Waterford Walls 2019

I was out of town during the Waterford Walls festival this August, and only recently took some photographs, probably covering only a half of the walls. Here is a link to the previous Waterford Walls blog posts if you need it for a reference. Please visit the artists websites. All the links in this blog open on separate pages and your reading won’t be interrupted.

Yasja’s Northern lights-inspired work wasn’t included in the festival map, but I knew it was a recent work. I would have noticed if it has been there before. Yasja is a brilliant artist from Amsterdam and I choose her work for my opening picture.

I walk wall to wall, and it takes me about two hours to see all these wonderful murals.

Niamh Curry  grew up in Clonmel, Ireland. She is a self-taught artist, and her works are recognizable for their bright colors and painting technique. Niamh got to paint in Georges Court, right next to the Waterford Walls headquarters. I love her foxes.

Kevin Bohan, a professional artist and illustrator from Dublin, is a regular guest of the festival. I am a huge fan of his work. Kevin takes part in community projects and generously shares his talent. Here is his Instagram link.

Next to Kevin’s wall there is a Curtis Hylton’s work Ned The Dog. As their website states, Ned is the head of security for Waterford Walls.

I walk uphill to the place where the Birdo’s wall used to be. I am surprised to see Joe Castlin’s work repainted, but I love the fishies by Michael Beerens, an artist from France.

On the other side of the hill I admire a mural by Taquen, a young artist from Madrid.

To learn what the work by Garreth Joyce is about, click on this link .

I walk uphill again (Waterford is not a flat city), to take a picture of another two foxes, this time by Nina Valkhoff, an illustrator and muralist from the Netherlands. Here is a link to Nina’s website. 

I guess it was not easy to paint between all these doors and windows. I think about foxes whose habitats have been taken away by humans…

I walk to the social housing area. The streets and the buildings look dull and monotonous, but I have a map in my hand and know a secret: Waterford Walls festival has reached this colourless place and made a difference. This work by Shane Sutton, an artist in residence with the European Space Agency, might be monochrome, but it added so much color to the street! The artist also incorporated a transformer box into his work. It is transmitting old Disney classic now.

Dan Leo has gifted another beautiful animal to the city.

This is Curtis Hylton’s wall from 2018, but I never used the picture before. Please have a closer look at the fish. It is not a fish at all. What a heartbreaking image.

I wonder what this sad woman represents. The wall by Russ, France.

Another French artist, Kogaone. Here is another link.

A very impressive wall by Sper, an artist from Belgium.

A young artist, graphic designer and illustrator KREEMOS from Russia created this industrially looking puzzle. You will find that it says “Lost in a dream”. Two things caught my eye – a lapwing, one of my favorite birds, and a creative use of the colour palette masking the garbage bins.

Three female artists shared their works in Stephens street. Caoilfhionn Hanton is a self taught local artist who has been with Waterford Walls since the inception. I love the positive energy of her paintings.

Another female artist – FRIZ from the Northern Ireland.

Novice, a street artist from Dublin. She is not a novice in the street art anymore. The meaning of the name is – never stop learning.

Rounding up my walk I found a puffin.

This is a work by Mehsos, an artist from Belgium.

Patrick street in the puffin’s eye – I know that he is watching me as I walk down the street.

The real life sparrows are watching me too.

Thank you for visiting Waterford.  Here is a link to the excellent website by Resa McConaghy, a costume designer and author from Toronto who knows and shares street art  – https://graffitiluxandmurals.com/ Please visit and follow.

Have a wonderful week!

129 comments

  2. What a generous place Waterford is, to host these amazing artists. Thank you for the stunning images – each a windows into a rich and surprising mythical world.

    1. Thank you so much! The works are sponsored by the local businesses and private individuals. French artists are always sponsored by their Embassy. I can imagine how costly such a huge scale work could be. But what a joy for all of us to walk or drive by 🙂

  3. Hello Inese,
    These are all stunning works of art! It must be a special experience to view them with the naked eye. And the sparrows at the of the post was another treat ❤ Thank you for sharing!

