Archive for the ‘graffiti and street art’ Category

mademoiselle alley

Posted: September 16, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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On a hydro pole in Graffiti Alley, facing more to the nearest wall than to the alley, I discovered an intriguing collage. It was made of a series of pictures, old-style coloured pictures of women who look like they’d be more comfortable in the 1940’s and 1950’s….they’re straight out of vintage magazines.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman with short brown hair and a red v neck dress, from the waist up, eyes closed, face looking slightly downwards, on paper on a pole in a lane.

below:  A signature on the bottom of the artwork, Mademoiselle Berthelot.  She’s a street artist from Paris who recently left her mark in Toronto.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman, back of head mostly, flowers woven into her hair, signature of the artist, mademoiselle berthelot

Stylish women, like this one with long white gloves, surrounded by circles (bubbles?).  Circles made with splotches of paint and blue striped circles made with rubber stamps.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman in a low cut scoop neck dress, hands on her hips

If you look closely, there are pairs of birds sitting together on top of sealed envelopes.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman's head, mostly only the back showing, some small flowers braided into her hair.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman in a low cut yellow dress
So far, this is the only piece I’ve seen by Mademoiselle Berthelot.  Are there more in Toronto?

 

intersections – Broadview and Queen

Posted: September 10, 2016 in graffiti and street art, intersections, public art, windows and walls
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beige wall on top, rust coloured wall below, with orange splotches. Orange metal trash bin on ground, two window in upper part, both recessed. One with a bike and one with flower pots.

Let’s start with the intersection itself.   It’s where the 504 King car turns north to Broadview station and it’s where Jillys dominated the corner for many many years, more than 30 years in fact.    Does anyone admit to lamenting the loss of Jillys 2 years ago?  The building has stood on the corner for 124 years and was also home to the Broadview Hotel although I doubt it was the kind of hotel you’d book your mother into (well, at least not my mother!).   Believe it or not, this isn’t a condo development.

intersection, TTC street car turning left, a grey car near the intersection, a few pedestrians, a large building wrapped in black netting as the building is being cleaned and renovated.

below: Instead, the New Broadview Hotel, built by Streetcar Developments, will have 57 rooms, a rooftop bar and a ground floor restaurant.   It will look approximately like this (from Broadview):

drawing of the New Broadview Hotel being renovated to incorporate an 124 year old brick building, new glass portion at the top of the building.

There was a reason I chose this intersection, and it wasn’t Jillys.  I went looking for a new mural but I didn’t know exactly where it was.   While I was looking, I explored and took some pictures because that’s what I do.

It wasn’t this street art painting I saw in an alley,

text street art painted on a garage door

or this painting way up high beside a parking lot,

upper level of a store, backing onto a parking lot, painting on the exterior wall of rays eminating from a center circular source

or this woman in a lane.

streeet art picture of a woman in pink and purple

I passed by Debre Selam St. Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.  Such a long name!  All over Toronto there are churches, temples, mosques and other places of worship for a lot of different religions.  I am not sure how many there are but I’d love to find out.  This Orthodox religion was new to me so of course I had to look it up.  I learned that it was once part of the Coptic Orthodox Church which has existed since the 4th century.  It split off in 1959 but remains a member of the Oriental Orthodox family.  The church has 38 million members in Ethiopia.  This church on Broadview is not the only one in Toronto, there are at least 2 others.  I’m not sure how many people in Toronto are members of the church, or attend services here. (additional note:  It’s located beside the Royal Canadian Curling Club which I think is a great juxtaposition).

front of a white building, two storeys, with round top windows, two flags flying by the door. Sign says Debre Selam St. Michael Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Small cross above the entranceway

The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes have their building just up Broadview from the Ethiopian church.  They aren’t a religion but I had no idea what they were.  When I think of “orders” of buffaloes I think of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble and their Loyal Order of Water Buffalo.   Apparently the “Buffs” have been an organization since 1882, originating in London England.   According to Wikipedia, “Membership is open to all males over the age of 18 who are willing to declare that they are “true and loyal supporters of the British Crown and Constitution”. Discussion of politics or religion is strictly forbidden at gatherings, as is gambling.”  The building looks like it was once a school…. looking for ideas where to start looking for its history?  Oh, that word ‘antediluvian’ – it means ‘before the flood’ as in the flood in the Old Testament, that one with Noah’s Ark.

brown brick builgin, one storey with peak roof, small veranda in front, blur front door, Canadian flag out front, sign above door says Royal Antidiluvian Order of Buffaloes.

