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I actually started this weeks ago, but then didn’t finish it in much the same way as I’ve not been finishing a bunch of other things. I decided I would finish it now in honour of the 100 (maybe??) block wide wall of TNT.
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I like words, and organising things, and photographing other things, and being silly and laughing heaps, and you know... stuff
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Melbourne
From intimate close-ups to massive architectural takeovers, this collection of bird-themed street art captures the elegance, mystery, and bold presence of birds across the globe.
You’ll find photorealistic falcons, surreal cranes, oversized parrots, and delicate wrens brought to life on city walls—each mural a tribute to avian beauty and the artists who transform urban landscapes with their feathers and color. Locations range from the Netherlands and Morocco to France and Australia, each mural offering a unique interpretation of nature through public art.
More birds!: 8 Beautiful Artworks That Seem to Grow From Nature
Daniel Mac Lloyd’s mural in Heerlen, Netherlands
Two vibrant blue parrots embrace in a strikingly intimate pose, filling the entire side of a house. Painted with rich blues and bursts of orange, the feathers look almost fluid—blending realism with a painterly splash technique that gives motion and emotion to the birds.
Geoffrey Carran’s mural in Carlton North, Melbourne, Australia
A vibrant superb fairywren perches on a blooming branch of pink flowers, painted on a sleek gray wall. The contrast of the soft blossoms and the vivid blue plumage creates a delicate and cheerful composition full of spring energy.
Alegría del Prado’s mural in Rabat, Morocco
A regal falcon with floral plumage and textile patterns adorns a white building in Rabat. The intricate design blends feathers with decorative motifs, transforming the raptor into a symbolic and cultural tapestry.
Curtis Hylton’s mural in Nykvarn, Sweden
A majestic osprey emerges from a composition of large cream-colored roses and golden shells, with two chicks nestled below. The hyperrealism and symbolic floral fusion create a visual story of protection and grace.
Vadim Mezzo’s mural in Rostov-on-Don, Russia
Two elegant herons stand side by side in front of a stylized pink sunset and pine tree silhouettes. The mural is geometric yet soft, creating a tranquil lake scene with a graphic, poster-like quality.
A-MO’s mural in Bordeaux, France
A kingfisher, perched on the corner of a building, bursts with color and texture. The dynamic brushwork mimics feathers in motion, and the location cleverly integrates the mural into urban flow.
WD (Wild Drawing)’s mural in Athens, Greece
An owl stares intensely from a historic building corner, its massive eyes framed by golden ornamental swirls. The illusion of depth and the realistic textures make it feel alive within the wall.
TUZQ’s mural in Mol, Belgium
A grey crowned crane stands regally with deep blue feathers and a shimmering gold crest. The dark background contrasts sharply with the vivid bird, adding theatrical lighting to this photorealistic piece.
Adele Renault’s mural in Stavelot, Belgium
A pigeon’s head dominates a multi-surfaced house, with textured roof tiles doubling as feathers. The gradient iridescence and scale of the piece give it a surreal monumentality.
L7m’s mural
A small bird bursts into motion with chaotic lines and neon shades of pink, orange, and black. L7m blends abstract graffiti with realism, creating a sense of explosive speed and urban energy.
Jan Is De Man’s mural in Vinkeveense Plassen, Netherlands
A photorealistic peacock appears to be walking off a brick wall and into nature. The illusionary depth and shimmering tail feathers spill across the path like a real bird mid-stride.
More: When Street Art Meets Nature (40 Photos)
Which one is your favorite?
The post 11 Brilliant Bird Murals That Bring Nature to the Streets appeared first on STREET ART UTOPIA.
Melbourne
Street artist Tom Bob turns mundane urban features into delightful visual experiences.
From a playful alligator emerging from pavement in Connecticut to charming pipe-creatures in Miami, his transformations breathe new life into ordinary cityscapes.
