Portugal – Natural adventures

Thursday doors – 15 December 2022

Doors 203 – My favourite doors of 2022 – a review

It is customary on the last Thursday before the Christmas break to present a selection of favourite doors from the last year. This is my selection, and I had some real beauties to choose from this year. I hope you enjoy them this second time round. I look forward to seeing other Thursday door selections too.

Green Hut door, Alpe d'Huez, France, February 2022 — Green Hut door, Alpe d’Huez, France, February 2022

Green arched door, Filton, Bristol, March 2022

Red door, lilac walls and a temple, Montpelier, Bristol, April 2022

Ghost door at Phillimore Chambers, Westminster, London, May 2022

An extraordinary door and carved wooden surround and awning, Westminster, London, May 2022

Three doors, including a tradesman's entrance, Westminster, London, May 2022 — Three doors, including a tradesman’s entrance, Westminster, London, May 2022

Porto Tram with side doors, line 18, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Possibly my favourite door of the trip, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Lighthouse with red door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Arched green door, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Old black door and steps, Bristol, October 2022

Pair of doors, Montpelier, Bristol, April 2022

So that’s it for the year. 2022 has been a very difficult year for so many reasons. I guess it is fitting that the final pair of doors in blue and yellow represent the colours of a country that I hadn’t given much consideration before dictator Putin’s “special operation” and invasion this year. I dedicate this gallery of doors to the people of Ukraine, keeping them very much in my thoughts this Christmas.

May I take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy holiday season, and Christmas. See you all on the other side.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.

by Scooj

4857. Porto (15)

Fedor and Costah, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

One of the key differences between street art in Bristol and street art in Porto is the walls to paint on. In Bristol, most of the walls are brick, rendered, shutters, containers or hoarding. In Porto, sun-bleached stone walls and breeze block walls are favoured by artists, although commissions tend to be on rendered walls, much like at home.

This is a lovely piece by Fedor (a street artist and graffiti writer from Porto), fringed with some Costah paste ups to its left. The wise old dog is beautifully painted and the mastery of working with a spray can, can be seen in the dog’s nose, with three shades (like a stencil) providing texture and depth. A lovely and slightly weathered piece.

4856. Porto (14)

I love this. If you are going to create street art in Porto, what better medium to use than tiles? Looking back through my photographs of Porto street art, my only regret is that I didn’t find more of these installations by Berri Blue than I did.

Berri Blue is a Polish/Irish artist working in Porto who believes that interpretation of her work is up to the viewer. Well I fully approve of that, but interpretation of her work could end up down a rather macabre blind alley, so I will take a more superficial viewpoint and thoroughly enjoy the artwork and presentation, including the selection of location. The people of Porto are blessed to have pieces like this one in their city.

4855. Porto (13)

This piece, by Costah, was photographed in early June and is clearly in support of Ukraine. The shock waves of Putin’s aggressive war against Ukraine since then have contributed to human suffering far beyond the borders of the two countries. There is little that citizens of Europe can do apart from offering help and hope.

Costah has placed a pair of his characters in a solemn embrace in the centre of a Ukrainian flag and the word HOPE. In an act of solidarity for the oppressed, he has also listed Palestine, Myanmar, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq along the foot of the piece. Pieces like this remind us about the bigger picture and take us away from our first world problems, at least for a moment.

4854. Porto (12)

Antoine Caramalli, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Although small, this wheatpaste was probably the most striking piece of street art that I came across in Porto. The placement of the piece was key, being on a bright yellow wall in a side street. The curious would stop and take a closer look, others would stroll on by without a glance.

The wheatpaste is by a French? artist Antoine Caramalli whose work appears to be strongly themed and considered. The two characters, a man and a girl are riding an octopus, and why not? And the man is wearing a pair of blue and red 3D glasses, a recurring theme in the artist’s work. Unusual and intriguing.

4853. Porto (11)

Although I have more than enough Bristol pieces I want to share on Natural Adventures, I feel it would be wrong not to also feature a few more pieces from my trip to Porto in June this year. It is remarkable how different these pieces are from the kind of thing we see back home, and it illustrates how each country/city has its own distinct style and culture.

