Tag Archives: leaves

The world is changing….

Posted on by
1

The previous post, Utopia and smiley faces, showed a mural on Via Regina Margherita in Stornara. It is not the only mural on that wall. This is the next chapter in the story.

below: “The world is changing” are the first few words written on this mural. It was painted in 2022 as part of Comix Street Stornara, by Alaniz, and Wanda Hutira,

street art mural on a wall in Stornara Italy,

below: Princess Mononoke and she-wolf Moro come from an animated Japanese film. The story is about “Mononoke” (a “wolf-girl”), a foundling raised by the Goddess – Lupa Moro, protector of the forest. The plot is too and complicated for this blog post, but it involves a the war between the forest gods and the people of Irontown.

street art mural on a wall in Stornara Italy,

below: “The world is changing. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth and I smell it in the air.” A white wolf with many sharp pointy teeth snarls at the fox beside him.

street art mural on a wall in Stornara Italy, white wolf face and head in profile, open mouth, large pointy teeth

below: Flowery and colourful, a painting by Margay Art (aka Margot) , “Coyote Mediterraneo”,

street art mural on a wall in Stornara Italy,

below: Human figures walking on leaves caught in barbed wire beside the leaves and plants flowing from the fox’s face. In the caption to this photo I have cut and pasted the artist’s description of the painting that I found on her Instagram page. The translation is from Google Translate so tread with caution!

“El zorro es el coyote del mediterraneo. Se mete a traves de la “macchia”, de las praderas. Su pelaje toma el olor de las plantas salvajes y sus ojos se llenan de la sed de libertad. El zorro no se detiene ni en las barreras, ni en los alambrados como muchas almas en equilibrio sobre las fronteras.
Represente a la marguerita que es la flor nacional de Italia. Al olivo y al laurel, emblematicos del mediterraneo, al roble por su fuerza, a la avena sativa por su particular modo de dispersion de semillas ( ella tambien se agarra del zorro para plantarse al otro lado del campo evitando el empobrecimiento genetico de la especie) y al opio por tener una flor que pierde sus petalos cuando la cortas ya que solo se admira su belleza cuando esta viva y libre.”
TRANSLATION: The fox is the coyote of the Mediterranean. It slips through the “macchia” (grassland). Its fur takes on the scent of wild plants and its eyes are filled with the thirst for freedom. The fox does not stop at barriers or fences, like many souls balanced on borders.
It represents the daisy, which is Italy’s national flower. The olive and the laurel, emblematic of the Mediterranean, the oak for its strength, the sativa oat for its particular way of dispersing seeds (it also grabs onto the fox to plant itself on the other side of the field, avoiding the genetic impoverishment of the species) and the opium for having a flower that loses its petals when you cut it, since its beauty can only be admired when it is alive and free.
street art mural on a wall in Stornara Italy,

below: At the far end of the wall, there is a mural by Eloi Angel (aka TMX) and Roseta Fuster Serquera, titled “Freedom” When we were young, we had to work. When we are older we are free from work but we have not the strength to do everything we want.

street art mural on a wall in Stornara Italy, sorting apples and putting some in a bag

Other ComixStreet murals in Stornara that I have written about

Photos taken February 2024

a walk around Holyoke

Posted on by
Reply

Over the past few days I have posted pictures of some of the murals in Holyoke Massachusetts. This post will be that last one for that city for now. I know that I didn’t see everything that Holyoke has to offer but I hope to be back soon!

below: “Yagrumo” by Vero Rivera. Rainforest plant with palmate leaves – In brown and white, together forming patterns and designs.

mural on an old brick building, by vero rivera, design using patterns of brown and white leaves
closer view of the brown and white palmate shaped leaves in the rivera mural in holyoke

below: Painted by David Zayas, high energy dancing, with music and movement. The rooster may not be dancing but it too moves with energy and vigor.

mural by david zayas, woman dancing, rooster
rooster, in a mural, mostly its head

below: The Master of Masks, by David Zayas and Don Rimx. The mural portrays Don Raúl Ayala Carrasquillo, who was a master in the art of making vejigante masks – A vejigante is a folkloric character in Puerto Rican festival celebrations, especially during Carnival. He learned his craft from his father and he, in turn, passed the tradition on to his children.

large mural on the side of a midrise residential building in holyoke, of a man in a red baseball cap who is making a mask, by david zayas and don rimx, vacant land around the building, cars parked nearby
closer view of large mural on the side of a midrise residential building in holyoke, of a man in a red baseball cap who is making a mask, by david zayas and don rimx

below: “Child Flower” painted on the former Boys Club building on Race Street, by Gleo

yellow mural by gleo, a boy surround by big yellow flower

yellow mural by gleo, a boy surround by big yellow flower

below: Colonia – topless, draped with a Puerto Rican flag.

