HIT THE EAST (AKA … EAST BELFAST STREET ART AUGUST 2017)

You may have seen Hit The North be covered on this blog, taking place on the same weekend as Belfast Culture Night and brightening up North Street and surrounding areas.

Well, East Belfast decided it wanted in on the act, with an event titled Hit The East taking place on Saturday 5th August as part of Eastside Arts Festival.

There were murals painted opposite Holywood Arches Library, and at an alleyway on Bloomnfield Road, across the road from the entrances to Connswater.

I was away that weekend, but headed out to get some photos as soon as I returned. Enjoy.

Now, when are Hit The South and Hit The West going to start?

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EDINBURGH STREET ART AUGUST 2017

As you will have gathered from recent posts, I went to Edinburgh recently.

While there, I got some Street Art photos.

In truth, it was a bit disappointing in comparison with recent visits.

I did head to New Street as that’s where most of it usually is but there was just a couple of tags but no murals.

I did get some pieces elsewhere in the city. Enjoy.

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Edinburgh Street Art August 2015

Edinburgh Street Art August 2014

Edinburgh Street Art August 2013

DUBLIN STREET ART – JULY 2017

Spent two days in Dublin recently, and naturally was out with my camera getting some Street Art shots.

I usually go to Dublin once a year, usually for a day trip or an overnight visit. It isn’t specifically with Street Art in mind, but it’s there, so I might as well photograph it.

Usually when I visit a city, I usually wander about, and Dublin was no different.

However, I know where to go, and the first two places I visited were Smithfield and Temple Bar.

While I was in Smithfield, I got a picture of a mural of Romelu Lukaku. Well, that is if you work for Dublin Herald.

Once thing that was noticeable was the number of electric boxes that had been painted. This is part of a project aimed at brightening up the city. You can find it’s website here.

The first one I saw was one of Phil Lynott. Unfortunately, I only discovered about there being one of Father Ted and Father Dougal after I left Dublin.

I had a look at bus/train timetables and Waterford can be reached from Dublin in two hours. Why is that relevant? The city hosts an event called Waterford Walls, and is somewhere I want to visit to check out Street Art.

A Dublin/Waterford double header in 2018 sounds very tempting.

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Dublin Street Art May 2016

Dublin Street Art June 2015

Dublin Street Art July 2014

Dublin Street Art August 2013

BELFAST PEACE WALL ART – JULY 2017

Headed over to the Peace Wall at Lanark Way this morning to get some photos.

It’s not my favourite exhibition of Street Art in Belfast, but I usually go every six months to document it.

I was last there in early February. I know what you’re thinking, i’ve headed over a month early.

Well, you’d be correct, but I had a good reason for visiting the site prematurely.

I had planned to visit in early/mid August, but I spotted a photo on Social Media of a mural of Captain America getting a punishment shooting, and I couldn’t afford to risk waiting three to four weeks to photograph it in case it got painted over.

So here, a month early, is a collection of images from the Peace Wall in Belfast. I’ll be back again in January 2018, unless there is something spectacular between now and then that I just have to go and photograph.

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Belfast Peace Wall Art February 2017

Belfast Peace Wall Art August 2016

Belfast Peace Wall Art 2015

ROSEMARY STREET ART – JULY 2017

You may have seen these pictures already doing the rounds on Social Media, but there is more Street Art in Belfast to report, along the exterior of Red Barn Gallery in Rosemary Street.

I spotted photos on Social Media, so I decided to head out and investigate, and got some photos of what was there, my favourite of which is the image of the Eiffel Tower.

If the location sounds familiar, that’s because it was covered on this blog in April 2015, when it had images of Bruce Lee, Charlie Chaplin and Darth Vader.

The image of Bruce Lee is still there, but it now has a green background rather than a red one.

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HILL STREET WALL OF FAME

If you’ve been in the Cathedral Quarter over the past month, chances are you’ve seen Glen Molloy hard at work on a new mural beside The Harp Bar, covering building work taking place at what is/was (sorry for not being up to date with Civil Service locations) NIEA offices in Hill Street.

