Kiefernstrasse houses

Posted on March 18, 2026 by Mary C

Kiefernstrasse translates to Pine tree street… it is a street in Dusseldorf that has history. It is lined with apartment blocks that started life as homes for workers in the local factories steel works in the late 1800s. Some were damaged during the war. In the mid 1900s they became home to squatters and other “left wing” groups. Now many of them have been fixed up and/or covered with large colourful murals.

row of buildings, 4 storeys, all covered with different colourful murals, kiefernstrasse (pine tree street) in Dusseldorf Germany

below: He’s hiding behind a tree now – a mural that M05K and Johanna OLGA painted in 2013

upper part of mural, behind a tree, person in blue head scarf, holding something yellow and large,

below: Bare feet on long skinny legs stick out of pink pants.

below: At street level, groups of strange characters in black outfits are standing around. Except for the little one, they are all wearing hats shaped like pyramids.

part of larger mural, three smaller creatures standing at street level, black outfits with just face showing, and pyramidal shaped hats, one hat is yellow and the other is pink. one of the characters is much shorter than the others and he has no hat

green rat with large pink eras painted on concrete, beside bare foot that is part of a larger mural, rat partially behind a real garbage bin

below: There are quite a few signs that help tell the story of Kiefernstrasse. The headline on the poster below is ” 1992 Wandbilder sind lebendige Kunstwerke” (= Murals are living works of art) and the article talks about 1992 and how it was the year that Klaus Klinger, Daniel Pulido, and a group of youths painted “Everything’s Bananas” at number 37. This was the first mural on the street; it no longer exists.

framed picture of an article about the history of Kiefernstrasse, 1992, the year the first mural was painted here

apartment blocks covered in murals, kiefernstraase

residential building on kiefernstrasse covered with street art that looks like a large red honeycomb

below: Daniel MacLloyd painted this large blue bird.

below: This gable is covered by a marine scene – including turtles swimming in the water – was painted by Ami One

gable mural by Ami One in Dusseldorf, marine scene including turtles swimming in the water

below: Bright orange faces!

below: The Dusseldorf monkey is also here.

yellow monkey crouching beside a mural with orange people

below: And again!

graffiti on a red wall - yellow stencil of a monkey holding a paint brush with his tail and a bucket in his hands, beside a paste up that says evolution in the same font as used by coca cola

below: A bright red door, surrounded by….

Kiefernstrasse houses, street level, leaves falling on wet sidewalk, one door entrance is bright red, walls have red dragon with gold clouds,

below: … a long red dragon winding its way through golden clouds.

below: Käferhouse, or Beetle House, by Till Martin Köster and Christian Bolte, 2008. Insects galore! beetles, ants, roaches, bedbugs…. including some with human faces on their backs.

4 storey residential building covered in paintings of insects, beetles, ants, and others both real and imaginary crawling around between the windows, mural in Dusseldorf, some insects have human faces

4 storey residential building covered in paintings of insects, cockroaches, beetles, ants, and others both real and imaginary, mural in Dusseldorf, some insects have human faces

below: One of the many interesting smaller artworks found among the larger murals is this pair of kids in the playground riding their elephants and playing at war, or protest, or being social justice warriors… your choice. Google wants me to believe that it is a Banksy but I am not falling for it.

small graffiti, realistic (i.e. photo) image of two kids on springy elephants in a playground, one has balaclava and happy face flag, the other is wearing a metal helmet

below: Another social commentary artwork. This time a girl has plenty to eat (and takes a picture of it) while the person beside her goes without.

below: A white unicorn with laser vision – the little white sign painted into the mural says “Laser Rainbow Unicorn & Robocat Rider”. Apparently cats riding unicorns in space is not an unusual theme. The other little sign says “Kevin Gucci” – is that the artist?

part of a mural on kiefernstrasse, white unicorn with laser eyes, and two cats, one sitting in the corner, and one with robot mechanical leg and carrying a flaming sword

below: Strange things are happening on the balcony! There’s even a sheep…. but wait, that’s not a real balcony, instead the artist has employed what is known as “trompe-l’œil style” – it’s painted to look like a wooden balcony structure.

