Posts Tagged ‘backyard’

a nippy morning in Kensington

Posted: January 7, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, stores
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Hello! “What’s up?”  has become “sup?”  I see.

a small collection of little things on a wall including the word sup? made with white strips of wood. Also the word hello is painted on the wall. Collage includes a large spring, a light bulb and blobs of something orange.

Well, let me show you some of what’s up in Kensington these days.

two hysro poles, one with a lot of signs on it and the other with three horizontal wood sections at the top of it. Signs are a street sign for Kensington Ave in both English and Chinese, a yellow no dumping sign that has been covered in stickers, and a no parking sign. Signs for Chinese businesses are in the background.

  It’s a much quieter place on a nippy winter morning.

below:  Does anyone have an extra jacket they could lend her?  Frostbite isn’t fun.

graffiti on a wood fence, a painting of a bare breasted woman's torso.

below:  It’s Canadian patio weather so it can’t be that cold. Right?

view into a backyard from an alley, some snow on the ground, a Canadian flag is hung on a wall over two brown plastic Muskoka chairs and a small patio table. A string of Christmas lights is above the flag.

below: Loose bricks become loose teeth.  Some guy is trying to hide under the stairs.

street art painting of a face on the side of a building beside a construction site, building is an old house that is empty. face is painted under the marks on the wall where the stairs were, and teeth are loose bricks hanging vertically. a red and purple throw up text graffiti is in front of the painting.

below: Fathom graffiti on the foundations of an old house that has been torn down.
Hot and cold perhaps?

graffiti by Fathom on a brick wall at a construction site, line drawings in black of a man's face, a steaming cup of something hot, and a popsicle. Like hot and cold.

below: Filet of sole

The globe sculpture at Kensington that sits high on a pole. Two of the fish that swim around the globe, one of the fish has a pair of black and red nike shoes with their laces tied together, over the front of the fish.

below: Cool camel with his headless (mindless!?) glittery arm candy.

a mannequin with a camel mask on, wearing sunglasses, with a large ring through it's nose, wearing a robe with a busy pattern in shades of brown, another mannequin that is headless is beside the camel. The second mannequin is wearing a dress covered in shiny sparkly gold sequins.

below: Persian stews and a pink octopus…. what’s in a Persian stew?  If beef stew is beef and rabbit stew is rabbit….   well, I’ll assume that Persian stew isn’t Persians just like Irish stew isn’t Irishes.
I also liked the way that the street art on the open gate merged with the painting on the wall behind.

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below: Still meditating with blinking – not distracted by the Christmas balls in front of her face.

mannequin in a window sitting in a yoga position, and covered in painted patterns, multicoloured, gold Christmas balls are hanging from the ceiling around her.

below: I thought that this was a window ornament, like the kid you see as a door knocker.  But when I zoomed in more closely, I found that is was an old curling trophy!

an old weathered curling trophy sits on a window ledge, where it has been tied on. Window behind, reflection of the trophy in the window.

below: A little sparrow doing some people watching, its feathers all puffed up to keep warm.

a little sparrow (bird) sits on a railing outside that is decorated with cedar boughs and red Christmas lights.

below: A woman and a rose in black and white, by bubz

a black and white mural by bubz, grey tones actually, of a woman with long hair and a white rose

below: Outdoor office.  I told you we Canadians were a hardy bunch.

an old office chair with black padded back and seat sits up on a small trash bin made of concrete blocks. A light dusting of snow covers all surfaces

below: Druid and a Christmas tree.

top part of a brick building, two windows, a Christmas tree in one of the windows, the word druid written in yellow spray pain above the windw, a new condo being built in the background
below: Lovebot, grominator, and a poser bunny all together by the rooftops.

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below:  A number of these little paste-ups (the guy in the yellow frame) by t-bonez have sprung up around downtown.   This one is on Augusta.

people walking in Kensington, walking past a wall with a pasteup on it of a man in uniform saluting he's drawn from the waist up and is in a yellow frame.

part of a mural in a Kensington lane of a woman with long dark hair and a white and blue dress, she is standing. In front of her is parked a bike.

below: Taking a snowy walk in the neighbourhood that is protected by Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum from the 3 Ninjas movies.

looking down a street in Kensington, looking towards Spadina, older brick housses on the street, a group of people walking down the sidewalk, snow on the ground, winter trees, a neighbourhood watch sign that has been altered with a picture of the three boys from the movie 3 Ninjas.

below: Everyone likes Christmas!  Even a stormtrooper….

a mannequin outside a store is dressed in a Star Wars white storm trooper costume with a Santa hat and a T-shirt with the face of a stormtrooper also with a Santa hat. The store is painted yellow and has a bright red door that is open

two t-shirts on display outside a store, both are white and both have heads of famous people wearing Santa hats. One is David Bowie and the other is E.T.

