Posts Tagged ‘alley’

Edna and more

Posted: January 9, 2026 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations, transportation
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TTC streetcar pulling out f Dundas West station and onto street, intersection of Bloor and Dundas West

It had been a grey and slightly damp morning when I was out walking.  As I headed to the subway to go home, the clouds cleared and the sun came out.  So I kept walking north of Dundas West station.  Edna Avenue is the street that runs parallel to Bloor immediately north of the station.

below: Edna Avenue, looking east towards Dundas Street West.

edna avenue, residential street with tall condo at the end, looking east towards Dundas St.,

below:  Edna seems to have a Guardian watching over her.

mannequin or sculpture of a person in a helmet, sitting on the front porch of a house,

below:  There is an alley that runs north from Edna and the sunshine beckoned.

start of an alley that runs north from Edna Avenue, houses, garages, blue sky,

below: T-shirt sale at the One Stop Shop!

truck parked beside building, graffiti on back of truck

below: The sun sets and rises eternally, apparently.

old garage with corrugated metal wall, graffiti on metal that says the sun sets and rises eternally

below: A little Catchoo daisy sticker caught my eye.

cathcoo daisy sticker on a post in an alley

below:  There was also a 33wallflower33 paste-up with a few little catchoo stickers on her gorgeous white outfit.

33 wallflower 33 pasteup of woman in a white coat with furry collar

below: Faded bricks like faded jeans.  They are a little rough around the edges too.

faded blue paint on old brick wall, some bricks cracking and crumbling

below: Chairs, backyard chairs.

laneway views, back of house, two old turquoise metal chairs against house, leaves (autumn) on the ground, small satellite dish on roof,

below: Backyard picnic tables too.

view from lane, backyard with picnic tables, apartment building in the background, sunny day, leaves on ground

looking north up an alley with garages, tree with no leaves, november weather,

 

below: Raccoons on the roof!  Mural by Mel Coleman.

mural in a backyard by alywyz murals, black raccoons on top of a house, with window, greenery beside the house,

below: More backyards – or at least, backs of houses

back of 2 houses, alley view

garage door with blue, teal, and green leafy background and word chill in white cursive

below: Another chair

small table and chair outside, agains beige wall, shadows, autumn leaves on ground, sunny day, alley view

below: Cassette tape (remember those?!) and supersized pencil.  If you had tapes, you always had a pencil handy, just in case!  Back in 2020, this mural was fairly new.   You can check out “faceless in an alley” if you want to see the whole mural before the one wall was defaced.

street art painting on the side of a white garage in an alley, line drawing in black of a person sitting on a bench wearing baseball cap, body is a cassette tape

below: Another ghost from the past – a ghetto blaster proudly carried on his shoulder

part of a street art mural on a garage in an alley, white man with ghetto blaster on his shoulder

below: The mural is an Ex-Vandals piece, or at least references them.  On the left in this image are the words Dino Nod – he was one of the founding members of the Ex-Vandal crew (formed in 1971 in Brooklyn NY).

street art on the side of a garage in an alley, also a small window jutting out from roof, wood,

street art painting, grey dog pumping biceps to show off hi muscles, bulge in muscle

below: Red and green men too.

old wood garage covered with street art murals
garage door with street art, red man with arms folded, maroon man, blue and teal background,

below:  A couple of blocks north of Edna is Glenlake, and here we are looking east towards Dundas.

large tree, vacant lot, on Glenlake, looking east towards Dundas West

below:  Glenlake and Dundas.   When I was double checking Google maps for the names of these streets, I discovered that this used to be a store that sold flowers and other things.  Where there is no grass beside the building, was once a fenced in area with plants for sale.

southwest corner of Glenlake and Dundas, old brick store with large window, looking across Dundas to older industrial or warehouse buildings, brick

below: Just north of the Glenlake/Dundas intersection is the large bridge over the railway tracks that connects Dundas to the West Toronto Railpath.

