It was quieter than usual when I walked down Graffiti Alley today.

  There were some guys painting a new street art piece

a street art piece in progress, man spray painting,

below: Elicser (and someone else) painting

elicser paints a person on a wall, another man is beside him, also spray painting street art in Graffiti Alley

The first thing that happened on my walk was that I was yelled at by the woman inside this ‘tent’. She obviously didn’t like the camera in my hand so she screamed how was stalking her and harassing her. So I took a picture.

graffiti on the wall

Not the best way to start a walk. Grump. Grump.  But it could have been the heat and humidity….

graffiti of a star with a frown

Or maybe because it was the day that Doug Ford officially became premier of Ontario.

Or maybe because someone has littered Graffiti Alley with numerous stencils of this kind…. this is the largest.

Mood – it certainly affects the way you look at the world. Grump. Grump.
Then along comes a little lovebot to make you smile.

stickers on a metal box, urban ninja squadron, also one with words that say Choose people who choose you

graffiti on a wall, and orange door with graffiti and stickers, Graffiti Alley

And maybe all is okay after all.

Caterpillars and butterflies is the theme of the latest laneway painting project.  A year ago, Nick Sweetman led a group of street artists who painted garage doors in a lane near Garrison Creek park with pictures of butterflies.   These murals appeared in blog post in June 2017

This year’s project was similar.   Many of the same artists were involved again this year.  They used garages, fences and gates in a lane near Felstead Park (a block south of Greenwood subway station) as their canvas.  Once again, the theme was butterflies as it too was part of the David Suzuki Foundation’s butterflyways project.  This time, a similar blue background was used in all the murals which has given it a more unified appearance.

a lane with many painted garage doors, butterfly murals, summer time, green leaves, lots of trees, two people walking

The project was curated by Nick Sweetman and it had the support of Start aka StreetARToronto

below: Felstead Park, by @braes_ack

title mural on a garage door, Felstead Park murals, butterflies

below: In the shadow of the weed are the letters CTR

geometric, angular butterflies

below: Mural signed by Kehoe, the face of David Suzuki

a butterfly and a face merged into one, the eyes look out over the top of the red and yellow wings

below: Green and yellow toadstools by mska

mural by mska on a garage door and fence, green and yellow toadstools

below: Mural by @oriah_scott

two large butterflies in a mural by @oriah_scott

below: butterfly among the pink and red flowers, by P.S. aka Phillip Saunders

large pink butterfly with pink and red flowers by P.S.

below: A sombre dark piece (is it finished?) by @poserabm

dark grey and brown painting, one small butterfly by poserabm

below: Three butterflies by Serina

butterfly mural by serina

below: Collaboration – A monarch painted by Nick Sweetman and a wonderful rose by Wales

mural by Nick Sweetman, large realistic looking butterfly and a large pinkish rose

below: A bright and busy mural by Spyone and Tensoe

mural on a wood fence - butterflies and flowers

monarch butterfly painted on a garage door

below: The hookah-smoking caterpillar from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is crawling across the fence.  Painted by elicser

caterpilar

below: Red panda out on a limb, perhaps chasing the butterfly, by Ted Hamer (@The1astRonin)

an animal (possum, red panda?), walks out on a tree branch towards a blue butterfly, mural on a fence

below: A butterfly in the garden; the work of Anya Mielniczek

mural running horizontally across garage, garage door and adjoining fence, butterflies and flowers

below: Two flowers, one pink and one blue, by Chris Perez

blue flower painted on a garage door, by @chrispperez

below: It looks  a lot like a skull on the back of this butterfly painted by @cmazzulla aka Christine Mazzulla

colourful butterfly mural on a garage door, blue background

below: A curled up caterpillar in pink and black, very larger than life!, by Spud.

a large pink and black caterpilar curled up on a garage door - mural

below: By Dezed, a butterly, mushrooms, and a bit of water

butterly mural, pond, mountains in the background, pinkish sky

below: Reaching out to the butterfly, giving the butterfly a helping hand, painted by @drippin_soul (Kalkidan Assefa)

a mural by @drippin_soul of a hand reaching towards a blue butterfly

below: On the right, Emma, the property owner’s dog who died recently.  Nick Sweetman painted the dog while @mr_tensoe2 painted the dog’s name

geometric striped butterfly with a dog head beside it. above dog is written the word Emma