mural in "trompe-l'œil style" - it's painted to look like a wooden balcony structure.

below: At street level, under the balcony seen above, is an alcove for a garage entrance – but it seems like a green police van is parked there already! I wonder what the gnome mechanics are up to!

mural of 2 gnomes in red caps and blue tops, working on a green police van. one gnome is holding a wrench,

some of the painted houses in kiefernstrasse dusseldorf

small yellow and brown painted animal on a balcony, beside a wall painted in rainbow colors with an image of the planet earth

below: 2007’s addition to the street was a (mostly) monochrome mural that is part puzzle pieces and part little figures. Ben Mathis was responsible for creating the ‘grid’, while MaJo Brothers painted the figures such as this robot holding a cracked egg. Was it dropped? Or is it hatching? 2007.

monochrome mural that is part puzzle pieces and part little figures. Ben Mathis was responsible for creating the 'grid', while MaJo Brothers painted the figures such as this robot holding a cracked egg

large image of the urban art mural, monochrome mural that is part puzzle pieces and part little figures. Ben Mathis was responsible for creating the 'grid', while MaJo Brothers painted the figures such as this robot holding a cracked egg

below: Splotches of blue

below: The characters (animals) in this mural are Marsupilami. They first appeared in the Belgian comic book “Spirou” in 1952 in a story below: The characters (animals) in this mural are Marsupilami. They first appeared in the Belgian comic book “Spirou” in 1952 in a story written by André Franquin. In the story, a man delivers a mysterious package from South America and as it turns out, the package contains a baby Marsupilami. Franquin continued writing about their adventures until the 1970s. In the 1980s the characters were re-invented and found themselves in TV episodes and video games.

marsupilami painting on a green door, a yellow animal with black spots

below: The next two paintings flank a doorway, one on either side – an equestrian statue (i.e. a man on a horse) and a woman from time gone by but with anachronistic cans of spray paint in her hands.

mural of a man on a horse, equestrian statue — This image shows another of the articles documenting the history of the area. This one describes an event in 1919 where a train was robbed outside Dusseldorf by a gang of about 30 men, led by “A communist from Kiefernstrasse” known as Steil. He was subsequently shot by the police and died from his wounds.

mural of a woman in medieval clothing, but with a can of spray paint in each hand

below: Stencil, boy with a large helmet – ready to be an astronaut. Once upon a time there were a few more details visible in the helmet. This ‘Space Travel’ was made by Seileise aka Tim Ossege.

below: Everyone’s painting these days!

a framed poster describing part of the history of kiefernstrasse beside graffiti stencil of a young girl wearing a covid mask, with a large paint brush in her hand — Another poster tells the story of the first Streetfest here in 1982 where the greengrocer’s shop was turned into a cafe with a borrowed sound system.

part of larger mural, person with a red hat and a pacifier in his or her mouth

below: It almost looks like a giant crossword puzzle.

below: Neptune swims upside down

below:The Reds are reaching out, wanting to run? looking for something?

below: He doesn’t look very happy.

below: Jesus carries a goat

old railway car sits beside sidewalk, covered with street art including an image of Jesus carrying a goat

below: On an upper wall, a golden Buddha sits and meditates.

Buddha in seated meditation pose, gold, mural on wall in kiefernstraase

below: “Love will tear us apart” more than once.

little pieces of graffiti on a wall beside a large mural with orange faces, two stickers that say love will tear us apart,

below: Together in one place, four little pieces by JoinyStreetArt (round white face), sm111le, Karl Heinz Swaggert (hairy fellow on the left), and Metraeda (pink cat). If you have been following this blog, you will probably recognize some of the names and their corresponding styles.

black wall, graffiti, 4 small pieces, by JoinyStreetArt (round white face), sm111le (smiling radish), Karl Heinz Swaggert (hairy fellow on the left), and Metraeda (pink cat)

below: Bad Goat, with a strand of green vine and a third eye

bad goat graffiti, a white goat head with black horns and three eyes, graffiti

below: “Nothing else matters” actually refers to a football club.