I noticed some quirky things like this window.  Any guesses as to what it used to be?

window of a coffee shop where some of the letters have been removed. It now says Kids Bar. Shadows of the letters are on the blind that covers the inside of the window of the now closed shop

Dark Horse Expresso Bar

I walked through Joel Weeks park where I came face to face with a fox.

a small sculpture of a fox on top of a rock. The fox seems to be looking right into the camera

We exchanged glances for a moment or two but its interest was elsewhere ….
perhaps this rabbit?

sculpture of a fox on top of a rocl. Carved into the rock is a relief picture of a rabbit and some flowers

Also in the park, four little squirrels with a giant acorn!

a sculpture in a park of a giant acorn with the point pointing upwards, 4 small squirrels are at the bas of the acorn trying to hold it up

All it needs is a Scrat to come along and steal it!

cartoon character Scrat from the movie 'ice age' holding onto an acorn

Whoa, a little off track!

When I still couldn’t find the mural, I bought a cup of coffee and a bite to eat at Merchants of Green Coffee (no picture I’m afraid) and did the research I should have done previously.   Coffee finished, then mural found.

below: Riverside Pollinator Mural by Nick Sweetman.  (3 photos)

part of a mural, a large bee

a man is painting a mural, this part is a honeycomb with some bees on it. Dark blue background.

large mural, Riverside Pollinator mural, by Nick Sweetman, of a large bee, a clock, clock gears, a few small bees, a honeycomb and a flower and a very large tree

below: I also noticed this.  I know that that’s tomorrow but for those of you who are keen and read this blog soon after it was published, you may still have time to get there!   Free cake too!  It’s at 777 Queen Street East.

a poster is stuck into a sidewalk planter, advertising a launch of a mural on Saturday 10th September.

As I walked north towards Dundas Street, I found myself on the grounds of Queen Alexandra Senior Public School and Seed Alternative School.  Here is door 5.   An excellent example of unkempt 1950’s and 1960’s public building architecture.  I don’t mean to belittle the school and the people involved in making it work.  I just think that it’s a sad looking place; schools should be inviting.

blue double doors in a drab brown brick building, with brown metal inserts covering what was once a large window above the door. Two small windows remain.

One could probably do a photoessay on the condition of the building and what it says about Toronto’s attitudes to school construction and maintenance, and perhaps by extension, what it says about Toronto’s attitudes to public buildings in general.

three windows arrange horizontally in a brick wall. windows are not high

a box in front of a wall of a school has been painted with the word choose and two white hands.

While we’re on the subject of architecture, there is a mix of lots of types in this area of the city.  There are still lots of older houses, many of which have been renovated.

below: Side by side, old and new.  ‘Second Empire’ architecture featured mansard roofs and dormer windows, both of which are seen in these old rowhouses.  This style originated in France and arrived in Canada in the mid 1800’s where it seemed to remain popular for some time.

old brick rowhouses to the right, with a large tree in front, and new construction of row houses on the left.

below: This house is a variation on the Workers Cottage (or Gothic Cottage style).   A peaked roof over a central front door with one window on either side is the characteristic look of this style.   This one is interesting in that it is actually the end one in a row of three.

workers cottage, or gothic cottage, behind a large hedge

below: I could go on and on about architecture.  Instead, here’s one last picture of a jumble of styles (or non-styles!).  Take a look around at the buildings that you see.  Toronto doesn’t have much variation when it comes to the structure of the buildings, especially the older ones.  We do know how to make them look unique though!

two semi detached houses with mansard roofs, one with a purple front door and one with a black front door.

green second story door at top of metal exterior staircase, on a wall that is a different shade of green

green ivy leaves poke their way through the gaps in a blue weathered wooden fence

black and white sticker graffiti on the side of a Bell telephone box

Florence Street hoardings

Posted: September 9, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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There is a vacant lot on Florence Street that is now mostly hidden behind a wood fence.
These hoardings are now home to a mural by Adrian Hayles.

chain link fence with barbed wire above it on the left side and then a wood fence on the right, wood fence has been painted with a mural and here in the mural is a man walking a dog past a building

 The black letters in the mural spell the words Brockton Village.

a car is parked in front of a mural painted on wood hoardings.

part of a mural, stylized woman in high heels with seemingly no clothes, walks past silhouette of buldings

The blackness and the shininess of the mural makes it quite reflective.

two old mattresses lean against a fence that has been painted with a mural in black, red and light blue. Along a sidewalk with cars parked beside, a few small trees.

part of a mural, man walking a dog

 

Croft Street facelift

Posted: September 8, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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It’s after Labour Day but it’s still hot enough to be July.  I tried to walk for a while today but I didn’t last.  Air conditioning is my best friend this afternoon.  But all was not lost.  Even though I was only out for a short time, I walked along Croft Street and discovered that the south end (south of Vankoughnet) has been cleaned up and repainted.  If you don’t know Croft Street, it’s a street in name only.   It’s more like an alley in that it’s narrow with a lot of garages on it….but it’s also a lane that now has a number of residences on it.  I guess you could call it a hybrid, a little bit alley and a little bit street.

part of a garage door with a narrow wood door beside it, all covered with bright street art, abstract, mostly in red

What I really like about the street art here is that there is a cohesiveness to it.  It’s not all the same but it all works together.  Do I dare call it designer street art?

