic wand stands beside a bright pink pair of running shoes, or sneakers, with matching pink laces. This was painted by Aurora Agrestini.

pair of pink running shoes with laces, mural painted by Aurora Agrestini, on a wall, with two windows

below: The monkey, or ape, is a mural by Smok with a great title, “OMG Humans”.

two murals on two walls of the same building, an ape on one side, a pair of pink running shoes on the other

below: “The White Tiger” by Martina Pesce.

a white tiger with black stripes, mura on the side of a building in stornara, laundry hanging from balcony in other building,

below: Pooh Bear but oh! This is not the Winnie the Pooh you thought you knew. This Winnie, painted by Kris Rizek, seems to be getting ready to be up to no good! A gas mask? cans of spray paint? and what’s in that green bottle?

street art mural of Winnie the Pooh

graffiti on a stone wall, drawn in black marker, the words super, meh, pop, and wow, as well as a cat's head

below: Celebrating an event from 16 April 1519.

on the side of a two storey residential building, with balcones and laundry, street art mural in Stornara of two men dressed in old fashioned clothes, text written on the grass in the middle of the mural
street art mural in Stornara of two men dressed in old fashioned clothes, text written on the grass in the middle of the mural
“Noi Giovanna e Carlo … da parte del magnifico Signore Paolo Antonio Puderico nobile napoletana fedele nostro diletto… nel presente ha, tiene e possiede … il feudo della Stornara inabitato … per se suoi eredi e successori .. per legittima successione in perpetuo con tutti i suoi diretti entrate e ragioni ….confermiamo, accettiamo, omdoghiamo, lodiamo e ratifichiamo… Anno sedicesimo Navarra quinto Aragonese delle due Sicile e Gerusalemme… Dato nella citta di Barcellona il 16 aprile anna dalla nativita di nostro Signore 1519. “
translation: We, Giovanna and Carlo… on behalf of the magnificent Lord Paolo Antonio Puderico, a Neapolitan nobleman, our faithful beloved… currently has, holds and possesses… the uninhabited fiefdom of Stornara… for himself, his heirs and successors… by legitimate succession in perpetuity with all its direct income and rights…we confirm, accept, commend, praise and ratify… Sixteenth year Navarre, fifth Aragonese of the two Sicilies and Jerusalem… Given in the city of Barcelona on the 16th of April after the birth of our Lord 1519

below: Stornara Life. As I walked around the town, a local woman who spoke no English (and I can’t speak much Italian) made sure that I understood that it was the people at Stornara Life who brought the artists and their work to Stornara.

door of building for stornara life organization, with some small pieces of street art on it, a boy in a blue hoodie, part of a man's face in black and white, a girl with feathers and a bow and arrow

below: The last mural for this post is “The Crowd of Fools” painted by Gods in Love. It covers two sides of a building. I don’t have a photo of the whole mural – instead I will leave you with a few bits and pieces.

part of a mural in stornara italy by artists gods in love, title of crowd of fools, misshapen characters sometimes with multiple pairs of eyes, pointy fingers, strange shaped heads, etc
part of a mural in stornara italy by artists gods in love, title of crowd of fools, misshapen characters sometimes with multiple pairs of eyes, pointy fingers, strange shaped heads, etc

part of a mural in stornara italy by artists gods in love, title of crowd of fools, misshapen characters sometimes with multiple pairs of eyes, pointy fingers, strange shaped heads, etc

Photos taken February 2024

Stornara posts on this blog

  1. A Stornara wall, one of many
  2. Another Stornara selection
  3. Blues over Stornara
  4. one corner, two women
  5. riding turtles and reading cats
  6. Stornara murals – Stramurales [this post – see above]
  7. the world is changing
  8. utopia and smiling faces

at Cooke & Pohukaina

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…. more Kaka’ako murals

below: At the corner of Cooke and Pohukaina Streets where two sides of an older industrial building are covered with murals.

below: It looks a lot like the work of krack1 but I haven’t been able to find any proof online (and I forgot to look for a ‘signature’ for this piece when I was taking photos).

