back to Ossington

Posted: May 8, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
5

Ossington Avenue is an interesting street to walk with it’s numerous stores, restaurants and coffee shops.  But there is another fascinating world hiding behind the main street in the numerous lanes and alleys in the area.  A few weeks ago I presented some images from these alleys (Behind Ossington, 15 April),  but I barely scratched the surface of what is there.

on Ossington Ave., older buildings that are now stores. one is painted olive green, another is white, and third is red brick. at the end, is a building with large yellow and blue vertical stripes, a bench is on the sidewalk

For this blog post, I have assembled more of the photographs that I have taken around Ossington since January of this year.  It gets a bit long because I decided not to chop it into smaller pieces, so grab a seat and let’s get started!

a bench beside a green wall in a snow covered parking lot, door beside bench has love U! written on it

below: A whimsical Uber5000 painting on a garage door.

uber 5000 mural, green biplane with 3 yellow birdies, including one standing on a bomb. dog standing on one of the airplane wings

below: Hearts on fire, burning love, and the fireman that is trying to extinguish the flames – in a mural created by D. Terra Stencils.

stencil,ural by D. Terra stencils, a crouching fireman holds a hose and shoots water upward towards a big red heart

below: One of the cutest raccoons that I have ever seen, also painted by D.Terra Stencils.

mural by D. Terra stencils, of a young raccoon, green leafy background

below: Some more cute raccoons of a different sort go camping in a mural by Emily May Rose

Emily May Rose raccoons go camping, with a grey and orange trailer, a yellow umbrella, and a folding chair too

two grey Emily May Rose raccoons play in a pile of dirt, while drinking canned drinks

below: … and some more raccoons!

Emily May Rose raccoons in a painting on a fence in an alley

below: …. and even more!

in an allley, wall and door, raccoons by Emily May Rose and text graffiti too
toronto alley near ossington with street art on fences and garages

below: Smaller black stencil graffiti on a white garage door – an iconic image of Marilyn Monroe as well as a Kung fu Panda.  The other woman gets a splash of bright red.

black stencil graffiti on a white garage door, portrait of Marilyn Monroe, and kung fu panda image, as well as another woman's head and face

below: A trumpet player and a gun fight.

black stencil graffiti on a white garage door, a man playing a trumpet, also two men in a gun fight with one standing over the other who is lying on the ground.

below: Bikes on the stairs with a colourful bird keeping a watchful eye.

in an alley, exterior stairs to a small balcony, bike parked on stairs, mural of a bird painted on wall beside the stairs

below: A tribute mural celebrating Canadian Black designers.

mural in an ossington alley, black background, text that says Designers of Canada, with three portraits, on the lower level of a three storey red brick building

below: An old square brick building, garages and fences with graffiti, old trees, and a row of houses at the end of the lane – this captures the look of a typical Toronto lane.

looking down an alley, garages with graffiti on the right, fence on the left, at the end, a semi divided house that is different on either side, also at end of alley, on right, a larger red brick building (old)

below: Home patio, outdoor living urban style.

exterior of building, concrete block painted a dark yellow,, white door, and black window, with 2 small chairs and a table, and a stool, immediately outside the building

below: “Stop and enjoy”.  I like how the poster below the stop sign says “mediocrity” which makes the overall message, “Stop and enjoy mediocrity”.  A bit snarky.

stop sign on a pole in an alley, beside a garage door with street art on it. text graffiti on the stop sign so that it says stop and enjoy

in a laneway with street art murals on all the garage doors

part of a larger mural, a face in the sun, eyes closed, some vines are growing over the face

older drawing on garage, man's face, coconut tree with palm leaves,

below: The tail end of a fishy mural.

a small alley near Ossington, cars parked in alley, one side has building with mural on it, the other is a house with grey siding cladding

below: This aquatic themed mural dates from 2016 when a group of artists painted many murals in the area, all with the Great Lakes as their theme. They were part of Pangeaseed Foundation’s Seawalls for Oceans project. Some artworks have survived better than others. Love letters in paint is a post from 2016 that show most of them in their original form.

fish mural by shalak attack

below: The Swiss army knife was also a Pangeaseed mural

street art mural with a big red swiss army knife in the center

below: Where possible, Jimmy’s Coffee shops have exterior walls painted with images of famous Jimmys including the one on Ossington. Jimmy Carter, James Dean, the guitar of Jimmy Hendrix and two muppets representing Jim Henson Gonzo and Elmo

images of famous Jimmys on the side of Jimmys coffee shop on Ossington, Jimmy Carter, James Dean, the guitar of Jimmy Hendrix and two muppets representing Jim Henson gonzo and elmo

black and white image of Jimmy Hendrix singing and playing guitar, pink background, mural

below: A Jimmy of a different kind, a fantastic cacaphony of colours and shapes in a mural by Jimmy Chiale

mural of abstract shapes and colours by j. chiale

below: Close up of part of a mural, a young man wearing a black mask over his eyes.

