Archive for the ‘graffiti and street art’ Category

feeling hungry?

Posted: January 16, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, public art, stores
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You can almost find it by following your nose!

I’ve been in many alleys where the smell has been less than desirable but today I was taking pictures in an alley that smelled wonderful!  A small alley running south from Bloor Street beside the The Dirty Bird restaurant….or more accurately The Dirty Bird Chicken & Waffles.

And the pictures that I was taking there?
Well, they were of chicken and waffles and people eating of course!

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a woman is sitting at a table in the restaurant

Elicser has painted a mural in the alley alongside the restaurant.

a man in a red baseball cap on backwards is drinking,

below: I love how the straw is placed!

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a man is sitting at a table in the restaurant . he has a very large chicken and waffle sandwich in front of him as well as a pink milkshake. The red and white straw of the miclkshake is actually a venting pipe

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a woman and a man are sitting at a table in the restaurant eating chicken and waffle sandwiches

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a woman is sitting at a table in the restaurant with a very tall chicken and waffle sandwich in her hands

 

sort of Queen West

Posted: January 15, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, stores
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I started walking Graffiti Alley the other day but I didn’t stick to my plan.  I meandered and wandered through other alleys as well as I generally headed west.

below: A bright, vibrant, wonderful piece by birdo in an alley north of Queen Street West.

a birdo mural on a garage door of a woman in grey tones with a round red mouth in the shape of an O. she is holding her hand up near her face and a bird is sitting on it. The background of the mural is red and greenish triangles.

below: Another birdo nearby

birdo mural on the side of a building, a red high heel shoe, a brown circle, a grey head plus the colourful geometric shapes often found in a birdo mural, in reds and turquoise

below: Only remnants remain.  Was it a stikman?  Or was it something else?

a tiny bit of a stikman is left on a post that is covered with spray paint.

below: Auston Matthews already has his picture on T-shirts.
It can’t be easy having the hopes of all those Maple Leaf fans resting on your shoulders.

in front of a store that seels T-shirts, a blue T-shirt based on the famous Obama Hope poster, but this time the portrait is of a Maple Leaf player with the word hope below.

below: Of course normal is boring. What I need is a t-shirt that says “rather be walking”

Two t-shhirts in a store window, a grey woman's t-shirt with the words Normal is Boring on the front and a black t-shirt with the words rather be in bed.

below: This wall is not new but there is usually a car parked in front of it when I walk past.  King Reign and Son of S.O.U.L. were two Toronto hip hip artists who passed away in 2016.

a wall in Graffiti Alley, layers of different artist's work, some uber 5000, some elicser, plus a grey ton picture of two men wearing caps with the words son of soul king reign written underneath them.

below: Stickers on a box

stickers on a small metal box on a brightly coloured wall. almost the whole box is covered, a lovebot heart, a pink cat, a blue octopus, a shark, plus some stickers that are ads for music or records.

below: I love the juxtaposition of the car in the mural with the real cars parked in the alley. Also the alignment of the first two walls makes the painting look like one.

in an alley, a white car is parked between a blue car and a mural painting of a blue car. There is also a mural of three people with the words summertime in the city.

below: This is another painting that I saw in Graffiti Alley.
I think that it’s new, or at least I don’t remember seeing it before.

a street art painting on the back of a building in an alley, a surreal piece with a cube with one side as a face, two creatures are floating out of the top of the cube - they are tethered to each other. The bottom creature is half in the cube and the surface of the cube looks like liquid.

below: Your words of advice for today.

a street art piece in an alley that is purple background with with a dripping brownish circle with two eyes and the words don't forget to drink water. The alley is also in the picture with parts of a couple of other murals visible

below: Fake. as in Fake news. Fake people. Fake money.  Fake graffiti artist?

the man from the monopoly game is painted on a wall. Someone has sprayed a white x through his face and written the word fake on his top hat.