Along the Cooke Street side of the building, there is a row of murals. This is some of them:

below: A blue and white striped tiger by Kim Sielbeck stalks through tall plants.

below: Bright red and pink flowers by tattoo artists Cory Ferguson and Luckyolelo

mural, bright red and pink flowers, by cody ferguson and lucky olelo

below: Michelle Hoogveld‘s graphic heart

mural by michelle hoogveld

below: Lauren Hana Chai painted this woman sitting under a lotus flower and wrapped by a white and pale blue tiger.

mural in Honolulu by Lauren Hana Chai, realistic woman's face

below: In a mural by Drea, aka Andrea James, blowing air at butterflies – will this tiny change in the butterfliies’ behavior have a ripple effect on other events? – The Butterfly Effect

mural by Andrea James, a woman is blowing air towards a small group of blue butterflies

below: By Jana Lam, and Fam, more flowers – droopy pink ones and bright blue ones splashed across a textured sky.

below: The view back up the street from the south end of the block.

a white car is parked on a street where a building is covered in murals, at the near end is one on bright light green background, a pony's head,

There is a building across the street with some silhouette type images of people.

large, low rise, industrial building with blue metal doors, some grey images painted on walls that look like silhouettes of people

Photos taken July 2025

love birds

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Christina Angelina, painted this very large mural on the side of an Office Depot store in the Kaka’ako neighborhood in Honolulu.

large mural on grey walls of Office Depot, by Christena Angelina, two women warriors facing each other, with helmets on, long hair, each is holding a bird in her hand and they are holding the birds so that the beaks and bodies form a heart

It shows two women warriors (? or Roman goddesses?) each wearing helmets and holding a gray and pink bird. The long curved beaks of the birds almost touch and their bodies come close to forming a heart shape.

two birds in a mural, gray with pinkish heads

Utopia and smiling faces

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trees on sidewalk beside mural on a wall, by Toni Espinar titled the big lie, triptych of consciousness

On Via Regina Margherit in Stornara there is a large mural by Toni Espinar. It’s title is: “La gran mentira” (Triptico de la Consciencia) which translates to “The Big Lie (Triptych of Consciousness). Triptych refers to the fact that the mural is in three sections/scenes, each under its own arch. The arches resemble stonework found in church architecture.

The first frame is dominated by large purple creatures with big white teeth and shiny red eyes. Green biohazard symbols are in their mouths. A gargoyle-like human head with eyes closed is at the top of the arch.

part of toni espinar mural, man's head at top, looking down at mass of purple hairy, or furry, things with big black mouths

Under the word “Utopia” is a very pregnant man with a tattoo that says “Respect” on his tummy. On his shoulder is another tattoo that combines the symbols for male and female. He is looking skyward, or perhaps heavenward. Is there a comparison to Christ that can be made here? Is there a resemblance to how the face of Jesus is often portrayed?

part of mural, La gran mentira (Triptico de la Consciencia), the word utopia on top, a naked pregnant man covers his breast with one arm. he has a tattoo on his stomach that is flames with the word respect

hairy gremlins with big ears and impish grins, and happy faces, in a mural

Tiger mom seems to push little tiger son into the boxing ring. The white words above the gremlins say “La grande bugia” which can also translate to “the big lie”. Across the top of the arch it says “cambiare mondo, non follia ma giustizia”, or “change the world, not madness but justice”

part of mural, La gran mentira (Triptico de la Consciencia)

The chest tattoo is a winged red heart with the equation e=mc2, Einstein’s theory of relativity. There is also a series of keyholes on his chest.

boy tiger with boxing gloves, red heart tattoo on his chest with equation e=mc2, Einsteins theory of relativity

On the far right of the mural, a school of green fish swim together.

Photos taken February 2024

trust, live, love, all on a little Paris wall

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a wall in Paris with many little paper paste ups on it, a seahorse, a girl sitting on the sidewalk looking at a small tree, a heart, two people kissing, two lucky cats by missmam, and a fallen dancer

below: The first of two cats by Missmam (aka Marie-Anne Montfort) whose Instagram page says: “Street Chats pour le plaisir et autres curiosités pour la beauté”. On the right, a girl with long blond braids by Nevoul Art (the Little Street Art Fairy).

two paper pasteups, lucky cat by Missmam (aka Marie-Anne Montfort) and girl with long blond braids in traditional costume by nevoul art.

below: Keeping it simple, a kiss, by Artiste Plume.

two people kissing, all painted in red, white, and blue

below: Missmam,  another “La chat fortune” but this time, the lucky cat is getting a bouquet of tulips and balloons from an amorous seahorse by Industrie Tarte.   This lippocampe comes ready to divide into sections – filet, plat de cotes, bavette, flanchet – which are all cuts of meat. 

lucky cat by Missmam (aka Marie-Anne Montfort)

small graffiti, fallen dancer

below: “Trust, live, love” on a little heart

graffiti, small brown heart with stick figure made with hearts, text that says trust, live, love

below: She’s slightly fuzzy in this photo I’m afraid, she also appears on a number of European walls.  Street art by seiLeise (aka Tom Ossege)

graffiti painting, girl sitting on sidewalk looking at a small tree

Photos taken March 2023

Trastevere slaps – another wall

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below: A street in the Trastevere neighbourhood in Rome.