close up of a street art painting, a young man in a black mask over his eyes

photo taken in a snowy parking lot, of the backs of some houses, fences, backyards,

below: Rowell Soller

rowell soller mural on a garage door

below: Two paintings on two different garages that look like they were done by the same artist.  The signature appears to be Soul R. and the top painting is from 2017.

mural of a turtle swimming in the water, in light shades of brown, blue garage

mural of a turtle swimming in the water, in a wall in an alley, with a pile of empty boxes and containers on the ground in front of it

below: 2022 Christina Mazzulla, for the Golden Turtle Restaurant.

mural, pink flowers, a fish, and a sea turtle

on the side wall of a house in an alley, mural, pink flowers, a fish, and a sea turtle

below: “You are stroger than you think”

a house being renovated, plywood over downstairs window with graffiti on it

below: Nick Sweetman has used shades of blue and purple to create this wonderful northern scene with a bear and moose combo.

a large bear and a moose, in a mural on a garage door in an alley, painted by bruno smoky or shalak attack

below: Totally blue.   The other colours have faded?  Or were never there in the first place?

gate in alley, double wide, at the end of a driveway, all in blue

below: More garage doors painted by D.Terra Stencils

alley near Ossington with lots of garage doors covered with murals, street art, urban art

below: On a bright yellow background, an image of Jean Michel Basquiat, one of the original creators present-day street art.

garage door painted yellow, then a portrait of Jean Michel Basquiat often considered the founder of street art

below: .. and beside Basquiat, a levitating woman

mural on an alley garage door by D.TErra stencils, a levitating woman, lying on her back up in the air, long hair hanging down.

below: Written in Portuguese is “Nem às paredes confesso” which translates to “I don’t even confess to the walls”.

mural on red background, musicians, one singer and one instrument player

below: Portuguese words, and nearby a Portuguese flag

street art painting of the Portuguese (Portugal) flag

mural, portrait of a man on a purple background

below: Boxers – Muhammad Ali and an opponent

boxing mural

below: The last D. Terra Stencils is this rendition of Ren and Stimpy

ren and stimpy from Nickelodeon TV in the 1990s, in a mural

trimming trees in an alley, man in lift above the lane, truck, some garages with graffiti and street art

little bits of metal on a wood utility pole

exterior door in an alley, covered with street art

part of a larger painting, a small character peaks its head out from the middle of a puffy orange letter O

below: The next four images are of the same mural in a snowy laneway parking lot…  starting with DAM DOG ketchup bottle

parking lot, in winter, box with street art on it beside a wall with more painting

parrt of a mural, smiling skull with a chain through one eye socket, and slightly yellow bottom teeth,

below: Parking for Animals

from a larger mural, young man in multi colour sunglasses, with a can of spray paint in his hand

close up of part of a mural, finger on the top of a spray paint can

below: These little ceramic animals have been walking in this alley for at least ten years.

little flat ceramic animal shapes, a turtle a small dinosaur, glued to a wall in an alley, beige with green and pink dots,

below: T-bonez stands alone, maybe waiting for the light to turn green?

t bonex sticker on a yellow box (for crossing signal). urban ninja squadron, visual noise,

T bonez sticker from visual noise and urban ninja squadron

close up of an old turquoise section of street art on wood fence, with red spray paint circle and double cross

on a wall painted very deep but bright red, outside in an alley, torn bits of paper remain where posters have been partially torn off

box on a wall, covered with stickers that are mostly in black and white, with red spray paint tag on top of it all.

below: And what’s this? Even more raccoons?! Toronto’s “beloved” trash pandas are everywhere!

raccoons in an alley mural, one sitting on a trash can, drinking, raccoons are trash pandas

part of a mural, painted by Emily May Rose, of a greenish grey raccoon, or trash panda, sitting of the top of a metal garbage can, holding a bottle with an XXX label.

Colours at Davisville Station

Posted: May 4, 2025 in events, locations
Tags: , , , , , , ,
1

For the month of May, “Time Capsule”, a series of abstract images by French artist Laure Tiberghien is hanging on the walls of Davisville subway station.

on the walls of Davisville subway station, 4 large photographs have been mounted in the display cases usually used for ads. Photos by Laure Tiberghein

Tiberghien doesn’t use a camera to produce the images.  Instead, she creates them by exposing light sensitive paper to different natural and artificial lights.  Further processing is then required.

Two images by Laure Tiberghein, behind glass, by exit from Davisville station platform

Dark colours behind glass make a mirror and these images are no exception.

reflections in a red photograph hanging in Davisville subway station

The images have been inserted into the newer display cases that the TTC now use for advertisements.  On the left of each case is TTC information.