bridge over the train tracks that connect west toronto railpath with dundas street west, graffiti covered

below: The concrete supports for the bridge were painted with nature scenes many years ago. The weeds have grown up and the artwork has faded.

weeds and grasses growing up around concrete supports to a bridge that once had painting of flowers on it, now faded

below: Blobs, curls (by Flips), stars, and Spy vs Spy

graffiti on building at bottom of stairs

Dundas Street west, graffiti and street art on a building

below: Looking up the stairs (but not walking up – I’ll leave that for another day).

stairs to bridge over the railway, with graffiti on the wall

below: Instead I turn around.  This is a big part of the view that you see as you walk down the stairs – a large, striking, mural by Kizmet32 .

street art mural by kizmet, red faces with white eyes, some blue highlights, 2 faces, very large

below: I now know that these metal utility poles can be used to make “music”.  All you need is a big stick or two.

man leaning against a metal utility pole on sidewalk, a stick in each hand, bicycle lying on the ground beside, banging on pole with sticks

below: Walking back to Dundas West station to finish for the day.

people on sidewalk, walking south on Dundas towards Bloor

paste up graffiti, black ink on white paper, behind a chainlink fence beside a TTC subway station, Urban ninja squadron, visual noise,

below: Slightly off on a tangent – for those of you who follow such things, the Giraffe Building on the northeast corner of Dundas West and Bloor is still there, and still empty.

people crossing intersection of Bloor and Dundas West, giraffe building on the northwest corner, TTC streetcar in the background

close up of spray paint and splotchy graffiti in many colours on an old metal garage door

behind Alhambra

Posted: November 29, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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alley on a rainy day, wet pavement, garages, some with painted garages, street art

below: This short alley starts at Alhambra Avenue and runs east towards Dundas.

alley that runs east of alhambra south of bloor, before turning south behind dundas west

below: Renovations to expand up and out.

large house on alhambra, from alley behind, addition on back including third floor and rooftop terrace

below: Cats, dogs, and little yellow clouds.

garage with 4 cartoon-like cat and dog heads painted on it

below: He walked into my picture.

red garage with white doors, in an alley, beside a larger white building, west pavement,

below: The lane turns south and runs between Dundas West and Alhambra Avenue.

looking south down lane behind dundas west, just south of bloor

lift parked beside wall covered with street art

below: She stares at you from beside the Taj Mahal.

below: Ready to play.

basketball hoop, slightly crooked, mounted on garage with large mural of a woman with pale purple flowers over her eyes,

below: Two Kizmet Radcliffes, the crazy raccoon.

painting by kizmet, radcliffe character, on the side of a garage in an alley

metal stairs, exterior, painted orange, contrasts with a bright blue wall

below: Cruz1 painting  (signed as Cruz Uno) – a parrot flies somewhere over Toronto.

A parrot flies somewhere in Toronto - painted by Cruz.Uno

below: Herbs vegan snacks

mural on a garage door in an alley, cartoonish characters

below: The Faceless Few in orange and blue.

faceless few mural covers the front of a garage including both doors at number 15, in an alley, mural is in orange and blue
faceless few mural covers the front of a garage including both doors at number 15, in an alley, mural is in orange and blue

below: Can you see it?

alley scene, garage painted in olive green camo pattern

small building in an alley covered with graffiti and street art

below: Twelve small panes under a small arch.  Old bricks once painted white.

window with 12 small panes and slightly rounded arch top, on a brick wall painted white but with paint peeling

dead flower, petals turned brown but still intact, beside a green plant,

below: Sunflowers, bent over under the weight of their heads.

two sunflowers painted on a white garage door

alley views, back of 3 storey red brick multi family residence with black metal balconies and external stairs , black car parked beside, a white garage and a wood fence also in the picture

below: Small scrawls

small graffiti on a white brick wall, small yellow heart with black eyes, black drawing of an ugly face or head

 

Captain Hawley and others

Posted: September 12, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, stores
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below: This lane was recently named for William Hawley, a retired Toronto firefighter and Leslieville resident.