Photos taken October 2025

Shalom Habibi, and other things seen in Nippes

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Mary C

Nippes is a neighbourhood in Cologne Germany.

below: Nippes has it’s own mural complete with city skyline on a red background – painted by Robin Von Gestern.

cars parked in front of a mural painted on a metal garage door, red background, the word nippes in calligraphy in blue and yellow by Robin Von Gestern

below: These little Kölner Heinzelmännchen can be seen on the side of a residential building. These helpful gnomes appear in German legends and folklore; they are rarely seen because they do their work at night and in secret.

little gnomes in pointy red caps in a mural

Goodlack Art has painted them falling down the stairs – Ooops, not so quiet tonight!

below: As part of Cologne’s City Leaks street art festival, this mural was painted by Danjer Mola.

large mural in Nippes Cologne, by Danjer Mola, of a female astronaut with either bare legs or brown skin tight leggings

below: This mural is Okik Momoe’s little bird on a branch… in a fishbowl?

mural by artist Okik Momoe of a little bird on a branch.

below: Preparing to paint a new mural by a community garden.

artist with ladder preparing a wall for mural painting, lines drawn on wall, a painting of a bird already exists beside the spot

below: Immediately above the new painting (above) is a large mural depicting daily life in years gone by.

part of a larger mural depicting daily life in the previous century, in Wilhelmplatz in Nippes

below: In fact, there is a matching mural on the other side of the garden lot.

white chair sits in front of a colourful mural, street art, outdoors,

below: Another gable mural, this one by Sat One.

below: A closer look at part of the mural

A closer look at part of mural by Sat One on a gable in Nippes Cologne

below: This cow, painted by The Kuhl Kid, is a common sight around Cologne. Here it is behind a fence

urban art on a brick wall, behind chainlink fence, one is a black and white cow by the kuhl kid

below: Even though most of the cow is missing, it is still recognizable as being the same as the one above. A little red heart glued into a jar lid seems perfectly placed between the cow’s ears.

remains of face of cow, with red heart in jar lid above its head, and a torn red poster over one eye

below: Cars, pipes, and other accessories on a brick wall

below: Cars and flames. Why are flames so often associated with fast cars?

mural of a car crashing through the wall of a building

mural with calligraphy and text — “Wo immer ich bin
vernehme ich deine stimme ihr sinn
Schwingt durch raum + zeit
in sussem einklang
Verbringen wir jede stunde”.
Translation: Wherever I am, I hear your voice, it’s meaning, it resonates through space and time In sweet harmony we spend every hour.

below: Joiny

paper paste up by Joiny of a woman saying Alaaf You, wearing a dress wth green and yellow flowers on it, peace sign nacklace

below: It’s now a little red and blue abstract painting.

below: A much more complex image than the one above, mechanical yet anatomical. Obviously a face but obviously not a living person.

graffiti, of a face but with mechanical or robotic parts

below: Remnants of a 2010 painting on a long low concrete fence.

concrete fence, low, with metal bars above, autumn leaves, old painting from 2010 on the concrete, red background,

below: Tags on the other side of the fence.

construction of new buildings behind a vacant lot, some graffiti tags on the wall

below: Two faced jester? Or two, back to back?

small painting on metal box cover, column or pillar with two jesters' heads on the top, back to back, graffiti

below: Graffiti stickers on metal poles.