    1. Thank you, Takami ❤ The sparrows were so sweet, I couldn't resist using the picture. The little fella with his yellow lips looked so lonely, but his mother kept coming back to him.
      The city looks happier with all these colourful walls. A painted fox is better than no fox at all 🙂

    1. Well, it depends. Many of them have been repainted. Some stay since 2015. I’d rather they stay as long as the paint stays.

        1. We have too many grey walls, so everybody welcome 🙂
          Sometimes beautiful murals are repainted, and it makes me really angry, but then I think may be it was included in some contract or something like that.

      1. At my vast years a ‘good morning’ would be a luxury. Only following strong coffee in a cafe of choice does my day begin! Best wishes, young lady.

  6. Those are precious and captivating art works. Each of them is a universe to itself, and carries potent messages, reminders and warnings. I particularly loved the one called “Never Stop Learning”.

    1. Thank you Uma. Jess Tobin from Dublin took the name Novice when she started her journey as muralist, and she has no intention to change the name 🙂 Good girl.

  10. Thank you, Inese. Is so heartwarming to see bold artists giving life to the cities that otherwise would look grey and empty, or at least that impression I have seeing few persons in photos from Europe in general.

    1. Agree with you, Francis. Our social housing buildings have been made of cement and they are just grey. Well, it is wonderful that the country provides housing for the people who can not afford their own house. I don’t know if your country has such program. Not every country does. Anyway, the artists add the missing color 🙂

      1. There is an architectural trend from the seventies called Brutalism, it is just cement without painting. I think it is very nice but only if it has natural elements as wooden floors, ceramic tiles and, and this is very important, much vegetation. Otherwise it looks lifeless : ) There are programs that help with credits to families with low resources (and I cannot afford them xP) although I think there is not much housing problem now that population is not growing in numbers so much. I think in Europe, although there is not much growth of population, due to the persons moving from work they require always a home in other place.
        Good artists ^_^

    1. Thank you so much. I was standing and looking at the foxes and all those windows and doors… It wasn’t easy for the artist to fit her composition in such a difficult wall. Then I thought – neither it is easy for foxes to fit in the human-populated world.

  14. The sparrow birds at the end were adorable. I loved all the creativity with paintings on a mural. The astronaut caught my attention. Another lovely post. Hope you are well. ❤

    1. Thank you so much! It is the second astronaut gifted to the city. I love them too, and I love the creative use of the electric box 🙂 If you go back and imagine these streets without the artworks, you get a sad picture.
      I haven’t been to your page a while. Your book must be out by this time. Sending good wishes ❤

      1. You’re welcome. I’m up to chapter 8 to do editing is a slow process. I’m half way there. I take a break between chapters. A chapter can take one to two days to edit. I have been hibernating from wordpress and only post once a month.

        1. Delighted to hear about your progress and look forward to reading your new book, Joseph. Are you still living in that magic place in the woods? Are you stocked up for winter?

  15. Thank you so much for this wonderful, wonderful tour. Your work is such a blessing… I also appreciated the links to the artists, too. What a glorious range of styles and approaches.

    1. Thank you so much for your lovely comment! I shared the links because I love to browse through them too 🙂 Such talent there. I am grateful for all these talented people and their sponsors. The city has never looked more beautiful 🙂

  16. This was some of the best street art I have seen all year! Appreciate the comprehensive post that was written with brevity and clarity
    I plan to explore the artist links later but for now I chew on the nuggets you gave us
    —
    And I like the times you captured people inside the shot – like the opening one with the young man in front of gate and between faces! Wow!
    Loved the older lady walking by the mural of the young woman (By Taquen)
    And the family by the foxes

    1. Thank you so much for your kind comment. These walls give some colour to our otherwise grey city. It makes such a difference.

  18. Even being colourblind I am picking out some colours on these amazing shots, red/brown the easiest, Inese. If I had to vote for a favourite it would be Taquen from Madrid, although in fairness they are all great ~ George

    1. Thank you, George. I hope these works won’t be repainted too soon… I always hate when it happens. We have so many vacant walls, there is no need for the rush repainting.

      1. I don’t know if you heard about it on the news but the ‘Banksy’ Dover had painted on the wall of an old house on the road to the harbour got painted over by the Brexit mob because they didn’t like it there. It was worth up to £20 million ~ George

Comments are closed.