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On the Move

Posted: September 1, 2026 in general Toronto
Tags: Adrian Hayes, ambsoul, Andrea Manica, artistic perception, bear, bees, bikes, birds, BJR, Bloor St., Bloor st. west, Bradley J. Reinhardt, bubzart, Bunso, butterflies, Caitlin Taguibao, Chris Perez, Colin Tea, Danilo Deluxo, Drippin' Soul, EGR, faces, flowers, Frannie Potts, getso, GO train, hands, hearts, Isabella Fassler, Jeff Blackburn, Jim Bravo, Just J. Art, Medeio, murals, Muys, Nick Sweetman, Night Owl Drawings, On the Move, Opola Karim, Phillip Saunders, portraits, Rage Williams, railway, Reboser, Rowell Soller, SKAM, StART, Stephanie Avery, streetARToronto, The graffiti studio, timmifuk, underpass, Visible Noise, Waskwane Designs, Wenting Li, WEnting Things

If you walk east on Bloor from Dundas West, you will encounter a railway bridge.

man pulling a suitcase as he walks on the sidewalk on Bloor street, eastbound, with GO train on railway bridge in the distance.

A section of the walls of this underpass have recently been painted by 40+ artists. The south side is now covered in new murals.

cyclists in bike lane on Bloor West, traveling eastbound and about to go under the railway tracks just west of Perth. Street art on the walls of the underpass

This underpass has been painted previously – back in 2015 both the north and south walls were painted in a Wallnoize project (see post from 2015). Some of the same artists appear on this updated version. This time it was StreetARToronto that sponsored the artworks. Let’s take a look at some of the murals (in no particular order)….

below: Stay young! An old man on a bike that he outgrew years ago! by Adrian Hayles

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West painted by Adrian Hayles - an old man in yellow suit and hat, riding a very small yellow, or gold, bicycle

below: Opola Karim painted this Toronto skyline scene, a view that is well known to anyone who has visited the Toronto islands.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West painte by Opola Karim, showing Toronto Harbour and Toronto skyline in a very stylized design, loon in water, beaver on a rock, Canada geese flying overhead

below: Peaceful, loving hands joining together by Phillip Saunders aka Loveishere

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Phillip Saunders, a k a Love is here. Four hands in shades of beige and brown, 2 with peace sign, one holding a round object with a red heart on it,

below: Close to the west end of the underpass is this colourful section. The collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists, Just J. Art (the hummingbird and the hibiscus flower) and Ambsoul Art

two street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West. On the right side is collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists Just J. and Ambsoul. BJR painted the let side, first nations symbols and objects like a bear with a fish in its mouth,

below: The left part (of the above image) BJR aka Bradley J. Reinhardt

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, byBJR, or Bradley J. Reinhart, bear with a blue fish in its mouth and a red heart on its side

below: Ambsoul Art’s feathery bird.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, bird head, part of a larger mural, by Ambsoul

below: From under the bridge, glimpses of colour between the steel girders and concrete barricades.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West as seen from across the street metal girders supporting bridge, traffic on the road,

below: Three of the artworks

three street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West. Artists were Curtia Wright, Phillip Saunders, and Artistic Perception.

below: Curtia Wright – a portrait with yellow flowers

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Curtia Wright, portrait of a brown woman with yellowy brown eyes, yellow flowers on either side of her

below: More women’s faces – some with no mouths? – have they been silenced? By Artistic Perception aka Kanisha

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Artistic Perception. three black women with short curly black hair, clothes in grey shades, with a garland of daisies

below: The Toronto Railpath runs beside these tracks.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West where it joins Wallace street entrance to the Toronto Railpath

below: By Getso – it’s green, it has sharp teeth and a tail, and it can stand on two legs (he’s standing in a boat)….

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Getso, a green crocdile, standing, with tail wrapped around a brown pole, beside water

below: EGR (with the help of some high school students) painted these cool glasses …. and the young woman on the skateboard.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by EGR, woman with sunglasses that reflected Toronto skyline and a person cycling past, red rims and blue glass

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by EGR, a young woman skateboarding

below: Precious cargo in the old milk crate in a mural by Wenting Li aka Wenting Things.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Wenting Li, A cyclist riding a green bicycle past a stylized blue neighborhood skyline, transporting a growing branch with clusters of red fruit in a bright orange milk crate.