below: These grey paper paste-ups have appeared on top of a number of street art paintings in Graffiti Alley.
I’m not sure who did it or why.
a grid of grey paper paste ups has been put on top of a abstract street art painting on a wall in an alley.

below: Blowing bubbles. Looks irresistibly ready for someone to pop it!
It was painted by @wamurals aka WayneArt

on the corner of Queen West and a smaller side street, the Convenience Canada store with a small white picket fence outside of it. On the wall is a mural of a woman blowing a big pink bubble with gum and the words head candy written above her head.

below: Hidden houses. Being pushed out by the big boys.

three layers, in the background a high rise building, in the middle ground, the tops of three single family homes on Richmond Street, in the foreground, poster covered hoardings for construction on Queen Stree West.

below: Half of a lovebot in a doorway.

half of a large black lovebot painted in a doorway (one side of him). A black lovebot with yellow details and a red heart.

below: A whole lovebot mixing it up with another creature.  I think it’s by grominator but I’m not sure.
I like to think of it as lovebot fighting his demons.

a lovebot mural in an alley, he looks to be fighting a grominator monster

below: Look up, way up, to find the switch from love to fear.
Yikes!, it’s switched to fear now and it’s not going to be easy to change it.

high on a wall, a small 3D lovebot heart beside a light switch that is love on one side and fear on the other.

below: Lucy and trouble and a weird looking face in a messy dimly lit doorway that assaulted my nose.

in a dimly lit doorway, a lot of scribbles and graffiti including a roughly drawn face, the word Lucy and the word trouble

below: Many of the planters along Queen West have been painted including this tribute to Gord Downie.

a rectangular cement planter on Queen Street west with pine and cedar boughs in it. The sides have been painted. On the end is the head of a lion, on the side is the word courage and a picture of Gord Downie from the music group The Tragically Hip

a rectangular cement planter on Queen Street west with pine and cedar boughs in it. The sides have been painted. On the end is the roman numeral 4 and a red heart. On the side is a black cat walking on a red background.

below: A little astronaut floats away. But he’s not up in the air where you’d expect to find him. He’s way down low near the ground.  Perhaps he’s not floating away, perhaps he’s falling back to Earth?

a small paste up of an astronaut floating in space, on a black wall, close to the ground.

Don’t over think it though.  Just keep your eyes open and ready for the unexpected!

ode to a squirrel

Posted: January 12, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations, nature
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But not just any squirrel.  Toronto has many, many squirrels.  Most of them are black and a few are grey or even a reddish colour.  The rarest squirrels in the city are the albino squirrels.  I’m not sure how many there are but they can most often be seen around Trinity Bellwoods Park.

It is fitting then that this mural is next to the park, in a little lane just north of Queen West that ends at Gore Vale Avenue.  It’s a very large albino squirrel; it looks like it fits comfortably into a lovebot heart.

a large mural on white wall of a red lovebot heart and on the heart is a large albino squirrel (white squirrel) with pinkish eyes and ears.

a nippy morning in Kensington

Posted: January 7, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, stores
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Hello! “What’s up?”  has become “sup?”  I see.

a small collection of little things on a wall including the word sup? made with white strips of wood. Also the word hello is painted on the wall. Collage includes a large spring, a light bulb and blobs of something orange.

Well, let me show you some of what’s up in Kensington these days.

two hysro poles, one with a lot of signs on it and the other with three horizontal wood sections at the top of it. Signs are a street sign for Kensington Ave in both English and Chinese, a yellow no dumping sign that has been covered in stickers, and a no parking sign. Signs for Chinese businesses are in the background.