a row of garage doors in a narrow street, that have all been painted with street art.

below: A couple of murals that existed previously were left untouched.  On the left an oldie and on the right a new coat of paint.

two adjacent garage doors, one with a bright abstract design and the other with a garden scene

below: As well as a bright and cheerful coat of paint (and the occasional white wall!), the lane has been decorated with planters made of cement blocks and old plastic barrels.

a brick wall painted white with two vertical windows with metal grille in small square shapes, also painted white. between the windows on the sidewalk is an arrangement of cement blocks that have been made into planters with greenery and flowers growing in them.

an old blue plastic barrel that has been turned into a planter, with pink flowers and greenery, in front of a garage door that has been painted in abstract street art in bright colours.

close up details of two adjoining buildings, detail of where they meet, one is old rusty metal and the other is wood that has been spray painted pink, yellow and white.

street art on garages, ivy on walls, alley

abstract multicoloured street art on a wall and door, part of wall is also covered with ivy. old wooden barrel sits by wall

a rusty door on the upper level of an old garage in a lane, the lower level has been spray painted with street art and some of the paint is on the upper level too

an old beige plastic barrel that has been turned into a planter, with pink tall grasses and greenery, in front of a garage door that has been painted in abstract street art in bright colours.

The south end of Croft Street is at College Street.  There once was a mural on a wall at the corner of Croft and College that commemorated the fire of 1904.  Almost three years ago I blogged about it.   (3 years!)  John Croft died in that fire and it was for him that the street was named.  Anyhow, that mural is still there although it’s been hidden behind someone’s ugly tagging for more than a year.  Today it is also behind scaffolding.

below: Part of the John Croft mural that no longer exists.

blog_croft1

And now, because life (or, my life) is rarely linear, I’m going to jump around and look at the other end of Croft Street.   North of Vankoughnet there seemed to be an animal theme in street art that I saw.

below: birdo bunny with his ears at attention.

birdo street art of a rabbit head on a bright green garage door, grey head, pink inside of the long ears, purple and turquoise striped neck.

below: The memorial to Monty the cat is still there, again for at least 3 years, but now it’s someone’s little patio.  In case you are unfamiliar with this wall I have added a transcription of the poem written in Monty’s honour.

mural on a wall with lots of birds and fish and a poem as a memorial to a cat, with two chairs in front of it as well as a yellow planter with flowers in it. Did you know our Monty the cat?
King of Croft and all that
(Ask your dog. Ask your cat)
Did you give him a pet
Once you had met?
Or tickle his soft silken tum tum?
Did he tell you his tale in articulate meow
And share his affection with a rub of his brow?
His loss here has left us really quite blue
But remembering all of those of YOU
Who knew how to share a sweet kindness true
Who would pause on the way,
In midst of each day,
To offer wee beastie
affectionate feastie
In Memory of Monty
Thank you!

 

below: Unicorns vs Monsters.   And the winner is?

a garage door painted black with white creatures, 6 on one side of the red words Unicorns vs monsters and 6 white ones on the other side

below: Three cows standing in a field…. on a wall.

painting of three brown cows in a green field, painted on a garage door

below: No animal here…. but it must have been here recently and left its paw prints behind.

street art on a brown wood garage door, with a painting of white paw prints on blues and greens mounted near the top of the wall

below: An angular fox, or rather a triangular fox

a street art picture of a fox made of triangles in orange black and white

below: More animals but I’m not sure if it’s art, or if someone has a lot of watering cans they’re trying to keep organized.  The bottom yellow one is probably not a pokemon, right? Of course I could be missing something – it wouldn’t be the first time!

watering cans hanging along the side of a garage in an alley, many of them are in the shape of yellow rubber duckies and one is a light blue fish shape. A few are little silver coloured metal buckets.

below: Leaving the animal theme behind, mind over matter.

against an ivy covered wall a brown piece of wood sits. on it someone has written mind matter . The word mind is written on top of the word matter and there is a horizontal line between the two words.

below: 74B likes grids.  The metal stripping on the brown door has been there for at leasat three years but the coloured stripes on the garage are more recent.

a garage door painted in yellow, red and blue vertical stripes as well as two wide horizontal stripes, the walls are green shingle and the entry door is black with a grid of metal stripping on it.

below:  All stories and all blog posts need an ending so I’ll stop here.  The end.

a red stop sign to which someone has stuck a sticker that says driving so now the sign says stop driving

aging faces in Kensington

Posted: September 1, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Wood cracks.  Metal rusts. Paint fades and paint peels, its just what happens to paint when its exposed to the elements.  Street art painted on a surface suffers the same fate.  Nothing lasts forever and sometimes a mural’s life span is quite short.  Sometimes other factors come into play – street art is defaced or altered in some way.  Tags cover it; words get written on it.  That too is the nature of street art.