 

 

 

Pictures from the annual Pride Parade down Yonge Street – my apologies for the large number but everyone is just so photogenic and engaging!

woman in pink hat and round sunglasses cheering while holding a banner in one hand and two flags in the other

people in black hats and black coats taking photos of group in pride parade marching with signs that say stop executing apostates and dissidents

two women walking in the pride parade, crowds on both sides of the street, one is topless with a rainbow frilly skirt and the other has a rainbow umbrella

two people hugging at the pride parade, one is a man dressed in a Rocky Horror outfit and the other is a woman with a rainbow flag and a Mcdonalds drink in her hand

float in the pride parade about sex education through theatre, called sext,

the United Church of Canada float in the Pride Parade, people lining the sidewalks on both sides of the street, people walking in front of the float

a woman wearing a rainbow dress and garland in her hair, smiling

a boy on his father's shoulders, playing with a green bead necklace as they watch the pride parade in TOronto

man in long black robes and hat with two black horns, walking in parade, crowds behind him,

a black woman with long curly hair is holding three signs in bright colours while getting ready for the pride parade, the photo is photobombed by another black person with bright green sunglasses on

a float enters the pride parade while spectators watch from the sidewalk, behind barricades

a woman on stilts carries a rainbow umbrella as she walks with iatse group in the pride parade

man in drag - blue and yellow feathers, lots of sequins and glitter, carrying a mask

man with flag riding on float in pride parade, lots of pink and purple balloons and ruffles

lots of bubbles as people walk in pride parade, man holding a banner, boy in yellow jacket walking in front of banner

group of people in blue T-shirts and carrying rainbow flags that say proud to be a Catholic teacher

group of three pose for a picture, two are wearing Tshirts that say choir Choir Choir.

crowds watching the pride parade, all ages, some standing on planters in the middle of Yonge Street, College Park building behind them

a group of four young people from the fido section of the pride parade, in teal shorts, covered with colourful body paint hearts and stars and rainbows

two men, one with a makeup sparkly beard and moustache in blue and silver and one in drag with a loarge red hat covered with flowers

two policemen in yellow rain jackets control crowds and traffic on Dundas street at the end of the pride parade, as a float is coming to the end of the parada

carrying a black and blue striped flag, two men, one in diaper and dog leather mask, the other in ordinary clothes

two men walking in the pride parade, one in a skimpy tight silver pair of short pants and carrying a Mexican flag, the other in drag in a black and silver costume, long dress, with hat with silver horns on it

prid eparade float passes by a crowd, lots of shouting and cheering

getting ready for the pride parade, a topless woman stands near a group carrying posters, one with Frida Kahlo on it and the other with Vivek Shraya

four people in stretchy tight fitting unitards, a pink, a blue, a yellow and a red, all have sashes that say Ding Dong Girls

two men on a float at the pride parade, one is covered in silver paint, the other is seated and wearing a large brimmed hat and holding balloons

trigger fish waterpolo team parades in their red swim suits, dancing to music, arms out at their sides, passing in front of College Park building

an out of focus arm covers the bare bottoms of two naked men as they walk past

a couple hugging on the sidewalk

three women with super soakers (water guns) on a float in the pride parade, ONA, ontario nurses association

behind metal barricades, people watching the pride parade

on a float at the pride parade, sign says penalty box. Man in referee shirt with a sign that says Two minutes for looking so good. He is pointing at the camera

a woman helps a man in a pink shirt stand on a bicycle lock ring on the sidewalk

polyamory group, men, women and children, with colourful clothes and signs waits their turn to join the pride parade

group with red hats and purple and silver sparkly pom pom things poses with cheers and waves for a picture before the pride parade begins

marchers from the presbyterian church walking in the pride parade, man holding a sign that says Knox Waterloo, in clericals, with beaded necklaces around his neck

people watching pride parade on yonge street in toronto, scaffolding for construction, people on roofs, people walking by on sidewalk

the Queen of Hearts, a drag queen in red with large red plastic wig and a red dress, posses for a pic with a woman

university of toronto float in pride parade

a man holds a banner with one arm, has the other arm lifted up, pink fabric draped around his shoulders, and a rainbow flag around the back and top of his head

two military personnel sitting on top of a green jep with rainbow flags as they drive in the pride parade

a man wears a dress made of yellow police caution tape in a parade

three women wearing tight silver bathing suits and purple wigs

men in leather but no clothes walking in parade

pride parade, animal section

up close shot of man wearing blue star shaped sun glasses

federation of canadian naturists walking nude in the pride parade

drag queen in elaborate gold costume with white feathers on fans one in each hand) and headdress that also has a large gold glittery star shape front piece