below: Another cyclist pedaling along, this time by Isabella Fassler

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West

below: Caitlin Taguibao and Andrea Manica created a mural of people and flowers.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, a mural of people and flowers created by Caitlin Taguibao and Andrea Manica

below: A boy on the water and a blue jay watching him by Bunso, aka Night Owl Drawings

below: Adrian Hayles’ man in yellow again, with a 26 cent stamp by Frannie Potts.

below: A closer look at the bird and flowers on the stamp.

below: Part of the Nick Sweetman mural showcasing fish.

below: Visible Noise, aka Andrew Patterson

below: A pink cat with spots is the result of a collaboration between Muys and Chris Perez. Or is it a leopard?

below: Timmifuk removing not one mask, but two.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Timmifuk, young man with green face is removing two masks, one is blue and the other is a demon red

below: Rowell Soller

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Rowell Soller

below: StephVonAwesome aka Stephanie Avery

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West cartoon llike characters by StephVonAwesome aka Stephanie Avery<

monsters having a tea party, mural by Stephanie Avery, including three eyed orange guy and purple furry guy

murals on wall of Bloor street railway underpass by , Isabella Fassler, Caitlin Taguibao, Andrea Manica, and Stephanie Avery

below: “Water is Life”, Bubzart

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, water is life, pregnant woman

below: A peace dove in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West A peace dove with an olive branch in its beak, in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio, monotone grey

below: Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.

below: Facing each other, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin’ Soul

two street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin' Soul

below: Using shades of black, teal and magenta, Drippin’ Soul has created a very metallic looking profile

below: That’s one creepy red eye! Or is it two red eyes? Ahhhh…. the red eye and brass (bronze?) pieces are part of a mask and the design was apparently “inspired by the taotie motifs of the Shang dynasty” (Quote is from MonkYi’s instagram page). The Shang dynasty dates back to between 1600 BC and 1050 BC; it marked the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. A taotie was a mythological creature that represented greed and gluttony.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Monk Yi, woman wearing a mask that has one red eye

two men walking past street art murals on the wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West

below: Ghazaraza‘s ladies are sharing a pot of tea.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Ghazaraza, two ladies are sharing a pot of tea, seated on the ground facing each other. Pink flowers in the middle

below: Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere… Oh, I don’t know just why She simply caught my eye…. Or you can all it by its title, “Wildlife in Bloom” by Lula Lumaj.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Lula Lumaj, woman with long dark hair, flowers in her hair, monarch butterfly, bee, other flowers around her

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, a butterfly and a bee by some small pink flowers

below: A cute little grey cat with green eyes.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, a grey cat with green eyes and a little pink nose

three street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West. an image of a GO rain engine is in the middle

below: GO train – definitely On the Move!

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, image of a GO train engine

below: “The Lookout aka the Fruit Bandits” not letting a fence get in the way! by Jim Bravo

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Jim Bravo, a group of children is picking fruit from trees that are on the other side of a fence, title is fruit bandits

below: Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea, girl is called Violet

three muralon a railway underpass, bloor street , street art, urban art,

below: Greetings from West Toronto by Rage WIlliams

Greetings from West Toronto is the text in this white, gold, and pink mural by Rage Williams.

below: Reboser’s athlete – a football player sprinting down the field.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, football players by reboser

below: From the The Graffiti Studio ….

below: Jeff Blackburn‘s young person on the move with drink in one hand and backpack in the other.

below: Two dogs and a stack of old tires, a painting by Megan Oldhues

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, two dogs and a stack of old tires, by Megan Oldhues

below: Hummingbird by an orange flower.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, hummingbird

below: Three animals by a river from Waskwane Designs – beaver, bear and wolf (with a few bees and butterflies too)

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Waskwane Designs, animal, beaver beside a river

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Waskwane Designs, bear with a butterfly

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Waskwane Designs, animal, wolf in black and white

below: Not for Sale, letters and flowers in a small square of concrete at one end of the wall.

below: A lone pigeon watches me as I pass by.

below: The wall of the underpass peters out by the time Bloor Street reaches Perth.

