Results matching “paint”

I visited the city of Lindos in Rhodes in early August. The city is one of the most popular attractions on the island, and it is known for its acropolis dating from 280 B.C., which is built on top of the hill, and its 14th century castle (from the Knights of St. John), forming the level below the acropolis. The city has narrow streets that wind up the hillside, a variety of restaurants and cafes, a beach, and it is a popular destination with tourists. 

I enjoyed exploring the city and finding little hidden viewpoints - attractive architecture and white-washed buildings, staircases, snoozing or playing cats, beautiful flowers, and views over the beach.

The donkeys are a popular sight to see in Lindos and can give rides, but they were just hanging around in the shade with their owners.

The city itself is packed with tourists, and there are many shops selling souvenirs.

I caught views of the old castle from the city below, and above the castle is the acropolis.

Of course, I enjoyed looking inside the shops.

I wanted to take a boat trip to some caves, but there wasn't anything. Boats can be hired, and there are also tours that visitors can book onto in advance. The beachfront also has a few restaurants.

I ate at one restaurant, but I stayed indoors as the weather was quite warm. The rooftops look amazing to enjoy, but the humidity was strong. I enjoyed feta cheese in batter. The feta cheese tastes amazing in Rhodes.

I also sipped on a mocktail, and it was refreshing.

I also walked up to the acropolis, but I will post more about that later as it deserves its own post.

On the way out of town, there are beautiful viewpoints of the city and its famous acropolis.

Lastly, I visited the Virgin Mary of Lindos Church, known as Panagia. This church does not look too much on the outside, but inside is covered with 15th century paintings. It really is beautiful inside, and it is worth to visit for a small fee. There is also a museum inside the church with some of the religious items and information for those interested to read it.

Lindos really was a highlight of my trip to Rhodes, and I recommend it. Note that there are multiple streets that eventually merge together to reach the top of the acropolis, as long as you keep walking up. It does feel very maze-like. Keep coming back to read about the acropolis and to see my photographs.

Earlier this year, Hanbury Street became the location of a new street art mural collaboration between several street artists. The artists included Micho Gato, Cranio, Jay Kaes, and Otto Schade. Micho Gato is a Spanish street artist who has painted cartoon cat creates across London for the past few years. Cranio is a street artist from Brazil who paints blue native men in some rebellion against greed or other destructive factors. Jay Kaes is a London-based street artist who paints portrait close-ups with an illustrative style; his work has been appearing in London often over the past few years. Otto Schade uses an illustrative "ribbon" style of street art.

Micho Gato's yellow cat appears to be peeking from a window at Cranio's blue tribal man, who is using an axe and surrounded by mushrooms.

This leads to Jay Kaes' illustration of a woman's mouth and her hands holding a cube with a heart on it.

Next to that, a ribbon finger by Otto Schade points toward Jay Kaes' work with ribbons coming off it. Under the street sign is another of the cats by Micho Gato.

On the end, Micho Gato has stacked some cat heads in various shades of colour from white through to yellow, orange, browns, and black. At the top is the had of one of Cranio's blue figures.

I also captured one of Cranio's "Batman" figures. This was in Dalston at the back of the gallery.

Previous artwork by Cranio on this blog can be seen by following the below links:

Cranio STOP WAR
Street Art by Cranio in Summer 2022
Cranio and Phlegm Collaboration in Dalston - War
Collaboration Street Art: Cranio & Fanakapan
Cranio - Collaborations with Himbad, Zadok, & Kazz
Cranio's Newest Mural on Pedley Street: Blue Natives 
Cranio Repaints His Wall on Brick Lane
Cranio's Mural on Great Eastern Street
Recent Street Art in Early 2014
Street Art: Cranio, Senna, HIN, and Mo
Street Art: Cranio
Cranio Returns to London in 2020 and Paints Brick Lane

For more work by Jay Kaes on this blog, see the links below:

Jay Kaes Beyond the Illusion
Recent Jay Kaes Street Art in London 2022
Street Art by Jay Kaes
Meeting of Styles Wall 2018
Jay Kaes Refreshes Pedley Street's Street Art
Jay Kaes and Falko One Murals on Old Street
Jay Kaes on Pedley Street
Early January Street Art and All-Female Paint-up in Blackall Street
Mural on Old Street by Kaes and Core246
The Final Days - Leonard Street and Blackall Street (Street Art)
'Meeting of Styles' London Street Art Festival 2014