black stencil of a woman's head and hands. Also an old paper paste up of a person that is badly torn around the edges. A very simple face has been drawn above it in pink

below: I love what the weather has done to this woman’s face.  Aging with grace and dignity.  The texture of the old wood adds an element of depth and character to her as well.

street art painting of part of a woman's face on a wooden fence, old and faded and the wood is starting to crack

below:  One slat replaced.   I’m sure it wasn’t the artist’s intent, but the gaps in the wood look like bars in a cage, or those metal bars you often see on windows.

street art painting of part of a woman's face, in blues, on a wood fence, vertical pieces of wood with slight gaps between the wood

below: Broken chin, but still watching the world pass by on Baldwin Street.

anser face on an old wood gate that is wearing out, broken across the bottom. bikes parked to the left of the gate

below: Yelling at the bushes.

a very colourful and stylized face painted on a wall, large open mouth, looks like fiendish laughter, showing off large white teeth. A large green weed, or small shrub, has started growing in front of it.

below: Eyes are mysterious things.  I have never been able to draw them properly and I am in awe of those who can.  Even more so if the eyes communicate something, some emotion or expression.

eyes, street art, staring straight ahead. part of a large face painted on a wall in green tones.

below: I have always been intrigued by this face.  A photo of the original painting hangs on one of my walls.   I still find her mesmerizing.  Those blue eyes still stare at the world.  Is she looking through a veil?  Or is she able to see through all the nonsense that the world throws at her?

street art painting of part of a woman's face by anser, on olive green backgound, partially painted over and with words written in front of it.

below: A devilish child is still in good shape.

two bright orange stencils of faces. one is a laughing child with devil horns and the other is a woman's head.

street art painting of part of a woman's face, in purple . eyes closed, looking down, with hew lock and key on the door that she's painted on, wearing a necklace

street art painting of part of a woman's face, bright red hair, greenish face, blue background, eyes closed,

white line drawing on a rusty metal door of a woman's face, slightly open mouth with lots of teeth, curly hair

part of a mural on a wall showing two Easter Island type heads

below: “Without money we’d all be rich”.  That’s the kerb (curb) that runs along the bottom of the picture.  Her whole face was not there in the first place.

street art painting of part of a woman's face, on a wall, in greens and purples, she is looking to the left

below: And animal faces too!

part of a Uber 5000 mural, a dog with a tiny blue hat and a yellow birdie on a bicycle

street food…. sort of

Posted: August 29, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Toronto’s first “street” art – a mural on the pavement, painted on the street itself.   It’s located on Baldwin Street in the Kensington market area.

below: The mural was painted on Pedestrian Sunday (28 Aug) when the streets were closed anyhow.

a young man and a young woman painting on the street, painting part of a mural on a street in Kensington market area

Murals on the street aren’t legal in this city.  In 2015 City council voted against making them legit.  Instead, they allowed this one to go ahead as part of the StART Road Mural Pilot Project.  Plans are afoot for a few more to be painted in the next couple of months.  The city has imposed some restrictions as to where they can be painted, rules such as the murals need to be away from intersections and be on streets with a low volume of traffic.   It is rumoured that future road murals will be on Condor Avenue (west of Greenwood subway yard), Lauder Avenue (near Dufferin and St. Clair), Hiawatha Road (Little India), and lastly, somewhere in North York

below: The next two pictures were taken from the upper level of the adjacent parking structure (where I had a chat with a security guard, private property and all that).

view from above of a mural on a street, fruits and vegetables, carrotes, eggplant, watermelon, beet, mushroom, lemon,

The pilot murals are all the result of work by community groups – people within a community working together to produce something representative of that community.

view from above of a mural on a street, fruits and vegetables, carrotes, eggplant, watermelon, beet, mushroom, lemon,

below: Painting a raspberry.  The shapes were drawn by artist Victor Fraser and then painted by a number of artists and volunteers.  It is an acrylic based paint that will wear off in 6 to 9 months.

a young man paints part of a pink raspberry that is in a mural of fruits and vegetables, on a street in Kensington

below: From street level – peas in a pod, a clove of garlic, a bunch of spring onions, an artichoke, a banana, and in the distance a lot more!

from low on street level, view of a mural painted on the street of fruit and vegetables, peas in a pod, a bunch of green opnions, a raspberry, with other food farther down the street,

This project was organized by Stas Ukhanov and supported by the Kensington Market BIA.

communicating on the streets

Posted: August 27, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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Words, words, words.  People write them. People read them (or ignore them!).  And some people take pictures of them and blog them.

below: Let’s start with the encouraging words such as this one: “Be you not them!”  I don’t know who is behind the #happytoronto campaign but if you search for that hashtag on instagram, you’ll discover that they wrote a number of positive messages on Toronto sidewalks.

words written in chalk on the sidewalk, Be you, not them! #happytoronto

below: Another hashtag, another set of words.

words stenciled onto the sidewalk in black, that say It's Okay not to be OK #thesadcollective

below: Time and weather and peeling paint have erased some of this message but “still believe” is still there and hanging on.