Three graffiti stickers on metal poles, all three are monochromatic black and white

below: More graffiti sticker on a pole. Is that a lobster? or a monstrous creature?

sticker on a pole that seems to say dey hummey des schrecken but that doesn't translate into english

below: Owl on a box

Photos taken October 2025

Rankins Lane (Melbourne)

Posted on January 20, 2026 by Mary C

below: Time for coffee, time for shooting. ….

graffiti in Rankins Lane, Melbourne, paste ups of three little men saying hey, it's coffee time, also a very blue shadowy character with a gun in each hand and a long robe and hood that covers his face

below: ET

graffiti in Rankins Lane, Melbourne, paste ups and stencils, globe parachute on an iguana, ET in a black robe and framed with flowers, words that say your dreams will come true if you keep wishing, and last, a big black question mark,

below: King of Clowder’s double headed woman stencil

below: Paper paste-up behind a plant – it’s a large espresso maker repurposed as a planter.

below: Rabbit and Cat, BFF

below: Happy Day

below: Words of advice – “Don’t trade your authenticity for approval.

below: Part of a large tropical mural by Deb with birds – parrots and flamingos – and a big pink royal looking cat.

mural by Deb in Rankins Lane, very pink, women, toucan, and flamingos, tropical plants

below: The other part of the Deb mural.

mural by Deb, a vulture and a plate of cupcakes

below: Recess time with scissors and combs.

below: Crab and beetle.

below: More pink. Mama Cat? With many kittens?

below: Clownish?

below: Gas mask and coveralls

Photos taken March 2025

the smaller stuff too

Posted on January 16, 2026 by Mary C

…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.

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.

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.

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

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

below: In her face – another stikman

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

below: Party line? Four hands phone.

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

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

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.

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.

below: “Save me”!

below: It looks like catchoo has been busy.

below: More of that wall.

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

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.

below: There are those women again!

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

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

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.

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

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)

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

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.

below: Juice box time. By Clem Crevetz

Photos taken January 2026

Hochstadenring

Posted on December 12, 2025 by Mary C

… is a street in Bonn that ends in a dead end (for traffic). There are buildings only on one side of the street because the other side is a concrete wall that helps support Guido-Westerwelle-Brucke as it rises to form a bridge over the railway tracks.

below: Little long-nosed knee pads for someone with big feet.

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany - lower part of a mural, big feet with white socks and laced shoes, yellow knee pads that look like faces with long noses. Urban art by Falko.

below: Cheap Art (& Factorie 45) are located here. Also, there is body (of sorts) above those big feet. “Legs Alien” was painted by Falko.

below: Books coming together to form a bridge – this is “World Construction” by Anthony Dipaola and Adolfo Torrico. There are 17 books in the stack and each one represents a Sustainability Goal such as No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Gender Equality, and Affordable Energy, etc. It is painted on the side of Kult 41 cultural center (and beside Bonn’s Central Mosque).

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany, mural by Marie Hesse, blue tropical birds surrounded by lots of greenery and trees

below: This mural by Marie Hesse is a recent addition to the neighbourhood. It is a tribute to Expressionist painter August Macke (1887-1914) and is her interpretation of a Macke painting “Mädchen mit Blauen Vogeln (Girl with Blue Bird) (the museum, August Macke Haus is nearby).

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany, mural by Marie Hesse, blue tropical birds surrounded by lots of greenery and trees, on a street with lots of red and white construction barricades

below: Big brown eyes, with a tack in the bottom corner of one.

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany, large pink face of a brown eyed man, lower part s covered with orange and yellow paint

below: Smile!

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany, with the word smile beside it

below: Another Smile! This one looks like weather – there’s lightning, and raindrops, and clouds.

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany, another smile face

below: I almost missed it – This Petit Astronaute by Seileise (aka Tim Ossege) was hiding behind some very heavy pieces of metal.

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany, black and white stencil of an astronaut and three chickadees by Sieleise

below: Because I was trying to balance the metal pieces while holding my camera, the photo is not at the best angle.

below: Purple lines, like purple crayon drawings.

below: Mahala

below: A big toothy grin, popsicle by NanE

below: The south end of Hochstadenring – vacant lot on one side, concrete wall on the other.

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany

below: Turn around, and look back where you came from.

below: An alien life form and lots of scribbles.

below: From the end of Hochstadenring you can see the next street over, Heerstrasse, and two faded older mural dating from 2015.

