Nettuno over Taranto

Posted on February 18, 2024 by Mary C

Nettuno, or Neptune as he is known in English, is the Roman God of the sea who controlled the winds and storms encountered by sailors. This large mural by Kraser Tres stands over part of the waterfront in the Italian city of Taranto – Neptune holds his trident as he looks out toward the Ionian Sea. Nettuno tiene il suo tridente mentre guarda verso il Mar Ionio.

Roman god Neptune, Nettuno, stands holding a trident, seen from the waist up, a mural by Kraser Tres

The mural was part of a Gulìa Urbana project. This organization has been bringing murals to Italian cities for 12 years.

Photos taken February 2024.

Swan maiden

Posted on January 20, 2024 by Mary C

The swan maiden appears in the legends and folklore of many cultures. Like most stories that have evolved from their oral story telling roots, there are many similar versions of the same tale. Also, they are rife with symbolism and are often allegorical. The swan is a symbol of purity. Swan maidens can change between their two forms, swan and woman, often by using a cloak of feathers. In folk tales men steal and hide the cloaks so that he can have the woman. Not a pretty story, but then again, most fairy tales aren’t. (Of course, this may not have been what the artist was thinking!).

below: Bue2530 painted this mural in Florence of part sleeping woman and part swan (seen on a foggy day).

foggy day, looking across a road at a long mural on a concrete wall or ramp with railing above, mural is of a woman sleeping on the ground, head of woman on right hand side but head of swan on the left

mural on the wall of an overpass, man walking on sidewalk above, mural is woman sleeping on the ground with an apple in one hand

below: It looks her arm has taken on the shape of a swan. It seems to be looking at a map

part of a Bue2530 mural in Florence, a woman's arm is bent in the shape of a swan neck as she sleeps on the ground

below: Apples have been the symbol of sin and the fall of man since Eve persuaded Adam to eat one in the Garden of Eden. But it also a symbol of knowledge as well as immortality. It was also a poisoned apple that knocked out Snow White.

part of a larger mural, hand holding a red apple, swan feathers in the background, arm of woman has many tattoos, fingers also have tattoos

head of swan in a mural, orange beak, white feathers, a wheel by its neck

below: A broken chain. Has she just broken free?

part of a mural by Bue2530, broken links of chain under a pink cloth, end of swan's beak just showing on right side

Photos taken January 2020

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

riding together in a ’55 convertible

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Mary C

This large mural titled “Oceanic Market Merge Cultures”, was a collaboration between three artists, Lillipore, Sentrock and Birdcap in 2019.

vertical mural along the side of a one storey building, grey background, a group of characters riding in a gold coloured car, painted by lillipore, sentrock and birdcap in Tampa Florida

Closer views, from left to right

below: A very pink lady by Lillipore.

below: The center character is wearing a bird mask, a sign that this portion of the mural was painted by Sentrock aka Joseph Anthony Perez. The mask may have been redder when it was first painted.

below: This fellow with the big round eyes and long banana nose was Birdcap’s (aka Michael Roy) contribution to the mural

Photos taken April 2022

child of the East Village

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Mary C

A mural by Joel Artista, aka Joel Bergner in the East Village neighbourhood of New York City. Painted in 2019. Joel is a co-founder of Artolution, a non-profit organization supporting local artists and arts programs with vulnerable children around the world.

close up of child's eyes in a large mural, painted by Joel Artista in 2019, in oranges and purples

part of a larger mural, child with curly black hair holding a crayon and pointing to a bird

full Joel Artista and Artolution mural in East village of Manhattan, New York City, child ith short curly black hair and four arms to represent 4 activities, hand held open, holding crayon, pointing at a bird, with pedestrians walking in front of it

For this mural, Artolution partnered with KIND (Kids in Need of Defense), We Are Royale, Key Food Supermarket, and Education Alliance.

Photos taken August 2023

More Manhattan murals were featured previously in this blog – Kobra on 10th Ave (from 2022)

the workmen and the black birds

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Mary C

below: Miners hard at work under the mining museum in Heerlen.

small stencils of 4 workmen, miners, digging in the sidewalk, on the very bottom of the wall, pick axe,

below: More miners, but this time they are having a bit of fun riding in the mine carts as they roll downhill.

street art picture of men riding on and holding on to mine carts going downhill inside a mine

below: The Heerlen workmen aren’t just in the mines. You can see them in a number of places around the city.

graffiti stencil by jaune of a workman in orange and yellow vest swinging on a rope

below: In some cases you can spot them dealing with the blackbirds, the gold crown topped ravens.

below: The stenciled workmen were created by Jaune. On his Instagram page there is a great line, “The world belongs to those who build it”.

below: A white crow joins the fun.

below: A larger mural full of black birds. Like all the other birds in this post, this is the work of Daze Two, a local Heerlen artist.

below: Closer view of the ravens in the mural above.

close up of daze two mural of a group of blackbirds, feather, wings,

below: Is there a story here? What kind of interaction is there between the realistic looking black birds and the flat red bird? X marks the spot, but why?

graffiti painting of 3 blackbirds and a red bird

below: A last look at the birds, a small Daze Two work, part of a larger piece, on a brick wall.