Davisville station, two art images in display cases usually used for ads

reflective picture in reds and blues on wall of davisville subway station, images by Laure Tiberghien

looking across the TTC subway tracks to the platform on the other side, on the northbound side of Davisville station, two images by Laure TIberghien, part of Contact Photography festival

exit sign hanging over platform at davisville subway station

between Wellesley and Gloucester

Posted: May 2, 2025 in graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, stores
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Like many good walks, this one starts from a subway station. This time it is Wellesley station

from in front of Wellesley TTC subway station, looking west on Wellesley, past Chechalk Lane to Yonge Street

below: Standing on the northeast corner of Yonge & Wellesley

on the northeast corner of Wellesley and Yonge, looking southwest

Not Just Noodles in old brick building, northwest corner of Yonge and Wellesley

Walking north on Yonge and taking advantage of the fact that there wasn’t much traffic. Some (all?) of these buildings may have appeared in prior blog posts. At some point I should pull together all the Yonge street photos that I have taken over the years. It might be interesting to see what has changed and how much. In the meantime, here are a few scenes from the two blocks from Wellesley north to Gloucester (past Dundonald St.)

below: Looking north.

looking north up Yonge towards Bloor

below: Large abstract red metal sculpture by Albert Paley.

red metal sculpture on the corner of Yonge & Gloucester

old brick buildings with mansour roofs, on Yonge, north of Wellesley, west side of the street, three storeys high, most from the 1880s, Kung Fu Tea, a chicken restaurant with bricks painted pink,

old brick buildings with flat roofs, on Yonge, north of Wellesley, west side of the street, three storeys high, most from the 1880s, Life Med quick fix, a vapes store, tattoo parlor, Molly Teas, and Ana Nails,

old brick buildings on Yonge, north of Wellesley, west side of the street, three storeys high, most from the 1880s, san coiffure,

old brick buildings on Yonge, north of Wellesley, west side of the street, three storeys high, most from the 1880s, flat roof. Bloom clinic, a spa, an empty store with brown paper covering the window,

upper storeys of old brick buildings on Yonge Street

below: Yonge Street has long been a dividing line down the middle of the city. There are some east-west streets that now run uninterrupted across Yonge but many don’t. For example, Dundonald Street ends at Yonge (runs east only) but after a slight jog to the north, you can continue on St. Joseph Street.

looking west along St. Joseph St., north side, from Yonge

below: Like St. Joseph St. is the continuation of Dundonald, Irwin Ave is the continuation of Gloucester.

from Irwin Ave looking east to Yonge and then to Gloucester, red sculpture by Paley, new glass and steel condo tower

Ethiopian restaurant on Irwin Ave

below: Shown here is one of the numerous alleys, that crisscross downtown Toronto – Cottage Lane runs north from Irwin Ave for a short distance.  Murals have been painted by B.C. Johnson on both sides.

Alley, with red brick buildings on each side, both with murals across the bottom part, painted by B. C Johnson, downtown, highrises in the background

below: Nearby, St. Nicholas Street south of Irwin becomes a narrow lane.

alley running north from Irwin Ave., just west of Yonge

Back to Gloucester (because we can never walk in a straight line!)…..

below: James Canning Gardens

James Canning Gardens, public space downtown

James Canning Gardens, public space downtown

below: An row of three old red brick houses with a heritage plaque outside – 7 to 11 Gloucester, built 1887.  Also known as the Hugh Matheson houses.  They have been incorporated into a condo development.

large 2 storey red brick house with a heritage plaque in the front

…”In September 1885, physician and tailor Hugh Matheson received a permit to build a row of homes on this site, located at the rear of his Yonge Street property at a cost of about $15,000 (about $500,000 in 2024). Matheson trained to become a doctor in Toronto and Connecticut but instead chose to be a men’s clothing retailer, running a successful store at 16 King Street East. His large home was just west of here at the corner of Yonge and Gloucester Streets. Matheson was planning to return to medicine when he died during the construction of the homes….. The first people to live at 7, 9, and 11 were James N. Peer, commercial merchant, George E. Challes, paper company manager, and Margaret J. Pringle, a widow… In 1950, five of the houses were demolished for construction of the subway…”

The next series of photographs are all taken in Gloucester Place, an alley that runs behind Yonge Street on the east side.  Artist B.C. Johnson has also painted most of the walls and doors in the one block stretch north of Gloucester Street.

below: Looking north up Gloucester Place towards Isabella, with tall glass and steel boxes at Yonge and Bloor towering above.

looking north

palm trees on the beach, part of a mural by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

water, stream, nature scene, beside a door painted like bright blue boards, part of a mural by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

lake scene, part of a mural by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

glittery green striped iguana on a tree trunk looking at a yellow butterfly, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

alley walls and doors painted by B C Johnson, scenes of nature

orange butterfly among branches of a tree, blue sky background, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

price list sign above painting of a white heron or egret standing beside a small creek, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

white chicken on the roof of an old red truck, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

5 large sunflowers in a field of sunflowers, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson in Gloucester Place

alley walls and doors painted by B C Johnson, scenes of nature

2 different scenes painted beside each other, one is palm trees, the other a yellowish building, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson

a white rabbit nibbles on the grass beside a wood crate full of red apples, part of a mural of nature scenes by B C Johnson

a no parking sign on a chain across an archway leading to a farm scene, along with a Canada goose and a chicken

three tigers in the bushes, in the corner of an alcove,

below: The south end of Gloucester Lane, at Gloucester Street.  The old house was preserved and there is a coffee shop on the lower level at the moment.

