I took a short walk through the graffiti alleys behind Queen St. West yesterday. I found four new face/skull paintings by artist P.K. (which is short for?) all close together on Rush Lane, and all near 530 Richmond St. West.
below: A turtlecaps paste-up from last year is still on the wall.
In the world of graffiti and street art, change is usually inevitable and sometimes interesting. One exception seems to be the alley that you can see from subway between Keele and Dundas West stations. The building on the corner of Bloor West and Indian Road is new, but otherwise little is changed. Even though most of the street art is the same as before, I don’t think that I have posted it in the past. Here is documentation of most of it.
below: King Midas still looks over the TTC parking lot at Keele station. Well, I’ve always assumed that it was King Midas although he was the guy whose touch turned everything to gold, not grey.
below: And this monkey is still asking what the noise is all about.
below: ‘Sink or Swim’ by elicser
below: A lovebot shares wall space with an Uber5000 birdie….
below: … because Everybody’s a Winner
below: Laser, not loser. Now with laser vision.
below: Ghostbusters in a hard to reach place
below: Zooks is still on her wall.
below: This turtle has seen better days
below: Guard dog at the bottom of the stairs
below: She seems to turn when the door opens, a mural by EGR art
below: He (she?) still keeps goal on the back porch.
below: This mural also has a painting of Marilyn Monroe in it along with Bruce Lee and Alfred Hitchcock. There were too many cars parked in front of it when I walked past the other day.
below: King Kong dominates this wall.
below: We Rise Up
below: War and Peace
![graffiti street art in an alley - Two black and white hearts, one with a face drawn on it. The words cloud + glare = [heart]](https://mcfcrandall.blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/blog_cloud_glare_heart.jpg)
There is so much to see in this city, big and small, mundane and interesting, bland and colourful, old and new; we’ve got it all. It’s not uncommon to walk a route many times and still see something new each time. The little details are easy to overlook. Yesterday I walked parallel to Queen Street West from Roncesvalles eastward. There are lots of little alleys in the area and the streets are interesting too. I wasn’t alone. Penny (from Walking Woman blog) provided a second set of eyes as we went looking for whatever there was to find. Four eyes really can be better than two! Although we saw many things (of course!) I’ve chosen to concentrate on the “little things” that we spied.
below: Happy. Faces at our feet. Happy to see you walk by.
below: Faces above our heads. A one way sign as a canvas.
below: And faces at the end of the path.
below: Yesterday’s lovebot sighting
below: It’s December, but this house is still ready for Halloween.
below: A little leprechaun in a tree. Perhaps he’s been here since St. Patricks Day? And how many leprechauns have crossed here? We weren’t lucky enough to see any yesterday.
below: One use for a bathtub! Dirty, not clean.
below: A different approach to keeping the flowers blooming well into December… they’re looking a little faded, but they are still pink and growing in abundance.
below: But even a single flower adds to a picture.
below: Pictures on walls can delight, even ones as simple as this little pinwheel.
below: Make art not war….
below: … or make money. The money shot.
below: She was hiding in the back corner of a store.
below: Miniature eclairs for sale at The Tempered Room. We didn’t try them but they looked fabulous.
below: Dean’s pink ride was parked for the afternoon.
below: A mystery message. Google tells me that pav is a type of Indian bread but I don’t think that that’s what the writer was referring to here. Belongins (belongings?) here probably means possessions but I like to play with words and so I wonder if it is the other meaning of belonging, i.e. as in “a sense of belonging”. Or maybe, he be longing all his life to be under a palm tree?!
below: The sign for Cattlemens Meat Market is looking a little worn,
and not because it’s been here since 1538!
below: And last, three stencils that were close together in an alley, three animals, an old fashioned upright vacuum cleaner and an old video camera.
A short walk earlier this month along the laneways south of the Danforth near Woodbine Ave.
below: A mural by Monica on the Moon, styled after Katsushika Hokusai’s ‘Great Wave off Kanagawa’ picture. This is only part of it – the mural wraps around the back of the building.
below: Just throwing a little bit of fun into the mix. The ‘Great Wave’ has inspired many other great works of art over the years including this Cookie Monster one:
below: Leaving the Danforth area briefly, there is also this mural by skam near Bloor and Bathurst. You can find it in Loretto Lane on the side wall of Kinka Restaurant.
below: A little path leads onto a mural on Amroth Ave just south of the Danforth that was painted by Airways Airbrushing and Sign Co. It was funded by the City of Toronto and the Danforth Mosaic BIA.
below: Historical mural on a Bell box, ‘Danforth’ 1912 by Emilia Jajus 2012.
below: Another Monica on the Moon mural
below: Alley ratz and company
below: A red fish swimming in bright blue by an unknown artist.