  It’s a much quieter place on a nippy winter morning.

below:  Does anyone have an extra jacket they could lend her?  Frostbite isn’t fun.

graffiti on a wood fence, a painting of a bare breasted woman's torso.

below:  It’s Canadian patio weather so it can’t be that cold. Right?

view into a backyard from an alley, some snow on the ground, a Canadian flag is hung on a wall over two brown plastic Muskoka chairs and a small patio table. A string of Christmas lights is above the flag.

below: Loose bricks become loose teeth.  Some guy is trying to hide under the stairs.

street art painting of a face on the side of a building beside a construction site, building is an old house that is empty. face is painted under the marks on the wall where the stairs were, and teeth are loose bricks hanging vertically. a red and purple throw up text graffiti is in front of the painting.

below: Fathom graffiti on the foundations of an old house that has been torn down.
Hot and cold perhaps?

graffiti by Fathom on a brick wall at a construction site, line drawings in black of a man's face, a steaming cup of something hot, and a popsicle. Like hot and cold.

below: Filet of sole

The globe sculpture at Kensington that sits high on a pole. Two of the fish that swim around the globe, one of the fish has a pair of black and red nike shoes with their laces tied together, over the front of the fish.

below: Cool camel with his headless (mindless!?) glittery arm candy.

a mannequin with a camel mask on, wearing sunglasses, with a large ring through it's nose, wearing a robe with a busy pattern in shades of brown, another mannequin that is headless is beside the camel. The second mannequin is wearing a dress covered in shiny sparkly gold sequins.

below: Persian stews and a pink octopus…. what’s in a Persian stew?  If beef stew is beef and rabbit stew is rabbit….   well, I’ll assume that Persian stew isn’t Persians just like Irish stew isn’t Irishes.
I also liked the way that the street art on the open gate merged with the painting on the wall behind.

blog_persian_stew_octopus_graffiti

below: Still meditating with blinking – not distracted by the Christmas balls in front of her face.

mannequin in a window sitting in a yoga position, and covered in painted patterns, multicoloured, gold Christmas balls are hanging from the ceiling around her.

below: I thought that this was a window ornament, like the kid you see as a door knocker.  But when I zoomed in more closely, I found that is was an old curling trophy!

an old weathered curling trophy sits on a window ledge, where it has been tied on. Window behind, reflection of the trophy in the window.

below: A little sparrow doing some people watching, its feathers all puffed up to keep warm.

a little sparrow (bird) sits on a railing outside that is decorated with cedar boughs and red Christmas lights.

below: A woman and a rose in black and white, by bubz

a black and white mural by bubz, grey tones actually, of a woman with long hair and a white rose

below: Outdoor office.  I told you we Canadians were a hardy bunch.

an old office chair with black padded back and seat sits up on a small trash bin made of concrete blocks. A light dusting of snow covers all surfaces

below: Druid and a Christmas tree.

top part of a brick building, two windows, a Christmas tree in one of the windows, the word druid written in yellow spray pain above the windw, a new condo being built in the background
below: Lovebot, grominator, and a poser bunny all together by the rooftops.

blog_lovebot_grominator_poser_bunny

below:  A number of these little paste-ups (the guy in the yellow frame) by t-bonez have sprung up around downtown.   This one is on Augusta.

people walking in Kensington, walking past a wall with a pasteup on it of a man in uniform saluting he's drawn from the waist up and is in a yellow frame.

part of a mural in a Kensington lane of a woman with long dark hair and a white and blue dress, she is standing. In front of her is parked a bike.

below: Taking a snowy walk in the neighbourhood that is protected by Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum from the 3 Ninjas movies.

looking down a street in Kensington, looking towards Spadina, older brick housses on the street, a group of people walking down the sidewalk, snow on the ground, winter trees, a neighbourhood watch sign that has been altered with a picture of the three boys from the movie 3 Ninjas.

below: Everyone likes Christmas!  Even a stormtrooper….

a mannequin outside a store is dressed in a Star Wars white storm trooper costume with a Santa hat and a T-shirt with the face of a stormtrooper also with a Santa hat. The store is painted yellow and has a bright red door that is open

two t-shirts on display outside a store, both are white and both have heads of famous people wearing Santa hats. One is David Bowie and the other is E.T.

below: More rooftop graffiti.  This time, with new condo development behind.  The old brick buildings with glass monsters popping up behind them – a very familiar site these days.

