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“.

Treeftsteeg

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Mary C

There are a number of lanes and passageways that connect the canals/roads Singel and Herengracht in central Amsterdam. One of the narrowest of them is Treeftsteeg.

below: Entrance to the alley, from Herengracht.

Various messages and symbols of peace – “I Love Kherson”, a girl waving a large Ukranian flag, “Love no War” (Love not war?), a white dove with wings of blue and gold, “Love makes a house a home”. In addition (under the word Kherson) there is a portrait of George Yurri Shevelov (1908-2002). His CV is long but in general he is most known for his research proving that the Ukrainian language has a separate history from Russian.

below: The portrait of the man in the top left corner is of Taras Shevchenko (1814 – 1861), a famous Ukrainian poet. Moving right, the woman at the top with the orange background is the former Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix. Third from the left is Ukrainian writer and feminist Lesya Ukrainka whose work spanned the late 1800s and early 1900s. On the right side there is an image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy although it is not the clearest picture.

anti war, pro Ukraine graffiti in an alley

below: Commemorating the sinking of the Moskva, a Russian ship in the Black Sea near the beginning of the war.

below: arrow showing the way to Kharkiv

below: caricatures

below: The narrowness of Treeftsteeg. Along with the pro-Ukraine messages, there are a few black and white portraits.

bicycles parked and leaning against walls in a very narrow alley

below: These portraits are part of “A Paper Monument to the Paperless” is an ongoing project headed by Dutch artist Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries.

portraits, posters on an alley wall, part of A Paper Monument to the Paperless, a project by Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries

crossing the Williamsburg Bridge

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Mary C

between Manhattan and Williamsburg, over the East River

crossing the Williamsburg bridge, with pinkish red metal railings and girders, pedestrian walkway is beside and slightly above road and subway lines.

A little yellow dinosaur trying to look fierce as he growls at your feet.

I’m happy you’re here, keep going!

I crave you

Shy white cat says meow

Homesick and Lucky Star writ large on a grey wall. The American flag image below them is made using painted car doors.

view from williamsburg bridge, buildings, one with graffiti street art on it

It’s just love in a rainbow of colours.

… and love is gold

Pacman wears a gold crown, king of the streets

Looking down at Williamsburg streets including a mural with two faces and two flowers.

Blackface pink walker

Reaching out in peace and love

Stencil by go4tart aka GOAT, rat on a scooter; a rat loves NYC

Seek Discomfort

Sold out art show yellow face with three pairs of eyes.

I wonder what Jane’s reaction was?

….. Maybe this is Jane ?!

on the railing – mask? and master?

Kiss me

More words on love

… but in the end, the virus gets you.

Photos taken August 2023

The End

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Mary C

of endangered animals in Paris – animal portraits by a nameless stencil artist (pochoiriste) who signs his work The End

below: Orang-outan (orangutan) vs bulldozer.

below: Colourful bird, La calliste multicolore or in English, Multicolored tanager. It lives in the the mountains of Colombia.

coloured stencil street art portrait of an animal, a bird, the multicoloured tanager from Colombia, by The End

below: Lynx

coloured stencil street art portrait of an animal, boreal lynx

below: Rhino and jockey in a piece titled “Race of Life”

coloured stencil street art portrait of an animal, a rhino or rhinocerous, with a jockey riding on its back

below: Bengal tiger

coloured stencil street art portrait of an animal, bengal tiger

below: A closer look at the tiger

coloured stencil street art portrait of an animal, close up look at the tiger's face

below: Panda

coloured stencil street art portrait of an animal, black and white panda

below: Bald eagle

coloured stencil street art portrait of an animal, bald eagle in flight, carrying a package in its beak

below: Lion

Escalinata Juana de Oro, Cuenca Ecuador

Posted on March 27, 2022 by Mary C

blog_weird_face_drawing
graffiti and street art along the wall of an outdoor staircase in Cuenca Ecuador

below: Cefiro pasteup. Cheer up!

below: The walls along the stairway were painted with a mural (2015 or before?) with a series of characters or pictures connected by pipes and branches.

graffiti beside the stairs, a tap on white pipes, a blue cat

below: Since then, many pieces of graffiti have been added to the wall including these two ink drawn paper pasteups.