More by Tomb Bob!: 33 Cute Street Art Pieces by Creative Genius Tom Bob That Will Make You Smile
Here’s a closer look at eight captivating examples:
Alligator Street Art in New Haven, Connecticut
Tom Bob’s artwork cleverly transforms a large, curved pipe protruding from the pavement into a bright green, cartoonish alligator. Detailed scales, teeth, and expressive eyes animate the previously unnoticed urban fixture.
Roller Coaster Shadow in New York, USA
Utilizing a shadow cast by an overhead fence, Tom Bob painted silhouettes of people enjoying a roller coaster ride directly onto the sidewalk, creating an imaginative, interactive illusion.
Flamingo Pipe in Massachusetts, USA
An ordinary gas meter and pipes are transformed into a vibrant pink flamingo against a bright green brick wall. The meter serves as the flamingo’s body, pipes form the neck and legs, and painted details provide character.
Sneaky Watch Seller in California, USA
Three electrical meters become stylish wristwatches displayed by a street vendor character wearing a trench coat. The painting adds whimsical storytelling to a mundane city element.
Cartoon Saxophone Player from Pipe in Miami, Florida
Tom Bob creatively transforms a brass pipe protruding from a wall into a saxophone played by a cartoon character wearing a striped shirt and a beret, cleverly turning the urban fixture into a playful jazz musician.
Squirrel in a Tree in New York, USA
Tom Bob transforms a concrete patch in a tree into a cheerful squirrel clutching an acorn, cleverly blending art and nature.
Pipe Snakes in Love, New York, USA
Two pipes painted in bright colors with cheerful polka dots become smiling snake characters meeting affectionately with hearts overhead.
Parachuting Bart Simpson from Hydrant Connection in New York, USA
Tom Bob creatively transforms a fire hydrant connection into Bart Simpson parachuting onto the sidewalk, cleverly utilizing urban elements to depict the iconic cartoon character from The Simpsons in mid-descent.
If you like that you love this!: 11 Times I Found Street Art Cleverly Using Its Surroundings
Which one is your favorite?
The post 8 Genius Artworks by Tom Bob For Your Inspiration appeared first on STREET ART UTOPIA.
Melbourne
Today’s street art journey features clever insights, witty commentary, and humorous wisdom captured across urban spaces. From sharp social commentary in Los Angeles to playful wisdom on protest signs, these artworks offer fresh, amusing perspectives on life and society.
More: Speak Truth to Power?: 32 Photos Of Real Talk Graffiti
“Stop Making Stupid People Famous” – Plastic Jesus in Los Angeles, United States
Red stencil graffiti reading “Stop Making Stupid People Famous” painted on a grey street utility box in Los Angeles.
“Childhood Vaccines Cause Adulthood” – Protest Sign, United States
A humorous protest sign held by a smiling protester, challenging vaccine misinformation with irony.
“Do You Believe in Life After Work?”
Spray-painted text on a grey concrete wall questioning societal work-life balance with humor.
“Live So That If Your Life Was a Book, Florida Would Ban It” – Protest Sign, United States
White roadside sign with black letters making a humorous statement about freedom of expression.
“Do Whatever You Want… Just Don’t Hurt People”
Black lettering on a white building corner urging personal freedom paired with social responsibility.
“Speak the Truth, Even If Your Voice Shakes”
Hand-painted black graffiti urging courage on a dilapidated white house.
“Encouraging Someone to Be Entirely Themselves is the Loudest Way to Love Them”
Colorful mural with heartfelt text and a pink heart symbolizing love and acceptance on black wooden boards.
“Teach Peace”
Clever typography blending “teach” and “peace,” painted in black on a worn wall promoting harmony.
“Do Not Panic, Organize”
Yellow stencil mural illustrating fish grouped to defend against a larger predator fish, symbolizing strength in unity.
“The Only Good Nation is Imagination”
Spray-painted text advocating imagination over nationalism on a yellowish wall in a quiet urban alley.
More: Street Art Utopia: Why People Fall In Love With Outdoor Art (25 Photos)
Which one is your favorite?