I've previously posted about Otto Schade's street art in the following posts:

Otto Schade in East London and Hoxton
Otto Schade 2024 Street Art in Camden and Brick Lane
Otto Schade - Bull in a China Shop and Other
Otto Schade - The Viaduct and Other
Otto Schade on Farnshaw Street - Eva's Green Apple
New Snoopy Street Art and Other Street Art by Otto Schade in East London
Otto Schade Paints Donna Summer on "Bull In A China Shop" in Shoreditch and Others
Otto Schade Murals on Kingsland Road
Long Street - Otto Schade, CodeFC, The Krah
Street Art by Otto Schade
Otto Schade Paints "The Lady Don't Protest Enough" Mural on Bateman's Row
Otto Schade "Jack the Ripper 2040" Street Art
Otto Schade 'The Believers' and 'WTF'
'Bull in a China Shop', 'Osch-car' and 'Flies Around Sh*t'
Otto Schade 'Peace and Love on the Streets'
Street Artist Otto Schade Paints Southampton 'Zany Zebra' for Charity (and other work)
Street Art Round-up: Spring & Summer 2015
Otto Schade's New Street Art (Meerkats, Portraits, & More) in East London
New Street Art from Horror Crew, Swoon, Otto Schade, HIN, and others
Street Art: Otto Schade

Audley End House dates from the 17th century, and the house and gardens are managed by English Heritage. The property, located in Essex, is only a third of its original size today. The location was the former site of a monastery, which was then converted into a house by the owner who was gifted it by Henry VIII after the monasteries were dissolved. This house was visited by Queen Elizabeth I, and the original was demolished for a grander one to impress King James I. The family were disgraced after being found guilty of embezzlement, although the house was later given back to the disgraced family by King Charles II. This was my second visit to the house, and my visit was in mid-October.

I first went to check out the gardens, which were looking lovely with fall colour and late summer flowers still in bloom.

Dahlia and zennia flowers made a lot of colour in the gardens.

When I first visited the house, there was a pandemic, so I did not get to check many of the rooms. The garden buildings were open to visit, and I got to take a look inside the walled garden working gardener houses and the bothy, which some of the staff lived in.

Three men lived in the small garden building.

The fruit trees were laden with fruit - apples and pears.

I helped myself to a free apple.

After a quick walk around the pond and bridge, I made my way to the house to check out the formal gardens. The gardens were landscaped by Capability Brown.

Although it did get sunnier a bit later, I still appreciated the view and landscaped park land.

I then went inside the house. The first main room was the Great Hall.

There were a series of other rooms, such as this room used by ladies to withdraw to after supper. The ceiling is beautifully painted with scenes from the classical Greece period, and the walls were designed in Egyptian style.

This cozy corner of one of the long gallery rooms looks beautiful. It may have been a breakfast area.

A lot of cabinets of taxidermy were also located in the house. Most of them were birds, but there were also some mammals, including a house cat.

There is also a chapel inside.

A large nursery also takes up a large area upstairs.

There is also a coal room for heating water.

After the visit to the house, I enjoyed a pumpkin spice scone from the cafe. It was delicious.

The last rooms to visit were the kitchens and the servants' rooms - the milk room, laundry, larder, game room, and more.

To see my previous visit to Audley End House and Gardens, see below.

Late summer Visit to Audley End House and Gardens

When I was in Rhodes in early August, I had a tour of some of the sites that were away from where I was staying in Rhodes city. The tour bus drove up into the mountains where we stopped at Elafos Hotel and then Saint Nikolaos Fountoukli church where we could also explore the church. This is a rural part of Rhodes and picturesque, much different than the coastal areas and did not feel as warm either.

The journey up the mountain was filled with some beautiful views and many pine trees. It almost did not feel like we were in Rhodes.

There had been forest fires some years before, and we could still see the damaged caused in places.

On the mountain is the Elafos Hotel, which looks out of place in Rhodes but more like it belongs in Switzerland. We were able to go inside the hotel and have a drink and then visit the church next door at Profitis Ilias. The interior of the hotel has large windows with some views over the valley. The hotel dates from the late 1920s and the objective was to build a hotel in the beautiful scenery where the local deer (Dama Dama deer) are. The deer is a symbol of Rhodes. The hotel was expanded in the 1930s to what is seen today in the Alpine style.

After a drink at the hotel, I went to quickly explore the church next door.