sign for Captain Hawley lane, with new third and fourth floor additions to a building in the background

Captain Hawley lane runs north from Eastern towards Queen St East.  It is west of Leslie Street.  There are a few other little alleys in the vicinity all of which seem to be unnamed.  This blog post shows some of the things seen in these alleys as well as on the major streets around them, Queen, Leslie, and Eastern.

below: Elicser Elliott’s Leslieville mural still looks great at Queen & Jones.

young man crossing Queen Street near Leslieville mural, and beside a TTC streetcar

Leslieville mural

below: “Community” by Candace Bell on Queen East

painting on sidewalk traffic box, in front of store, on Queen Street East

below: Who is the photographer?

a camera is set up on a tripod, on the sidewalk outside a cafe, man sitting on chair nearby, another man sitting too

workman in hard hat and work boots, spray painting a line on the pavement, street,

below: Stores on Queen East.

stores on Queen Street east

below: Northeast corner of Larchmount and Queen East.

intersection of Larchmount and Queen Street East , northeast corner

queen street east, north side

below: Photo taken on a day when gas was $1.43 a litre, albeit full service which you don’t find everywhere these days.

sun gas services station on queen street east

below: An afternoon break on a patio.

woman on patio of duke tavern, red building with mural on the side, white umbrellas,

below: Waiting to get into the Duke, Men’s Entrance

mural, line up of men wanting to enter the duke tavern, men's entrance, plus a boy sitting on the steps outside

mural, line up of men wanting to enter the duke tavern

below: Leslie and Queen East south side,

glass of bus shelter, with Leslie St sign on it, people walking on sidewalk, front of Shish restaurant on Queen Street, construction on southeast corner of Leslie and Queen in the background

below: Construction on the east side of Leslie – one of countless large holes in the ground.

workmen talking, construction site, Leslie street at Memory Lane

below: Houses on Leslie, south of Memory Lane.

houses, Leslie Street and Memory Lane,

below: A house with a bright turquoise front door and another that is now taller and skinnier.

row of houses on leslie street, one has a bright turquoise front door and the one beside it has had a third storey added to it

below: 27 Leslie Street

small blue building at 27 Leslie Street

below:  Non-believers on top – “No Truth to it!” over “Jesus saith unto him…. “.

Note on pole that says, but someone ha written over it, no truth to this

toronto street sign for eastern avenue, on a pole covered with vine and ivy

below: On Eastern, the AMCO gas station is now closed because of a recent fire.

gas station on Eastern ave, scene of a recent fire

men boarding up burned out gas station
AMCO gas station on Eastern ave, scene of a recent fire, with backs of houses beside it

below: “Navalny” and “Text” by Nigel Smith

text street art by Nigel Smith, on old office building, two signs, one says text and the other says Navalny

below: There is still a large vacant lot on the south side of Eastern Avenue (with views towards the Port Lands)

temporary building structures on a large vacant lot
no trespassing sign on fence surrounding a large vacant lot on Eastern Avenue

… and now the laneway scenes …..

below: Starting with the now  ubiquitous laneway garden suite

new infill house development in a lane

low burlap barrier draped across an alley, repairs being made to the concrete and pavement behind the barrier

a large billboard on Eastern avenue, with advert for second cup coffee shop, summer drinks

below: These  houses  with the square-ish shapes at the back are disappearing as more and more home owners renovate and/or expand upwards.  Brick is no longer the cladding of choice (and hasn’t been for a long time).

back of house, alley view, square red brick two storey house, one window, wood fence

alley views, back of two semi detached houses, that share a chimney, one green siding and one one white siding

white camper of RV parked behind house, goldenrod weeds growing by the back door.