exterior, neo coffee, tree in front, on Gloucester near park

Gloucester street, looking west towards Yonge street

interior, neo coffee,two people sitting and working

below: She looks rather perplexed and I am inclined to agree with her!

graffiti stickers on a canada post box

below: A little black catchoo heart

black catchoo heart graffiti sticker on a yellow bollard

One last quick circle back, this time to the beginning to include one last bit –

below: Chechalk Lane, from Wellesley towards Dundonald.  This lane was named for Chechalk, an Anishnawbe Chief who was one of the signatories to the 1805 Toronto Purchase. He also signed the Mississauga Treaty of 1805 (aka Treaty 13). The name/word means crane or big bird.

looking down a laneway, tall buildings on both sides, with reflections of buildings in the glass of the building at the end of the lane.

The story of the Toronto Purchase of 1805 is described on the website of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. (MCFN).  I am not going to copy and paste the whole thing; instead three points:

1. Original purchase price was 10 shillings (plus other items).
2. Renegotiations began in 1998 leading to a settlement for more money in 2010.
3.  The cities of Etobicoke, Toronto, North York, York and Vaughan are located within the boundaries of the Toronto Purchase Treaty lands.

If you want to read the whole story, link: MCFN Treaty 13.

my go to places

Posted: April 29, 2025 in general Toronto
Tags: , , ,
9

Queen Street East, old brick building in front of new glass and steel condo tower

“My Go to Places” was recently a photo challenge from John at Journeys with Johnbo, another wordpress blog.  Because my blog is very Toronto centered, I don’t usually play along with such games but last week I thought that I would make an exception because “my go to place” is/are the streets and alleys of Toronto.

Every street has a story to tell, you just have to get out there and explore.

part of a mural on the Danforth, a larger than life person in white jacket and dark jeans, walking off the wall

On the Danforth, part of a mural by Monica on the Moon (aka Monica Weikler).

I enjoy finding the quirks of the city – humorous signs in store windows,  bizarre or funny graffiti, the quirky things people put in their front yards, and more.  I like stumbling upon surprises that make me smile (or wince!).

A happy face and poetic words on a TTC bus stop pole – “She lives to see the sun and feel the wind and drink the rain”.  Not bad words to live by!

But sometimes the joy is found in the ordinary.

a woman is crouching down on a sidewalk to get a better photograph of a garden full of bright yellow daffodils, with the stone buildings of Emanuel College, U of T, in the background

Bright yellow signs of spring, and hope, in front of the stone buildings of Emanuel College, University of Toronto.

.

Out on the streets the cliche of ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ holds true – it’s all there (have I complained recently about the street level ghastliness of some new condos?).  And not just the on the streets, but also underground, wandering through buildings, or crossing above

looking out an elevated pedestrian bridge, enclosed in glass, looking out to street, and downtown Toronto

Sick Kids Hospital, crossing over busy streets

below: Behaving well on the subway.

small white curly haired dog sitting on a blue TTC subway car seat, with a woman in a blur coat, red scarf, and large red bag, she is looking at her phone

White Hydrangeas (A haiku for each petal)
…
Ivory flowers
sprout in the graveyard near me
soil-bound miracle
…
This ground is neutral
apparently this is so all I know is not
…
Dirt sits on a son –
a boy, thousand times unearthed –
who looks just like me
…
Bouquets mask his name
this world is not meant for us
still, white hydrangeas

I walk through ravines and along the lakefront….. past places that everyone recognizes as well as places that are hidden away.

GO train on tracks, repair and maintenance trucks parked beside the tracks, CN Tower and downtown Toronto in the background

A GO train travels just west of the CN Tower in downtown Toronto. A small piece of the white roof of the SkyDome (Rogers Centre) can be seen at the base of the tower.

.

two people walking along the side of the railway tracks, apartment buildings in the background,

Walking beside the railway tracks, somewhere in Toronto.

I’ve seen the streets where we work, where we play, and where we live.

 

workman, cutting pavement, or sidewalk, outside, making lots of dust,

three brick duplex houses in a row

Duplexes on Eglinton

.

large inflatable Santa Claus on a front yard of a large house with dark blue shutters

Santa Claus visits the west end.

.

downtown row house with larger apartment building behind

Urban living downtown

.

And I know that good things usually happen when you get out and be a part of the city.  Of course we have problems (that Eglinton LRT is a mess isn’t it? and it’s a shame about the Science Centre, right?)  It’s a friendly place.

pedestrians and one cyclist crossing on a green light at college and spadina

Pedestrians, a few cars, and one cyclist, crossing at College and Spadina.

.

beside uber 5000 mural on the side of the Toronto Humane Society, people crossing Queen Street towards THS, people standing in bus shelter beside the mural, big orange cat and large dog, both in the mural

At River and Queen East, cats and dogs in a mural by Uber 5000.

