Tag Archives: art

Under the M6

Saturday 21st October 2023, 10.40am (day 4,440)

Art under M6, 21/10/23

The water is that of the Tame Valley Canal. Above, thunders the M6, doing its rounds just north of Birmingham. Whoever marked the crossing point of these two transport arteries with this piece of work was inspired. Someone else’s art, again, but worth sharing.

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Sophia’s portrait

Saturday 7th October 2023, 4.20pm (day 4,426)

Sophia's portrait, 7/10/23

Another person’s art — and this time, with the artist. Sophia is depicted at the Friends of St Helena annual meeting, telling us about her inspirations, as a person born in Britain of St Helenian descent, and never having visited the island until earlier this year (in fact she was there in January and February when I was, but I don’t remember meeting her). The guy pictured is her grandfather, born on the island but left 78 years ago. Her art is really good, I don’t do it justice here, but I like the picture anyway.

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Stencil artist

Monday 25th September 2023, 11.45am (day 4,414)

Stencilling, 25/9/23

Someone else’s art. It was nice, too — when I walked back past this on the way home (it is by the Chinese Arch in Manchester) it was finished and looked good, perhaps it will feature on here at some point in the future.

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Wembley FC mural

Saturday 2nd September 2023, 2.55pm (day 4,391)

Wembley FC mural, 2//9/23

Wembley FC do not play at Wembley Stadium — though you can see that from their Vale Farm ground about a mile away. Nevertheless, they give good art work, even if the subject matter, going on the dates, is a tragic one.

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Mural by Red Chilli

Wednesday 21st June 2023, 12.40pm (day 4,318)

Red Chilli mural, 21/6/23

Another case of Someone Else’s Art feeding this blog. I assume this face does also belong to a real person; I wonder how models do actually feel about coming (literally) face-to-face with themselves now and again. I put her to the side of this shot because I also like the conjunction with the stuff in the restaurant window, and the pedestrian timed it well too. All seen on Grosvenor Street not far from my office on campus this lunchtime.

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Mural, Cowdenbeath

Saturday 6th May 2023, 2.00pm (day 4,272)

Cowdenbeath mural, 6/5/23

Cowdenbeath, a little town in Fife, offered various entertainments as an excuse to break today’s journey up to Dundee. One that was unanticipated before I got there was a series of really excellent, and huge, murals that decorate the town centre. This one is remarkably good. Look at the sense of focus, and hence realism, that the artist has achieved. Those trucks look absolutely solid. Would that I could get things in focus like that, sometimes.

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Traherne Windows, Hereford Cathedral

Wednesday 20th July 2022, 12.10pm (day 3,982)

Traherne Windows, Hereford, 20/7/22

File this under the ‘Someone Else’s Art’ category — specifically, these stained glass windows (of which there are four in total) were created by Tom Denny in 2007. They celebrate the life and work of poet Thomas Traherne, who wrote in the 17th century but was not discovered and properly published until the early 20th century, when it was decided by those who decide these things that he had anticipated Romanticism by about 150 years. I’ve never read the guy, but the windows are worth seeing.

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Self-portrait, after Picasso

Saturday 9th July 2022, 2.10pm (day 3,971)

Picasso portrait, 9/7/22

So precisely has my reflection been split by this bevelled mirror (in Frew’s Bar, Dundee) that the sprouting of hair above my ear appears on the lower part. I like this cubist homage as it was an occasion where the shot I sought was precisely achieved.

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Mural on “Revolution”

Wednesday 15th June 2022, 9.05am (day 3,947)

Mural, Revolution, 15/6/22

Someone Else’s Art — but very fine it is. It doesn’t matter that her left eye is mostly replaced by the window, and the security camera totally fails to intrude, too. Great work. Sometimes even just a minor variation in one’s route to work brings new sights in view.

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Art criticism

Wednesday 18th May 2022, 4.15pm (day 3,919)

Pretentious crap, 18/5/22

I’ve been saving this one up for a while; this piece of anonymous art criticism has been in place for some months now. Could he be saying the same thing about my own work? Pretentious, I hope not. Boring maybe, but that’s life.

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