2 pasteups on a wall, a purple triangle with a black and white drawing in the middle, and on the left, a drawing of a face

street art mural on a wall beside stairs, partially covered by pasteups and other graffiti

part of a mural

below: Ears that look like those of a certain famous mouse. … el medio ambiente y qu…. but just out of reach of a wide open mouth

paper pasteup over a mural. Pencil drawing of a Mickey Mouse type character

below: Pencil marks on paste-ups. Cual prefieres tu?

paper pasteup graffiti some drawn with pencil, figures and faces with words

below: A handful of feathers beside blue bubbles. A small paste-up of a cute little dog beside a not so cute creature in black and white, Juanito La Guerra.

part of a Cuenca mural, white background, bubbles coming out of a blue pipe

part of a street art mural beside stairs in Cuenca Ecuador, a large white faced clown with red lips is banging on a drum

below: I don’t think that chicken’s very happy… and is it best to eat the accordion?

below: Faces gathered around the windows

below: Fish in the pipes, running shoes, birds, and a black cat. And what is that little guy all dressed in black really up to?

blog_fish_pipes_birds staircase called Escalinata Juana de Oro in Cuenca Ecuador with graffiti and street art covering the walls

Nahual, Mexican graffiti artist – “nante de ojos abiertos reforestacion crece en las paredes” is approximately the same as: [nante] wide-eyed reforestation grows on the walls

below: Blues. Breathing life into the world.

blue street art beside stairs, leaves, a face rising out of the leaves and blowing swirls of blue air

Photos taken January 2018

other Artist Lane murals and graffiti, Windsor, 2018

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Mary C

Artist Lane runs parallel to Chapel Street between Green and Union streets, just north of Windsor railway station. Most of the lane is covered with street art of some sort.

street art painting of a man's head, a woman's head and a bird's head, all above a text piece

street art painting in Artist Lane of a man with two merged heads. He has one set of hair, four eyes, two noses, one mouth. below: Four hairy dudes by AEON aka Tom Gerrard
stencils of four people's heads with bright orange hair

Artist Lane, Windsor, Melbourne with street art on garages and walls

street art in Artist Lane, two faces, one man in orange hat, also a fish

a blue mural at the end of Artist Lane, a blue creature

below: “I ain’t afraid of no ghost”, says the cat the skull and the devil.

black drawings on white of a cat head, and a skull. cat has word balloon that says I am not afraid of ghosts

graffiti of a cat in egyptian goddess outfit
below: Fresh presto phats diva!
a text abstract street art with the words fresh presto phats written in the top corner

section of a large series of murals along Artist Lane

below: A tropical scene by Skr3am (aka Skream III)

a mural by skr3am of a tropical beach sunset with palm trees

mural of a dog's head in blue with a large nose

Artist Lane, Windsor, Melbourne with street art on garages and walls
realistic street art painting of a man's portrait in grey tones, black and white

street art, a cartoon painting man with a hat with rabbit ears, he is eating a carrot

mural thati includes a large spray paint can with arms, legs, a mouth and a very big red tongue

a paper paste up of a brass faucet that is peeling away, on a pole in Artist Lane

an eye ball in the middle of a palm of a hand, graffiti

street art in an alcove, up under air conditioning units and plumbing, looks like a sea creature with a big mouth and teeth

Let Lebanon Live

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Mary C

… Before I Die

Back in late October and early November 2019, one of the walls surrounding the Beiruti ESCWA (a United Nations building, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia) building was transformed with graffiti and street art into a “Revolution Wall”. It coincided with protests against bad governance, corruption and social injustice in Lebanon. The Art of Change movement was involved in painting the wall… along with many Lebanese artist. This is only one of such walls.

below: Caricatures of Lebanese officials along with two posters. The one on the far left is by sumerziady

below: A mouse wearing a hard hat and brandishing a sword.

below: A wonderful black and rust coloured bird, by RenoZ, It doesn’t seem fazed by the mouse with the sword.

below: A monkey-faced man by Zein, a clenched fist rising out of the ground, and two green fighters in a no entry zone (or is it the Lebanese flag?).

below: Freedom, loud and clear.

below: Another Renoz painting, a skull on a chair from which a red rose is rising.

below: The man in the megaphone is signed Dewdle, the mark of Ali Kadado, a Lebanese artist. Resist.

below: I am now feeling that my lack of Arabic means that I am missing a lot of what these mean. For instance, the purple guy by Weesdom is saying something but I don’t know what. I also suspect that the words written on the tap over the young man’s mouth are important, perhaps “Revolution even if you try to silence us”? (artwork by Roula Abdo). The last one is in English but now some knowledge of Lebanese politics would be helpful – a phone screenshot by phat2tg (ot the tg posse)

below: Stencil by markghsoub aka Markus – a larger than life man standing in a shallow boat.

below: Title section, “Revolution Wall” featuring a clown with dollar signs flashing in his eyes by Ivan Debs.

below: Caricature mugshots. Lebanese government officials as Jokers as they go off to jail.

below: Another markghsoub stencil

below: Dancing while the bombs fall by Zein.

below: Giving the peace sign, a man in a red and white shirt by fasewho aka Oliver Matar (He also painted the large word ‘Freedom’ a few pictures back). The head with all the people as hair is another painting by Roula Abdo.