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany, two large murals painted in 2015

below: A closer look at the one on the left shows this scene

below: There was a flowing grid of different colours on the mural on the right but most of it has been covered with tags.

below: Street art of a slightly different sort – the next two photos are large whimsical sculptures that were probably made from found objects. They add some fun to the courtyard of Kult 41.

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany, sculpture of a big mouthed fish made from found objects

below: It would mooooo if it could……

street art on Hochstadenring in Bonn Germany, sculpture of a cow made from found objects

street art in Bonn Germany, on the wall under a bridge

Photos taken 31 October 2025

Higson Lane, downtown Melbourne

Posted on December 12, 2025 by Mary C

….Yet another lane in the Central Business District in Melbourne that has street art on its walls.

below: Two bald men, two pink robots.

street art urban art in Higson Lane, two bald men's heads with two square pink robot heads

below: Two different men. On the right, Julian Assange, of WikiLeaks fame, is painted on a roller door. On the left is a portrait of a different man, Ethan Joker, by Lushsux.

muralsin an alley, On the right, Julian Assange, of WikiLeaks fame, is painted on a roller door. On the left is a portrait of a different man, Ethan Joker, by Lushsux

below: Bob Marley

Black and white stencil graffiti of Bob Marley, with cursive text of some of his lyrics "You say you love rain But you use an umbrella to walk under it. You say you love sun But you seek shelter when it is shining. You say you love wind But when it comes you close your windows. That's why I'm scared when you say you love me." — “You say you love rain But you use an umbrella to walk under it. You say you love sun But you seek shelter when it is shining. You say you love wind But when it comes you close your windows. That’s why I’m scared when you say you love me.”

below: A mix of different paste-ups and stencils including an astronaut’s proclamation that “We are the Chosen Few” and a UFO with an enormous brain.

below: A closer look at “We are the Chosen Few”

paper paste up in alley, We are the chosen few, UFO with a very big brain in the dome of the top

below: Catwoman on the run with a blue bag from DeliveryBunny.

below: Bad Habits – Riots not diets!

sticker graffiti, with text bad habits, plus cursive writing riots not diets

below: The Breaking Bad LEGO guys are in Higson Lane too. There is also a little Robbo-T guy with crossed wrenches – a skull and crossbones motif!

below: More little stickers and paste-ups.

below: She has funny ears, perhaps elfin ears.

below: “Classic” graffiti

graffiti that looks like ancient greek or roman art, people in togas, man with laurel wreath

below: One end of Higson Lane

Higson Lane in downtown Melbourne, with urban art

below: Chimp One painted this portrait

below: Painting in shades of pink by Louis Moore

painting of a man, street art mural, in pink hues, by Louis Moore

below: Cute penguins and a big fuzzy penguin, by Lukas Kasper

Cute penguins and a big brown fuzzy penguin, a mural by Lukas Kasper

below: On the left, another Lukas Kasper painting – this time a lizard. On the right, a brilliantly coloured falcon’s head by Silly Sully

2 street art murals, On the left, a Lukas Kasper painting of a lizard. On the right, a brilliantly coloured falcon's head by Silly Sully

below: Melbourne Moments

below: Revolution on the Television Head, or something like that. A women’s revolution? It’s the work of Salvo, aka Matthew Domenic Salvo.

below: “It’s okay to change your mind” written on orange beside a Tinkerstrumpf paste-up of a young woman and her guns. She has appeared in London and Cologne as well here in Melbourne.

below: On the right, a sort of portrait of a woman, or at least the skull of one.. with sunglasses.. and then overlaid with yellow, orange, and red stripes (by v-Is_4_vasso) The one in the middle is either a restaurant menu or an artwork meant to look like a menu – whichever the case, she has a red octopus on her head. Last, the very pink face on the left looks a lot like Princess Leia.