back of house, alley view, painted wood fence, lots of trees

vines growing on overhead wires, over a lane, with garages along the sides of the alley

back of house, alley view, wood fence, white sun umbrella, grey cover on barbecue

back of house, alley view, white house, white van parked behind, green wood fence

backyard alley view, back of newly renovated house, expanded, fence down at back, bags of yard waste

backyard alley views, old tire, trash bins, rooftop terrace with umbrella

small red car parked in a lane, line of garages, tall trees,

backyard alley view, overgrown grass and shrubs, hard to see the house, chainlink fence and gate

backyard alley view, lots of stuff, including a shopping cart full of basketballs and soccer balls, chairs, sheets and clothes hanging from a yellow rope clothes line

chainlink fence, old painted wood, rusty metal, latch, gate in an alley

red gate in an alley, with black line drawing on it, locked, latch,

old plywood on a fence, once painted red, now faded to slightly orange red, with dirt splotches and worn areas, texture, pattern, abstract

 

behind Shaw Street

Posted: June 4, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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Like an illustration in a book with no words, the story is in the picture and its interpretation is up to you.  Raccoons in masks and red capes performing (dancing?) while other raccoons sit in trash cans watching?  A whimsical mural by Emily May Rose – if you follow this blog, or if you are familiar with Toronto street artists, you will recognize this immediately as one of hers.  These cute little raccoons appear in many places around the city.  How many have you spotted? This particular mural is in an alley behind Shaw Street (east side) and north of Queen.

mural by Emily May Rose on a garage door in an alley, masked raccoons with red capes cavorting, one in a garbage can

close up of a raccoon in mural by Emily May Rose on a garage door in an alley, masked raccoons with red capes cavorting,

Some other street art seen in the alley…

below: A legless robot effortlessly glides around although it also looks like he might be aimlessly floating through space. He was painted by Brian Porter

painting of a cubic headed robot with two arms and no legs,

below: Monotone and angular, a very large squirrel is watching you (another Brian Porter piece).

a large squirrel painted on a garage door, lots of straight lines and angles, in shades of black, white, and grey

below: A woman entwined with a creature with a bird head (but scaly legs?) lying on the ground? flying in the air? swimming in the water?  The mural was painted by Birdo, aka Jerry Rugg.

mural by Jerry Rugg, birdo, of a woman and a bird like creature entwined and lying down, in an alley

below: Flowers basking in the rays of sunshine on a summer day

street art mural artwork on a garage door, flowers with a yellow sun shine and rays of sun in the background

below: Lots of purple flowers!

street art mural artwork on a garage door, all purple flowers

below; Pikachu seems happy enough, but that cup…  I look at that and I think of Mr. Bill.  Mr. Bill had dark round eyes and a big round red mouth.  For those of you young ones who are wondering what I’m talking about, Mr. Bill was a little figure made of clay who appeared on SNL starting waaaay back in 1976.  Oh Nooooo!!

artwork on a white garage door, face, red arm, hand out, holding piccachu and a coffee cup with a face on it

below: Rainbow unicorns, just in time for Pride month.

painting on a white garage door of rainbow striped unicorns under blue clouds and an apple tree

part of a colourful mural on a white garage door, squiggly shaped creatures some wormlike, some butterflies, some with big bulging eyes

below: Home is where the heart is.  It also seems to be where the sun shines and the flowers grow profusely.

garage door in alley, painted blue, with hearts and flowers on it, as well as a bright yellow sun in the corner

alley scene, row of houses at the end,

below: Marshmallows with stick arms and army boots!

on a wood garage door in an alley, a graffiti piece that looks like two marshmallows, one for head and one for body, with stick arms, wearing boots

below: Some dragons breathe fire so I’ve been told.  This purple dragon seems to have a different trick!

on a white garage door, a purple fire breathing dragon chases a few stick figure people, there is a green vine growing over the garage and covers the fire

below: A little blue bear with a happy face balloon, a sticker by doll face one.

stiicker on the back of a traffic sign, little blue bear holding a yellow happy face balloon

below: Graffiti stickers on a TTC No Dumping sign.

no dumping sign on a brick wall, with 2 graffiti stickers on it, one is urban ninja squadron t bonez on a motorbike, the other is a black and white man's face