The post 10 Ultimate Life Hacks in Street Art appeared first on STREET ART UTOPIA.
Melbourne
Street art often captures human emotions, societal messages, and profound statements in ways words cannot fully express. From murals depicting the stark realities of conflict to uplifting images celebrating nurturing moments, the works in this collection provide a visual journey through emotional depth, cultural significance, and humanity’s complex narratives. Here, you’ll discover a child’s playful imagination reshaping reality, the raw pain of the housing crisis, heartfelt reflections on war, and compelling advocacy for social change.
More: 14 Powerful Art Pieces Overflowing With Emotion
My Dog Sighs in Cardiff, UK
A striking mural features a detailed eye painted with Ukraine’s flag colors—blue and yellow. Within the eye’s reflection, Kyiv burns, symbolizing the human tragedy of war in Ukraine. Paint drips mimic tears, emphasizing sorrow and empathy.
Follow My Dog Sighs on Instagram
Chemis in Plzeň, Czech Republic
In Plzeň, a photorealistic mural by Chemis depicts a child wrapped warmly in bed sheets holding a teddy bear, an alarm clock above signaling the passing of childhood. The mural cleverly blends with the building’s aged facade, creating a surreal peeling effect.
Smug One in Greenock, Scotland
An impactful, lifelike mural by Smug One depicts a mermaid tenderly breastfeeding her child, capturing an intimate moment while advocating for the normalization of breastfeeding in public spaces.
More by SMUG: 24 Times SMUG Made Walls Look More Real Than Life
Bifido in Gambettola, Italy
A large-scale mural titled “Hell Is Round The Corner” by Bifido portrays an older man holding his head in despair, masterfully integrating existing windows and architectural elements to intensify the expression of emotional distress.
Asbestos in Cork, Ireland
Asbestos addresses Ireland‘s housing crisis through a surreal mural of a person wearing a cardboard box over their head, capturing a profound feeling of helplessness and anonymity amidst the crisis.
Oriol Arumi in Lleida, Spain
Oriol Arumi transforms an apartment block into a stunning scene depicting storks nesting high in a tree, symbolizing family, hope, and the bond between nature and urban spaces.
Follow Oriol Arumi on Instagram
TANAI and Ali Zakir in Almaty, Kazakhstan
This cheerful mural by TANAI and Ali Zakir shows a child drawing a vibrant orange sun on a residential building, playfully blending street art with childhood innocence and optimism.
Follow TANAI on Instagram | Follow Ali Zakir on Instagram
GOIN in Geneva, Switzerland
GOIN’s poignant stencil artwork “Peace Maker” portrays a child attempting to heal a fallen dove, symbolizing efforts toward peace amid geopolitical conflicts, notably referencing the invasion of Ukraine.
Murales Lian’s mural in Ondarroa, Spain
A black-and-white photorealistic mural of elderly hands weaving a net, painted across the full height of a residential building. While the hands and background remain monochromatic, the fishing net is brought to life with vivid strands in orange, red, pink, blue, green, and yellow. The mural pays tribute to the traditional work of women in the coastal town of Ondarroa.
Follow Murales Lian on Instagram
Michael Rosato’s mural in Cambridge, Maryland, USA
This lifelike mural of Harriet Tubman is painted on the side of the Tubman Museum and Education Center. Tubman is shown stepping out of a broken brick wall, arm extended as if reaching for the viewer’s hand. Behind her, a calm riverside landscape glows under a setting sun. The artwork is titled Take My Hand and has become an iconic tribute to her legacy.
Follow Michael Rosato on Instagram
More: 11 Times I Found Street Art Cleverly Using Its Surroundings
Which one is your favorite?
The post 10 Murals That Hit You Right in the Heart (And You’ll Never Forget Them) appeared first on STREET ART UTOPIA.
Melbourne
Surrounded by blackened tree husks, Damien Skurrie and Jake Goodes trudge up a hill towards a huge standalone rock.