graffiti on the top of a red brick building, trees in front, a large new condo being built behind.

below: In keeping with the sort of PG rating of this blog, I’ll show this poster as the background!

a woman in pink gloves is taking a picture of a graffiti paste up in a street, taking the photo with her phone

below: The end, no exit. I’ll go no further, except…..

the end of a dead end alley, with graffiti on one of the walls, and a sign that says no exit painted on the wall in white.

to say have a happy New Year and I hope that 2017 is filled with lots of opportunities to walk and explore!

part of a larger mural, black line drawings on white of two smiling faces

Have a blast!

wooden decorations on the upper part of a store, cutouts painted to look like two women sitting on top of rockets as they blast into space

when leaves were green.

Posted: December 20, 2016 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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As the year draws to a close many people like to look back and remember the year that was.  Me, I go through files and although I find memories, I also find partially finished blog posts.  I find ideas that I started to explore but there’s never enough time in a day to do everything you want.  If only I could stop the clocks for a while and catch up!

This is one of the blog posts that didn’t see the light of day earlier in the year.  These pictures were taken back in June, back when the leaves were green and people were wearing shorts.  This is the street art on the garage doors of Perly Family Lane.

below: … as well as one little stencil black bird high on a pole.

a small stencil of a black bird's head and neck on a piece of wood, mounted high on a telephone pole in a lane, along with a no parking sign, in Perly Family Lane in Toronto.

below: An intricate stenciled painting of deer among the trees, plants, and flowers with a humming bird hovering overhead and three swallows flying past.

stencil art on a white garage door. greenery, a hummingbird, three swallows in flight, a deer, some red flowers

below: A colourful door by Manik I think.

street art on a garage door in a lane, purple text graffiti with red and yellow background, colourful, abstract

below: The rest of the photos are paintings by Pascal Paquette.
They are abstract swirls and blobs of colour.

abstract street art on a garage door in a lane, by Pascal Paquette, swirls of colour

abstract street art on a garage door in a lane, by Pascal Paquette, swirls of colour

Pascal Paquette abstract street art on two adjacent garage door in a lane, by Pascal Paquette, swirls of colour

abstract street art on a few adjacent garage door in a lane, by Pascal Paquette, swirls of colour

Pascal Paquette abstract street art on two adjacent garage door in a lane, by Pascal Paquette, swirls of colour

I suspect that there will be a few more posts like this as I try to clear out the backlog that has accumulated over the year.  Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog…. and please come back and see what happens as we move into a new year!

 

radiating away from Roden

Posted: December 13, 2016 in alleys, graffiti and street art, public art, windows and walls
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The Roden in the title of this blog post refers to Roden Public School.  In their schoolyard they have this colourful mural, a fairly accurate map of the area with the school in the center.  The original school on this site was built in 1907-1908 as Ashdale School.  In 1910 it was renamed to honour Mr. E.P. Roden a long time school trustee.  The present school was built in 1969.

a mural on a conrete wall in a schoolyard that is a map of the area with the school in the center, colourful, about 8 feet high and twelve feet wide.

below: The school is just north of Gerrard St., between Coxwell and Greenwood, and south of the railway tracks.  I suspect that the 100 in the circle that marks the school has to do with the 100th anniversary of the school although I haven’t been able to find any information about the mural online.

close up of the center of a mural on a conrete wall in a schoolyard that is a map of the area with the school in the center, colourful, about 8 feet high and twelve feet wide.

All day Sunday, and well into the early hours of Monday morning, it snowed.  It’s been many months since I’ve walked on a snowy day.  It was a bit grey and there wasn’t a lot of contrast (as in light and shadow) in the scenery yesterday afternoon when I walked, but the novelty of white snow kept me interested (and warm!).   From Roden school I wandered westward.

below: Walking home after school.