Link for more information on StART – StreetARToronto

Photos taken August 2026

checking in to see what’s new…

Posted: August 17, 2026 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: 50 shades of greatt, Adam McKnight, bear, BikeDeSuro, Billy Creekwater, catchoo, ceramics, DivadogLA, Elicser Elliott, Ezpektro, faces, Fiigueers, FreshPaintDaly, Graffiti Alley, horus, MonkYi, Mopsi, murals, neem, paint, paste ups, Pokemon, Posts Collective, sentient cookie, slaps, So schoen immer weider, stencils, Sticker Eddie, stickers, Trevor Goodwin, trp613, uber5000, urban ninja squadron, visual noise

… another walk down Graffiti Alley

below: Part of a monochrome mural by Nicolas Araneda aka niko.volts that has a lot of very American feet walking all over the faces of other people as lay on the ground…. ‘Trampling’ might be a better verb than ‘walking’

below: Some walk in heavy boots, and others swim with open mouth ….

below: Looking crazed and demented, “Lobo” by Horus (aka Trevor Goodwin)

below: Not quite so crazy or so demented but certainly not cuddly and warm either.

below: “Bring your green hat” by FreshPaintDaly aka Billy Creekwater

below: Two (and a bit) of six panels, drawings by Hartshorn (or posts collective).

below: “Not today Satan”. There’s a lot going on here – the Silly Sausage Gang being front and center. 33wallflower33 in her white coat with the fuzzy collar and little decorations by catchoo . There is also a T-bonez (of urban ninja squadron fame) wearing a green shirt and a necklace with a pendant – that’s Sticker Eddie he’s wearing, apparently. The red-hearted pug’s name is Mopsi. Mopsi has something in his mouth but the donut is in the way (for more Mopsi see the Instagram page of his creator, So schoen immer weider)…. And the other dog is a collaboration between TRP613 (check out the reflections in the sunglasses!) and DivadogLA

below: “Get me out of here” and a dose of Instant Karma.

below: Free Iran

below: This painting of a woman with her headphones above and yellow birdie walking a dog below was one of the first murals in Graffiti Alley – the work of Uber5000. Not many originals still exist!

below: Elicser Elliott’s contribution to a larger mural that has been painted below the pink Poser bunny, “Don’t watch me cry”

below: Half a face. He only needs one eye to stare at you.

below: Gold… With a garland of white and blue flowers.

below: A very large and very purple bear is at the door.

below: He or she looks rather cramped in there. Signature says Neem?

below: Another flower garland and another Neem head squeezed into a box.

below: Scowling and smoking with ace in his cap.

below: Skydome forever and ALCS, as well as Vladdy’s number 27 shirt and World Series 2025…. little blue and white pieces of ceramic that celebrate the Toronto Blue Jays that someone lovingly made.

below: One Inch? … And other stickers crammed together.

below: “We are the colours of corn”

below: More stickers and pasteups including catchoo’s dumpster fire that t-bonez from urban ninja squadron is using to dry his socks and underwear.

below: A couple of contributions from Dogmaslaps here (they’re all about dogs in case you haven’t guessed yet).

below: More pasteups, some of which are quite intricate and detailed … especially the top two (vulture and jaguar?) which are both the creations of Ezpektro.

below: Sharing space with the Ezpektro pieces are a few smaller pasteups, some of which were made by artists that are new to me. There is a pink bike in the top right, the same bike that is in the Make Art Not War poster in the above image… BikeDeSuro creates stickers and wheatpaste featuring bikes. From the left, a woman by Fiigueers and then a young girl with the Spanish words, “que nunca se apague la llama de la autonomia” which translates to “may the flame of autonomy never be extinguished”… The collection is rounded out with a guitar player from Sentient Cookie and a cute little green guy from Catchoo.

below: MonkYi cat with a very real looking heart in his claws. Two carp swimming on the pavement in front.

below: Charmander, a Pokemon character.

below: Alfred E. Neuman makes an appearance in a couple of places – he’s the dude from MAD Magazine.

below: By 50 shades of greatt aka Adam McKnight – It looks a lot like Sponge Bob… maybe it’s his cousin? But what’s with that tongue? It looks like a slug is trying to slither out of his mouth.

below: Verity and a happy face.

below: Someone is not impressed…. Lame

below: Green guy says: “In one year’s time, strike your blow, I shall return.”

below: “These days will define us”

Finch and Morningside

Posted: November 7, 2020 in graffiti and street art, intersections, locations
Tags: bear, bridge, bus, Canadian Pacific, engine, Finch Ave., Interoh Gale, kids, Lacey and Layla, Lacey Jane, Layla Folkmann, Malvern, Malvern Family Resource Centre, maple leaf, Mediah, MFRC, Morningside Heights, mural, mural routes, Scarborough, skate board, train, TTC, underpass

I heard that there was a new mural near Finch and Morningside which of course means that I have to try and find it. In doing so, I found three murals. This is their story.

