In the southwest corner of Alexandra Park (near the SE corner of Bathurst and Dundas) there is a large colourful mural. It was painted a couple of years ago by Elicser and Troy Lovegates.
body soul mind
Posted: November 14, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locationsTags: Alexandra Park, autumn, bathurst st., colours, Elicser, faces, hands, hat, mural, park, people, Troy Lovegates
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elicser and CP24
Posted: November 12, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locationsTags: art, CP24, Elicser, mural, people, Queen St. West, spray paint
I happened to be walking along Queen Street West this afternoon when I spotted something new…
A large mural on a wall by the CP24 parking lot by elicser
with the artist himself, putting on the finishing touches to the mural.
go east, way east…..
Posted: November 11, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public artTags: animals, autumn, batman, community, drawing, Elicser, faces, graffiti, hair, head, Highland Creek, hope, Morningside Park, msn, mural, Orton Park, PanAm Path, people, public art, Rowell Soller, satelite, Scarborough, Skratch Wonder, street art, Ted Hamer
I had heard about a mural at Lawrence and Orton Park so this morning I thought I’d check it out. I ventured out Lawrence Avenue to just east of Markham Road. As I drove I was reminded of how big this city really is.
below: This is the community mural that started my adventure this morning. It was painted in nine sections and then assembled on the wall. It is the work of Ted Hamer, Rowell Soller and Skratch Wonder.
below: As I left Orton Park, I saw this mural from a distance. Of course I had to stop and take a picture. I got some strange looks. Tourists are probably not too common in this part of the city.
below: While I was looking for the best angle from which to take the above photo, I noticed some markings beside the road.
below: As it turns out, these are from the summer of 2011. Lawrence Avenue is 6 lanes wide and at this point it crosses Highland Creek and Morningside Park – a long bridge, a rather barren stretch of concrete and pavement.
below: Bridges were meant for going under, right? Luckily there was an entrance to Morningside Park right there, and luckily I left my toboggan at home 🙂 Morningside Park is part of a network of parks that follow the Highland Creek. It starts near Markham Road and the 401 and runs south to Kingston Road near Guildwood station. A search for an answer to the question, “How many ravine parks does Toronto have?” has yielded no results yet. I’ll keep looking.
below: The answer to another question, “Is there graffiti under the bridge?” was more easily found.
below: The bottom of the pillars were painted back in 2010 and 2011.
below: Hope takes flight over the city. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see but the word hope is written on the city at the bottom of this small mural but it is behind the weeds.
below: Personified Hope, from the picture above, wraps around to another side of the pillar as he/she moves upward. Also seen here is one of the feet from the upside down man.
below: Another pillar has a painting by elicser.
below: There were also a couple of paintings on the other side of the creek. There was water in the creek. Too much to cross safely.
Or at least, too much for me to cross safely!
It was a very quiet place to be this morning. I saw a couple of people on the path, including Batman, but they were silent.
One last photo, taken as I was driving home across Lawrence. I guess it’s somewhat appropriate for the time. Not sure why one would be sporting such a sticker in Ontario though. C’est la vie. To each their own.
I saw many people at bus stops waiting for the 34 Lawrence bus and I wondered how long it took them to get to the subway. Lawrence is 6 lanes wide and I tried to picture it with an LRT running down the center. (but that’s a whole other blog post, perhaps another day).