A woman walks her two young children home from school, down a snowy lane, one on each hand. Their back is to the camera, houses, trees, hydro ples, a car on the street they are about to cross.

below: A cosy brown scarf and red hat, an avocado smile, celery arms are two doggie treat buttons on his tummy – a snowman living the easy life.  No standing around in the snow for him!

a little snowman stands on a chair outside. A red cap, celery for arms, avocado for mouth

below: This was my friend who accompanied me for part of my walk, meowing loudly most of the time.   I’m not sure what it was trying to tell me.  Maybe it was out enjoying the snow?  More likely it was looking for a warm place to snuggle.

close up photo of a black cat in an alley with some snow on the ground, garage doors and a large tree

below: Busy steps, quiet steps.

the back of two buildings, one has undeisturbed snow behind it and a sign over the door that says R Coin Laundry. The building beside it (and attached to it) is three storeys high. The upper two levels have a wood railing and balcony out the back. Snow on the ground but lots of foot steps in the snow.

below: Keeping an eye on the garage.  Eye spy!

An old single car garage with grey shingle material covering it. Yellowish beige garage door with a small brightly coloured street art piece on it that includes an eye

below: Bikes and deer in the alley.  A mother deers keeps watch over her fawn.

mural of many bikes, as well as some deer. Deer look life like, standing in the alley watching you. Graffiti animals, street art painting of deer on a cement block garage wall.

below:  On one hand, I want to say that  for those who want to look, there are many little surprises to be found in the lanes and alleys of this city.   But on the other hand, there are an incredible number of old cars parked in city backyards.  Some are neglected and clearly not roadworthy while others still have some life left in them.

looking through a hole in a blue fence, an old light blue car is parked in a backyard, covered with snow, the white of the house is behind the car.

below: Another car.

Close up of chainlink fence, rusty, but in focus. Out of focus behind it is an old blue car that is covered with snow. It is parked between two black vehicles.

below: Clowning around in a window.

A small figurine of a clown holding his hat above his head, blue jacket, red pants, black bowtie, small figurine in front of a plant with green and purple leaves.

below: I think it’s dub monkey, duh?

white stencil on a concrete wall that says dub monkey with the face of a monkey

below: Looking south to Gerrard Street.  Snow and slush, very Toronto in the winter.   The orange construction sign is also very Toronto, but in all seasons these days.

looking towards a street with two sem-detached houses, one is boarded up and the other isn't. A construction sign, a pedestrian on the sidewalk, a black dog.

below: Someone added some colour to the alley when they shouldn’t have.

a bright red shopping cart has been abandoned in front of a green garage door in a snowy alley

below: A mural by kairo, on a pink that packs a punch on a grey winter day.

mural of a woman's head by kairo. Background has been painted a dark pink, with white spots. WOman has long reddish brown hair.

below: More alley colour to brighten the day.

Back of a house in a lane. Gate covering bac is lopsidded, on an angle. The garage that faces the alley has a bright yellow door. Two storey semi detached houses, one brown and one reddish.

below: Someone loves their bike.  I find it a bit creepy that the picture is a skull.

a small painting that has been hung a fence. A white skull with the eyes drawn as the wheels of a bike. The words say I love my bike, with the word love being a small heart.

below: Wall art of another kind.  Shades of yellow.

Yellow wall with rust coloured upper part. Tags and graffiti have been painted over with different colours of yellow paint to produce a patchwork like effect.

below: Little ups and downs in the lane.   A large majestic winter tree stands over the lane.

looking down an alley, a two storey house, a large mature tree with no leaves, the brightening sky of the late afternoon as the cloud cover lifts enough to let a but of sunlight through. Snow in the alley, with tire tracks from a few cars that have driven over it.

below: A peacock mural.  Lahore Halal Meat store on the corner of Gerrard is a reminder that this part of Gerrard was/is referred to as Little India because of the large number of Indian (Southeast Asian) shops and restaurants.

building on the corner of two streets, two storeys, as seen from the back. Shops on the lower level and apartments upstairs. Large mural of a peacock on the side of the building, a large billboard on top of it. Lahore Halal Meat store on the corner.

below:  This photo is from the entrance to Lahore Halal Meat store in the above photo.   The material on the inside features brides and grooms within heart shapes and surrounded by white flowers.  Not what you’d expect in a meat shop!