This is Morningside Heights at the far eastern side of Scarborough. The Rouge River, the border between Scarborough and Pickering, is not far away. The Toronto Zoo is also nearby.

below: Bus 133, Neilson Road, waits at a stop on Finch just west of Morningside. The houses that you see in the background are on Morningside.

The Canadian Pacific railway tracks run on a diagonal at this intersection. They cross Morningside south of Finch and they also cross Finch just west of Morningside. The bridges, and underpasses, are very close to each other. In this photo, the train is on the bridge over Finch. Do people often stand outside the front of a train?

In the above picture, the wall of the underpass on the left is unpainted. The wall on the right, the one that you can’t see has a mural by Mediah.

It is called “Interoh Gale” and Mural Routes was a partner in its development last year.

below: west end

below: east end

below: Construction has begun on the southwest corner of this intersection. The site plan, approved last year, shows a Shell gas station with retail on three sides of it. Leases are available! (you’ll have to google it).

below: There is a pond with a walking trail around it almost directly across Morningside from the above construction site.

below: Two people, after being on the trail around the pond, walk south on Morningside via an underpass that has murals on both sides. This is mural on the east side. It is older than the others but it is in reasonably good shape.

below: A boy on a skate board and a girl doing what? The two green signs say Love and Malvern. I don’t know Scarborough well enough to know if the buildings in the mural represent real ones. Malvern is just to the west.

below: MFRC is Malvern Family Resource Centre and there is a picture on their website of the unveiling of this mural in September 2015.

below: This is the newest mural. It is called “Colour Outside the Lines” and it is the work of Lacey and Layla Art (aka Lacey Jane and Layla Folkmann)

below: Looking north on Morningside from Finch.

On the northwest corner of this intersection, there is a large piece of vacant land. The railway tracks run along the west side of it. I can’t find any information about it online. There isn’t the usual blue and white Notice of Development sign. The website on the billboard shows some of the houses that they have built/remodeled but there is nothing about this particular project.

Once it was fenced in by the looks of it. Not much of the black cloth remains. It looks a bit creepy, as nature undoes man’s work.

But now it’s for sale maybe? LOL. A cliff hanger ending for this post!

a Yorkville meander with Captain Canuck, Batman and a mountie or two

Posted: May 16, 2018 in galleries, locations
Tags: Adrian Dingle, Alter Ego, Amyn Nasser, batman, bear, Brendan Meadows, Captain Canuck, Christopher Woodcock, church, city, City Obscure, clock, firehall, flag, Heliconian Hall, hoardings, ice fishing, Ipseity, Liss Gallery, Lomas Gallery, mannequins, mountie, music scene, Nelvana of the North, Nelvana of the Northern Lights, new york, park, Patrick Amiot, photographer, photography, photos, plaque, posters, sculpture, spring, Toronto Reference Library, tower, tpl, trees, urban

It’s still May and the CONTACT Photography Festival is still on so I am still trying to see as much as possible. Yesterday afternoon I went wandering in Yorkville where there is lots to see and do besides a couple of CONTACT exhibits.

below: Captain Canuck. I started with the TD Gallery at the Toronto Reference Library. It wasn’t that long ago that I was there (April I think) but the exhibit has changed. It is now ‘Alter Ego: Comics and Canadian Identity’. Isn’t Captain Canuck the most famous Canadian superhero? He first appeared in 1975.

below: Not so well known – The cover of the book ‘Nelvana of the Northern Lights’ by Adrian Dingle (1911-1974). Nelvana was Canada’s first female superhero; she first appeared in 1941, a few months before (American) Wonder Woman. Nelvana’s superpowers included turning invisible and traveling at the speed of light along a ray of the Northern Lights. According to Wikipedia, she “visited lost kingdoms under the ice, journeyed to other dimensions, and fought against the Axis Powers during World War II, eventually taking on the secret identity of secret agent Alana North. Her last adventure was published in 1947.

below: This structure was built in 1876 as a Carpenter Gothic Revival Style church – the Olivet Congregational Church. It has been the home of the Heliconian Club since 1923. This women only club was formed in 1909 and is still active today supporting women in the arts. There is a photo exhibit on there at the moment but viewing is by appointment only (it is a club not a gallery after all).

below: For CONTACT, the Lomas Gallery on Yorkville Ave is featuring a few large photos of cityscapes that are full of tall buildings. The one behind the red couch is ‘NoMad New York’ by Christopher Woodcock.

below: On the wall beside is ‘[a]DCLXI’ by Amyn Nasser.