There's no shade, the ground is thick with ash and in between the crunch of burnt twigs underfoot, there's an eerie silence.
Both men pause, shaking their heads in disbelief as they take in the scorched landscape.
"It's just total devastation," Mr Skurrie says.
"A nuclear bomb went off in here, that's what happened," Mr Goodes adds.
And yet the rock ahead, covered in more than 2,500 red ochre Aboriginal art motifs, stands untouched.
"It's like they had a force field," Mr Skurrie says incredulously.
"How does that survive? How does that not have a mark, nothing. Unscathed."
Protective foil instead of waterbombing
The bushfires that ripped through Grampians/Gariwerd National Park in December and January burned more than 80 per cent of the landscape — roughly 136,000 hectares.
Throughout summer, hundreds of personnel, trucks, bulldozers and aircraft were deployed in western Victoria to fight the out-of-control fires.
They mowed down vegetation, burned boundaries and bombed bushland with water, foam and chemically-rich retardants.
But due to the high density of Indigenous cultural heritage sites, aggressive firefighting tactics were not always possible.
"Using any kind of heavy machinery in here would be devastating," Mr Skurrie, a Wotjobaluk Yorta Yorta man, said from the rock art shelter.
Instead, a specialised cultural heritage team led by Mr Skurrie and Mr Goodes, a Victorian rock art specialist and Adnyamathanha Narungga man, were sent out to install containment lines.
Their work was much more delicate — wrapping big trees in sheets of silver foil, removing smaller vegetation by hand and pruning shrubs.
The intent, Mr Goodes said, was to remove fuel from sacred rock art sites so fire would also wind down.
"The works we did here brought the fire from high flames to the ground," he says, pointing to where they had removed small trees.
Hopes for leading frontline role
This was the first time that on-country experts were officially included in the firefighting effort in Victoria.
Assistant chief fire officer and Grampians regional commander Mark Gunning said the importance of culturally sensitive firefighting was still "really misunderstood" within the ranks of the Country Fire Authority.
"It's not that we don't bring a bulldozer in … but we will be cautious about where we place that bulldozer," Mr Gunning said.
"We wouldn't put a bulldozer through a house, so we wouldn't put it through a cultural asset."
Mr Gunning said ongoing engagement with traditional owners would help more firefighters understand why cultural heritage work was important and highly valued.
"One day I hope to see them taking lead roles in our fire operations," he said.
"Not just be a cultural heritage department as a bolt-on to our overall operations, but really integrate it and lead what we do and how we do it."
Silver linings in blackened earth
About 100kms north of the Grampians, in the Little Desert National Park, is another massive fire scar, this one more than 93,000 hectares.
Here, on the banks of the Wimmera River in more blackened bush, Mr Skurrie bends down to pick up a white shell poking out of the sand.
There are hundreds of these dotted across the ground. Middens, he explains, which are essentially remnants of Aboriginal people inhabiting that land.
"If you talk about silver linings, this is it … before the fires, this was covered with vegetation so you wouldn't have seen it," Mr Skurrie says.
In both the Grampians and Little Desert National Parks, the recent bushfires have exposed previously unknown cultural heritage sites — rock art, scar trees, stone quarries and settlements.
"After a wildfire event, being able to walk country and rediscover these areas is really special," he says.
Blueprint for firefighting strategy
The extent of cultural heritage lost, damaged and salvaged in both national parks remains unknown, but Mr Skurrie says he has found a mix of all three.
"It's emotional when you lose something of that kind … evidence of your ancestors being here," he says.
"But when you (consider) something that's damaged or lost, it gives you the drive to look at and focus on some of those other things that are still here."
"We've been able to gather and protect a lot of those sites."
For Mr Goodes, the opportunity to be involved "in such a big way" was a first in his 20-year career with Parks Victoria and Forest Fire Management Victoria.
"It's hard to watch the landscape burn but to be out there, to be the first responders … it feels sort of empowering," he says.
"This would be a great case study for all emergency management departments."
Melbourne
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