An open door, glass paneled door, of a store, a red and white Open sign is at the bottom of the door, part of the exterior wall is blue tiles that are starting to fall off, the counter inside is covered with a blue and white material that is pictures of brides and grooms in heart shapes surrounded by flowers.

below: Textured concrete, broken bricks, and the remnants of a black stencil.

a wall. Upper part is brick. A swath has been painted white, but some bricks have broken off in front to reveal the brighter orangish red underneath. The bottom part of the wall is grey concrete that has been texturized with slanted lines.

below: Sunflowers reach for a sunny place.

looking down a lane. A mural on a wall is on the left. It is bright yellow sunflowers under a blue sky. Snow in the alley with car tracks from a few vehicles, trees, a house, osme garages,

below: A fork in the alley.  A jumble of lines.

snowy and icy alley, dooking downhill towards a fork in the road, garage doors on all sides, backs of houses in the background, alleys and lanes of east part of Toronto

a large sign advertising Kawartha Dairy ice cream, on a sidewalk on a sluchy winter day, large pink ice cream cone picture,

back to Wilson station

Posted: December 7, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Back in mid October I blogged about the new murals on the south side Wilson Ave as it passes under the Allen Expressway (where Wilson subway station is).

below: Looking across Wilson Avenue to part of the mural on the south side.

looking across Wilson Avenue, under the Allen Expressway towards a mural that has been painted on the pillars and supports on the other side. A face is painted there.

When I was there last,  the murals on the north side were not completed.   The other day I remembered that I hadn’t seen the finished work, so I took the subway back to Wilson station to see what the pillars on the north side look like.   There is more light on the north side as there are entrances to the subway along the sidewalk here.   There is also more pedestrian traffic.

pillars and supports under an overpass that have been painted in bright colours by smoky and shalak

This side was also painted by shalak and smoky (as was the south side).

pillars and supports under an overpass that have been painted in bright colours by smoky and shalak - swirls of purples and yellows

below: In the center by one of the well-lit subway entrances.

pillars and supports under an overpass that have been painted in bright colours by smoky and shalak - red pillars with blue geometric patterns in a band around it near the bottom

pillars and supports under an overpass that have been painted in bright colours by smoky and shalak

pillars and supports under an overpass that have been painted in bright colours by smoky and shalak - a face showing eyes and top of nose

below: Looking east along Wilson Avenue.

pillars and supports under an overpass that have been painted in bright colours by smoky and shalak - a large face in the center pillar, with hands gripping the outer pillars on each side of the face

below: A little street artist with his can of spray paint has been left in a corner.
He’s not easily spotted.

a grey tones painting of a man with a spray can in his hand, from the waist up

 

 

Peperonata Lane

Posted: December 6, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Peperonata Lane runs north from Harbord Street.    Most of the garage doors in the alley have been painted.  Some were painted as part of a Wallnoize project in 2013.

a lane running parallel to a park with garages on the other side, a line of large trees by the garages. Most of the garage doors are covered with street art

below: Take a seat… and see what kind of street art there is here.

a wooden chair is tied to a tree, autumn leaves on the ground, a row of garages in the background, a number of large trees,

below: A woman feeds the chickens.

mural on a garage door of a woman feeding some chickens in a yard with colourful laundry hanging out to dry, houses in the background, mural on a garage door.

below: This mural, done in 2009, is one of the older ones in the lane.

blog_mural_simple_houses_garage

below: A deer and a hawk

mural on a garage door, a deer and a hawk

below: Elicser people and a text painting by poise.