 

a man in a rain pncho covreed with red maple leaves is posing with a man dressed in a dress that is covered with condoms

man in a silver mask covering his whole head, with a group in white t-shirts in the pride parade

a very skinny man with grey hair, a yellow top and red skimpy short pants, other pwople wakling by on the sidewalk

Near the end of the Pride Parade route, at Dundas and Victoria, a small group of people (all men?) congregate to protest the parade. One man has a megaphone and he uses it constantly. If you are watching the parade, it’s not a comfortable place to be unless you like the incessant high decibel assault on your ears. They have the right to be there. But supporters of the parade, and the people who participate in the parade, have found a peaceful yet effective way to counter that protest…. by quietly standing in front of them with their own signs.

two protestors hold up hand written signs to block the protest behind them. One sign, on brown cardboard, says The Christian right is neither. THe other sign, on white bristol board says These 5 lovebirds are so intimate with each other they should cum and join the fun.  One of the anti-pride posters says Jesus opposes your pride. repent.

protest signs and counter protest signs at the prode parade

large sign that says I also read the bible I think these dudes missed the point. It is in front of other signs protesting agains the pride parade and the gay lifestyle

These protests have occurred at this location for a number of years.  It is not uncommon for parade participants to stop here for their own counter-protest.

a young man in the pride parade stops to hold up a banner that says one voice. He is facing anti pride parade protestors

Walking with the revelers on Church Street on Sunday afternoon as the Pride Parade was winding down.

a man in drag, high heels, skimpy bottoms and a frilly red top looks at the camera with a smirk and a wink

crowds on church street, with a man in just underwear sprawled on a chair in the middle of the street

three Asian woman laughing as they walk down the street, looking at something that has made them laugh

an south asian man in pink shirt and sunglasses gets a topless woman to pose with him, she is kissing him

two men with big beards. one in a short red top and red cap, the other topless except for shoulders straps

two women talking, with rainbow headbands and colourful clothes, as another woman walks past behind them

a young girl holding a bunch of yellow balloons

men with no clothes except for black leather harnesses and straps and a black cap

below: A slow time at the ice cream truck

a young man sits in the window of an ice cream truck as he watches the crowd

below: It was the man behind that made me laugh.

two naked men walking down the street, with a man behind them taking their picture, two women in bathing suits and large hats

below: Matching butterflies.

two women in bikinis, both with sparkly butterflies on their lower back

a man in drag with a wig of long grey hair, black hat with red flowers, in the crowd

a young man with pink t shirt and fuzzy pink ears, another man with a rainbow flag on his back and his hand over his mouth

a group poses for a selfie shot as other people walk by

below: Daddy hunter

 woman with a sticker that says daddy hunter

below: Another daddy sticker

a woman is putting a sticker on her upper thigh while another woman looks on

below: Spock makes an appearance

a man dressed as Spock mingles with the crowd in front of Pizza Pizza

The rain let up long enough for the Dyke March to parade across Bloor and down Yonge without everyone getting wet.  Lots of colour and sparkle was on display along with lots of enthusiasm and fun! This year’s theme was Resist as seen on this crocheted banner.