It is a more modern interior.

Further up the road, we explored a very old church Saint Nikolaos Fountoukli. This church dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. The paintings are 15th century, and the church was built by Italians and part of the monastery.

A very old olive tree is located in front of the church, and there are also fig trees.

The sheep were wandering in the road around this area, which is a rural location. 

Also opposite the church is a fountain and artwork with the deer.

I found it to be a tranquil place to visit.

Another place we stopped at was a former monastery which was later converted into community use and used in World War II. The Italian fountain was built here and does contain fish. It is located in Psinthos.

Further along is a deer sanctuary. These deer have been brought to recover. This started with the fire, and the deer are cared after and can be seen along the road in this sanctuary.

There are many amazing things to see in Rhodes, and it was good to see a little bit of the island.

Every year, Cammas Hall Fruit Farm puts on a huge pumpkin display and other events throughout the year. It is a family-run farm on the border of Hertfordshire and Essex about an hour north of London. The farm operates "pick your own" fruit and vegetables, a restaurant, corn maze, and more. They have been hosting an annual pumpkin patch with pumpkin displays and Halloween fun for the past few years, and I've been wanting to go but never got around to it until this year October. This year, the pumpkin mosaic is even larger, and they have a pyramid made of pumpkins, a couple of Halloween tunnels (one of them scary), and a lot more.

Upon arrival, I was told to go through the Halloween tunnels. The first one is not scary. The second one is scary and optional. The first was a long tunnel with pumpkin lights.

Afterwards, I entered the second tunnel, which was scary. I was greeted by the button-eyed Coraline character, and she told me to choose between one of four doors and enter. I selected the right door, I think, and I entered into an area that was maze-like with different scary or spooky scenes. I was on edge as there are other characters around, some of them animatronics and some of them "real" and sometimes it may not be easy to spot who is real and who is not real. 

Beetlejuice and Wednesday Adams were there, and I walked through a lot of different settings and passed props. 

One area of the tunnel was maze-like with glowing paint.

I made it out alive, of course, and I then had time in the pumpkin patch. The pumpkins were arranged by different colours and sizes. There were the standard orange, dark orange, light orange, yellow with stripes, grey, and a brown colour. I have never seen the brown colour pumpkins before. The grey ones are the best for eating. 

The pumpkin pyramid was actually a volcano. In the top was a real flame that would go "off" and make a rumbling sound, and smoke would also come off the other side. Visitors can walk inside it and out the other side.

I treated myself to a hot chocolate and a pumpkin sugar cookie.

There were also other people dressed up as scarecrows and taking photographs.

The brown pumpkins were unique to me as I had never seen a brown pumpkin before.

There were also gourds and squash and ones that had been crossed over to create their own hybrid. The only thing that I do not seem to find anywhere in England (which we have in America) is the decorative corn ("Indian corn").

There are many photo opportunities around.

I also had a look at the corn maze, which is dinosaur-themed this year. They are also hosting live music with a spooky Halloween theme.

Happy Halloween!

My friends and I went to Roast restaurant in Borough Market, London, last weekend to indulge in some spooky Halloween afternoon tea and cocktails. I had the vegetarian menu as the non-vegetarian one contained several beef and pork savouries. The afternoon tea and cocktails have a spooky Halloween theme. Last year, one of my friends and I visited for the "Day of The Dead" afternoon tea, which was popular: "Day of the Dead" Afternoon Tea at Roast.

The restaurant was decorated with skulls, pumpkins, and sunflowers. The sunflowers were part of the summer decorations, and these blended together with pumpkins and scarecrows. The skulls were the same as last year's but painted over.

I ordered the spiced chai tea and the cocktail "Pumpkilled". This was served in a skull glass, and it is a gin and citrus mix and served with mint and an ice cube, shaped like a pumpkin and coloured orange.

The sandwiches at the top were: Bridge roll with coronation chickpea, Nordic seeded sandwich with tofu, and bagel with cream cheese and roasted pepper. The chickpea and tofu ones were nice, but I don't like cream cheese as I find the flavour too strong and dislike the texture.

The savouries included a Bratwurst sausage roll (made with pea protein instead of pork), falafel with hummus, and a soft cheese tart (from the vegan menu to replace the Bratwurst Scotch egg made with pea protein).