Like all story tellers, I bring along my history and my biases.  If you were to walk with me, you might notice different things than I do.  Or if we see the same things, you might offer a different perspective. You would possibly write a different story but that’s okay.   Sometimes I wonder if I am writing stories about Toronto or if I am just writing my own story and Toronto just happens to be the setting!

A young woman in floppy navy blue hat and holding a cup of coffee, pushes a stroller along a Yorkville downtown sidewalk, bright red building across the street,

Yorkville

.

man sleeping on a TTC streetcar

Riding the TTC

hanging on the walls of Hart House

Posted: April 29, 2025 in galleries
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Hart House, at the University of Toronto, has two photography exhibitions on at the moment. Both are in hallways and both are open to the public.

Please remember that these are photos of pictures behind glass – don’t judge the quality of the image on display by the quality of the photo here on the blog! As usual, the real thing always looks better.

The first is “Interwoven Identities, Unraveling Diaspora Narratives” with the goal of tracing “the threads of memory, migration, and identity that shape Asian diasporic experiences and mental health.” This quote is taken from the Asian Art and Culture Trust website.

below: Fangdan Chen’s photo seems like a collage of many different kinds of faces, some natural and some not.

Untitled photograph by Fangdan Chen, on display at Hart House

below: A photograph by Sarah Jihae Kaye titled, “I’ve Begun to Distrust my Body”.

Photograph by Sarah Jihae Kaye, on display at Hart House

below: “Gourd” by Phoung Nguyen

photograph by Phoung Nguyen, title is gourd, on display at hart house

below: “Imagined Ricefields” by Reginald Balanga  – a barren winter scene that is possibly as far away from any rice field as possible.

a photo of a blacket draped over oa chainlink fence, winter scene, snow on the ground, small leafless trees.

The second floor hallway has an exhibit that features work by the Hart House Camera Club. The winners of the 103rd Annual contest, in 9 categories. A sample below. If your favorite photo isn’t here, don’t take it personally, it’s probably because I had trouble with reflections in the glass of many of them.

below: Cosmo Chan “Home”

colour photograph of a large multi story building

below: “Gently” by Jacob Lee

Photograph by Jacob Lee, two people reaching out to touch each other, with focus on the hands

below:  A surreal blue scene by Ongphat Piyabenjarad titled, “Parallel Worlds”

surreal photo, all in blue, two people floating or swimming underwater, with cityscape, highrises, in the background,

below: “Veiled” by Jasmine Lu, part of a photographic essay.

photo of a woman with light clothing, standing knee deep in water, part of a series by Jasmine Lu

below:  A young man sitting on a bench in what might be a bus shelter.   This is “How to Start your Digital Detox” by Gerald Lerchbaumer.

colour photo, man sitting on bench with back to camera, street scene in front of him

below: Albert Huang, “Camel Man”

black and white photo of a man with two camels, by Albert Huang, title The Camel Man, on display in the hall of Hart House at University of Toronto

below:  “The Strongman” by David Williams.

A black and white frames photo on display on a brick wall, The Strongman by David Williams

below: Playing with reflections, in another David Williams photo.  Who is watching who?

black and white photo of a man looking out a window, by David Williams, with reflections of the photographer and the wall behind

two framed colour photos hanging on a brick wall, interior, as part of an exhibit by the hart house camera club

below: Auden Cole “Phone Hunch”

colour phiotograph, black silhouette of a man behind clear glass or plastic that has graffiti on it

The Hart House Camera Club exhibits ends 30th of April.

The “Interwoven Identities” show continues until 18th May. If you are interested in the subject, there is another exhibit at the STACKT Market during the month of May called “Interwoven Identities: Healing in Community” – information at the Asian Arts and Culture website.

of wisdom, patience, and other things…..

Posted: April 27, 2025 in events
Tags: , ,
5

This past week there were some intriguing posters on a few utility poles around the St. George campus of U of T, all to promote this year’s Philosothon.  This is/was a two day event (April 26 & 27) to promote critical thinking as well as creative thinking.

below: “What wisdom hides in what you’ve allowed yourself to forget?”

poster on a utility pole on university of Toronto campus, asking a philosophical question. source - philosothon U of T.

below: “Where does you body truly end?”

below:  top: “What worlds exist in your peripheral vision?” bottom: “What have your eyes forgotten to see without help?”

below: “When did patience stop feeling like a virtue?”

below: top: Where in your body do you feel time passing? bottom: “When was the last time you felt truly irreplaceable?”

behind Ossington

Posted: April 13, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

Moooo…. Hey there good looking!…  Here’s looking at you!  This was painted by Poser.  Usually he does bunny rabbits but I think that he’s pretty good at painting cows too!

street art mural of a black and white cow looking at you, on a garage

For a number of years now, there has been a lot of street art and graffiti in an alley that runs behind the east side of Ossington starting at Queen Street and ending one block north at Humbert. Some of it is interesting; some is not. A few garages and walls look the same as they did 12 or 13 years ago so some of these photos may look similar to older photos used in this blog.