Coxwell tiles
Posted: November 11, 2016 in locations, public artTags: abstract, animals, art, beaver, bee, colorful, colourful, Coxwell, designs, mosaics, mural, public art, reflective, seed pod, seeds, shiny, sreetARToronto, StART, subway station, tile, TTC, yellow
Coxwell subway station is still in the midst of its renovations and upgrades. As part of the project, the wall on the west and south sides of the station have been painted a bright yellow. This yellow was then the canvas for a large number of mosaic creations.
below: The new mosaic mural covers the wall alongside the pathway that leads from Coxwell station to the Danforth. The murals painted on the side of the Sunset Grill restaurant, on the opposite wall of the path, were there previously.
below: A beaver made from bits and pieces – with round eye and two large teeth.
below: At the corners of the mural are seed pods that have released their seeds to the wind.
below: The south side of the subway station is adjacent to a Green P parking lot on Danforth. Along this wall, a quote by Agnes MacPhail has been added below the mural. “We meet all life’s greatest tests alone”. Agnes MacPhail (1890-1954) was the first woman to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons where she served from 1921 to 1940. After her time in federal politics, she represented the provincial riding of York East in the Ontario Legislature. In 1951 she was responsible for Ontario’s first equal pay legislation.
below: West side of the wall, looking towards Strathmore Blvd.
below: A mosiac bee amongst the flowers…
below: … and a real bee sitting beside a mosaic red rose.
below: Two mosaic pieces, a circle with the names of the artists and a semi-circle rainbow with the names of those who contributed to the creation of the mural. The transcription of the words is given below.
Lead Artist: Cristina Delago,
With Boloebi Charles Okah, Bronwen Parker, Holly-Jo Horner, Jing Tian, Karen Roberts, Melanie Billark, Robin Hesse, Sarvenaz Rayati, Shae Stamp, Shashann Miguel-Tash, Skyy Marriot, Somayeh Nasiri, Victor Fraser, Will Spratley.
Special Thanks: Woodgreen Community Services, Dulux Painter, Tomasz Majcherczyn, Cathy & Barry Joslin, Cercan Tile, Jacqui Strachan, City Councillor Janet Davis, Jeff Billiard, John & Ed at Danforth Brewery, Mark Wrogemann, Clara Lou, Eleanor Ryan, James & Cooper, John Kenneth & Cherie Daly, Lowe’s, Maisie Fuss, Melanie Morris, Michelle Yeung, S. Dimitrakpoulos, The Vogls, The Zeelie-Varga Family, Wyatt & Teagan, as well as Laurie, Chantal and Gavin
falling all over
Posted: November 6, 2016 in natureTags: autumn, cemetery, change of season, grass, leaves, November, orange, park, red, street, trees, yellow
I was going to go looking for autumn but, silly me, I soon realized that I didn’t need to look for it. It’s all around us. All you have to do is look out the window, or better yet, step out the door and you’re in the middle of it. It’s falling in front of you, swirling in the breezes and crunching under your feet.
Regent Park athletics
Posted: October 22, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public artTags: basketball, cricket, Elicser, games, mural, outdoors, people, players, Regent Park, shoes, soccer, sports, street, text
At one end of the new sports field at Regent Park, there is a large mural by elicser.
below: The west end of the mural, waiting on the sidelines with basketball at the ready as well as watching the soccer game.
below: The cricket players are between the words ‘Regent’ and ‘Park’ as seen above.
below: The mural continues behind the basketball court.
below: Basketball players both on and off the court.
below: The east end of the mural
birdo and getso in circles
Posted: October 22, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locationsTags: bird head, birdo, circles, circular, construction Regent Park, getso, gradient, hoardings, horse head, round, sphere, stripes
Cranes and construction hoardings, not much new there.
below: On Dundas East, as part of the ongoing Regent Park revitalization project, there is another crane over another construction site. The hoardings around this project feature paintings by two street artists, birdo and getso.
below: These pictures were taken back in September. The hoardings are in a covered pedestrian walkway so they are in a shaded area. The railings make it unsafe to stand in the street to take close up photos, or at least I didn’t feel too safe the morning I was there.
sitting contentedly
Posted: October 19, 2016 in history, locations, public artTags: autumn, medical, Norman Bethune, sculpture, sitting, statue, tree, U of T, University of Toronto, writing
It’s been a beautiful October to be walking around the city! With lots of sunny days and above normal temperatures, it’s been a great autumn to be outside…. outside exploring or just sitting contentedly enjoying the sunshine.
below: Life size statue of Dr. Norman Bethune sitting outside the Medical Sciences Building at the University of Toronto (close to Queens Park Circle). It is the work of Canadian artist David Pelletier. Bethune is depicted writing in his journal. Across the bottom of his apron these words are written:
I am content
I am doing what I want to do
Why shouldn’t I be happy – see what my riches
consist of. First, I have important work that fully
occupies every minute of my time. I am needed.