The sweets were all cream-based. They included ghost mushroom with meringue and vanilla cream with berry, the spider web with coffee-flavoured cream (which I was not able to taste) and a little bit of sponge, and sweet pumpkin skull with chocolate mousse cream.

We also received a charcoal black scone with a serving of clotted cream and strawberry jam.

I liked the pumpkin ice cube in the cocktail.

I also had the "Devil's Whisper" cocktail, and this included rum and grapefruit. Sweet chilli formed horns with some black salt on the rim.

I also had the "Eye-land Curse" served in a tikki glass with an eyeball made of lychee and grape. The ingredients are rum, pineapple, and cranberry. This was the strongest of the cockails.

One of my friends had the "Petal and Poison", which was similar to the passionfruit martini.

I got some photographs of the decor before leaving. One of the scarecrows would make noise when people walked by it too closely.

The afternoon tea was okay and similar to last year. The only issue is that even though we gave our dietary requirements in advance and I called to confirm receipt, we had to go over them again and they could not accommodate all. The pastries are also all cream-based with not much difference or flavours between them, and the savouries were all either pork or beef. However, we liked the Halloween theme.

LUAP is an artist who uses a pink bear as the main subject of his work, and the pink bear theme hopes to allow people to think about mental health. In this work painted a couple of years ago in London's east end, the pink bear is sitting down looking sad with a bunch of flowers. This is one of 2,000 murals painted (or sculpted) in the UK with the pink bear.

Bristol-born street artist Inkie started placing up street art in the 1980s, and he has worked with many big brands and regularly paints in Bristol and is a firm favourite in the town and often painting for Upfest. The artist uses an illustrative style with text and bold colours. When I was in Bristol this summer, I captured a few of his murals; a few of them are located in Bedminster with others more central. The first one was painted on Tobacco Factory in 2023 for Upfest and is a collaboration with Silent Hobo, who created the illustrations of characters. 

The mural supports local community and the environment and is titled "Planet Local". Below is detail of Silent Hobo's work in the mural, and Inkie created the text.

Another Upfest mural was painted in 2018 featuring previous famous resident and engineer Brunel.

A lot of Inkie's work contains illustration as well, and this is normally a female with long hair. The next few murals use the same imagery.

The below mural was painted in 2022.

More street art by Inkie on this blog can be seen in the following links:

Inkie in Worcester
Inkie Street Art in Camden
Leicester Street Art
Worcester Big Parade Elephant Trail
Bristol Street Art Round-up 2018
Bristol Upfest 2018
Minerva's Owls Sculpture Trail in Bath
Street Art Tour of Birmingham
Bristol Upfest 2015
Whitecross Street Party 2014
British Phone Boxes BTArtbox

Street artist Taqi Spateen, who is from Palestine, painted a mural at Upfest in Bristol in 2024. The work in Bristol is part of a series with other pieces in Leeds, Glasgow, Stroud, and London. The mural painted features his two children and symbolises them unlocking their future. The artwork is a symbol of hope for many young people caught in conflict.

Other work on this blog by Taqi Spateen can be seen below:

Taqi Spateen and JimmyC Collaborate on Hanbury Street

I visited Bristol in July this summer, and it has been awhile since I have been to the city. On my visit, I wanted to see the new street art since I last visited, and I was not disappointed as I discovered several new works from the previous few years that were painted for the famous Upfest street art festival and at other various times. Bristol is a popular place for street art, and two of the areas to look include Bedminster, where the majority is, and around the centre of the city. Below are some of the works that I discovered, although readers of my blog will have seen that I've already posted particular pieces in separate posts.

KMG and MUL

Remho

MUL

Unknown

Ivan Tortajada

DFTE

ATM

Sepc

AL Grime and ILLDES

Unknown

Maybe Paints

Wrdsmith

Jacqui Butterworth

Cheba

Jody

Hazard One

Angie Jerez

Sophie Long

Michael Henry

MUL

unknown and Taina

Victoriano

Cheo

unknown

Anna Higgie

unknown

unknown, Alex Lucas, Zoe Power

unknown

unknown

Rainbo

Emily Joy Rich

Ments

Jess Knight

Farrah Fortnam

Secp

Kashink

Grb Stobbs

Dino

Farrah Fortnam

Tony Stiles

Audkawa

3rd Eye

Uncle

Paul Monsters

Unknown

The_hass

unknown

DNZ

Rainbo

Alba Bethclub

unknown

Andis

unknown

Martin Dacy