This small selection is from Hazul, who would appear to be the most prolific artist in Porto, alongside Costah. Judging from the aged look of some of Hazul’s pieces, I would guess that the artist has been painting the city walls for quite some time.

Hazul specialises in beautiful abstract designs, normally painted in soft muted colours, and quite often incorporates a crystal, acting like a signature. I think that I have enough photographs of Hazul’s work to do a little gallery, which demonstrates both the endurance and proliferation of the artist’s work.

Thursday doors – 10 November 2022

Doors 199 – Porto doors (Part 12)

So here it is. You have been most patient with my series on Porto doors, and today I bring you my last post on what was a doorscursion and a half last June. In graffiti speak, this would be called a ‘dregs’ piece – using up what is left behind, and as such it is a rather eclectic collection. June seems so very, very far away, but seeing these pictures brings me comfort as we enter the dark winter period.

I hope you enjoy this selection.

First up is the most popular café in Porto, the Majestic Café, with its stunning facade – a number one destination for tourists, and you can see why.

Majestic Cafe doors, Porto, Portugal, June 2022 — Majestic Café doors, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Majestic Cafe interior, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

The remaining doors are from different parts of the city, photographed over three magical days.

Steps and doors, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Green door with beautiful 1852 gate, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Tatty doors on a grand old building, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Old doors with nice metalwork, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Old blue/brown doors, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Botched repair doors, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Doors from a derelict building, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Derelict doors, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Farewell fair Porto – next week I might have a few Bristol doors to share.

by Scooj

Thursday doors – 3 November 2022

Doors 198 – Porto doors (Part 11)

I have managed to draw out doors from Porto for the whole of the summer, and this selection probably represents my penultimate gallery from a wonderful three days in the city back in May. There is no theme this week, just a random selection. Enjoy:

Sandeman port anyone? Gate door, Porto, Portugal, June 2023

Doors in a gate (sorry about the useless picture), Porto, Portugal, June 2023

Small utility door, Porto, Portugal, June 2023

No72 doors could do with a little TLC, Porto, Portugal, June 2023

Red door with a large tag (Mage?), Porto, Portugal, June 2023

No2 red doors, Porto, Portugal, June 2023

Soon I will be reverting to Bristol doors, street art/graffiti doors as well as a few doors from a summer holiday trip to Croatia.

by Scooj

Thursday doors – 20 October 2022

Doors 197 – Porto doors (Part 11)

Another very short one this week, I am way too distracted by the disintegration of democracy in the UK, driven by far-right ‘think tanks’. It seems so very sad that a selfish few have ruined so much for the rest of us and utterly trashed our international reputation and status. Enough about that – I could go on for pages!

Once again, I return to Porto for this week’s selection. All of these doors or doorways, belong to São Bento station which is famed for its elaborate azulejo tile work in the main vestibule. I don’t have time to offer a history of the station, but am simply sharing some snaps of this incredible 19th century space. I hope you enjoy:

The vestibule, São Bento station, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Doors in the vestibule, São Bento station, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

Tile mural in the vestibule, São Bento station, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

That’s it for this week, I’m afraid.

by Scooj

Thursday doors, Porto – 6 October 2022

Doors 197 – Porto doors (Part 11)

Porto – the gift that keeps on giving, at least when it comes to Thursday doors. A very quick one this week as I have ‘ground rush’ finishing off jobs before taking a few days off from work, fishing in Cornwall. This time I have a fairly random set of doors from Porto, no theme to speak of. I hope you enjoy them.

Row of green doors (look carefully), Foz do Douro, Porto, May 2022

Door in the museum of the Monument Church of St Francis, Porto, May 2022

Dogwash door, Foz do Douro, Porto, May 2022

Lighthoouse door, Foz do Douro, Porto, May 2022

Door and tiles, Foz do Douro, Porto, May 2022

That’s it for another week – only a couple more weeks of Porto doors… I promise.

by Scooj

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	scooj on To ‘The Old Smoke’

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