Photos taken October 2023

More Heerlen murals can be seen in the next blog post – link to “more Heerlen birds“.

along rue Oberkampf

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Mary C

Rue Oberkampf is in the 11th arrondissement in Paris.

below: Tall pink mural by Francis Essoua, (aka Enfant Précoce)

below: A mix of little scenes, thunder and lightning, twins in red, pictures in a gallery,

below: Horse, by BONOM aka Vincent Glowinski

below: There were two little quick sketch portraits in red and yellow, possibly by LUIS?

below: A squashed spray paint can, a NEXT (nextmosaic) pedestrian crossing mosaic, and an orange and purple skull.

below: More little things, mostly paper this time – white dove of peace on the mailbox and two larger pieces beside, both by Corine Forest

below: These stencils were on a building at the corner of rue Oberkampf and rue Camille Crespin du Gast in the 11th.

below: A Kraken (aka Lou Daho) octopus, swims past as an orange cat or tiger jumps down.

below: “Telemaqueland” by Hervé Télémaque, was painted in 2000 along with eleven other large murals in Paris as part of a project “the walls of the year 2000” (les murs de l’an 2000).

below: Like many Paris streets, there is an Invader mosaic high up on a wall.

Photos taken March 2023

A stranger in town

Posted on October 21, 2023 by Mary C

“L’Etranger” by Os Gemeos is a very large and rather strange man with skinny legs and long skinny arms. His feet are bare.

mural by Os Gemeos on a wall in Heerlen, a very tall man with big round head, brown pants, and striped shirt

He’s holding a tiny house with a crooked chimney into which a woman barely fits. Her feet stick out the open door and one arm is out the window but she seems quite content. She’s hardly bigger than the knee patch on his brown pants.

part of a mural by os gemeos, a woman is squeezed into a little box like house, she's sitting with her feet sticking out of the door, crooked chimney on the house,

On the other hand there is a balancing act going on. She’s holding a megaphone while standing on stilts AND while carrying another creature on her back. Yes, this is definitely Strange!

This guy has a little white bird one one finger. His arm is outstretched as he either disappears back into the wall, or as he comes out of the wall. He’s wearing a bright green shirt buttoned up tight to his neck that doesn’t quite match the hexagon patterned pants. One little fancy curl graces the top of his head.

Be careful where you walk!

bottom of mural, man has very large feet, pale blue toe nails, bare feet, a black motorcycle is parked beside the mural

Photos taken October 2023

the colourful ox

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Mary C

….or at least a blue and white ox standing on its own box. De Bonte Os is Dutch for The Colourful Ox. Appropriately, this is Bonte Ossteeg, or in English, Colourful Ox Alley in Delft.

The mural was painted by Hugo Klaagman in 2013. It incorporates many of the images associated with the area such as Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring from the painting of the same name. There are also windmills, cyclists, flowers, and a few famous people. There are also blue and white motifs found in the ceramic tiles made here in Delft.

people walking towards Bonte Ossteeg in Delft

some of the images in bonte ossteeg mural by Hugo Kaagman

part of mural with number 22 beside door

street sign for bonte ossteeg with mural, word delft in the mural, blue and white

couple walking past parked bikes to small alley with a blue and white mural, bonte ossteeg

In the alley after dark

Posted on October 14, 2023 by Mary C

A walk down Graffiti Alley on a rainy night.

below: Unfortunately, one of Uber5000’s large Toronto/Canada themed murals has been defaced (the one on the north side of the alley).

below: Doug Ford running away with the money, stencil graffiti by D. Terra. Our Premier seems rather happy with his haul. Accurate?

below: A dope piece that bears some resemblance to Homer Simpson.

below: A yellow one-eyed daisy standing tall.

below: This portrait has hair!

below: For some reason, a section of one of the side lanes (McDougall Lane? or Rush Lane?) was lit by a red light. Here there was a collection of pasteups and stickers including one with an abundance of flowers in her hair, a skater figure by drecks. She is joined by a bare breasted woman with even more flowers on her head as well as a Snoopy look alike and a cat on the telly.

below: On the same wall as the above – Tweetie bird, from Australia, along with some friends. Because of the red light, this photo is very low contrast and difficult to see. Best to see this wall in the daytime! Second best, would be to check out the instagram page of tweet_streetart

below: Another selection of slaps, mostly birds this time.

below: A little raccoon

below: Mortus figure – his hands are almost big enough to hold all those skulls.

below: On the pavement

below: FP Monkey (aka Julia H), Skamoney, Monster Fan Club, and PP Spray

below: Poser bunny

below: Making a rap music video

below: The east end of Graffiti Alley, the part closest to Spadina, was very dark.

below: As it turns out, the buildings at this end (north side) are now behind a metal construction fence. Darkness equals empty I suspect.

below: Yes they matter but was there no where else to paint this? There’s so much junk in the alley that no one would miss.

below: I am going to end this post with a bit of a rant. Yes, to some extent the art in this alley has come somewhat commercialized especially with the newer buildings on Richmond that back onto the alley. Uber5000 has benefited from some of this as he has painted a few large (and very good) murals here. Also, I understand that street art by its nature is prone to “disappearing” behind the work of others but I reject the notion that one person’s tag is as good as another person’s mural. Anyone can destroy. Anyone can paint their “name” but if you are proud of writing it over someone else’s more talented work then you haven’t progressed beyond the preschooler phase of life.

Photos taken October 2023

This post also appears in mcfcrandall.blog

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.

Tag Archives: mural

Nettuno over Taranto

Swan maiden

Along the Riverbank

riding together in a ’55 convertible

child of the East Village

the workmen and the black birds

along rue Oberkampf

A stranger in town

the colourful ox

In the alley after dark