below: More rooftop graffiti.  This time, with new condo development behind.  The old brick buildings with glass monsters popping up behind them – a very familiar site these days.

graffiti on the top of a red brick building, trees in front, a large new condo being built behind.

below: In keeping with the sort of PG rating of this blog, I’ll show this poster as the background!

a woman in pink gloves is taking a picture of a graffiti paste up in a street, taking the photo with her phone

below: The end, no exit. I’ll go no further, except…..

the end of a dead end alley, with graffiti on one of the walls, and a sign that says no exit painted on the wall in white.

to say have a happy New Year and I hope that 2017 is filled with lots of opportunities to walk and explore!

part of a larger mural, black line drawings on white of two smiling faces

Have a blast!

wooden decorations on the upper part of a store, cutouts painted to look like two women sitting on top of rockets as they blast into space

radiating away from Roden

Posted: December 13, 2016 in alleys, graffiti and street art, public art, windows and walls
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The Roden in the title of this blog post refers to Roden Public School.  In their schoolyard they have this colourful mural, a fairly accurate map of the area with the school in the center.  The original school on this site was built in 1907-1908 as Ashdale School.  In 1910 it was renamed to honour Mr. E.P. Roden a long time school trustee.  The present school was built in 1969.

a mural on a conrete wall in a schoolyard that is a map of the area with the school in the center, colourful, about 8 feet high and twelve feet wide.

below: The school is just north of Gerrard St., between Coxwell and Greenwood, and south of the railway tracks.  I suspect that the 100 in the circle that marks the school has to do with the 100th anniversary of the school although I haven’t been able to find any information about the mural online.

close up of the center of a mural on a conrete wall in a schoolyard that is a map of the area with the school in the center, colourful, about 8 feet high and twelve feet wide.

All day Sunday, and well into the early hours of Monday morning, it snowed.  It’s been many months since I’ve walked on a snowy day.  It was a bit grey and there wasn’t a lot of contrast (as in light and shadow) in the scenery yesterday afternoon when I walked, but the novelty of white snow kept me interested (and warm!).   From Roden school I wandered westward.

below: Walking home after school.

A woman walks her two young children home from school, down a snowy lane, one on each hand. Their back is to the camera, houses, trees, hydro ples, a car on the street they are about to cross.

below: A cosy brown scarf and red hat, an avocado smile, celery arms are two doggie treat buttons on his tummy – a snowman living the easy life.  No standing around in the snow for him!

a little snowman stands on a chair outside. A red cap, celery for arms, avocado for mouth

below: This was my friend who accompanied me for part of my walk, meowing loudly most of the time.   I’m not sure what it was trying to tell me.  Maybe it was out enjoying the snow?  More likely it was looking for a warm place to snuggle.

close up photo of a black cat in an alley with some snow on the ground, garage doors and a large tree

below: Busy steps, quiet steps.

the back of two buildings, one has undeisturbed snow behind it and a sign over the door that says R Coin Laundry. The building beside it (and attached to it) is three storeys high. The upper two levels have a wood railing and balcony out the back. Snow on the ground but lots of foot steps in the snow.

below: Keeping an eye on the garage.  Eye spy!

An old single car garage with grey shingle material covering it. Yellowish beige garage door with a small brightly coloured street art piece on it that includes an eye

below: Bikes and deer in the alley.  A mother deers keeps watch over her fawn.

mural of many bikes, as well as some deer. Deer look life like, standing in the alley watching you. Graffiti animals, street art painting of deer on a cement block garage wall.

below:  On one hand, I want to say that  for those who want to look, there are many little surprises to be found in the lanes and alleys of this city.   But on the other hand, there are an incredible number of old cars parked in city backyards.  Some are neglected and clearly not roadworthy while others still have some life left in them.

looking through a hole in a blue fence, an old light blue car is parked in a backyard, covered with snow, the white of the house is behind the car.

below: Another car.

Close up of chainlink fence, rusty, but in focus. Out of focus behind it is an old blue car that is covered with snow. It is parked between two black vehicles.

below: Clowning around in a window.

A small figurine of a clown holding his hat above his head, blue jacket, red pants, black bowtie, small figurine in front of a plant with green and purple leaves.

below: I think it’s dub monkey, duh?

white stencil on a concrete wall that says dub monkey with the face of a monkey

below: Looking south to Gerrard Street.  Snow and slush, very Toronto in the winter.   The orange construction sign is also very Toronto, but in all seasons these days.

looking towards a street with two sem-detached houses, one is boarded up and the other isn't. A construction sign, a pedestrian on the sidewalk, a black dog.

below: Someone added some colour to the alley when they shouldn’t have.

a bright red shopping cart has been abandoned in front of a green garage door in a snowy alley

below: A mural by kairo, on a pink that packs a punch on a grey winter day.

mural of a woman's head by kairo. Background has been painted a dark pink, with white spots. WOman has long reddish brown hair.

below: More alley colour to brighten the day.