3 paper paste ups graffiti pieces, one is red, orange and yellow portrait of a long haired skull with sunglasses on by v is 4 vasso.

below: Ronald McDonald is saving a seat for you.

graffiti, ronald mcdonald sitting on a wood bench

below: Robbo-T has ripped his heart out but the two young ladies haven’t noticed.

paste up graffiti, one is Robbo-T sitting on ground with his heart in his hand, the other is two young women, one dress in black boots and black outfit, the other is wearing nothing, Sitting with their knees bent in front of them.

below: Black and white photos of somewhere in Melbourne.

below: XUF with Wednesday Addams about to spray.

below: Cax One created it, but what an ugly face!

below: It’s a beautiful day to respect other people’s pronouns. It also seems to be a good day for dancing.

below: Little fish swimming on the concrete – like a fish out of water

small three D fish graffiti on a wall, beside a painted yellow heart with happy face on it

below: Born in the spotlight, under surveillance from the beginning. POW! Or Prisoners of War?

stencil street art of a surveillance camera by a bird's nest, also 3 D red letters spelling POW

Photos taken February 2025

Dusseldorf, big and small

Posted on November 20, 2025 by Mary C

… a few things seen as I walked around Dusseldorf on a rainy day.

below: At the train station – not really street art? But it’s a colourful addition to a grey platform.

below: One of the original pieces of street art in Dusseldorf is this large yellow Monkey that appears to be painted by a group of smaller monkeys. It was painted in 1969 by the Majo Brothers. The title is, appropriately “Affe” which is German for monkey. You could probably call it Der Gelbe Affe, or the Yellow Monkey.

below: Joseph Beuys is memorialized in this large portrait – he was a native of Dusseldorf who was influential in the development of the city from the 1960s until his death in 1986. One of his famous phrases is, “Everyone is an artist”.

below: Complex and largely symmetrical in shades of pink and purple is one way to describe this mural by HowNosm (or How & Nosm), a partnership between brothers Raoul and Davide Perre.

below: This is a large-scale, monochrome mural realistically depicting a person’s feet as they stand. They are wearing old boots (or shoes) and you can also see the bottom of their pant legs in the image. The artist was Hendrik Beikirch (aka ECB).

below: “Meat is Murder” he says as he holds out a sausage.

rough street art painting in Dusseldorf Germany, green male figure holding a sausage in one hand, text on painting says meat is murder

below: “No more wore” written on the Ukrainian flag.

below: Floral dog on a black and white slap, image by Christin Wenga.

below: Sad face with a blotch of yellow on his forehead.

below: “Nix Gelernt?” Nothing Learned?

below: In the center, raising the flag but it has been altered from the original photograph of the American the flag being raised at Iwo Jima on 23 Feb 1945 to an Anarchist flag. In the bottom corner is a small League of Legends sticker

below: His burning inside produces enough hot air to keep him afloat. There is a word written on his T-shirt which might give some clue as to the artist who created this large paste-up but I haven’t been able to find any answers online.

below: The thirteen of hearts and a pinwheel of robotic arms.

below: mmm

below: A bright green potted barrel cactus “growing” on a concrete wall.

below: Another dusseldorf monkey, not so big this time.

below: A lot of advice packed into a small space. “Don’t Panic”, “Be Big”, as well as “Never ever on a first date”.

below: Red head.

below: Framed twice.

old brick building with boarded up windows, windows used as frames for 2 paper paste up wheatpaste graffiti pieces, on left is cartoon character in blue, on the right is bald headed person with garland of flowers around head, head only, no body

below: For aspiring photographers – here is one way to display your work. Do you think that is effective? Worth the effort?

many coloured photos mounted on large white sheets of paper or bristol board, and then mounted on plywood, displayed outside

below: I’m not sure who it is, but they have very big black and blue lace-up shoes.

below: “Love will tear us apart”

Photos taken November 2025

barber shop wheatpaste

Posted on November 10, 2025 by Mary C

below: In the Belgian Quarter of Cologne, where the streets are named after Belgian cities, there is a barber shop (and hair salon) where the exterior wall is covered with paper.

below: Blue hair, purple hair, and a fat yellow bumble bee.