below: It’s not a sculpture or a statue, but this red faced mannequin caught my eye. Maybe next time he’ll remember his sunscreen.

below: The clock tower of the Yorkville firehall. One side seems to missing its clock face.

below: Brendan Meadows’ black and white portraits hang on the walls of the Liss Gallery in an exhibit titled ‘Ipseity’. These were printed as silver gelatin selenium-toned lith prints by Bob Carnie from negatives made from digital images. The images were also manipulated with the Sabatier effect (solarization); this results in an image that is wholly or partially reversed in tone. Dark areas appear light or light areas appear dark.

below: Posters on hoardings add a little life at street level to the construction sites in the area. This set features businesses and sites in the area including the ROM.

below: Some colourful art deco style posters.

below: Prepared for anything! With a yellow duckie, handcuffs and binoculars, Batman and his Robin hand puppet prepare to take on the forces of evil! These are sculptures by Patrick Amiot.

below: Part of the Miraim Schiell gallery is devoted to Amiot’s work.

below: This large RCMP mountie and his dog stand behind the gallery.

below: Enjoying the wonderful spring afternoon on Cumberland.

below: Oh.. that second mountie that I alluded to in the title of this post – he was on the wall at the Alter Ego exhibit. This one. Just don’t call him Dudley Do-Right.

below: This is either ironic or sad. The first few lines of text say “In the the 1960s and 1970s, Yorkville village was the heart of Canada’s bohemian, counterculture community”. As I took this picture a new Bentley with dealer plates drove past. I looked around and the ‘counterculture’ of 40 to 50 years ago has been replaced by designer boutiques, high end stores, fine art galleries, and restaurants with linen napkins. Not a lot of music happening here. Full transcription is below.

“In the the 1960s and 1970s, Yorkville village was the heart of Canada’s bohemian, counterculture community. More than 40 clubs and coffee houses nightly featured folksingers-songwriters, including Ian & Sylvia, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young, who performed some of their first compositions in these smoky venues.
Yorkville’s first coffee house, Club 71, was opened by Werner Graeber in 1959. By 1964, Yorkville had become a nurturing environment not only for folk music, but also for pop, blues, and later, psychedelic rock. Hippies and teenagers flocked to these unlicensed venues, which offered an alternative to Yonge Street bars.
Yorkville was also home to three sound-recording studios, taping major acts such as The Guess Who, Lighthouse, and Ann Murray. With its vital role in fostering a wealth of talent, the Yorkville scene inspired a generation of songwriters and led to the rise of a new Canadian sound.”

Ice Breakers 2018

Posted: February 10, 2018 in public art, waterfront
Tags: bear, Bennet Marburger, black bamboo, CN Tower, Ensemble, eyes, H2O park, Ji Zhang, music, Music Garden, muskoka chairs, Peter Sampson, Queens Quay, red, red bear, Root Cabin, sculpture, Tanya Goertzen, Thena Tak, tree roots, waterfront, Waterfront BIA, wind chimes, winter fanfare, wood

Ice Breakers returned to the Toronto waterfront once again last month. In mid-January five interactive art installations were built along Queens Quay West between the Harbourfront Centre in the east and the Music Garden in the west.

below: Appropriate for a space called the Music Garden, is a large structure supporting many wind chimes. This is “Ensemble” by Joao Araujo Sousa and Joana Correia Silva of Portugal.

There are two installations in H2O Park.

below: On the west side of the park is “Winter Fanfare” by Thena Tak of Vancouver. It is made from painted layers of wood. After I had walked past this installation I happened to look back to see a group of boys using these wood forms as protection as they had a snow ball fight.

below: Also in H2O park is “Through the Eyes of the Bear”. This giant bear, or rather parts of a bear, is the creation of Tanya Goertzen of Calgary.

below: The large head of the bear is open at the back. With a little crouching you can go inside and look out through the bear’s eyes. It’s got a great view of the CN Tower!

below: Close to the Simcoe Wave Deck (at the bottom of Simcoe Street) is a structure called “Black Bamboo” that you can walk through. It was designed by Bennet Marburger and Ji Zhang of China.

below: Last is “Root Cabin”, a small hut constructed from large tree roots. The day that I walked past these Ice Breakers was early on when they weren’t quite complete. The roots were being arranged, like a puzzle being put together. The pink frame was being used as a guide and the plan was to remove it once the roots were in place. This installation was designed by Liz Wreford and Peter Sampson from Winnipeg.

For more information, Ice Breakers

These installations remain until the 25th of February.