below: A bunch of balloons, most in the colours of the Lebanese flag by ilatk aka Ilat Knayzeh on one side, and on the right is a woman stenciled on top of a circular pattern by ZaFeelz aka Zayna Ayyad

below: Among the profanity, two calligraphy pieces by Ghaleb Hawila

below: An intricate and detailed black and white drawing by @rasharahal

below: A closer look at the top part

There is an Instagram page devoted to collecting the 2019 Lebanese Art of Revolution, or Art of Thawra. Check it out if you are interested seeing more of this type of art.

little things in Amman

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Mary C

As I walked around Amman, I saw a few small pieces of graffiti and street art.

below: A metal box with half a face on the left and Arabic writing on the right side.

metal box on street painted, dark blue background, left half is half a face while right side is Arabic letters in yellow

below: We claim the sea

stencil on a wall, black letters that say we claim the sea

below: Keeping an eye on the stairs.

realistic painting of an eye on a wall between two windows on a set of stairs

below: A very small fellow walking with his hat

a little black stick figure person painted on a stone wall

below: A beetle climbing a wall

a black beetle graffiti on a yellow wall graffiti on a wall on a wall beside a driveway, a blue and white graffiti

below: She flies by her own wings. she flies by her own wings, written words painted on a wall, graffiti

below: My wishness marshamello (marshmallow?)

my wishness love marshmallow, words wirtten on a wall, graffiti

below: Blue beard and long hair.

a blue graffiti painting on a wall, down low near the ground, of a man with beard and long hair.

four Batmans and an old man’s bird

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Mary C

Close to the intersection of Dhirar Bin Al-Azwar street and Moh’d Al-Shurayqi street are two pieces of street art. They have nothing in common except their proximity to each other.

First is a bright mural called “Odin” by Suhaib Attar of a bird on top of an old man’s head. The feathers on the bird meld into the hair of the man’s beard and moustache. Is the bird dead or alive?

mural by Suhaib Attar of a bird with grey and black wing feathers, on red circle background

Odin is the bearded one-eyed Norse god of is the god of wisdom, poetry, death, divination, and magic. He was often accompanied by two wolves and two ravens.

close up of head of bird in mural by Suhaib Attar in grey tones on red background

The other wall features a more modern character, Batman.

on a wall, 4 stencils of Batman, two have him dancing and two have him playing castonettes

Batman stencil, with mustache, upper body

Someone has written “quarter life crisis” on the wall. I suspect that it has nothing to do with Batman but I rather like the juxtaposition.

Batman stencils on a wall along with words that someone has written, quarterly life crisis

2 green street signs at an intersection in Amman Jordan along with a red and white do not enter sign

Cafe Cinema Courtyard, Berlin

Posted on October 14, 2018 by Mary C

The Cafe Cinema Courtyard starts as a small alley beside the Cafe Cinema off Rosenthaler Strasse close to the Hackescher Market. It is almost completely covered with street art of all kinds – painted murals, stickers, paste ups and more.

painted sign for cafe cinema, bear with a gold hat holding a red flag with a white star on it

Cafe cinema courtyard in Berlin, one wall is covered with stencils, pasteups, stickers, and small street art, people walking past looking at it and taking picture of it

two windows on a wall, cafe tables in front of the wall, graffiti on the walls around the windows

red bird graffiti, green with man's face, brick wall

below: “It’s time to dance”, one of many large paste-ups by SOBR

large black and white paper paste up of a woman

grey paper paste up of a bald man in seated position, drinking from a red and white coke can, lots of other graffiti around him including a large hand holding a cigarette

below: The same hedgehog that I saw in Tallinn…. the work of Edward von Longus

small stencil of a hedgehog with an open laptop

below: Flower Power, straight from the 1960’s, by Joiny

magenta VW microbus with flowers on it as well as words love and peace

below: Lisanne, Dagmar and Donna were here as were Berlyn and Yasmyn. Russian matryoshka dolls and Fabrege eggs watch the boxing match between facebooks and instagram. The Russian themed stencil is the work of ost.up.berlin

stencil of Russian babushka doll with two fabrege eggs beside it.

street art, octopus smoking a cigarette

street art, yellow leopard with black spots and blue eyes, mouth open and teeth showing, paw, clown pasteup with red nose

mural of man, large, in grey suit and shirt and tie, from chest up, short dark hair, blue eyes

below: Ann Franke by Jimmy C (aka James Cochrane)

large mural of ann frank, head

large mural of a monkey holding a camera and grinning

below: by Garavato, a Colombian street artist, painted in 2016

yellow, orange and blue mural of a bird and very large claw reaching for that bird

below: A yellow creature by Peng. In the background is a circle with a silhouette of Charlie Brown and Snoopy sitting on the roof of the dog house, by Osch aka Otto Schade.

bike parked in front of a mural of a yellow human like creature with knees tucked up, people in the background looking at the street art