 

red brick wall where some bricks have been painted different colours. a couple of the bricks have been stamped with the words Citadel Made in Canada

below:  And last, street art of a slightly different, but very similar, sort…. Someone’s little gallery

bike parked in front of a black wall with seven paintings mounted on it

Dew Lang Lane and area

Posted: May 18, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
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Back in 2012, the city approved the naming of an alley… Dew Lang Lane.  You can find this lane just north of the Danforth near Donlands.  Prior to the legal change,  “Dew Lang” had been used as the unofficial name by local residents.  The name comes from parts of the two streets Dewhurst (Dew) and Langford (Lang) that the lane runs between.

a man walks through an alley, and parking lot

below: Omen514’s fist bump

mural of a fist bump on a garage, with a basketball hoop above it, alley,

below: “Turn the lights off and look to the sky”  by Jerry Rugg (aka Birdo) & Wales.

mural in alley,woman wearing sunglasses, text that says

alley scene, 2 murals, a wood fence, and the back of a brick house

below: Spud1 left his mark here along with the advice, “Live, Love, Paint”.

spud mural on a garage in an alley, with text, live, love, paint,

below: Signs of spring that can’t be held back

lilac bush over the top of a wood fence in a lane, full of pink blossoms, peak bloom

ivy covered pole and wires, no parking sign partially covered with vines too

truck parked in a lane, unloading from the back, lane has very tall tree, some fences and garages too,

below: In a very tight spot but bursting out.

a mature tree with large tree trunk wedged between the sides of two garages

below:  One of the latest trends in urban living is the laneway house.   They are popping up all over the place and this area is no exception.

black box shaped house, new infill housing in an alley

below: Another trend, this one in home renovations, is building upwards.  Adding a third floor or a rooftop deck is now common (and is often more noticeable from the back).

newly renovated house as seen from the alley behind, big new windows, and a new upper level

below: The repurposing of church buildings is another trend (albeit a bit older than the above two).  In this case, Temple Baptist Church, opened 1925, is now residential.   A small plaque in one corner of the building serves as a reminder of its original function.  From the application for heritage status for the building:  “Temple Baptist Church is a fine example of a revival of the Georgian Classical Style adapted for Post-Reformation churches in 18th century England.”  Not many Toronto churches were built in this style.

Temple Baptist Church, now condos

below: The central window with its leaded coloured glass and Credit Valley stone trim around the windows.

central window, with leaded coloured glass, of the old Temple Baptist Church, now condos, brick building from 1925.

old brick wall in alley, covered with graffiti in bright colours, yellow, blue and green

mural of a man bending down, lower part has been covered with a tag
two garage doors with urban art, on right is a strange looking woman with her tongue partially stuck out
mural in an alley, girl with pearl necklace and white wings

below: A beckoning summer scene, Muskoka chairs on the dock.  Have a seat and watch the sunlight play on the water.

mural of two muskoka chairs on a dock by the lake

below: Old black line drawings on old white garage.

black line drawings on old white garage
close up of black line drawing graffiti on white garage, with green vine growing over it

looking through chainlink fence to vacant lot with remains of construction site on it

looking through chainlink fence to construction site with wheelbarrow as well as black and orange cones, orange plastic rolled up

below: The new west entrance to Donlands subway station opens onto Dewhurst.

entrance to Donlands subway station, low brown building with glass front and sides

below: Inside

interior of new west entrance to Donlands subway station, white walls, wood accents, a window

interior of new west entrance to Donlands station, from landing in stairwell between street level and subway level, two women walking

sticker graffiti on a pole, a faded blue robot and a pink pigeon head

below: A second pigeon…. this one wear a cheerful bright red cap as he struts around

sticker graffiti on rusted metal, a pigeon wearing a bright red cap, standing,

stylized orange flower petals on a red wall, mural, around a window,

behind Ossington

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

Rocco Mandalfino Lane

Posted: March 12, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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Looking north up Rocco Mandalfino Lane towards Dundas Street.