building in an alley, northeast corner of queen west and ossington, street art and graffiti on the walls

below: In the background, an untitled piece by Caratoes.  It was one of 5 murals painted in Toronto in 2016 for the “Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans” series.  In total, there were over 500 murals in 20 countries in this series.

graffiti on a wall in many colours, with a large grey tones mural in the background.

below: Six lit matches ready to go.  This crazy cat is up to something no good…

mural on a fence, a grey cat with matches in his mouth, playing with a bottle

below: An early Birdo piece, although the scroll names or street artists too.  The first street art in the alley dates from 2012 when a group of artists painted some of the garages here.

older mural by birdo, two creatures standing together on a rusty garage door in an alley

below: A pink rose between two women.

pink rose sprayed painted on green wood, beside a figure dressed in white paste up

below: Another oldie – this purple guy has been blowing a gust of wind for many years.

old graffiti on a wall

below: Vintage Spud bombs, some cheerful and some menacing.

spud bombs street art, little grey bombs with cheery faces, on a wall in an alley behind ossington avenue

below: A funny looking green creature with big white eyes and lots of skinny legs.

street art mural

below: A couple, together in the stream, in a mural by Elicser Elliott with the title “Swim”

street art mural by elicser elliott of two people, man and woman, in purple stream, title is swim

below: Geometric shapes with a touch of rainbow colour, by Peru

on a garage in an alley, painting by artist called peru,

part of a street art mural, man that looks ancient greek or roman sitting, holding a large pot, wearing a toga and sandals

below: Large pink and white swirls and curls cover a wall. Any time that you see swirls like these, think Flips because that’s sure to be the artist that painted them.

pink and white swirls and curls, mural in alley

below: Only a small portion of this moose painting by Aaron Li-Hill remains.  I don’t usually show the original works but I am going to make an exception here.  See next image.

old street art painting of a moose partially covered with pywood

below: This is what it looked like back in 2012 or 2013.

old street art mural by aaron li-hill of a moose with full antler rack, open mouth,

below: A newer Catchoo sticker.

little daisy sticker by catchoo on a metal pipe in an alley

below: A couple of faces taken from many faces around a garage.

below: Part of a Troy Lovegates mural (as are the next three images)

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington, two merged heads with necks that come out of the same hole in the red and blue sweater that they are wearing. One face is yellow and the other face is half grey and half purple

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto. In the middle is a framed recessed box in the wall with 3 egg shapes in it

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington

below: Looking south. The closest garage on the right has a mural painted by Spud.

alley, with garages on one side, mural on the wall of a building on the left

below: Durothethird paints peanut butter & (probably) chocolate

street art on a garage door in an alley, peanut butter,

below: Horus, “Well and good”

street art on a garage door in an alley by horus

garages covered with street art and graffiti, in alley on west side of ossington avenue in toronto, just north of queen street west

street art on a garage door in an alley pink polka dots on red

below: At the north end of the alley

buildings in alley covered with graffiti and street art

small part of a larger painting, street art, on side of garage in an alley, three fuzzy balls, each with one eye. Balls are yellow, and a red, and one blue.

weathered street art and graffiti on a wood garage in an alley

purple line drawing in spray paint of a man, with yellow wings, graffiti added to it, alley

below: Writing on black and purple

white line drawing on black line drawing of a man with glasses and a beard, mural in an alley

below: Portrait of George Sully, Canadian designer

portrait of a young black man, with a triangle behind his head, in a mural in an alley

below: Love yourself, over and over again, and in many different colours!

on a black wall in an alley, in cursive writing, the words love yourself written in many colours, many times

below: An old stikman in a frame, weathered but still there.

weathered street art paint on wood, with a tiny wood frame, inside frame is an old stikman graffiti piece

below: And lastly…  Too extraterrestrial, which someone seems to love

black wall, with graffiti, hand drawn character with words too extra terrestrial,

below: Looking north

alley behind ossington, on the west side, garages covered in street art and graffiti

garage in alley covered with paintings of bright flowers

between West Lodge and Lansdowne

Posted: April 12, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Running west off of West Lodge Ave., there is an alley behind Queen Street West on the north side.  The upper part of this long, low building was painted blue a number of years ago.  Since then it has been tagged and used as a place to put graffiti.

alley, long low building on right hand side, painted blue, with windows,

below: T-bonez from Urban Ninja Squadron practises yoga positions.

below: A bright red door that has unfortunately been scrawled on.  Beside it is a black figure that seems to be diving backwards while holding a bunch of colourful balloons.

below: Once it was a pink cat with green whiskers

below: Holding tight to that red rose.

stencil on a wall in an alley, a fist holding a red rose

Continuing west towards Lansdowne ….

below: Faces in the alley, with a bit too much gold

below: Chubby cheeks and big fat lips…. and how many eyes?

below: Faces, many faces with their eyes closed and their hair swirling around.  Mural painted by Carol Ann Apilado

below: “Tell me its all going to be okay?  Not sure if I can do that buddy…..

