bees | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘bees’

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

hanging out at Queens Park

Posted: September 28, 2019 in events, locations, people
Tags: #climatestrike, #FridaysForFuture, bees, camera, cardboard, climate strike, Earth, families, green, home made, kids, people, placards, protest, Queens Park, rally, signs

Today was Climate Strike day… a Friday where there were rallys and protests to call for action on climate change across Canada and around the world. Here in Toronto Queens Park was the gathering spot.

By 11 a.m. the park in front of the parliament buildings was quite full and people were congregating all down University Avenue as well. I wandered (pushed my way?) through the crowd while we waited for some speeches (that almost no one could hear) to finish before the walk part of the day started. These are some of the signs that I saw and some of the people that I talked to.

below: All eyes on the camera man.

below: People Act Now It’s Critical, PANIC

The best thing I heard this morning was one boy who said, “It’s not socialism, it’s a better kind of capitalism”.

below: Holding a sign that she made herself.

below: Respect your mother. There were lots of references to Mother Earth.

below: The turtles are only the beginning

below: Change is coming wether you like it or not. We need real change.

below: Being interviewed as she holds her climate danger rating sign.

below: Standing with the trees, and partially under the pines.

below: Make Ontario Greta again.

a young girl in a pink jacket stands between a woman with a walker and a man in a plaid shirt and green hat. She is holding a hand drawn protest sign

Roses are dying,
violets are too.
Save our planet,
we’re counting on you.

below: We want a green future

below: Every single use item is a time bomb

below: Taking cues from Kermit the Frog, it ain’t easy being green.

below: Continuing with the colour theme… All that glitters is not gold.

below: A common theme today was, “The Earth is hotter than”. In this case, I think that’s a Korean boy band? K-Pop? Or something like that?

below: More “hotter than” – this time an imaginary boyfriend. How can you not smile at that?

below: Look me in the eye, from up above.

below: Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone, plus Clean Energy = New Jobs

below: Our world is melting

below: Fight climate change or die frying

below: Another theme kept appearing today was an anti fossil fuel stance. “In 2018 Canada spent 3.3 billion on fossil fuel subsidies”

below: This is why we can’t have nice things.

below: Why should I study neuro when we’re all going to die?

Another post with more photos from the climate strike are immediately below this page.

Mt Dennis pollinators

Posted: April 2, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: bees, bumble bee, carpenter bee, Eglinton Ave., flowers, green sweat bee, honey bee, leafcutter bee, mason bee, Mount Dennis, Mt Dennis BIA, mural, paint, pollinators, street art, Supercoffee, Weston Rd.

On the southwest corner of Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue West, on the side of Supercoffee, is another large, colourful Nick Sweetman pollinators mural. It features 6 different types of bees commonly found in Toronto.

below: Honey bee (apis mellifera)

below: Bumble bee (bombus affinis)

below: Mason bee (osmia conjuncta)

below: Carpenter bee (xylocopa virginica)

below: Green Sweat bee (augochloropsis metallica)

below: Leafcutter bee (megachile latimanus)

The mural was commissioned by the Mount Dennis BIA with help from the City of Toronto’s Mural Street Art Program as well as Metrolinx.

a sign that describes Nick Sweetman's mural of bees and pollinators in Mt Dennis

“This mural features an urban skyscape beneath which a vibrant world of bees feeding on pollen comes to life. It explores the intersection between human-made spaces and natural forces, and encourages consideration of our relationship with the planet and its non-human inhabitants. Toronto is one of the most biodiverse area in the world for bees, with over 300 species found in the city and surrounding area. River corridors like the Humber River and Black Creek flourish with wild flowers and native plants – important habitat for native pollinators. Plants are catalysts for the energy all animals depend on and bees are crucial to all flowering plants’ reproduction. “

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”

alleyway of dreams

Posted: June 7, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, alleyway, animals, bees, colours, community, cows, donkey, fence, garage, garage door, giraffe, graffiti animals, lane, laneway, murals, Nadia Hakime, pigs, rabbit, rhino, rhinocerous, shapes, street art, tiger

The Alleyway of Dreams is an art project begun in 2012 that aims to spruce up and add some colour to a lane near Danforth and Main. I walked the alley yesterday and this is what I saw.

below: A large mural by StreetARToronto, caring hands and large bees in Bee Haven. (2 photos)