a metal garage door once painted blue, the blue is peeling. Stickers that said no parking have fallen away so there's only NO A G left. Written in yellow spray paint is Still believe.

below: Like most facets of life, there’s always the negative ones.
But who knows, maybe he speaks the truth?

on a concrete block exterior wall, spray painted words that say you smell

below: “I’ve always known it was you”
Ambiguous words:  A declaration of love?  An accusation of a crime?

on a concrete wall painted beige, a stencil in orange that says I've always known it was you

below: Danger due to construction workers ONLY.   Definitely no other dangers here!

blog_construction_workers_danger

below: “Eat right, exercize, die anyways”.   A touch of reality or cynicism.  The interpretation is in the eye of the beholder so to speak.

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below: How to open this door.  At first glance, what silliness.

blog_how_to_open_door

below:  “If not now, then when?”
Playing visually with written words.

words written large in white on a black wall, if not now then when. A bright yellow table and chair sit in front of the wall.

below:  Chinese characters on a yellow wall.  I have no idea what it says and I’m not sure if google can help me translate.  Post no bills?  No parking?  Both doubtful… I think!  They are written on a mural on Gerrard East (Chinatown East) that was only a few days old.

graffiti Chinese characters written on a yellow wall.

below:    “Go perfect into peace”.  Wonderful sentiment.  The grammar is iffy ( a direct translation from Chinese into English?  去完善纳入和平) but I like the succinctness of the message.

go perfect into peace, words written on a fence beside a no parking sign

below:  And last, I am going to include the words from this mural because it is now adjacent to a construction site and who knows how long its going to remain visible.

mural on a lavendar coloured wall, a hand pointing down.

below: From the mural above, a quote from the novel ‘Tom Jones’ by Henry Fielding written, appropriately, on the wall of the Tom Jones restaurant.  I’ve included the transcription below the photo.

words of a quote from a novel by Henry Fielding, written in black on a lavendar coloured wall, exterior, outside

[…] these laws my readers patrons whom I consider as my subjects, are bound to believe and to obey; with which that they may readily and cheerfully comply, I do hearby assure them that I shall principally regard their ease and advantage in all such institutions; for I do NOT, like a jure divino tyrant, imagine that they are my slaves or my commodity; I am , indeed, set over them for their own good only, and was created for their use and not they for mine.  Nor do I doubt, while I make their interest the great rule of my writings doings, they will unanimously concur in supporting my dignity and in rendering me all the honour I shall deserve or desire (II,i)

from the novel Tom Jones by Henry Fielding.”

seven new murals plus

Posted: August 26, 2016 in graffiti and street art, public art
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Updated 2 September

The latest StreetARToronto (StART) summer project has just wrapped up.  Seven new murals around Broadview and Gerrard East, each one depicting a famous landmark, make up this project which is now called ‘Around the World in East Chinatown’.  Although it was largely funded and organized by StART, other partners include the Toronto Parking Authority, 55 Division police, and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce (East Toronto).

A crew of more than 20 artists headed by Mike Kennedy worked for about 2 weeks to complete the murals.  Each mural includes the ‘signature’ of the artists.  I am not very good are deciphering (or remembering) the graffiti writing but I’ve had some help identifying the artists.

below: Christ the Redeemer now watches over Gerrard East.  Painted by bacon.  This is the statue built high on a hill overlooking Rio de Janeiro.  If you watched any coverage of this summer’s Olympics you probably saw this statue from every possible angle.   The statue was designed by a Frenchman, Paul Landowski and built by a  Brazilian engineer, Heitor da Silva Costa, between 1922 and 1931.   Made of soapstone and reinforced concrete the statue stands 30m tall and has an arm span of 28m.  He stands on an 8m high pedestal.

a mural of the famous Rio de Janeiro statue, Christ the Redeemer, high on a brick wall, with background in sky blue and yellow

below: Putting the finishing touches on The Great Wall of China, a collaborative effort by Nick Sweetman, Wuns, Rons, Tens, Braes and Wales.   The actual wall was built in sections over many centuries and includes walls, trenches and natural elements such as hills and rivers.  Parts of the wall are in better repair than others – around Beijing where more tourists visit, the wall has been fixed up and is well maintained.  Measurement of the wall varies but if all the branches of the wall are taken into consideration, the total length is about 21,000 km.

a yellow cart with cans of spray paint on it sits in front of a mural of the great wall of China

below: A hummingbird flies over Machu Picchu in the next mural.   Machu Picchu was built by the Incas in the 15th century in what is now Peru.  It is on a mountain ridge, 2430m above sea level.

full mural of Machu Picchu along he wall of a building at the edge of a parking lot, scene of Machu Picchu with a humming bird in the foreground.

below: Machu Picchu.  Painted by Bacon, Kwest, Kane and Rath.