graffiti on a black garage, white drawing of a person with fingers in peace sign, with text Tell me it's all going to be okay?

below: Patterns and shapes on fence, by Hello Kirsten

murals on a fence in an alley including one by hello kirsten, design patterns, also a woman in purple,

murals in an alley, a garage painted all orange, paintings on fence, face and cacti painted in side a car port under an apartment

motorcycle parked in front of blue fence, beside a garage in a lane, near Queen Street West and Lansdowne

mini cooper car parked in an alley beside a garage with street art and graffiti on it

green spray paint and black drippy paint graffiti on red brick wall

alley views

below: Enough!  Although once upon a time it said more than that…..

close up of painting on a wood fence, abstract shapes and colours, with texture

This post also appears on my street art blog, Eyes on the Streets.

some Parkdale doors and windows

Posted: March 31, 2025 in doors, stores, windows and walls
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

below: Have a seat!  Let me show you a few interesting and colourful doors and windows that I have seen along Queen Street West.

2 wood chairs outside a coffee shop

below: We’re all in this together. Recognize the font? the style?  It’s a throwback to Honest Eds.

sign in window that says we're all in this together

outside wall painted bright blue, window,

below: Passing in front of Bone & Busk store.

Front window with two corsets, one white, and one red, of bone and busk store on queen west

below: Art frames the windows

part of a street art mural that frames the windows in a store, reflections in the window

below: Facial time, with love from Pepe!

old black mailbox on a white wall, with poster above showing a woman getting a facial, black scrawl graffiti below the mailbox

below: An abstract painting of a musician in hot reds and oranges covers this door.

dark wood door frame, abstract painting in hot colors, reds, orange, and some yellow, covers most of the door.

below: Welcome, but closed.

metal gate in front of door of store with closed sign, also a sign that says welcome

below: Luigi plays Tetris

in the window of a store, a figurine of Luigi from Mario brothers, with a toy tetris game

below: Grocery Coffee

from across the street, front of Grocery Coffee with a table and two chairs outside

reflection of woman looking at pastries for sale in a bakery window,

two men talking outside a tattoo parlour on Queen West, both wearing toques

below: In a quiet niche, a guitar player finds a place to play.

man plays a guitar in doorway of closed restaurant and cafe, guitar case on ground, pictures in window

a woman walks past Lee's Variety on Queen West, store is painted red, with large window in front,

below: Advertising their wares, phone accessories, backpacks, incense sticks, cat dog food, ice, beer, and key cutting… and many more inside!

window of convenience store, key cutting, with ads on boards outside on sidewalk

below: T.dot Variety

t dot variety store with a tree growing in front of it

below: Gumby lies in the window of Tammy’s wearing white boots and pink thong.  Not the Gumby of your childhood!

rainbow coloured bench in front of Tammys window, Gumby with white boots and pink thong, holding a microphone,

below: Mailboxes and stickers

2 doors on a building, the one on the right is covered with stickers

below: A peachy scene

doorway alcove painted with abstract person's butt in the shape of a peach

green door, with 2 green milk crates sitting on the doorstep

below: Mary stands outside a window of Our Lady of Lebanon Church

part of a dark red brick church, with arched window, white statue of Mary in front of the church

looking in a restaurant window, plastic pink flower, with reflections of street

I have chosen to focus on the content or the character of the windows and doors at street level. There is at least one, and probably more, stories that could be told about the doors and windows of Parkdale from an architectural perspective (commercial, and then residential…). I will leave you with a couple of examples but I will have to save the rest of the subject for another post.

upper level of 2 storey building, brick, with six windows, and pattern of yellow bricks,

toronto city street sign, Queen Street West, Parkdale, showing the upper level of the buildings across the street

everything’s for sale

Posted: March 26, 2025 in construction, locations, stores, windows and walls
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

below:  Signs. I always read the signs.  As I approached the fence, I was preparing to read about yet another condo so I was pleasantly surprised to read, “building with Electronic Gaming and Bingo Hall”!   Apparently Dolphin Gaming has submitted a number of applications for developing this site over the past few years and finally, back in November the plan for a lowrise building with plenty of parking was approved.

blue and white city of toronto development notice sign,

I came across the above sign a few weeks ago when a small group of us explored a rather forlorn section of Scarborough. “Forlorn” can be fun because often it equals interesting photography opportunities.  It was still winter then; back when there was still snow on the ground.

do not enter sign on chainlink gate, in front of light industrial, storage facility

Many people react to seeing a group of people with cameras walking in their neighbourhood.  Some of the natives are friendly and want to talk, even if it’s just a minute or two of small talk.  We can be a chatty group.  A number of times during this walk we were asked if we were looking to buy.  When we asked if what they had was for sale, the answer was frequently, “everything is for sale”.  I can not vouch for how true that is, but in this section of Scarborough it certainly felt possible.

city street signs on a stop sign pole, cleanside road and warden avenue, vacant lot behind

a yellow digger and a full blue dumpster on a snowy vacant lot, behind barbed wire fence

cars and other junk stacked three levels high, outdoors,

small plastic santa claus beside a mail box

large 18 wheeler truck cab, with three mirrors on drivers side

looking between the backs of trucks that are parked close to each other

below: Signs!

below: Oh no!  I can picture the driver jumping out of his Cybertruck already for his shift in a school bus!

