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

broken glass

Posted on February 17, 2023 by Mary C

Or maybe, “they do it with mirrors”. Her face was complete not too long ago but now she is missing a nose and part of her lower face. Pieces of mirror put together to create a portrait, the work of OSIR (OSIR_DES’p’EJO)

She is located near Lisbon Cathedral.
Photo taken mid February 2023

Ligama and Loste

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Mary C

A large mural in Bushwick (Brooklyn) NY called ‘Brick Venus’ was recently painted by two Italian artists, Ligama and Mirko Loste. It features large sculpture-like faces. The face on the righthand side is so large it extends off the top of the wall so that you can’t see her eyes.

Some colour seems to be creeping into the middle face. Colour and life.

By the third Venus, the transition is complete; she is no longer made of stone

The Bushwick Collective – a graffiti and street art project of artists from around the world founded in 2011 and still going strong.

women, cats, and égalité

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Mary C

Three more large murals in the 13th arrond. of Paris

two murals on the sides of highrise apartments, a black cat by c215 and a medallion shaped piece by Shepard Fairy

below: Very French – liberté, égalité, and fraternité, in red, white, and blue by Shepard Fairey

mural by Shepard Fairey in Paris, on top of a building, French motto Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite forming a large circle, with a woman's head in the middle. Woman has roses in her hair.

below: Large black cat overlooking rue Nationale by French artist C215, aka Christian Guémy

below: Dface is the artist who painted this bright blue haired woman.

close up of DFace mural of a woman's head, bright blue hair and red lips, on the side of building in Paris

older women

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Mary C

This mural, a large photograph, has not weathered all that well. It’s title is “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and the artist is Bifido. On her website, Bifido says this about the artwork: “This work should have been called “selfportrait”, as it express how I’m feeling in this moment in the sight of the world. Working, talking, scoping, breathing Tirana atmosphere, I really realized, for the very first time, how it feels to be a woman caught in the grips of this male chauvinist society, to be a woman physically and mentally oppressed by men. As the work progressed, the sense of it changed revealing, maybe, the real reason that. I come back home, to Italy, more aware of something that makes me feel heartbroken, hoping one day something will change.” Please take a look at her website, especially if you want to see the photo in its original form.

By now you may have guessed that the word older in the title of this post has nothing to do with the age of the woman in the mural but in the condition of the mural itself. The Bifido work above is from either 2018 or 2019. Of the same vintage, is a mural by HazardUK

It’s title is “Motra Tone Revisited” which refers to a famous painting, “Motra Tone” also known as ”The Albanian Monalisa”, that was painted by Kole Idromeno (1860-1939).

below: This is a picture of that famous painting (found online, credit: public domain, wikipedia). She hangs in the National Art Gallery in Tirana.

Half real, half pointed, all naked

Posted on May 19, 2022 by Mary C

large mural of a woman half pointillism and half realism painted on a concrete wall in centrum area of warsaw by artist Cyrcle, three men standing around a red truck at the bottom of the mural

This statuesque woman was painted by L.A. artist group Cyrcle in 2014 during the Street Art Dope Festival. It was one of two that they painted during that festival.

large mural of a statuesque woman

Photos taken in May 2022

Red head on Gore St., Fitzroy

Posted on August 1, 2021 by Mary C

Covid is still playing havoc on travel so I am starting to work through some archives of photos. This mural was seen at Gore and Johnston in Fitzroy (Melbourne in December 2018) on the BIBA Academy building and barber shop.

red head woman lying prone in a mural, blue eyes, her head is abov a door on Gore Street in Fitzroy.

white car parked in front of a mural of a woman lying down on stomach, with very long red hair, part of naked body obscured by the windows

legs of naked woman in mural above windows in the building. cars parked in front of it

little stencils seen around Cuenca

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Mary C

Stencils on the walls of Cuenca, January 2018

below: Lucha Social, Siembra (social struggles or fight)

below: Adagio = something done slowly, with a lethargic tempo

below: The outline of a bull

below: Equating Mickey Mouse, and Disney, with death

below: Girl with a balloon

below: Pigs can fly!

at Milton and Saint-Famille

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Mary C

In an residential section of Montreal,

street in Montreal with stairs leading to front doors of houses, some snow, a mural on the side of building that you can see part of

a large mural of a woman on the side of a row of old stone houses

below: A boy with a slingshot by mateo

mural of a boy with a slongshot by mateo on the side of cash and grocery store on Milton St in Montreal

below: Large mural of woman by Drew Merritt
large mural of a woman from shoulders up, wearing blue jacket over olive and pink tops, long brown hair, a tree with no leaves is in front, two people walking past on the sidewalk

by the Chinatown gate

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Mary C

below: “May an Old Song Open an Old Door” is a bright mural that catches your attention as you approach the entrance to Montreal’s Chinatown at Rene Levesque Blvd and St. Laurent. A woman holding a yellow lily stands between two red masks, one represents optimism for the future and the other represents nostalgia for a past left behind.

large Chinatown mural of a Chinese woman in flowered costume, with red and white masks on either side of her, one side happy and one side sad. mural is beside a large gate as entrance to Chinatown. Other side of mural is a traditional Chinese paiting with calligraphy and some pink blossoms

below: A close up of the opera singer in the center of the mural that was produced by MU and painted by Gene Pendon and Bryan Beyung in 2015. MU is an organization whose “mission is to beautify the city of Montreal by creating murals that are anchored in local communities.”

Chinese woman in mural, pink bow at her neck, flowers in her bonnet

below: A more traditional Chinese painting based on calligraphy

mural on a wall by a sidewalk and small tree, Chinese calligraphy in black and grey, some small pale pink flowers

below: “Salut Gilles” by Benny Wilding, a tribute to F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve. Unfortunately, a lot of it has been tagged over including the painting of the racing car.

looking across snow covered park to a mural that has been tagged over except for eyes on a green face behind a mask and a black and white figure in a cockpit as well as black and white checkered flag in upper right corner, Montreal buildings behind the mural

a mural that has been tagged over except for eyes on a green face behind a mask and a black and white figure in a cockpit

car parked in front of a on the end of a brown brick building, a mural of people walking on large noodles that are coming out of a very large ladle

below: Serving up noodles with a giant ladle.

on the end of a brown brick building, a mural of people walking on large noodles that are coming out of a very large ladle

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: woman