Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas.

Bad Santa graffiti in Blackpool by Seca_One

Bad Santa graffiti in Blackpool by Seca_One

Pac-Man street art by Gorse Hill Studios in Stretford

Found underneath Stretford in Manchester.

Link:

- Gorse Hill Studios

Halloween in the City - Manchester 2020

The Halloween in the City Monster Trail is up and running until Sunday 1st November.

There are seven giant inflatable monsters to track down around the city centre.

The Halloween in the City Dragon at The Printworks last year

Check out the Visit Manchester website for more information and to download the location map.

Take a look at my blog posts from last year's Halloween in the City:

• Manchester's Halloween in the City
• Halloween in the City 2019
• Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters
• Halloween in the City monster at Screamfields in Manchester

PUTT PUTT #2 art installation Crazy Golf course in Croydon

A look back at the PUTT PUTT #2 art installation Crazy Golf course in Croydon. Played on this day in 2014.

The art installation miniature golf course was the 345th played on the Crazy World of Minigolf Tour and the 578th visited overall since September 2006.

We've now been to 955 courses in 14 years.

For more information visit the Turf Projects website and PUTT PUTT #2 project page.

Check out my blog post 'Artainment and the world of minigolf' to see how minigolf has been used in other artistic creations.

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Marge Simpson graffiti in Manchester

Spotting some Marge Simpson graffiti high above Deansgate in Manchester.

You need a keen eye for street art to spot this piece

While on our first walk in Manchester city centre for quite some time on Saturday Emily spotted this piece of Simpsons graffiti high above Deansgate.

We recently spotted some Itchy & Scratchy graffiti on the Fallowfield Loop in Manchester and last August we saw this Simpsons graffiti in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Invaders in Manchester

A look at a piece of Invader street art in Manchester.

It was nice to have a walk round Manchester again for the first time in a while on Saturday.

One of the best free-to-do activities in the city centre is to look for street art. There's plenty of it about.

Space Invaders

Manchester is the site of an Invasion by French street artist Invader. He created 47 pieces of mosaic tile art with a total points value of 970 back in 2004.

You have to look in a wide-range of places to see the Invaders

Over the years some of these retro video game inspired pieces have been damaged, removed or stolen. While some have been lost entirely because the building they were on has been demolished!

Luckily some of these lost Invaders have been replaced.

Look up!

The Goonies street art

It's fun seeing street art and graffiti on my travels and I saw this superb piece by JXC Designs on my last trip down to London back in February.

Truffle Shuffle!

Artwork on the old British Home Stores in Stockport

A look at the mural artwork on the old BHS in Stockport's Merseyway shopping centre.

The mural on the side of the old BHS in Stockport

BHS became defunct in August 2016, but there are still traces of the brand if you know where to look.

Made in 1978

The building is now home to a Poundland store, however there are two small signs bearing the BHS logo and they are visible at the front of the shop.

One of the last visible signs of the old BHS branding

The side of the building on Deanery Way contains a wonderful mural made up of concrete panels and mosaic tiles and depicts the history of the town over seven hundred years.

Working up Deanery Way from 1239 to 1978

The artwork was designed by Henry Collins and Joyce Pallet and created in 1978.

Here's a look at the five panels, starting with the most recent era (the seventies!) and working back to the year 1239...

Panel 5

Panel 4

Panel 3

Panel 2

Panel 1

Stockport, Cheshire - whether this is, or isn't the case (it isn't), remains a matter of conjecture in the town. It was certainly a big talking point given the location of the recent Greater Manchester Coronavirus Pandemic Lockdown Zone!

Urgh Street Art!

It was brilliant to find this superb piece of tile art by Angus while down in Camden back in February.

Simpsons stickers

I always keep an eye out for interesting street art and have some seen some nice pieces, including these Simpsons ones while out and about on my travels.

Spray can Bart in Manchester

Homer the hockey player

I didn't know Homer was a Tractor Boy!

Lizard Queen Lisa

I wouldn't have thought Rugby League was that popular in Springfield

Who knew Barney Gumble was an Inter Milan fan

Related blog posts:
- Street Art
- The Simpsons

Pizza Shark

I spotted this fun Pizza Shark sticker art by Samuel B Thorne at Elephant & Castle in London last year.

Hi Doctor Nick!

It's always fun spotting Simpsons-related stuff while out and about.

I saw this sticker for the Kings Cross Tattoo Parlour while down in London last year.

What a strapline!

Related blog posts:
- The Simpsons

Little Thief

I'm missing being out and about in Manchester. Every time I have a wander around the city centre I spot a new piece of street art.

Looking through my snaps from previous walks round town I spotted this Little Thief sticker by GRW82 Greatt Whyte.

Itchy & Scratchy on the Fallowfield Loop

Spotting some Itchy & Scratchy graffiti on the Fallowfield Loop in Manchester.

We spotted this superb street art by Good Life while out on a walk along the Fallowfield Loop.

The Itchy & Scratchy Show in Manchester

It's always fun finding Simpsons-inspired artwork while out and about. Last year we saw this nice piece in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Related blog posts:
- Street Art
- The Simpsons

World Art Day - art and minigolf

Today is World Art Day.

A look at art installation minigolf courses and crazy golf sculptures.

We've seen the worlds of art and minigolf combine a number of times over the years.

A relatively new term for this combination is 'artainment' - where art and entertainment mix to immerse visitors to an exhibition, gallery or installation in an interactive experience.

It'll be interesting to see where the next art-based minigolf course we play is when the coronavirus pandemic is over.

Related blog posts:

- Art
- Artainment
- Artainment and the world of minigolf

World Art Day - Space Invader street art

Happy World Art Day!

These are a few of the Space Invaders by the street artist Invader I've found on my travels around Manchester, down in London and up in Newcastle.

I'm looking forward to getting out exploring and finding new street art when the coronavirus pandemic is over.

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Space Invaders
- Art and sculpture trails

Halloween in the City monster at Screamfields in Manchester

A look at the Halloween in the City monster at Spinningfields in Manchester.

The tentacled monster at Spinningfields

One of the monsters on the Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters art trail is at Screamfields, aka Spinningfields.

Some very find gardening

Pest control will need a lot of bug spray to get rid of this monster

'Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters' continues until Halloween night. Visit the Halloween in the City website for more information.

Manchester's Halloween in the City

Following the Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters art trail.

We had a brilliant day out in Manchester yesterday and followed the Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters art trail around the city.

Look up! Look out! Beware!

The Mayfield Depot monster

The Royal Exchange monster

A monster on Ducie Street

Halloween in the City is a brilliant way to get people out and about exploring Manchester.

The entrance to the Poisonous Maze!

A grim sign for MCR

'Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters' continues until Halloween night. Visit the Halloween in the City website for more information.

Pac-Man ghost street art in Düsseldorf, Germany

Spotting the Pac-Man ghost stickers in Düsseldorf.

Emily recently returned from Düsseldorf, Germany and while there noticed a lot of Pac-Man ghosts stuck up around the city.

This was the first Pac-Man ghost Emily spotted

The Pac-Man ghost stickers are the work of the street artist known as Pdot who has put up 2,000 of the stickers in Düsseldorf!

We're big fans of video games, Pac-Man and street art, so it was a nice surprise for Emily to see them on her trip.

A yellow ghost. The stickers by Pdot are only found on the back of street signs

A red ghost. And oh look, a tram too!

They're hidden in plain sight everywhere!

Related blog posts:
- Pac-Man
- Germany
- Street Art