No street grate, pipe, manhole cover, stack of barrels or concrete blob on the beach is too random and irregular to be transformed into a lighthearted cartoon. Street artist Tom Bob looks for the potential in every alleyway, every sidewalk – seeing all sorts of creatures and scenes and bringing them to life in his signature vivid, playful style. You’ll never see street debris the same way.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tom Bob (@tombobnyc)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tom Bob (@tombobnyc)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tom Bob (@tombobnyc)

The artist posts many of his creations on Instagram, sometimes showing before-and-after shots that give us an idea of just how mundane the scenes looked before he arrived with his cans of paint. Abandoned construction equipment becomes giant insects, a squashed traffic cone is roadkill, utility boxes turn into monkeys or crabs. The pieces seem to send a message that fun is wherever you want to find it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ6uIsCg6ax/?taken-by=tombobnyc

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLFh9tFhMO9/?taken-by=tombobnyc

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tom Bob (@tombobnyc)

With everything going on in the world, it’s good to have some levity to balance out the bad. The artist – whose real name is Thomas Bobrowiecki – was born in Massachusetts and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Design at Southeastern Massachusetts University.