below: A collection of paste-ups (or wheatpastes) from a number of artists.

an exterior wall on a street in trastevere section of rome with many pasteup graffiti pieces on it, in Roma, arte urbano

below: The large simplified guy has Frafimi written on his tummy while the blue hand says “Smile please” as it seems to reach for a skunk. Draw is on the run, The Chosen Few Worldwide show a fist and Horus, at the far right, has weird eyes.

graffiti on a wall in Rome by Farfimi and the Chosen Few

below: A pink thing by Tzing

large pink figure in graffiti on a wall by Tzing, also a little fish swimming past is another paste up

below: T.A.C.I.M. Collective‘s black and white portrait of a woman with long hair beside a funny looking Jack’o’lantern (i.e. a pumpkin with a face carved into it).

paste ups on a wall by Tacim collective, also a drawing of a pumpkin with a face carved into it

below: Blackheart boy of The Chosen Few with another black and white woman’s portrait. She partially covers that strange image of the two men. ”Liebe” is on the screen at TV Clan. Liebe is love.

graffiti on a rome wall, by tv clan and black heart boy of the chosen few

below: Urban ninja squadron from Toronto makes an appearance. There is also a circular drawing by Streetartee of a women’s leg emerging from a swirl of hair – being reborn. The I ‘heart’ mare is also one of hers. On the top left, with big lips and finny feet is Fishes Invasion (aka Merioone). This little fish gets around; I have seen his image in so many places!

urban ninja squadron t bonez paste up along with some other graffiti on a trastevere wall

below: A combination of streetartee (aka 11tee, or Tracey) and Alessandro Spun (aka spun29) and a large black and white Marilyn Monroe. This is one of those pieces that I struggle with but the fact that streetartee is female seems to make it easier for me to accept it. ”Vivi di gusto” is live with taste while “vivi disgusto” is experience disgust. An interesting play on words.

black and white Marilyn Monroe with other pieces of graffiti and the text vivi di gusto

below: No Limits

black and white graffiti of Marilyn Monroe, a man's head, and many hands

below: Another wall, another collection.

a wall with graffiti paper paste ups on it

below: Two faces with a heart in the middle. The face on the left is an example of pareidolia since the ripped paper forms two eyes, a forehead, and a mouth – our brains see those shapes and interprets it as a face. The other pieces are more paste-ups by streetartee. 

paste ups by streetartee on a wall in rome

below: It’s not a very good photo, but this little image of a woman lying on a cauliflower that has been cut in two is another Spun29 piece. The words, “pelle morta di ventisette anni” translate to “dead skin of twenty-seven years”. And I will leave you with that profound thought…..

drawing, and paste up, by spun 29 a ka a alessandro spun, of a woman lying across a cauliflower that has been cut in half.

Photos taken December 2019

If you are interested, there is a previous blog post from a couple of years ago with more Trastevere slaps

four for community

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On all four corners of an intersection in a residential area of Heerlen (Netherlands) there is a mural on the side of one of the buildings. They were all painted by the same artist and they all feature some aspect of Dutch culture or history. A pink and purple theme also runs through them all.

below: On Oude Kerkstraat is “Operation Heartbeat” by American artist Gaia – A heart surrounded by different flowers from the Dutch “Empire”

mural on the end of a building, a red heart surrounded by many Dutch flowers such as poppies and tulips, all on purple background, Operation Heartbeat by Gaia

below: Another Gaia mural across the street from his hearts and flowers is this bit of local history – Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Joop den Uyl, announces the end of the coal mining in Limburg, December 1, 1965.

street scene with 2 large murals in view, one with a face and tulips and the other with a man giving a speech at a lecture in front of microphones

below: ‘Tulipmania’. The face is that of Frederik Hendrik (1584-1647) who was a Statdtholder of the Dutch Republic, as well as a sovereign Prince of Orange during the Dutch Golden Age, i.e. in the time of Tulipmania. I doubt that he’s a recognizable face these days but it’s an interesting detail just the same.