dyke march 2018 - a group of people carrying a banner made of yarn, crocheted, that says resist. #dmto #resist

dyke march 2018 - women in Sailor Moon costumes, one with a bubble gun and is making bubbles as she walks in the parade

dyke march 2018 - Asian women holding a blue banner that says Aqua, Asian Queer Alliance, 5 women holding the banner

dyke march 2018 - as parade goes along Bloor, cyclists, dykes on bikes, one reaches arm out to the crowd on the sidewalk

dykes on bikes lined up across Yonge street in the middle of the parade, Dyke March 2018

dyke march 2018, dykes on bikes - bare breasted woman with yellow and orange hair, on a bike in front of two women carrying a purple banner with the word inspire on it

dyke march 2018 - group of women carrying a banner that says bisexual women of Toronto

dyke march 2018 - dark brown person wearing blue lipstick holds a white banner

dyke march 2018 - a woman with rainbow headband and pink top is holding a small fluffy white dog with rainbow hat and coat

dyke march 2018 - a woman holds an orange Proud NDP sign in the parade, one arm reaching upwards

dyke march 2018 - two women in the parade, one with short purple hair, carrying a small black dog

dyke march 2018 - woman in pink bra with many tattoos is walking past a crowd on the sidewalk

watching the dyke march 2018 on Yonge street, two women with a dog on a leash and three girls on decorated scotters wearing bike helmets and bright sunglasses

drummers and marchers in the dyke march on yonge street

watching the dyke march 2018 - two girls on Yonge street draped in rainbow flags

dyke march 2018 - two young women together

dyke march 2018 - dancing women in orange T-shirts, rainbow sisters, one is waving a rainbow flag

woman holding up an large orange crocheted umbrella

woman on a bike in the dyke march 2018 parade, talking to a young woman who is carrying a banner, other women walking behind, a child on the lap of a woman on a motorized scooter.

a woman with very short hair on bike with a dog sharing her seat, black and white dog with nose pointed forwards as they ride together

two young women with large cardboard cut out letters wrapped with rainbow yarn, a G and and L. Part of a larger group that spells out LGBT

dyke march 2018 - a break in the parade is time for a photo op of motorcycle with passenger wearing helmet and fishnet stockings.

two men stand on a balcony of the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel on Yonge street, decorated balcony with Canadian flags and rainbow coloured paper or fabric.

an older woman stands beside a pole on the sidewalk as she watches the dyke march, she's holding a rainbow flag

dyke march 2018, banner that says dykeversity, lots of hand prints and hearts decorating it, women carrying it,

young black woman holding a banner in the dyke parade

women carrying signs black lives matter and black trans lives matter in dyke march in Toronto, marroon coloured hair and make up

dyke march 2018, dykes on bikes - in a corset with super woman insignia

dyke march 2018 woman with pale rust coloured hair and a black beret

groups of people walking in dyke march 2018, two are holding a sign that says today you are the fire and tomorrow you will be the sea and they'll have no choice but to hear your siren song a sign that says

dyke march 2018 - a young man sits on the ledge of an open upper storey window on Yonge street, rainbow flag with #weareorlando (we are orlando) written on it

two men in drag pose for a selfie with a woman, one man in bright yellow wig and the other in bright pink with flashy bright clothes to match

a young woman in black Pride T-shirt, holds a purple banner and is yelling dyke march 2018

dyke march 2018 - young woman carrying a cardboard sign that says I love butch girls

a young woman draped in a rainbow flag holding a large balloon the shape of a unicorn head with rainbow coloured mane

4 people on the sidewalk watching the dyke march Two of them are wearing white T shirts with L is for love on it in blue and purple letters, also flower garlands in their hair.

people watching the Dyke March, two men and two women. One man in pink baseball hat and My Little Pony T-shirt

Eastern Avenue, the Studio District apparently. This is east of Broadview.

Toronto street sign that says Studio District, Eastern Avenue

This weekend is Doors Open Toronto – one of the buildings that I toured was Filmport – not very interesting actually when studios and sets are closed to the public.  I did get to see some of the rooms where the actors hang out when they’re not filming and where they have lunch.  ‘Kim’s Convenience’ is filming there at the moment.

outside a film studio building, large door labelled studio 2, closed doors, some woodworking tools and materials by the door

below: Two older buildings.  In the foreground is Consumers Gas Building, now home to Avenue Rugs.  In the background is one of two identical buildings now used by the City of Toronto.   433 Eastern Avenue is one of four sites in the city – here they house street cleaners and other city trucks, they monitor traffic, and produce street signs like the one at the top of this blog post (transportation services) – for the southeastern part of the city.   Other city departments also have offices here.