looking north up Rocco Mandalfino Lane, streetcar passing by the north end of the alley, wood fences, large trees, winter, graffiti on the garages, brick houses

garages with graffiti and street art on the doors, in a lane,

wood fences, and backs of brick houses, alley views, large trees, one small wall with street art in red and blue

throw up tag street art for g h crew, with one cartoon like character with black cap, lightning eyes, also text that says blood on your hands

Looking south

fence with graffiti and street art, lane in toronto, beside red brick house with yellow brick details, looking south in rocco mandalfino lane

small black and white painting or drawing on a wood utility pole, dogs walking,

large capital G and H in reds and purples, slanted backwards, mural

in an alley, a wood fence with upper level of houses seen above it

fences and red brick buildings in alley, with graffiti and street art on them, blue man's head, fence with white curly lines,

throw up tag calligraphy street art, light blue and light purple letters on purple and green background

close up of street art on asphalt shingles, spray paint in reds and blues, texture

graffiti street art mural,

pink panther street art in alley

street art on side of wood garage

garages with street art, rocco mandalfino lane

red angular text calligraphy type street art

blue and white city of toronto street sign for rocco mandalfino lane, with large brick houses behind

behind Dundas, near Dufferin

Posted: February 5, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art
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below: View from a lane that runs behind the north side of Dundas West, walking west of Dufferin.   The alley also runs east of Dufferin but that will have to wait for another day.  The large brick building on Dufferin is St. Annes parish hall.  St. Annes church is behind, facing Gladstone Ave.  The vacant lot on left was a parking lot not long ago but now it is now a construction site.

man on bicycle, snow covered alley, vacant lot on left, backs of buildings on right, church at end of alley, St. Annes parish hall, workman arts

below: It looks like changes are coming on the Dundas West side of the lane as well.  A concrete wall/fence has been partially demolished and there are construction fences behind some of the buildings.  According to the Urban Toronto website, two 8 storey developments have been proposed – one fronting on Dundas and the other on Dufferin, with the alley remaining between them.

partial concrete wall, in an alley, with a row of buildings behind it, construction fence, snow,

below: Behind Dundas West… but not for much longer.

backs of two storey brown brick buildings, metal exterior stairs, doors, snow covered backyards,

below: Artwork by Cuban artist Supermalo5, aka Fabian Lopez  who always includes a little question mark in his work along with the incorrect equation 2 + 2 = 5

metal construction fence across the backyards of old brown brick buildings on Dundas West

construction site on Dufferin, just north of Dundas

construction site on Dufferin, just north of Dundas

fence around vacant lot, now construction site at lane and Dufferin, also at Boland Lane

alley view, back of old brick building with three doors on upper level, garage doors and single doors on lower covered in street art,

below: Two big round black eyes

behind 1512 Dundas West, a little mushroom shapred creature with two big black eyes, outlined in pink

below: Street art painting, abstract, by Mony Zakhour

street art mural by Mony Zakhour in alley behind Dundas West on garage door

close up of part of abstract mural by Mony Zakhour

street art mural by Mony Zakhour in alley behind Dundas West on green and yellow door

below: Screenshot from Google street view, captured in 2019.  The houses on the left are now gone – you can see the blue and white development notice sign in front of them.  They are now part of the vacant lot/construction site pictured above.  You can also see that the lane here is Boland Lane.  It runs perpendicular to Dundas West.

