God will all way's be wiv you

Happy Easter, Samer, Southampton

Religious imagery from the streets.  Jesus has been a staple of painters for years.  Above is by the very wonderful Samer, below isn't.  

Jesus, WCYP

God will all ways be wiv you

Sometimes the simplest message is the simplest

 Wings of a dove

 So it is above, so it is below.
Neither, either or both may be angels.
Maybe not. 

Still deeply spiritual as far as I'm concerned.

 Samer

 Bonnie Seymour, Korupt

 You are not alone

 Angels, always bright and fair, Dank, Zabou, Upfest

Angel in recovery, Bristol

Art from the street

 Found art, Mitch, Hampshire 2015

Street art can take many forms; sometimes it is shouting out loud "look at me, I'm Art I am".  Other times it is just lying there waiting to be found.  

serendipity doo dah, Hampshire 2014

Sometimes someone has gone to a lot of trouble creating Art, sometimes it just happens by happy accident.

streaming dreaming, 2015

Sometimes you can go to a lot of trouble creating an image.  Sometimes it was there all of the time.

Six word novel, Woolston, 2015

Some people put a lot of thought, skill and commitment into graffiti.  Other people manage to be more succinct.

 Xmas plug, Carnaby St, Christmas 2014

Sometimes street art is commercial.

 Boycott Israhell, London 2014

Sometimes street art is political.

 Car Art, Tony, Southampton, 2014

Sometimes street art is mobile.

 Old shop sign, Eastleigh

Sometimes it is hidden.

Yarn bomb, Woolston

Sometimes it keeps a low profile.

M27 bridge, Lower Swanwick

Sometimes it is still practising

Samer, Avenue Subway, 2014

Sometimes it should be in a gallery.

A27 Bridge, Bursledon, 2014

Sometimes it shouldn't.

Out for the weekend

She was a ham sandwich of a woman and we won't see her like again

I'm a single mom, I'm never coming back here

I've waited for this my whole life

I like mad numbers

I'm not reading any distraction behaviour

It's rare these days that somebody delivers what they say

A compliment is never wasted on me

I have a message for you

Got my face on the ace

He is one smug bastard,  that Jools

Toby, the bet's off

You're the 43rd innocent person I've booked in this week

and there it was, gone

One of street art's attractions is its epheremality.  It pops up in the night, blossoms for a short time and then gets painted over, maybe by a council worker with a tub of whitewash, maybe by another graffiti artist.  Catching it while it's there is part of the attraction, knowing you're seeing something that not everyone is going to get to see.  Just seeing them makes us part of the process, like hearing a tree falling in the forest.  If we didn't see it perhaps it wouldn't have happened.  Photographing it, blogging it takes it a stage further: puts it out in the world for all to see.  Part of the process.

Here are three amazing pieces, from a subway in Southampton UK, photos taken a couple of weeks ago.

Lark 37, Southampton

Samer, Southampton

 Samer, Southampton

That last one, including the tags that partly cover it, might just be my favourite piece of street art.  Look at it today:

An entirely pointless piece of graffiti.  Vandalism.  And look at Lark's piece:

Why? Oh, why?

Samer's other piece is underneath this tag.  That's ok, that's the natural cut & thrust of things.  But those other two, pffffnrrrggggggggggg.  If you're gonna go over a piece, leave something better.

Here's a couple more by Samer in Portsmout.  Samer may be from Basingstoke, may have gone to university in Portsmouth and gets down to Southampton every now and again.

Samer, Portsmouth, 2013

Samer, Portsmouth, 2013

And finally, here's a long gone Lark 37 tag:

Lark 37, Southampton, 2014