two brick buildings on a street

The next three photos are from the same mural.  It was painted in 2016 by Omen with help from Five8, Horus, and Peru.  It tells the story of city building, from the planning stages – blueprints and architectural drawings, through the construction phase to the final product.

blue mural of blueprints on the side of a building

mural of cranes and construction sites on the side of a building, painted by Omen,

mural of Toronto at night with lots of lights, CN Tower,

below: The Tasty Restaurant sign is still there although it is now missing the round coca-cola discs at each end.  Someone must have realized that they were worth something.   All the red from the sign is gone and the words have turned to rust.  Does anyone have any idea how long ago this restaurant went out of business?

old rusty sign that says Tasty Restaurant. there is a round spot on the left where a coca-cola sign used to be, windows are overgrown by shrubs beside the building

below: Another oldie but goodie, Gales Snack Bar.  More than 80 years old in fact.

gales snack bar, exterior

below: A closer look reveals a closed sign in the window.  It’s still in business but I was there too early.  On Saturdays it doesn’t open until noon so I just missed it.   Next time!

Gales snack bar, close up of window, green curtains, closed sign

details of a chainlink fence and the old plywood and metal sheeting behind it. peeling paint and rusty metal

below: What’s hiding in the grass?  A blue fish?  A pink flamingo?  A Christmas wreath?

an overgrown front yard with very tall grass and one red tulip. Front of house has a brown window box, paint peeling, with plastic flowers and other stufff in i

There are a surprising number of houses between Queen East and the Lakeshore (Eastern runs parallel to those street, in between them) in this area.  Most are old but well looked after and many of those that have seen rough times are being renovated and fixed up.

older houses, semi, ready to be renovated

two storey row houses on McGee Ave, lots of large tress, house painted orange,

below: This photo was taken from the parking lot of the old Weston bakery on Eastern Avenue.  The site is about to be developed into condos.  The Wonder Condos.  With Wonder being written like the word on the loaf of bread.  That bland white bread.

row of three storey victorian style brick houses

alley view, rear of old three storey brick buildings, apartments on top, stores below, cars parked,

below: A vacant lot waiting for its turn.

vacant lot with one small concrete structure on it, one small window in the back of it.

below: The Portlands Railway Spur, looking east from Morse Street and along Lakeshore Blvd.

railway tracks running parallel to road, traffic,

I didn’t find Babylon

green sign with a large white arrow pointing right. on the arrow is written the word babylon

below: .. but I found a bike. Did anyone lose one?  Beware of bike eating trees!

an old bike that had been left beside a tree, over the years the tree has grown around the pedals and gears of the bike

graffiti, purple background, green glob gooey ghost guy with open mouth and big teeth

From Lever Brothers soap factory to Unilever to East Harbour development…  In the 1890’s, Lever Brothers of Britain built a soap factory at the foot of the Don River.   Lever Brothers eventually became part of Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch conglomerate.   In 2002 Unilever sold the Toronto factory, but not the land, to Pensler Capital Corp of New Jersey.   From the National Post: ” Mr. Pensler renamed the company “Korex.” He froze workers’ wages. They lost their Unilever pensions. In 2008, Mr. Pensler offered a contract which workers said stripped seniority and benefits. About 160 workers walked out; in August, 2009, Korex Don Valley declared bankruptcy.”

view of the back of the Unilever (Lever Brothers) factory in Toronto

The development company, First Gulf Corp., bought the 14-hectare site from Unilever Canada back in 2012.  Although there are plans to redevelop the site, nothing has happened yet.

below: The sign says “Drivers, do not exceed 10 psi when unloading T.P.P. hexahydrate.

pipes and yellow metal fire escape on the side of an old factory

The building is mostly empty.  You can rent space inside if you have about $10,000/day to spend.   The grounds are kept fairly clean but the signs of neglect and age are everywhere.   There are other interesting bits and pieces left over from the site’s industrial past, but I have chosen to literally focus on the signs today.

below: No more phoning to get into the warehouse.

warehouse entry phone sign on white painted plywood where most of the white paint is gone, phone is not there, just the marks of where it used to be

yellow wign held up by red metal brackets. faded sign,

on rusty red metal, old sign that says do not block

below: Some signs have left very few traces.