Tesla cybertruck parked by Stock school bus office building, small yellow school buses in the background.

below: Most of the architecture is one storey brick buildings, long and low.  This type of roof over the entrance probably has a name, canopy? awning? – it seems very 1960s or 1970s.

one storey light industrial building in scarborough, with zigzag roof over entrance

below: Largest in Canada!  Pink windows say: Open to the public…. We can finance your kitchen for a few dollars a week….Big or small, we auction it all…  (and more)

building housing a company that specializes in liquidation, buying and selling of items unsold or unwanted by others

below: Old style bus shelter with no ads.

Warden Ave in Scarborough, bus shelter in front of low rise red brick building with green roof,

below: Railway tracks cross Warden Avenue at a level crossing

private property, no trespassing sign beside railway tracks in scarborough

 

hoardings with photos of city buildings with blue sky backgrounds, behind chainlink fence

broken front headlight of a purplish coloured van

old purple van with patchy bodywork

pile of stuff outside a red brick building, including a gatorade vending machine, green plastic chair, two shovels, a metal container, a red plastic gas can, and more

stuff being stored outside behind a gas station including a sign that says hand car wash, yellow dumpster,

gas station in winter

wood chair with old beige cushion sits on a snow covered sidewalk in front of a building under construction

below: A large pile of old used wheel rims
pile of old wheel rims, other piles of scrap metal and metal for recycling

large dump truck entering Triple M Metals site

looking through chainlink fence at large dump truck entering Triple M Metals site

behind chainlink fence, old cars parked bumper to bumper

locked gate, steps leading up to gate, mound of dirt behind gate, winter, snow on ground

rusty barbed wire drooping down across chainlink fence,

signs on the side of a building, one of the signs is partially fallen off

a red brick building with two tall skinny windows is beside and slightly in front of a yellow clad building, picnic tables in the space between the two, snow on ground,

two piles of pallets sitting outside a brick building with graffiti on the walls

below: “Puzzle” created by Elaine Teguibon, Tara Dorey, Raymond Cho, as well as  youth employment program artists, 2011.  Funded by the City of Toronto.  It covers the front of the Youthlink building .

youth theme murals on low rise building, mural routes

kids playing cards, youth theme murals on low rise building, mural routes

below: It has a couple of Mediah murals and a Scarborough 3D sign, and now its for sale…. (more details at: Scarborough Mediah blog post)

building for sale. mediah murals on two sides, big for sale sign in front, bus stop, painted storage container in front, warden ave in scarborough

below: More for sale!  All one storey.  This is steps  the new Eglinton LRT (we think!).   It is zoned M4A-225 which is industrial.  Also sneaking into the picture –  You might recognize the large white city of Toronto water tower near the corner of Warden and Eglinton.

large for sale sign beside stores and businesses on warden ave., toronto water tower in the background, snow,

below: Domestic Tank & Equipment with its wall of small panes of window glass.  There must have been hundreds of these types of buildings in Toronto once upon a time.

gates of Domestic Tank and equipment factory, yellowish bricks with large windows made up of hundreds of small panes of window glass

I tried to find some history on this building… instead I learned a lot about “liquid storage solutions since 1952”.  Industrial use tanks are actually quite interesting!

part of wall of windows at Domestic Tank and equipment factory, yellowish bricks with large windows made up of hundreds of small panes of window glass

below: Where an Electronic Gambling & Bingo Hall just might go …

vacant lot with concrete barrier blocking entry

old roller gate, open position, driveway now blocked and lot now vacant

old faded and rusty metal sign on chainlink fence

As I was taking the above three photos, I had my back to another very large abandoned site which happens to also be the place where I ended the walk. A large and very empty Rona store occupies a large chunk of prime real estate.  It was made redundant when  Lowes and Rona (both were big box hardware and building supply stores) merged a few years ago.  A second, but very active, Rona store is only a block or so away.

below: It is quite a large piece of property.  Present asking price is just over $50,000,000.

snow covered field in front of empty rona store in scarborough

side view of main entrance to rona store

view of empty loading bays at empty rona store

billboard in empty parking lot of a now empty rona store

below: Although I know that big box stores are big, they look even bigger when they are empty.  There doesn’t seem to be much to them – some beams to make a metal frame, add a few pipes and some wires, and wrap it on all sides.  An engineer or a contractor may disagree, but it looks so simple.

interior, empty Rona store

interior, empty Rona store, looking in through window with reflections of exit door and parking lot

below: Over and out!

exit door from old abandoned rona store

Thanks to the usual Wednesday walking group for letting me join them once again – All bundled up for walking on a winter day!

backs of people walking on sidewalk, past shiny reflective hoardings, with new housing in the background

Older Entries
Newer Entries