Just stating facts on Kippax Street, Surry Hills.

The typography’s slightly middle Eastern or Ottoman – “FAME ON ZE WALL” – it looks pretty considered, except for the W.

You can find it right next to a Jumbo & Zap paste up from November.

This jaunty chap was spotted on Wade Place, Surry Hills.

He looks like some kind of top heavy, new breed of future robot. Harvesting energy from his gait, solar panel for a hat, he’s all head and arms. And he’s not alone.

Two red robots and a black one. Some kind of metaphor?

This linocut kid holding a spray can is up on the corner of Jesmond and Crown Streets, next to the Blank Space gallery.

On the other side of Jesmond Street, this sticker covers a Telstra box – a comment on Telstra’s practices, a general comment about telecommunications/electrical infrastructure, or just a random surface to paste something on?

This spaceman is near the corner of Mary Lane and Albion Way, Surry Hills.

Paste ups occupy pretty much the same spot in the hierarchy of street art as tags. Quick to get up on a wall, and often barely sketched out, they rarely rise above their function.

For a while the only creative, really original paste ups we saw were from Jumbo and Zap. They’ve been quiet, so it’s good to see new characters pop up.

It’s Valentine’s Day on the weekend, so it’s no surprise to see people breaking out their best romantic moves in the neighbourhood.

These two are walking home via a bollard on Macdonald Street, Paddington – just over the bridge from Darlinghurst, after it stops being Burton Street.

It’s a paste-up, with Mini Graff’s distinctively clean, pop style, though it’s the first of her cute characters I’ve seen about in a while.

An activist/street artist called the Invisible Man has left small plaques on walls and telegraph poles around inner city Sydney, particularly Surry Hills and Darlinghurst. But recently, the Invisible Man’s branched out.

At this spot on Premier Lane, Darlinghurst, and on a few other walls around town, the Invisible Man’s appeared as a copycat of This Is For That’s alphabaffiti.

We’ve had people searching the blog for various combinations of ‘Darlinghurst’, ‘Sydney’ and ‘invisible’ or ‘invisible man’ every day for the past month or so. And at least one report, in the comments, of hand delivered material from Invisible Man.

Then one of our readers, Steve, noted this plaque on the corner of Farrell Avenue and Kirketon Road, Darlinghurst.

Hard to see, I only caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye. It’s stuck to the curb that forms the garden bed on the little traffic island at the intersection of Farrell Avenue and Kirketon Road.

This one is for Lisa Marie Smith and references something happening with her in Bangkok in ‘96 – and on a side note, asks to ‘FREI BOGAN SCHAPELLE CORBY’.

It’s also got what looks like a giant spliff on it.

And then this…

Walking down to Cafe Hernandez on a recent morning, we noticed this artwork on a shelf, dated 2007 – clearly by the same artist – Damien Jones.

Back to work, and at least on this Liverpool Street downpipe, it’s back to meetings with suits and briefcases.

It’s that time of year, I guess. Darlinghurst isn’t too corporate, but when people are stepping out about now, it’s for meetings not parties.

The girl whistles a song to pass the time. The boy’s peaked hat gives him a bit of a Boys Own vibe as he teaches their pet to heel (is that a squirrel or a dog?).

You can find these inner city kids on Fitzroy Lane, Surry Hills.

Reminds me of this man, who appeared on Clarkson’s Mill Way, Darlinghurst, in March last year.

There’s a new paste-up on the wall of the Hopetoun Hotel, Surry Hills, by Jumbo and Zap.

But it’s not just Bourke Street, and it’s not just those two.

Whoever is Premier of New South Wales next week might well front up to a press conference on Macquarie Street and talk about getting tough on graffiti. But on the streets this year, Sydney has witnessed a huge resurgence in public art — for its own sake. We’re enchanted by the stuff because it’s ephemeral, because it adds an unexpected magic to our streets, and mostly because it’s absolutely obviously clear that the artist made it for us.

That’s the beginning of a piece I wrote, covering a lot of great stuff that’s had first airing here, you can find the rest at New Matilda.

We’ve had a few leads on ‘alphabafitti,’ as Kym Chapple calls it, appearing about town.

But there’s something about this one, on Roslyn Street, Kings Cross, that makes me wonder – copycat or the real? So I went back to the source, and it’s no copycat.

I like running through some of the recent this is for that hits, W is for “Weather Girl” is a particular favourite.

There’s a stand-off happening on Church Lane, between Bourke and Little Bourke Streets in Surry Hills.

Two cherubs, with birds flying from a cavity in each babe’s stomach. Or are they stealth fighters?

They’ve been on the wall of Object gallery’s office, in the St Margaret’s redevelopment, since the artist Jason Wing’s show (with Vernon Ah Kee).