street art on a garage and fence by elicser and poise in a lane,

below: Split face on a fence, by fiya

blog_face_gate_halves_split

below: A poser bunny

a poser bunny and tag on a garage door in an alley

below: Multicoloured grumpy cat by shalak and clandestinos.

shalak and clandestinos painting of a colourful cat face and paw with claws, on a garage door and fence in a lane

below: Wrinkled man with fish in hand, by smoky

painting by street artist smoky of a wrinkled old man holding an ugly fish in his hand.

below: A garage door painted by miles.

street artist miles tag and colourful street art on a garage door

garage doors in a lane alleyway that have been painted with street art

 

 

From City of Toronto documentation on the naming of Peperonata Lane, November 2012:

“The residents whose properties border on the lane have provided the following background information on the proposed name:”
” …throughout each year, the Galle family, who’ve lived at 441Montrose (the east side) since 1972, includes many Montrose residents in their annual celebration of making the “sugo” or tomato sauce, the roasted peppers and peperonata party, and the spirited soppressata contest, which they bring from their home country of Italy. Everyone learns the old world techniques and celebrates their new life in our Canadian context.
To commemorate how our lives have been enriched by the Galles welcoming and generous spirits, and in keeping with the traditions they’ve taught us and that we’ve now made our own, we propose the lane be named “Peperonata Lane” as a way of celebrating their unsung contribution to our neighbourhood”.

painted Beatrice in the parking lot

Posted: December 5, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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On Beatrice Street just south of College there is a small parking lot.  The walls of the buildings on the north and east sides have been painted with a large mural called ‘A Stroll by Garrison Creek’ .

below: On the east side of the parking lot is a painting that represents Emily Bickford and her two daughters, Beatrice and Grace.  The street that the parking lot is on was named for Beatrice Bickford.  The next street parallel to Beatrice is Grace, named for Grace Bickford.   You might recognize the name Bickford if you are familiar with the area – Bickford Park is just south of Christie Pits.  Emily Bickford was responsible for donating some of her family’s land to the city to be used for parkland.

mural on the side of a brick building. Large. Three woman walking through long grass and chasing butterflies. A Stroll along Garrison Creek. Representing Emily Bickford and her daughters Beatrice and Grace.

below: You may have spotted the words Spud Bomb in the picture below.  Also, you might recognize the shapes in the dress that she wears as being similar to shapes seen in a lot of street art in Toronto.  They are the work of Pascal Paquette.  Both Paquette and Spud1 collaborated on this mural along with artist Artchild.

part of a larger mural, a young woman with her back to the viewer, walking through long grass

below: A large chickadee dominates the mural on the north side of the parking lot.

large mural of a chickadee, flowers, and butterflies

This mural was a StreetARToronto (StART) project, with help from VIBE Arts and the Toronto Parking Authority.   It was completed a couple of months ago, September 2016.

 

a monarch butterfly in a mural along with many pink and purple flowers

part of a larger mural, geometric and abstract shapes in many colours.

 

music makers on Yonge

Posted: November 17, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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As I was walking down Yonge Street yesterday I happened upon this, faces playing peak-a-boo with passersby on the street.  It’s a new 22 storey mural being painted on the north side of 423 Yonge Street.  A ‘musical mural’ featuring the faces of musicians from the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s.

a vertical mural painted on the side of a multi storey building, the mural is a series of faces.

below: From top to bottom: Ronnie Hawkins, Glenn Gould, Diane Brooks, Jackie Shane and Muddy Waters.

a vertical mural painted on the side of a multi storey building, the mural is a series of faces in a totem pole like arrangement

below: The bottom of the mural

musicians and singers painted in a mural, a black man in a suit, a black man playing a guitar, a man with longish hair singing into a mic with his eyes closed.

below: Looking up…. Shirley Matthews, B.B. King, Gordon Lightfoot and Oscar Peterson.

famous musicians and singers from the past painted on a mural, B.B. King, Gordon Lightfoot and Oscar Peterson

#yongemural | #adrianhayles

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