painting on a door at number 403, back of figure with word colonia written across the back, smiley face graffiti on the head,

below: Frankie Borrero’s creation, “Transición de las antepasadas” (Transition of the Ancestors)

mural with many people in it
closer view of frankie borrero mural with many people in it

below: Right – The mural says EL ARCOIRIS as a tribute to an after school program created by Nueva Esperanza more than 20 years ago. They use art and murals as part of their program to engage youth. This mural is a tribute to those pioneers and was painted by Golden 305 (aka Cristhian Saravia). Previously, I posted another of his murals in Holyoke

On the left is “Chromoji” by Bikismo (aka Ismo La Joya del Caribe, or the Chrome Master)

two murals, on left what looks like a shiny reflective face made of ice or metal, and in the right, text mural that says el arcoiris

below: An older El Arcoiris mural, faded blues with a rainbow connection between the two windows. Flowers and butterfles, and a guitar.

older faded el arcoiris mural with flowers, butterflies, rainbow and a Puerto Rican flag

below: A mural on the side of a bakery. Puerto Rica and the USA, Palm trees and sunflowers. Farmers harvesting food from the fields behind the city streets.

mural on the side of a bakery, with garden in front

below: There’s even a horse drawn carriage.

below: Nuestras Raices = Our Ancestors

part of a mural with a fountain and sunflowers

below: On the large wall of University Products, Yo Soy I am by TakeOne and GoFive

large mural of a boy in native american headdress with red and blue feathers, also the words, yo soy, spanish
An interesting description of this mural is on the Beyond Walls website: “Yo Soy! I am anything and everything. It is not enough to simply exist. Playing it small doesn’t serve the world, therefore it does not serve me. I embody the very essence in which life is created.
I am a powerful force.
I am light.
I am beauty, undefined.
I am capable.
I am resilient.
I am, You are, We are
ENOUGH!”

below: As mentioned in my previous post, Holyoke has the largest number of Puerto Ricans per capita outside of that country.

El Spirit Republic of Puerto Rico – Defending our roots and our communities.

below: mmm

below: Tim Purington was a City Councilor and public health advocate who died in 2019.

memorial_fingers_heart-2

below: Needle exchange programs were one of the public health initiatives that he advocated for.

below: “Iguana-boina ” by Rafique aka Rafael Enrique Vega. Here we see the union of the iguana, the symbol of the sun, and “boina”, a dark-colored snake that represents dark rain clouds. From these, life is formed. These elements are found in the Taino creation story where the cave of Iguanaboina was the primordial den from which the Sun emerges to illuminate the earth and to which it returns to hide as the moon emerges. The Taíno people were the predominant indigenous people of the Caribbean.

below: Alvin is missing the rest of his chipmunks.

  A few days ago I posted pictures of the father and baby moose that Bordalo 2 made on Clemente Street and yesterday I shared images of the mural ‘La cultura es poder’….   But there are many more Holyoke murals thanks to organizations such as Beyond Walls and Nueva Esperanza.   I think that I have barely scratched the surface.  
Photos taken July 2024

Nicholai Khan – Think Vegas

Posted on by
Reply

Back in 2015 I saw these three murals by Nicholai Khan in Las Vegas.  Khan was born in Trinidad but moved to Manhattan (New York City) in the 1980’s.

three murals in a row by Nicholai Khan, with #thinkvegas written by them, a woman's face, Charlie Chaplin, and Mickey Mouse

a small tree grows in front of a murl of a large woman's face, the leaves of the tree match the position of woman' hair, by Nicholai Khan, think vegas

below: Charlie Chaplin & his dog, surrounded by laughter.

very colourful painting of man done with dots, sitting down, bowler hat on, sort of like Charlie Chaplin, with hundreds of ha ha ha written around him

below: Mickey Mouse doesn’t look very happy.

a sad and forlorn MickeyMouse sits with his head resting on his arms, mural

emo & remote collaboration in Hollywood

Posted on by
1

Emo (aka Eddie Mendieta) and Remote (aka Jay Bellicchi), both from south Florida, collaborated on a large mural in downtown Hollywood, Florida.

a mural by emo and remote, also known as Eddie Mendieta and Jay Bellicchi

Two women, one at each end, reaching for the sun in the middle.  Their hands and fingers are loosely wrapped by a vine that is also reaching for the sun.

part of a mural by emo and remote, large yellow and orange sun in the middle, a hand is reaching for the sun, a vine is growing up the hand and fingers towards the sun

close up of woman's face in mural, in grey tones, lying on her side, width of face is height of wall, blank expression on her face

emo and remote mural, rays of light form the sun on blue sky with finges reaching out, vines wrapped around fingers, small green leaves

one end of a mural by emo and remote in hollywood florida can be seen on the side of a building, as seen from across the street, car parked in front, tall palm tree