Norman Bethune was born in Gravenhurst in 1890. He graduated from medical school at U of T in 1919, after taking some time off to serve in WW1. He also served as a doctor during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and 1937. The following year, 1938, he went to China help the Communist Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese war. It was here that he died of septicemia in November of 1939. He is credited with helping to bring modern medicine to rural China during his brief stay in that country.
three more on the team
Posted: October 18, 2016 in history, public artTags: ACC, air canada centre, Dave Keon, famous, hockey, Legends Row, Maple Leaf Square, players, statues, Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs, Turk Broda
Legends Row in Maple Leaf Square is growing. Last week, three more statues of Leafs players were added to the line up of statues already there. This is the fourth installment and now Turk Broda, Dave Keon, and Tim Horton have now taken their place outside the Air Canada Centre.
The unveiling of the latest statues coincided with the opening ceremonies for the 100th season of NHL hockey in Toronto. That first year, the Toronto team was the Toronto Arenas and their only competition were the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators. The Arenas didn’t last very long; they folded because of financial problems. For the 1919-20 season, the Toronto team was the St. Pats and their uniforms were green and white. They remained the St. Pats until 1927 when Conn Smythe bought the team and changed the name to the Maple Leafs. (The NHL was formed Nov 26, 1917 so technically we may have jumped the gun by a year, but we can fudge that and call it the 100th season!).
below: Goalies Turk Broda (right) and Johnny Bower (left) have a chat while George Armstrong stands in the background. Broda (1914-1972) played goal and spent his whole NHL career with the Maple Leafs during which time they won the Stanley Cup five times.
below: Dave Keon, number 14, stands behind the bench with his teammates. Keon (b.1940) pl ayed for the Maple Leafs for 15 years during a career that lasted from 1960 to 1982. He won the Calder trophy his first year and he was the team’s top goal scorer for many years.
below: It looks like Tim Horton may have to share his stick. I suspect that he’s going to have the problem fairly often! Tim Horton (1930 – 1974) was a defenceman who played for the Leafs during the 1960’s when they won the Stanley Cup four times. Also during this period he set the record for playing in consecutive regular season games, 486.
Previous Legends Row posts
- Over the boards when the first three statues were installed. (Sittler, Kennedy and Bower)
- Leafs expansion, two Swedes, (Salming and Sundin)
- Two number tens (Apps and Armstrong)
hanging around Wilson station
Posted: October 18, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locationsTags: Allen Expressway, bents, brunosmoky, concrete, faces, nature, North York, paint, Shalak Attack, shalakattack, sidewalk, spider, spider web, subway station, underpass, Wilson, Wilson Ave.
Wilson subway station is nestled between the northbound and southbound lanes of the Allen Expressway. It’s functional, but not pretty. All that concrete!
below: Wilson subway station from the parking lot on the SW corner of Wilson and the Allen.
If you look closely at the above picture, you might be able to see that one of the pillars holding up the Allen has been painted purple. That’s part of the latest mural painting project by Shalak Attack, with help from Bruno Smoky. What you can’t see is that the mural covers all of the underpass supports on both sides of Wilson Ave.
below: The mural on the south side of Wilson Ave has been painted on all sides. Here, a face is between two hands gripping the poles.
below: More pillars on the south side.
below: A large spider on a web is in the center of the mural.
below: The back side of the supports have also been painted. Just be careful not to bump your head on the road above if you want to get a closer look!
below: The north side of the underpass is being painted at the moment. Stay tuned for updates!