Tulipmania mural by Gaia, a face partially obscured but the eyes very visible, tulips in purple and white

below: ‘Resilience’ was influenced by the painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder (d. 1569) who painted scenes of everyday peasant life. Here is a contemporary scene of everyday urban life.

mural by Gaia of a city scene, people outside interacting, an orange apartment building, a woman waving, a reddish coloured house,
paink background, part of a larger mural, a woman waving

two women and a faded heart

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below: A red headed woman wrapped in a blue shawl and holding a white rose.  White roses are symbols of purity and innocence as well as love and affection.  Traditionally the Virgin Mary is depicted with a blue shawl or similar clothing.  The mural is ‘Oblicze Piękna’, painted in 2018 by Paulina Nawrot.  The title translates to Face of Beauty, or Vision of Beauty.

below: A faded woman sits by her telephone in a 2014 mural by Russian artist, Morik as part of Galeria Urbans Forms.

mural by Morik of a woman sitting on the floor beside a telephone, with large plant leaves around her, monstera deliciosa.
close up of part of a mural, a woman's head with large leaves from a monstera deliciosa house plant.
close up of part of a mural, an old fashion telephone with the receiver off the hook and lying on the floor. A woman's hands and bare feet are by the phone.

below: Another faded mural, this one shows an anatomically correct heart with half of a butterfly on each side. Above the heart grows a large tree. The mural was painted in 2015 by Puerto Rican artist Alexis Diaz and is titled “Czuć” (or in English, “Feel”)

on the side of a building with a small tree partially blocking the view, a faded mural. An anatomically correct heart in the center bottom with a large deciduous tree growing from it. A butterfly, cut in half, sits on either side of the heart.

Bristol Bearpit

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The Bearpit is a park in Bristol, circular in shape and with roads surrounding it; It’s like being in the middle of a large roundabout and in fact it is the St. James Barton Roundabout. All entrances are by underground passage.

It is in an area that is the historical center of the city. After being badly damaged by aerial bombing raids during WW2 , not much was done with it until the late 1960s when new roads and office blocks were built. The bearpit was designed as a pedestrian friendly area, a city park but soon became a place where no one felt safe. In 2011 it was voted the worst place in Bristol . Over the years a number of groups tried to clean up the park and make it a welcoming place for people – with mixed success.

In May of 2017 when I was there it was a place to hang out. It was also a place for political protest.

tables and planters at Bristol bearpit, park, with a mural of flowers. In the background a sign, political poster, and in he background, Debenhams store
VOTE – “It ain’t much, but it’s all we have against the Greedheads” Hunter S. Thomson

May 2017 was in the midst of campaigning for the the UK General Election of 8 June 2017. Theresa May (Conservative) was Prime Minister. May had became PM after David Cameron resigned because of the Brexit vote. Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party. The Conservatives won the election with 317 seats although Labour was close behind. Like most elections, this one can’t be summarized in a few sentences but if you are interested in more details, there are lots of places to look on the internet.

below: A large Corbyn rat poster by political art John D’Oh with the slogan/phrase “Make June the end of May”.

large poster by John D'Oh political humour for the 2017 UK election
political poster save the NHS vote Labour, picture of a woman on the phone, by John D'oh
In paradoy of newspaper Daily Mail, text on graffiti says Daily Fail, with three stencil faces

below: Mural by SP_ZERO aka Keith Hopewell

mural by SP_ZERO,
graffiti of face of young girl with braids tied with ribbons, and wearing a red bandana mask over her nose and mouth, on a green tile wall beside stairs

government is theft graffiti

street art by a tree in the bearpit area of Bristol, a person in a grey hoodie is spray painting a black line, beside a stencil of a man with long beard and mustache that says beard envy
graffiti on a tile wall beside stairs, an electrical two pronged plug with little legs, running, with broken electrical cord as a tail
A group of young men sitting on benches in a park, with a street art wall behind them, space aliens and creatures
street art wall with imaginative and creative space aliens and creatures
The screams of social media users.

below: Mural by LAIC217

Where’s the toilet paper? Is there any significance to the Adidas clothing and shoes?
Mural with orange headed devil with horns, yellow eyes, and skull like face, with bony hnads on shoulder of graffiti artist, caption says For using stencils you will go to hell
For using stencils U will go to Hell.

below: While we’re on the subject of Hell, a poster playing on the word exposure by Georgie aka georgieartist.  I love the fact that someone has written “Story of my fucking life” on it.

below: A broom with heart by qwert art

whimsical graffiti by qwert art of a broom with a white skirt and long skinny arms holding up a red heart where a face would be

below: Mural by Kid Crayon of Eat Crew.  Just above the mural you can see part of the black and white bear sculpture/statue that used to stand in the park.

In 2019 the Bearpit was “cleaned up” i.e. all the graffiti and street art was removed as were the squatters. A quick check of the area on Google Street View shows that as of March 2021 the park was still graffiti free.