empty rectangular metal frame where a sign once was, on an old yellow rusty pole, vacant land in the background

large dial with rust on it, attached to tap on yellow pipe, gauge in the background

chainlink fence in front of area with yellow pipes, overgrown with weeds and shrubs, sign that says no smoking, white on red, chipped in one corner

below: It’s not easy to read, but the sign in the foreground is a warning about speed bumps.

white water tower in the background with Ponds written on it, metal overhead structure for trucks entering old abandoned factory in the foreground with faded sign that once was warning speed bumps

red brick large Unilever factory, with exterior pipes, brackish pond in the foreground, with orange plastic fence around it, part of fence has collapsed and Danger sign is near the water

The weather’s been all over the place, warm, cold, hot, cold again, back and forth…. like May weather usually is.  We were fortunate to have great weather this past holiday Monday and a lot of people took advantage of the day!  As I walked around, this is some of what I saw.

a man stands and watches another man playing the drums outside on Yonge street, some other people standing around too

by the fountain at Nathan Phillips Square, a man dressed in orange hugs a man dressed in brown who is checking his phone after just taking a selfie

women and men standing outside the Eaton Centre on Yonge street

people crossing the street at an intersection, a woman in a pink top and white sweater is pushing a stroller with a fluffy small white dog in it, a man in a blue Jay t shirt, camo jacket and baseball hat, smoking a cigarette, is walking beside her

Graffiti alley, walking past an uber 5000 mural, a man and a woman with their backs to the camera. on the back of the man's camo coloured jacket are the words true freedom is being unknown

two women in the O of the 3D Toronto sign at Nathan Phillips square in front of city hall, examining photos that they have taken on their phone

2 young men and 2 young women walking down Graffiti Alley

a woman in a purple dress is sitting on the sidewalk, patting the cat wearing the superman costume that is sitting on a box. other people standing around, corner of Yonge and Dundas

a girl and her mother playing in the fountain at Nathan Phillips Square, in front of city hall,

a woman in jeans and pink top poses in the doorway of one of the back doors in Graffiti Alley

construction site, with posters on the hoardings, tall white, grey, and red building in the background.

Almost two years ago I wrote about the murals and street art on Bulwer street.   Somethings have changed and some of the murals have disappeared.  For instance, the area bounded by Bulwer, Soho and Queen streets is now a construction site instead of a parking lot.   I walked here yesterday, a holiday Monday, and discovered that there were no parked cars blocking views of the street art.  I also discovered a tour group stopping to talk about something on the street but I was too far away to hear what they were talking about (something about bricks on the buildings?)

below: An unobstructed view of the David Suzuki and Atlantic salmon mural by Kevin Ledo, painted in 2016 as part of the “Love Letters to the Great Lakes” mural project.

david Suzuki and the atlantic salmon mural by Kevin Ledo, a very large 24 foot by 64 foot mural, large head of David Suzuki

below: The mural, a collaboration between Elicser and Indigo, hasn’t fared as well.  As you can see, the bottom portion has sadly been tagged over.

large mural by elicser of kids, bottom part has been covered with three large tags.

upper part of a mural by elicser showing a boy in an orange t shirt holding a small green sprouting plant in his hands.

view of the back of stores and residences on Queen street as seen from the street behind, street art and graffiti on the old garages, tree, large buildings in the background.

below: Part of a mural by horus.

part of a larger mural, green swirls, a fish with big teeth

below: A 2017 creation by sightone, breakin’ atoms, a memorial to Vandel.

text graffiti by sightone, pinks and purples and red

below: A collection of items attached to the schoolyard fence.  Metal pans and a shoe form?

old metal pans attached to a chainlink fence at a school

 

below: The CN Tower, a metal staircase, and some graffiti.  The back building looks very old, especially the windows.

back of old brick buildings, some graffiti, orange metal stair case, CN TOwer in the background

below: Another bit of “old” is this Toronto Hydro building with its very high fence and gate.  Is it still in use?

chainlin fence and gate around on old two storey brick building that was part of Toronto Hydro

old no parking sign, rusty, on fence in front of old Toronto Hydro building

One last little bit – this stikman is still here – weathered but still standing.  Once upon a time he was covered with a circuit board design but that layer has peeled away.   Aging but ageless.

an old stikman on a wall by a door with a rusty hinge