a mural with a panoramic scene of Machu Picchu, with graffiti writing signatues below.

below: In the same parking lot as Machu Picchu but on the other side, is a very large mural centered around an image of the Taj Mahal.  Painted by Sight, Hone, Water, Equal and Tenser.

a laong horizontal mural featuring an image of the Taj Mahal.

below: Commissioned in 1632 by the Mogul Emperor, Shah Jahan, the Taj Mahal was built as a mausoleum for his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal.  She was born Arjumand Banu Begum, a daughter of Persian nobility in Agra India.  In 1613, when she was 19, she married Prince Khurram (later he became Shah Jahan) as his 3rd or 4th wife.    She died in June of 1631 while giving birth to their 14th child.   If my math is correct, that’s 14 children in 18 years.   After the Shah died in 1666, he was buried here too.  Anyhow, many centuries later, the Taj Mahal is still standing in Agra India and it is visited by millions every year.

An image of the Taj Mahal in a mural in warm muted orange and brown tones, with a graffiti writing signature underneath it. On a wall in a parking lot.

below: Teeny tiny people dwarfed by the doors of Petra, Jordan.  Petra is an ancient city with immense buildings cut out of the sandstone cliffs and hills.  It was once a thriving trading center and the capital of the Nabataean empire between 400 B.C. and A.D. 106 when it was called Raqmu.  The Nabateans were a nomadic Arab tribe.  Their empire came to an end when they were conquered by the Romans and their land annexed into the Roman Empire.

mural showing entrance in the stone cliffs to Petra in Jordan, camel head in the bottom left corner, mural on the side of a store, brick wall,

below: The whole Petra mural on the walls of an alley tucked in between the Ka Ka Lucky Seafood BBQ Restaurant and Paradise Spa on Broadview Avenue.  This mural was painted by Hemps.

Chinese restaurant, Ka Ka Lucky Barbeue Restaurant, with an alley on one side. On the wall in the alley there is a mural showing the stone town of Petra Jordan.

below: The Roman Coliseum (Rome) is now on the corner of Broadview and Gerrard.  This is half of the mural and when the photo was taken it was incomplete.  It is now finished – a second visit for a photo is in my future!  The Coliseum (or Colosseum) is in Rome and it was built by 80 A.D, just before the Roman Empire swallowed up the Nabateans.   It was built as an amphitheatre and could hold at least 50,000 spectators – people who came to watch gladiator fights, enactments of classical dramas, or other forms of entertainment.

A mural showing the Coliseum in Rome painted on the side of Chino Locos Mexican restautant.

below: The right hand side of the mural with the graffiti writing signature of the artist. If I could only easily photoshop out that garbage bin.  Mural painted by Sewp, Poser and Frens.

graffiti writing signature on a wall, dripping blue paint, and a garbage bin in front of it.

below: Chichen Itza ruins in Yucatan Mexico and a jaguar on the side of the Sunshine Hair Studio, partially obscured by greenery.  Painted by Cruz, Rons, Sadar and  Rcade.  Chichen Itza was the largest Mayan city covering about 5 square km.  It flourished between 900 and 1050.   The mural depicts El Castillo, or the Temple of Kukulcan, the building at the center of Chichen Itza that dominates the site.

mural on the side of building on Gerrard East, a picture of an ancient stone temple, Chichen Itza in Yucatan Mexico.

And that concludes the seven new murals – Christ the Redeemer statue, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Taj Mahal, Petra, the Roman Coliseum, and Chichen Itza.

This mural project follows the success of last year’s Project Picasso in the same area.   Graffiti from some of the lanes was cleaned up and a Chinese themed mural was painted on the brick wall at the back of the parking lot on Gerrard Street East, just west of Broadview Avenue.  Riverdale Collegiate students helped with the graffiti clean up and contributed ideas for the mural.

below: Chinatown East mural by ACK crew, bacon, wunder, tensoe 2, and cruz1

large mural across the side of a building at the back of a parking lot, Chinese characters and icons, panda bear, tiger, bamboo forest, lucky cat, chinese lantern, dragon

below: Chinese icons painted in the mural – a resting tiger, cherry blossoms,  red Chinese lanterns floating by, a lucky cat with its paws up,  and a panda munching on a piece of bamboo.

 

part of a mural in Chinatown East, pink cherry blossoms, red chinese lantern, panda chewing on bamboo, tiger, lucky cat

below: A red dragon beside some Chinese characters.  Does anyone know what it says?

part of a mural in Chinatown East, chinese characters and a red dragon

 

 

Leaside has murals!

Posted: August 20, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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Today’s story begins back in 2007 when elicsr painted this mural behind a store that fronts on Eglinton East.

mural depicting the biblical story, Luke chapter 15, of the prodigal son

It depicts the bible story of the prodigal son.  A very brief summary of the story – A wealthy king had two sons.

mural of the prodigal son, the wealthy king with his two sons at the beginning of the story

The younger son took his half of his father’s money, left home, and squandered the money. He fell into hard times.  He realized that he would be better off as a servant in his father’s household than living in penury on his own.

mural, the younger son leaves his father the king where he goes and squanders his half of his father's inheritance

So he returned home to repent.  His father celebrated the return of the son and forgave him and his prodigal ways.

part of a mural, return of the prodigal son to his father, the king.