below: These are Angry Amily drawings on brown paper

angry amily long haired young girl with green hat, beside brown teddy bear character, another fat yellow bumble bee

below: Another section of the wall – The portrait, lower left, is probably about Sophie Scholl and the white rose movement. Scholl (1921-1943) was a German student who was active in the White Rose Movement, an anti-Nazi organization at the time of Hitler’s rule. She was executed on 22 Feb 1943.

below: Evyrein’s Elon Musk/Mask is in the middle. Notice the little Hitler mustache. Also, the placement of Elon’s body over the stiletto heels is marvelous! To the right of Elon is a little pink octopus hanging onto a red heart by 8arms2hug, a maker of octopus-themed street art.

below: Cats and rappers. Garfield is on his phone while under a three-eyed cat. The three men are Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell of the hip hop group RUN-DMC. The group was formed in 1983.

below: The images of people on cans of spray paint is the work of The Postman. Much of his art focuses on celebrities, many of whom, such as Grace Jones and Sid Vicious pictured here, have appeared on these spray paint cans. Tweet cat (now sporting a German fedora) sneaks into the photo too.

below: Many little things can be seen up near the top of the wall.

below: “The tide is high; my love is low” by Behind Green Eyes, is reminiscent of lyrics from song by Blondie, “The tide is high but I’m holdin’ on, I’m gonna be your number one.”

spam is the signature on blue graffiti, text graffiti by behind green eyes that says The tide is high my love is low but I'm hoping on, other text graffiti that says try before you die.

below: A series of cartoonish characters in various colours form a column beside a window. Lots of merde there too but I am not sure if that is part of the original drawings or if they were added after.

below: A large blue cat by Metraeda prowls beneath a portrait in shades of brown.

below: Pope with a gun. Pope Benedict XVI in fact. The hat in this picture is the same as the hat worn by Benedict XVI in the picture used by Wikipedia. It is an image of Jesus holding a cross while he sits with two sheep.

below: Zoologne, aka Marcel Kreutzer is the creator of the small round sticker with the oval yellow happy face standing beside a plant. There are quite a few similar stickers all over Cologne. As for the fiddler, I have no idea who produced that image.

below: The signature seems to be RUDE and might be your opinion of the image as well.

below: An unhappy green bomb with a microphone. Or at least it looks like a comic drawing of a bomb – that way I can say that it’s unhappy because it’s bombing on stage.

below: Reading cross-legged on the floor.

paste up by angry amily, black drawing on brown paper.

below: Bee nice or buzz off, as well as Support your local Antifa.

slaps and wheatpaste on a wall in the Belgian quarter of Cologne

below: Diskettenlaufwerk is actaully the name of an Ultimate Frisbee team. NanE (or Nanelife)

below: Clint Eastwood is portrayed as The Savior in this paste-up. Actually there is quite a bit here – a very small pink Ghostcat, a yellow smiley face, a NanE slice of bread, “Love knows no conditions” text by BehindGreenEyes, as well as a pink and black portrait by Pixmen… and more

stickers and pasteups on a wall in Cologne or Koln, urban art, Clint Eastwood as the savior, loves knows no conditions, a yellow happy face,

below: A cute little girl and an even cuter little red block with googly eyes.

pasteups on a wall in Cologne, little girl in orange dress, beer de froo, small red block with googly eyes

below: More paper.

below: Skulls and more

below: It looks like a chicken in orange and blue as well as an anatomical heart with slight modifications. Perhaps that’s where his heart lies, or where it longs to be.

below: A big hug for Mopsy! Lots of love for an amazing character!

below: Encouraging words by Luna in a white circle with an Australian themed sticker by Tweet below it (kangaroo, emu and balloons!). On the other pipe are two creatures. The one on the bottom is a collaboration between MyCuteCreatures and Joiny.

“Sei doch mal – Nicht so streng mit dir – Du hast die wahl – immer, jetzt und hier” br> Don’t be so hard on yourself. You have a choice, always, now and here.