It began for me with a social media post that there was a new mural of David Holmes in Hill Street. So, armed with my camera, I went to investigate.

I was busy doing other stuff and actually forgot to check out the main thing I was in Belfast City Centre for.

So, I came back later, saw a mural of David Holmes, and other works which were works in progress. Naturally, I got snapping.

There was a clear theme of music legends developing, so I went back every lunchtime and evening to snap the work that was in progress.

There was a brief stop in the work here as Glen Molloy was working elsewhere on a mural at Filthy McNasty. You can see a write-up of that here

Gradually, the wall was getting filled. Frustratingly, I missed photographing a key day in the painting of Van Morrison and Bap Kennedy due to biblical rain.

It wan’t the first mural of Morrison to appear in Belfast. There was one near the away entrance to The Oval in 2007, but that soon disappeared due to housing being build on that site.

The faces appearing on the mural are : David Holmes, Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly, Una Healy, Van Morrison, Bap Kennedy, Brian Kennedy, Fatboy Slim.

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EMIC MURAL – LOWER ORMEAU ROAD

A new mural in Belfast that I came across by chance. I was cycling into the City Centre to get some photos of another mural, and as I headed down Lower Ormeau Road, happened to spot a work in progress in Farnham Street, along the side of The Rose and Crown pub.

Over the coming days, I documented the process and the mural progressed, before photographing the finished piece.

The mural is by an artist called Emic, who has done a lot of work in Belfast City Centre, most recently, this Dancer one.

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FILTHY McMURAL

Glen Molloy has been a busy boy recently. As well as doing a mural on Hill Street (You’ll be seeing a blog about that soon), he has been spending some time on Dublin Road recently, doing a mural beside Filthy McNasty’s.

The theme is Northern Ireland Legends, and this mural features Carl Frampton, Liam Neeson, Neil Hannon and Ricky Warwick.

I happened to spot this when it was a work in progress, so I continued to snap it while it was being created, right up until the finished piece.

It’s sponsored by a drinks company. I’m not going to post their name because i’m still mad at them for organising a private concert by The 1975 in 2014 (or was it The 2014 in 1975? I’m not sure) and they didn’t fix it for me to win a ticket.

They did keep updates on their Twitter feed via a photo and a video.

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MANCHESTER STREET ART – MAY 2017

I was in Manchester last weekend to go to Old Trafford to see United take on Crystal Palace. As is usual when I visit Old Trafford, I took the opportunity to go into the city to check out Street Art.

The first port of call was the Northern Quarter, where the vast majority of Street Art in Manchester is based.

I took the opportunity to get photos of a piece of a Sloth with David Bowie’s trademark lightning bolt on it’s face.

The reason for this, was that it was painted over a mural of David Bowie which was painted last year after his death, a change which has polarised opinion in the city.

I also headed to Ancoats to get pictures of some pieces which were still a work in progress on my last visit to Manchester in February.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any photos of Salford Quays this time, but I did still manage to capture a lot of Street Art in Manchester.

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Manchester Street Art February 2017

Manchester Street Art November 2016

Manchester Street Art May 2016

Manchester Street Art January 2016

Manchester Street Art November 2015

Manchester Street Art May 2015

Manchester Street Art November 2014

LISBURN STREET ART – MAY 2017

You may remember last month that I visited Lisburn to get some Street Art photos. Well, the wall got an update so I headed back (on my bike again, still got sore legs) to get new photos.

You can thank @bohoman on Twitter for bringing this to may attention, always worth a follow for Street Art and Curiousities in Belfast.

The image of Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction has been replaced with an elderly man just about to hit a gavel, saying “Kids these days”.

The image of the two women (not pictured in this blog but featured in the one last month) is still there.

If you are in Lisburn and want to check it out, it can be found on Castle Street.

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Lisburn Street Art April 2017