Fast forward to August 2016 when the alley became a canvas for 46 street artists and their Wall Expressions project, Go Big or Go Home.  I walked the alley on Thursday and this is what I saw.
[Warning: a lot of the street art is text or abstractions which may not be your cup of tea. ]

below: Girl power skull with pig tails by dudeman.

street art mural on the side of a garage in an alley, by #dudeman, blue stylized skull and cross bones with pig tails on the skull, the words, girl power as well

below: Under the weather vane, a newer garage door painted with a mural by Mediah IAH aka Evond Blake.

two garages in an alley, both covered in murals. On the right is a newer garage, with a weather vane on top, and a mural in blue and greys, geometric and abstract shapes. On the left is an older garage door with multicolured street art on it.

below: Black and white owl on a branch by mska

mural by mska of an owl sitting on the branch of a tree, the owl and tree are in black and white, there are concentric circles in many colours in the background.

below: SPUD bombs and swirls on the back of Eco Cleaners.

spud bombs and swirls on the back of eco dry cleaners

below: And another SPUD creation on the other side of the lane.
A few skulls seemed to have snuck into the painting!

spud bomb and swirls street art on a fence in an alley

below: ‘Mars Attacks’ by the ACK crew, wales, miles, noser, braes and tensoe.

large mural on a two storey brick building, mural is called Mars Attacks, shows a green robot like alien and lots of tags.

below: Garbage bins lined up in front of a horus/tuffytats rose in blue and red.

mural of blue and red roses, large and stylized on a wall, a line of small trash bins in grey , blue and green (garbage bins, recylcing bins and organic waste bins) is in front of the artwork by horus also known as tuffytats

below: A swirly wavy mix of colours brighten up a wooden fence.

a section of wooden fence covered with street art in pink and orange and turquoise and purple striped swirls

below: Red head (and shoulders) man

street art mural on a garage door, head and shoulders of a man in red tones,

below: The Men’s Salon Barber Shop now has a mska creature, complete with scissors in hand, by the back door.

back door of men's hairsylist and barbershop, 814 Eglinton East with a white skulled creature holding a pair of scissors by mska as well as a large yellow 814

below: Next to the barber shop is this mural, or at least this is part of it.  The next photo….

multicoloured mural on a wall with a car parked alongside it.

below: … is the end of the mural.  I’m not sure who painted it but the marks on this are: Mark One, BOB (or 13013) and xFLA,.

tag-like street art in yellow and orange on the side of Bonavista store, alley north of Eglinton East, back of car in the picture - it's parked in front of the rest of the mural

below: A mural for Loui by minus two (and others?)

mural, street art text and tags with words 'for loui'

below: More text and abstractions, this time by manic, roam and acuse.   Loui gets another mention too.

 

street art mural of text and colours across the back of a building in an alley

looking at a building so that the corner is in the front, can see two sides of the building, both of which are covered with murals. Wood railing across the top as there is a balcony up there

below: In the foreground, a Nick Sweetman shrimp swims across a mural with help from peru and ctr.

an alley with street art murals, a pickup truck and a car parked in front of one of the murals

below: A closer look at that shrimp

a street art painting of a colourful but realistic squid in yellow, turquoise, and blue, painted on a wall

below: Another large mural with more than one photo.  At one end there’s a zas possum hanging out, spray paint can in hand – possibly up to no good?

street art of a large possum standing on its hind legs, and standing beside an open door

below: And at the other end there’s another animal that is usually nocturnal, a raccoon.  An animal that is no stranger to Toronto!

large street art animal, raccoon, in a mural, with a white crown on his head

below: Look up, way up!  There’s a dog on the roof.

mural on the side of an upper storey, above the roof of the bulding beside it, a dag, some text, and the back of a man painting on the wall

below: Swimmer with a bathing cap looking at you, by sparr

mural on the side of a building, a woman's head and shoulders. She's in the water and wearing a bathing cap. Above her is a painting of a man spray painting on a wall.