Photos taken November 2025

trouble makers

Posted on November 1, 2025 by Mary C

below: Trouble Makers on Heliosstrasse in Cologne. There was a Paste Up Festival in August of 2025 here that was organized by Street Art Against Hate. Although that was a couple of months ago, lots remain here on this wall and many other walls on the street.

paper paste-ups graffiti on a wall in cologne, along with words trouble maker in black paint

below: Some of the paste-ups found on the “Trouble Makers” wall.

paper paste-ups graffiti on a wall in cologne

below: On the left is a cross-eyed orange Pummel Fee Fart Fair (and I wish I knew what words were in the thought bubble above his head!). On the right is a MyCuteCreatures little cat with two even smaller friends between her ears.

below: One of these dogs has a peach coloured sweat shirt adorned with eyelashes and lips, by Miss GlueInverse (she calls her work analog collages). To the left of that dog is a woman cutting her long hair with a pair of blue scissors by Kalaa Baar.

below: An interesting phone conversation? And a bearded man in sunglasses and a bear (cat?) suit.

below: At the bottom, a pink Nadroschka pretends to be modest.

below: Another MyCuteCreatures and a second Mopsi. This time Mopsi has a bat on his neck and the words read, “Good boy, Bat habits”.

below: “I love Cologne” – but that cat seems too excited! So Schoen Immer Wieder is a German street artist who is responsible for the paste-ups of her pug ‘Mopsi’, most of which have cute/interesting words. In this case, the words are “easy, peasy, lemon squeezy”. The little blue dog also comes with words (same artist? I don’t know). It’s sign says, “You did so well today”.

below: On the right is a black and white drawing by SheepArt Cologne (aka Klaus Schaefer) while sleeping in the bottom left corner is a small drawing by French artist Balaet Balaets (viens, on rêve). A very full purple trash can sits in the middle. Is that a yellow balloon in the garbage?

below: Tweet cat (seen in Melbourne!) has teamed up with Mario while a little furry nose pokes his nose over the wall.

below: “Wer mit Dreck wirft verliert am Boden” which Google translates to “Those who throw dirt lose on the ground” which, by the sounds of it, may not be precise!

Photos taken October 2025

Brunswick

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Mary C

Brunswick is one of the suburbs of Melbourne; it is north of the Central Business District.

below: One of the murals painted on the side of an older building on Sydney Road. This is the Retreat Hotel and the mural was painted by Buff Diss.

cyclist cycling past a street art mural on the side of an old two storey building on Sydney Road in Brunswick

below: Treaty” and “Teach Black history” JESWRI (aka Jesse Wright) on the side of another older building on Sydney Road. There is a Korean BBQ restaurant on the lower level although most of the building looks a bit decrepit.

street art mural on the side of an old two storey building on Sydney Road in Brunswick

below: A series of paintings in shades of gray with a large pointy mountain in the back.

below: “Tram Kangaroo” by Mike Maka. One very large kangaroo hops along beside an old abandoned Melbourne tram (route 19, which runs along Sydney Road) in this dystopian future scene.

below: A closer look …

below: Not such an old building this time.. on the side of the Savers store is a mural by Danielle Weber. A pair of hands is trying to pull back the gray wall to reveal a tropical scene hiding behind it.

below: Zatira (aka Katherine Gailer). has used a palette of vivid colours in this mural dedicated to Teresa Bruno, a well known local chef and owner of Zia Teresa Restaurant (Italian).

throw up type street art in Brunswock, abstract shapes and colours,

below: Protest type poster where the mayor is shielded from the people by layers of armed police. People are too mesmerized by what is on their screens to care.

below: Uprooted police cars.

below: “The colony will fail”.

Photos taken February 2025

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: stickers

Kiefernstrasse houses

Shalom Habibi, and other things seen in Nippes

Rankins Lane (Melbourne)

Hochstadenring

Higson Lane, downtown Melbourne

Dusseldorf, big and small

barber shop wheatpaste

trouble makers

Brunswick