A walk down Brock Ave, well sort of. I don’t think I’m capable of walking in a straight line.
Brock Avenue, just north of Bloor, the Haven Espresso Bar, a tiny little place with good coffee. I don’t usually start my walk with a cup of coffee but I was intrigued by the smallness of the space.
below: This is the mural on the wall beside the coffee bar. It’s just the word Haven but there are some interesting details in the letters.
below: The local park is called Susan Tibaldi Parkette, named for a woman who was active in the community. This cheerful toucan overlooks the park.
There are a few painted walls and garages in the area around the park.
below: Including this spud bomb covered garage door.
below: On a wall, ‘Building with the Gods, James Massey R.I.P’
below: I spotted this on a pole just before I headed south. A little bit of sparkle to brighten the day.
The area south of Bloor was once the village of Brockton. Back in 1812, one hundred acres of land from what is now Queen Street, north to Bloor Street, and west of Dufferin Avenue was granted to James Brock (yes, a relative of Sir Isaac). After James died, his widow Lucy had a road built that run down the center of the property. This road was Brock Avenue. She subdivided the property and sold the lots to smaller land holders. This settlement became Brockton. In 1884 it was annexed by the city of Toronto.
below: Colourful cat and mouse games on a wall just south of Dundas. I couldn’t find any ‘signature’ on the wall and I haven’t been able to find out who painted this. I’d love to know.
below: Malabar Ltd. It looks unkempt and I thought it was abandoned. The gate to the parking lot was open and there were a couple of cars parked behind the wall. A quick search online and I discovered that this site is still operational, but only serves the professional opera and theaters industry.
After passing under one of the greyest, dingiest railway bridges, I came to a street – not sure what it was!
I checked a map – it’s Cunningham Ave.
.
But it afforded me an unobstructed view.
I looked around a bit but there wasn’t much of interest on my side of the tracks and I wasn’t about to cross over! I did notice that there is graffiti on the track side of the wall around the Malabar parking lot. Something to explore another time… when I don’t have to dodge trains!
As the leaves fall off the trees, the houses are hidden less. I like looking for older and/or unique architectural details that are now easier to spot (and take pictures of!)
below: The first time I saw one of these “half houses” I was quite surprised (it’s behind the large tree). I now realize that there are a number of them in the city but it was still a fun find.
below: Brick and wood trim details being preserved and restored on an old house.
below: There are a number of old square houses in the neighbourhood.
below: A house with an old second storey wooden structure. I don’t think it can be called an oriel window but I don’t know any other architectural term to describe it.
below: Although it’s not as easy to see in this picture, this house also has an old window and wood structure. The fence around the neighbour’s yard is probably not as old as the porch, but it to is from a bygone era. Is it from the 1960’s? I suspect that they were very trendy at one time although I have seen this sort of design more as balcony railings than as fences.
below: Symmetrical but not symmetrical
below: The back of Bike Pirates, a DIY bike workshop on Queen West, has a mural by Jonny Cakes.
below: Someone’s got a leg up!
Up over a door that is…. this door in fact.
below: And there were a few other little amusements along the way.
As I sort through the photos that I took this past summer, I keep finding pictures of street art that I have not yet posted. The following collection were taken in the Dupont and Ossington area back in July.
below: A very horizontal piece by Cool Ethan, obviously
below: A TTC streetcar passes by the Massey Harris building, a mural by Colin Turner Bloom. This office building, at 915 King St. West, was built in 1883 as the headquarters for the Massey Harris Co. It was declared a heritage building in 1973. Since then it has been developed as lofts/condos.
below: A city scene mural by Monica on the moon, just off Dupont Avenue.
below: Another garage door
below: Up, up and away with a bunch of red balloons.
below: Bobby with a gas mask, stencil on garage door in a lane.
below: Two lovebots on Dupont.