 

below: Phil wrote his name on a garage door.

large blue letters P H I L in street art form on a garage door

below: Sofe in orange and green tiger stripes

large letters S O F E in orange and green tiger stripes with purple sky-like background

below: Two more garage doors.

two garages in a lane with street art spray painted on their doors.

below: Bright colours stand out on the side of this garage near the entrance to the lane.

mural on the side of a garage by cruz 1 art, a young girl in orange with many colours abstractions around her

below: Rozy, from the other side.

mural on the side of a garage by cruz 1 art, a young girl in orange with many colours abstractions around her

below: someone beginning with the letter m?  (m–?) and lerch.

mural in an alley, horizontal street art aerosol spray paint artwork of text graffiti, two different ones side by side

below: Big fat P in pink by bias? at number 153

a large fat P in pink on a white wood fence, with some other symbols as well, street art

below: And last, a little snail

a small painting of a large orange and blue snail on a fence beside a tree in an alley

This project had help and support from Toronto Police (53 division), Stephensons Rental, Dominos Pizza, and StreetARToronto.

video of the event on vimeo

in an alley, back of a store, old rusty metal stairs to the upper storey, small awning over the backdoor, laundry hanging by the door, weeds growing in front of the bottom of the stairs.

small metal box, part of doorbell system, covered with graffiti stickers, including purple horror face of man

 

 

oldies on Camden Street

Posted: August 16, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Well, not really Camden Street, but an alley that runs perpendicular to the street….  If the lane has a name I don’t know what it is.  Google maps doesn’t even include it.  It’s a very short alley that runs both north and south from Camden street and it doesn’t go anywhere.  Both sections were painted with murals 9 or 10 years ago.   Amazingly, they have survived.

Let’s start with the south side of Camden Street.

below: Mural Project, “The walls won’t know what hit them”.  The mural was painted in 2006 youth from the   Harbourfront and Cecil Community Centres as part of the City of Toronto’s Graffiti Transformation Project.

part of a mural in an alley, yellow background, blue pistol with the word mural in large red capital letters, flag at the end of the barrel that says , white hand holding the grip with finger on the trigger.
below: The mural is painted in a quasi cartoon style.

blog_art_or_vandalism_mural

below: She’s upset and she’s expressing her hurt and anger with spray paint seems to be the start of the story.

part of a mural in an alley, a woman with bright yellow hair is spray paint out of a can with a word bubble that says "He crossed me first"

below: My knowledge of slang is limited, and this is 10 years old but this sheezy is cool.  It’s probably as simple as “this sure is cool”, i.e. spray painting graffiti is cool.

This seezy is off the heezy are the words in a word bubble coming out of the mouth of a man painted in a mural, short black hair, wearing a red shirt, and spraying a can of pink spray paint,

below: Oh no! I always laugh when I hear this expression these days… is there anywhere in Toronto where property values are going down? Okay, okay, so it’s part of the story – she’s complaining that someone has sprayed graffiti somewhere nearby, the vandalism part of the story.   The angry young woman or the “sheezy heezy” guy above have been busy in her neighbourhood.

street art, picture of woman with orange hair, wearing white gloves, hands on sides of head, words saying "On no, my property value went down"

below:  As you can see, a couple of things were in the way as I was taking pictures.   I am not sure exactly how the plot of the mural progresses from here because I couldn’t see the whole thing.  There are gaps in the story line.   A few missing pages so to speak.

looking down one wall of an alley, a mural is painted on it, in the foreground is a woman in profile (she's looking down the lane), very yellow hair. Two cars are parked in front of the mural

below: Flesh tones as dots in the face of woman who plays an unknown role in this story – the mystery woman?

part of a woman's face, painted in dots, bright red lipstick, brown hair, looking at the viewer

below:  I suspect that this is the “We’ve got to get rid of the graffiti” part of the story.  Is it improper to make comments about Rob Ford and his anti-graffiti program here?  I don’t want to insult the mural or the project behind it because I think that the Graffiti Transformation Project is an excellent program.

scene in a mural, a football helmet wearing head, with words I wish my school had an art program, also two men talking about how it's time to take out the trash

below:  If there was a mural on the other side of the alley, it’s long gone.

a red car is backed into an alley, and is parked there, along the wall beside the car is a lot of graffiti spray painted and written on the wall. There is a stair case in the back part of the wall.

A short walk across Camden Street to the other half of the alley….

below: You can see the taller buildings on Richmond Street West but you can’t get there from here.
And like most downtown alleys, garbage bins are a dominant feature.

looking down a dead end alley, lots of blue rubbish bins that are slightly overflowing, tall buildings on either side. The back of a two stroey building straight ahead with taller buildings behind

below: At the entrance to the alley.  There are words under the window by the sunflowers that say that this painting is also the work of the Harbourfront/Cecil Community Centre’s Graffiti Transformation Project, 2007.

wall of an alley with a long window with worn painting around it of flowers and sunflowers

below: A very low window with green arrows

a low window, close to the ground, with a green arrow painted around it.

orange geometric street art, with the words 'stay alive' written in orange beside it

two old windows with rusted and bent metal grille on the windows, a street art painting of a woman in profile with eyes closed is between the windows, White hair

below: And last, I’ll end with a weather comment because we’ve all been talking (complaining?) about it these days – someone’s a bit overdressed for this August weather although it doesn’t seem to bother him.  Maybe he knows something we don’t.   Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking.

street art on a grey brick wall, head of a young man in a fur lined hood of a parka

Stay cool!

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