Cliffside murals

Posted: June 30, 2017 in graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: animals, B.C. Johnson, bear, Cliffside, Dan Sawatzy, Elizabeth Simcoe, golf, Half Way house, historic, Jeff Jackson, John Graves Simcoe, John Hood, Kingston Rd., moose, murals, Onondaga, outside, Phillip Woolf, plants, public art, Risto Turunen, Scarborough, Scarborough Bluffs, schooner, Spooners Garage, walls

Cliffside is an area around Kingston Road in the west side of the city and the ‘cliff’ in the name refers to the Scarborough Bluffs. The murals in this post are all on Kingston Road just west of Midland Ave. They are the result of work of Mural Routes, an organization “dedicated to the creation, development and promotion of public wall art” since 1990.

below: ‘Spooners Garage’ by Phillip Woolf, 1992. Art Spooner’s garage in Cliffside was built in 1926 (and rebuilt in 1947). The mural has two parts, each showing a different time period. They face each other.

below: … and the later version

below: ‘H.M. Schooner, Onondaga c. 1793’ by Jeff Jackson 1992. The Onondaga was built near Kingston in 1790 and it served with the Provincial Marine until 1797. It was the ship in which John Graves Simcoe and his wife Elizabeth sailed across Lake Ontario to York (now Toronto) to establish the capital of Upper Canada.

below: ‘Let’s Take a Walk on the Wildside’ by B.C. Johnson, 2016. Canadian plants and animals cover all four sides of Ikki Sushi – herons, bears, moose, beaver, and fox among the pine trees. Creeks, swamp, and waterfalls can also be seen. More of Johnson’s work can be seen at Sandown Lane Cliffside blog post

below: ‘Cliffside Golf Course’ by Dan Sawatzky, 1991. Founded by George McCordick in 1931, the Cliffside Golfcourse was south of Kingston Road and overlooked Lake Ontario. It closed in 1950. The mural is faded and partially obscured by two trees.

below: The words on the mural tell the story of the golf course.

The last two murals have appeared in a previous blog post that I wrote once upon a time when I didn’t know how many Scarborough murals there were. Even now I’ve hardly scratched the surface.

below: ‘The Half Way House’ by John Hood, 1990. The mural is at the corner of Midland Avenue & Kingston Road which is where the inn and stage coach stop was located. The building was moved to Black Creek Pioneer Village in 1965.

below: ‘The Bluffs as Viewed by Elizabeth Simcoe c. 1793’ by Risto Turunen, 1992. The story is that Elizabeth Simcoe was so impressed by the view of the cliffs she persuaded her husband, John Graves Simcoe, to name the area after Scarborough England where there are similar cliffs.

There are more murals on old Kingston Road both to the east and west of these, but that will be a story for another day.

also see: Heritage Trail Mural 8 – Old Kingston Road

Frank Kovac lane

Posted: June 8, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, alleyway, animals, bear, bees, blue jay, blueberries, camera, community, doors, faces, fences, figures, fox, garage doors, graffiti, ivy, lane, monsters, mural, Nick Sweetman, painting, photography, photos, raccoon, street art, urban wildlife

Frank Kovac Lane is a short alley just south of Christie subway station. Some of the garage doors were painted with murals in past years and, as usual, there were plenty of tags. Recently, the lane was the scene of a community mural painting session thanks to the 4th Toronto Rangers (Girl Guides), StreetARToronto, artist Nick Sweetman, and some local residents. Now some of the tags are gone and more importantly, some more garage doors are home to bright and cheerful murals. A few of them are included here.

below: At the north end of the lane is this large, colourful mural by Nick Sweetman.
Two large blue bears have found a plethora of honey. Will the bees share?

below: The new murals continue the animal theme, “Urban Wildlife”, starting with this fox.

below: A common Toronto animal, a raccoon, beside a red fire hydrant.

below: A blue jay eyes some blueberries.

below: Several monster faces have lived in this alley for a while and they still remain.
This one looks like he needs a hair cut.

below: This graffiti is actually on Harbord Street but I couldn’t resist taking a picture of it
– a camera and an “oh snap”

Harbord at Bathurst

Posted: September 24, 2015 in graffiti and street art
Tags: alley, alligator, animals, Bampot, bear, brunosmoky, croc, crocodile, gator, Harbord Ave., house of tea, James Hales Lane, MXP, panda, peacock, shalak, smoky, snail, tea, tea cup, tiger, water

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.

as I walk Toronto

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