Back of a house in a lane. Gate covering bac is lopsidded, on an angle. The garage that faces the alley has a bright yellow door. Two storey semi detached houses, one brown and one reddish.

below: Someone loves their bike.  I find it a bit creepy that the picture is a skull.

a small painting that has been hung a fence. A white skull with the eyes drawn as the wheels of a bike. The words say I love my bike, with the word love being a small heart.

below: Wall art of another kind.  Shades of yellow.

Yellow wall with rust coloured upper part. Tags and graffiti have been painted over with different colours of yellow paint to produce a patchwork like effect.

below: Little ups and downs in the lane.   A large majestic winter tree stands over the lane.

looking down an alley, a two storey house, a large mature tree with no leaves, the brightening sky of the late afternoon as the cloud cover lifts enough to let a but of sunlight through. Snow in the alley, with tire tracks from a few cars that have driven over it.

below: A peacock mural.  Lahore Halal Meat store on the corner of Gerrard is a reminder that this part of Gerrard was/is referred to as Little India because of the large number of Indian (Southeast Asian) shops and restaurants.

building on the corner of two streets, two storeys, as seen from the back. Shops on the lower level and apartments upstairs. Large mural of a peacock on the side of the building, a large billboard on top of it. Lahore Halal Meat store on the corner.

below:  This photo is from the entrance to Lahore Halal Meat store in the above photo.   The material on the inside features brides and grooms within heart shapes and surrounded by white flowers.  Not what you’d expect in a meat shop!

An open door, glass paneled door, of a store, a red and white Open sign is at the bottom of the door, part of the exterior wall is blue tiles that are starting to fall off, the counter inside is covered with a blue and white material that is pictures of brides and grooms in heart shapes surrounded by flowers.

below: Textured concrete, broken bricks, and the remnants of a black stencil.

a wall. Upper part is brick. A swath has been painted white, but some bricks have broken off in front to reveal the brighter orangish red underneath. The bottom part of the wall is grey concrete that has been texturized with slanted lines.

below: Sunflowers reach for a sunny place.

looking down a lane. A mural on a wall is on the left. It is bright yellow sunflowers under a blue sky. Snow in the alley with car tracks from a few vehicles, trees, a house, osme garages,

below: A fork in the alley.  A jumble of lines.

snowy and icy alley, dooking downhill towards a fork in the road, garage doors on all sides, backs of houses in the background, alleys and lanes of east part of Toronto

a large sign advertising Kawartha Dairy ice cream, on a sidewalk on a sluchy winter day, large pink ice cream cone picture,

Craven Road, north of Gerrard

Posted: December 13, 2016 in locations, public art
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A few weeks ago I posted some pictures of the fence along Craven Road that has been decorated with artwork and old artifacts.  I was south of Gerrard Street when I took the photos.   I didn’t realize at the time that I missed another outdoor gallery on the other side of  Gerrard.  Today I took some pictures of those on display on the north side.   Here they are in no particular order:

below: Looking north up Craven Road along the fence.
That tropical sunset on the left looks very inviting!

small amateur paintings displayed on a wood fence, with trees and houses in the background, snowy day, looking down the length of most of the gallery, small pile of snow against the fence, painting in the foreground is warm Caribbean sun on beach with palm tree, Craven Road

small amateur paintings displayed on a wood fence, with trees and houses in the background, snowy day, an evergreen bough hangs over the top of the fence, above a painting of trees in a forest in winter, low sun, and long blue shadows.

small amateur paintings displayed on a wood fence, with trees and houses in the background, snowy day, Craven Road in Toronto, two paintings of black trees (no leaves) on red, and one grey tree on orange background,

small amateur paintings displayed on a wood fence, with trees and houses in the background, snowy day, a black tree on a blue background. Snow has been blown against the wood fence and some of it has stuck to the fence, Craven Road

below: Some of the paintings are small words in another language and another alphabet.  Can anyone translate for me?

small amateur paintings displayed on a wood fence, with trees and houses in the background, snowy day, four paintings. One black tree on light brown paper, and three small paintings with words in a different language with a different alphabet, Bengali perhaps

small amateur paintings displayed on a wood fence, with trees and houses in the background, snowy day, Craven Road, trees on blue and green background
small amateur paintings displayed on a wood fence, with trees and houses in the background, snowy day, three paintings, one is a fish

By now I’m very curious about this street and this fence.  I found a long, detailed, and interesting history written by local historian Joanne Doucette that you can read here.