If you walk along Harbord Street, just east of Bathurst Street, you can’t miss the colourful paintings at the entrance to James Hales Lane. Most of them were painted by street artists Shalak and Smoky.
below: This bear is painted on the west side of Bampot Bohemian House of Tea & Board Games which explains the floating tea cup above his head.
below: This peacock is on the other side of the tea house. Signed by MXP, 2004.
below: This tiger is also on Harbord. It faces the peacock. Parts of the picture are washed out because of the angle of the afternoon sun on the day I saw this mural.
James Hales Lane is short and it is a dead end. There isn’t much more graffiti or street art in the lane.
Renfrew Place, near Queen Street West and University Avenue.
Another alley, another collection of graffiti and street art.
below: Lovebot strides over speed bump warnings.
below: The Korean Grill House restaurant is at the corner of Queen West and McCaul.
below: This mural by elicsr is on the corner of Renfrew Place and John Street.
Toronto’s newest street sign
Reggae Lane is a small lane on the south side of Eglinton West, between Marlee and Oakwood.
It is home to a new mural that celebrates the many reggae musicians from Toronto.
below: A Heritage Toronto plaque marks the spot. It tells the story of Jamaican immigration and the reggae music they brought to Canada with them. A transcription of the plaque appears at the bottom of this post.
The mural was painted over the course of three weeks by Adrian Hayles with the help of some young painters.
below: Appearing in the mural: Reggae musicians from Toronto – Pluggy Satchmo, Bernie Pitters, Leroy Sibbles, Lord Tanamo, Jay Douglas, Stranger Cole, Johnny Osbourne, Jojo Bennett, Nana McLean, Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Brown, Otis Gayle, Joe Isaacs, and Carol Brown. Bob Marley is also in the mural as are the Skatalites, one of the groups that started it all; they began recording ska music in the mid 1960s.
below: “Reggae, The King’s Music” is a reference to Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-1974) who was born Tafari Makonnen. Before becoming emperor, he was known as Ras Tafari where Ras means Duke or Prince (depending on the translation). Hence the name Rastafari. The Rastafari movement began in Jamaica after the coronation of Haile Selassie. To them, Selassie was not just a black king, he was the messiah.
Although it didn’t become a musical genre until the 1960s, reggae also has it’s roots in Jamaica. Reggae and Rasta have become closely linked. Reggae has spread the Rasta message and Rastafari musicians like Bob Marley have popularized reggae music.
below: The radio station CFRB once had a Sunday evening reggae program.
below: The Lion of Juda is a Rastafarian symbol. It comes from the fact that as Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Sealssie’s full title was “King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah”. The lion also appears in the middle of the Ethiopian flag.
plaque: “Toronto’s Reggae Roots
In the 1970s and 1980s, an estimated 100,000 Jamaicans immigrated to Canada. Many settled in Toronto on Eglinton Avenue West, between Oakwood Avenue and Allen Road, in “Little Jamaica”, which became the centre of one of the largest Jamaican expatriate communities in the world.
Among these immigrants were popular reggae artists who brought their music to Toronto. Reggae record stores and recording studios began opening up in this neighbourhood. Leroy Sibbles (the influential bass guitar player and lead vocalist of The Heptones), Jackie Mittoo, The Cougars, Ernie Smith, Johnny Osborne, and Stranger Cole all performed and recorded in Toronto during this period. Despite the rich talent in and around Little Jamaica, early Canadian reggae struggled to find mass appeal. However, later generations of Toronto reggae artists achieved mainstream success, including Juno Award winners Lillian Allen, Messenjah, and the Sattalites.”
The project was funded by the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto program, with support from Metrolinx, Councillor Josh Colle’s office, the Macaulay Centre for Child and Youth Development, the Toronto Parking Authority and the York-Eglinton BIA. It was also supported by the STEPS Initiative.
A return trip, out of this world.
below: Street art along the north wall of 376 Dufferin Street.
below: A new buff monster on pink.
below: Greetings from Parkdale mural
below: This mural can be seen from Milky Way although it is painted on the side of Stones Place on Queen St. West
below: Back in October 2014, there was a large lovebot on the wall where the mural is now.
For other photos of Milky Way from last autumn, see when I blogged about it previously.
Other new street art in the Milky Way was in a separate post a few days ago.
as I walk Toronto 