 

blue door with faded paint and a metal grille in front of it, beside a garage door with graffiti on it including the words Idle no more. Upper storey has an exterior door that goes nowhere

below: A quick look at what else is in Boland Lane

boland lane, looking towards back of dundas west, snow covered graffiti on walls of building on the left

below: “Embrace what makes you unique even if it makes others uncomfortable”

text graffiti that says embrace what makes you unique even if it makes others uncomfortable

below: “Perfection is the enemy of greatness”

text graffiti that says perfection is the enemy of greatness

graffiti on a grey wall, two images, one a woman in purple with blond hair and yellow t shirt and one more abstract, blue naked woman from waist up

old grey wood door in a grey building, with one rusty step, snow on step, graffiti on door and building

Continuing behind Dundas….

below: Layers, old and new as well as  wood, brick, and glass.

graffiti sticker, man's portrait in blue, on a black wall with red face graffiti behind

below: Rooftop decks and terraces above and street art covered garages below including a flaming hot kitty painted by Christina Mazzulla.

garage in laneway with street art murals on side as well as on garage door.

below:  A trio of grey masked foxes (wolves? dogs?) covering two doors.  This painting goes back to at least 2017 and possibly 2015 and before.

black and white mural on a garage door of at least three wolf-like creatures

below: The lane meets Awde Street, with a teal colored garage door.  Awde is only a block long, and is not the original Awde Street.  Apparently what is now Croatia Street was once Awde (1908) and there is a plaque to prove it.

end of alley, at Awde street, backs of two storey brick single family homes, with garages. snow, some cars,

below: That brownish wall in above picture (where there is now a stack of firewood), was once covered with a painting.  This is it in 2015.

garage door with a picture on it titled Casa Nostra, a picture of a man playing a large guitar and a woman standing beside an outdoor table with food on it.

below: Awde Street, streetview from 2019.

At this point, the lane makes a 90 degree turn towards Dundas – and lo and behold, there is even more artwork to see ( also by Mony Zakhour?)

bright mural in alley

below: On the north side of Dundas West, there is a large mural titled, “Three Sisters” painted by Paula Tikay and Aner Urra.  I discussed it in a blog post from 2019 (Three Sisters, Tikay and Aner)

man in laneway walking past a large mural, Three Sisters,

… and that’s the end of the alley!

Small bit of trivia:  I once found my great-great-grandfather, John Marshall, and his family in a Toronto phone book from about 1910 (I can’t remember the exact year).  They were on Gladstone Ave.  When I went to see if I could find the house, I discovered that the number corresponded with a vacant lot (parking lot?) adjacent to St. Annes church.

Federal Street

Posted: January 31, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
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Federal Street is a short narrow street near Dundas and Dufferin.  Like a few other Toronto streets, it is more a lane than a street.

garage at 1 federal street, with mural on it, woman's portrait, gate beside garage, dead end street, other garages on the right side

below: Dundas Street West at Federal

on dundas west, south side, looking at entrance to federal street

below: No Exit, a dead end street

yellow no exit sign, sticker graffiti on the pole beside, mural in the background, feelings boi sticker,

federal street, south end, houses on left side, backyards of parallel street on the right, garages in front of fences

below: Wires in all directions – standing tall like a tree in winter.

utility pole in lane, with many wires going in different directions, like branches of a tree

alley view, back of houses, one with no fence, showing snow covered backyard and driveway, row houses, one green with no window and the other white with upper storey window

very south end of federal street

below: Another lane, another time.  There is another lane that runs perpendicular to Federal that looks like it might be interesting to explore but it will have to wait until another day.

snowy lane, in winter, many garages,

below: Maximum width, 2 metres.

lane, sign saying maximum width is 2 metres, garages, snow,

below: A winter cyclist.

behind a white building, exterior stairs to upper level, a parked bike, a concrete wall with graffiti, snow on ground,

below: Looking north, back to Dundas

looking northward on federal towards dundas, snowy day , mural by the half decent,

below: This mural was painted at least 10 years ago – but the tagging across the bottom by The Half Decent is more recent.

mural that has been tagged by the half decent, on federal street by dundas west
below: This is what it looked like in August 2015.

large colourful mural on the side of building, two stylized musicians, a drummer and a guitar player as well as two people dancing.

Photo Source: As I Walk Toronto blog, 15 Aug 2015

pedestrian with orange backpack walks on snow covered sidewalk on Dundas West

side of a building, including door and window, covered by large mural, now with bottom part tagged over

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