Elicser | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘Elicser’

I found love in an alley

Posted: August 15, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: @heart_bomb, arrow, cupid, Elicser, faucet, graffiti, hearts, holding fire, love, love all art, paint, street art, stronger together, tap, words

“Cupid draw back your bow
And let your arrow go
Straight to my lover’s heart for me, for me”
(from ‘Cupid’ by Sam Cooke)

This has me thinking about taps and faucets as hearts. Is there a metaphor to be found here? “Pouring out your heart”, or maybe “Let your love flow”, or maybe just a little “love tap”?

below: Graffiti Alley has been love bombed. Hearts and unicorns by @heart_bomb bring their colourful messages of love and togetherness to the lane.

below: Nearby, elicser has a more philosophical take on love.

below: Keeping the message simple (even when love isn’t!).
I also love the three little monkeys at the bottom.

And that’s why I love to keep going back to Graffiti Alley!

What colour is Sunday?

Posted: August 13, 2017 in general Toronto
Tags: abstract, beer, book, cheeks, colours, doll, Elicser, flowers, ivy, lips, metal, painting, people, pipes, red, see, shoes, sign, stikman, stools, street, taxi, van, window, windows

Welcome back!

I spotted this image and knew that it was going to be part of today’s theme.

It was a beautiful summer Sunday today – a great day to get outside and walk around. Although I started my walk by looking for little details, I ended up finding a lot of colour along the way. Cheerful colours that I want to share with you.

below: Colours like this red van parked in the partial shade of a tree.

below: Or the blue of the sky. Streetcar wires – hard to ignore when you’re downtown.

below: The painting of a young woman’s face on the wall of the Cameron House was partially obscured by construction equipment as the work on Queen Street West water pipes continues. I tried to find a way of taking her picture without the obstacles. Pink and flesh tones.

below: Instructions that are hard to miss! Not sure which one is the doorbell though!

below: I very carefully lined up the picture on the metal box (painted by elicser) with the diamond pattern on the Pizza Pizza wall when along came a streetcar. Photobombed by a streetcar. What is the girl holding? I’ve passed her many times (she’s on the corner of Queen St. West and Spadina) but I’ve never looked closely at her. I always assumed that it was a mug with something hot in it – doesn’t that look like steam? Tonight I realized that it’s a smartphone and that’s not steam, it’s light.

below: To take good pictures doesn’t require a fancy camera. Great photos have been taken with phones and bad photos have been taken with expensive equipment and I’m sure that’s not new to you. I only mention it because where equipment sometimes matters is the type of pictures that can be produced. Today I was walking with a telephoto lens that was useless for things close to me but fabulous for distance. Best distance – across the street, like the photo below. It was the bright blue and white stools that caught me attention. It wasn’t until I was lining up the shot that I saw the people (an added bonus!).

below: While on the subject of stools, these were close by the ones above. In this case I cropped out most of the people. Keep it simple and keep those shoes in the center! I just want to add that different cameras or different lenses impact how I look at the world when I walk. Do I zoom in on details? Or do I go for the wider story?

below: More yellow. Yellow gas pipes. They are everywhere.

below: Flowers in bloom but no idling here.

below: Green. Shadowy. Incomplete.

below: This is almost too cliched (add the accent to get the correct spelling!). But when the two taxis drove into the picture I had to take it as an “orange picture”. You can add the comment about Toronto’s two seasons here – I know you know it!

below: Purple wall with a doll. I’m going to assume that it is a lost doll. Someone dropped it and didn’t notice and then someone picked it up off the ground and tucked its arm into the wire to keep it safe and visible.

below: The colour of the curtain in the window above a store caught my eye and then I noticed the book holding open the window. Oops another case of ‘look again’. It’s not a book, it’s a box that once held a Razor kick scooter.

below: Abstract. I vaguely remember painting something similar back in Junior High. It involved masking tape and I never got the lines right. The paint always leaked under the tape. Do you recognize the building?

below: Behind the painted metal grille is a small colourful Stikman in his little frame.

below: I will admit that my first reaction when I saw this, small and close to the ground, was “I’ve found Jesus”. Not as bright and cheery as the other pictures but alas brown and grey are colours too.

below: And last, the perfect colour at the end of a walk… a beer on a patio with a friend.

#mycuriouseyes

A large part of the inspiration for this blog post came from participating in a week long photography project called ‘My Curious Eyes’. Each day we were challenged/encouraged to find interesting things to photograph based on prompts such as shape, colour, and texture. Part of the project was to photograph things that we hadn’t noticed before, or to look at ordinary things in a different way.

strong, smart, united

Posted: July 21, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: abstract, auralast, carolannapilado, chiefladybird, chiefladybug, child, controlartdelete, cvbinns, Elicser, emily may rose, eyes, faces, flower, hello kirsten, Jieun June Kim, Monica on the moon, mother, motorcycle, mska, muisca, murals, strong smart united, tbonez, toes, toest, urban ninja squadron, women

Written in big bold letters – STRONG SMART UNITED

Those three words are what you see first as you walk down Lansdowne just north of Queen Street. This striking wall is the beginning of a group of murals and street art paintings that now adorn some of the walls and doors in an alley on the north side of Queen Street West. The paintings were done last weekend by a group of women artists. The walls had been primed previously by four high school students (and organized by the Toronto Police Services).

below: Shapes and colours by controlartdelete (aka Rachel Wilmshurst)

below: Emily May Roses’s women

below: Abstract houses and greenery by Jieun June Kim

below: Two kneeling women and a long necked bird with wings spread by Caitlin Taguibao

below: Monica on the Moon, “Over the mountains under the stars”

below: A colourful mural by _muisca_ (aka Daniela Rocha)

below: Unfortunately, this one has already been defaced, including the signature.

below: Desert woman theme, by mska

below: Geometric shapes, colours, and patterns, by hellokirsten (aka Kirsten McCrea)

below: Left – by originalsmilez (aka Julieta Arias).
But on the right, help! I don’t know (do you?)

below: Looks a bit like a brightly coloured Picasso – the work of huntoland (aka Renato Hunto)

below: My apologies but this another one where I don’t know who the artist is

below: … and this one as well I’m afraid

below: A elicser figure outside the door. Elicser is definitely male – was this mural already here?

below: Shades of pink with blue lips, by toest (aka Sarah Gilmore).

below: On a seriously cracked wall there is now a pink flower inside a green triangle surounded by a circle, by CVBinns (aka Courtney Binns)

below: Long flowing hair and with eyes closed, a mural by carolannapilado

below: A collaborative effort between auralast (aka Monique Aura) and chiefladybird (aka Ogimaa Kwe Bnes) – mother and child with the city beyond.

below: Also in the lane there are two urban ninja squadron paste ups by Tbonez

below: Looking east along the alley. The first road is Macdonell Avenue. Lansdowne is in the distance.

This project was supported by the StreetARToronto program, Toronto Police Services and the Drake Hotel. I talked briefly with a policewoman who was in the alley at the same time that I was – there is hope that the lane to the east of Lansdowne can be painted in the future.

Before then, a second all women street art jam and mural will be happening in Little India (1460 Gerrard Street East) at the end of August. The street art jam will be on the weekend of August 26th and 27th and will showcase the Woman in the Walls mural being painted at that time.

#womenpaintTO

elicser people under the train tracks

Posted: February 25, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
Tags: buildings, community garden, couple, cyclist, Elicser, GO train, kids, Monarch Park, Monica on the moon, mural, paint, parents, people, scenes, sitting, street art, train tracks, tunnel, underpass, walking

If you walk south through Monarch Park this is the view that greets you as you approach the railway underpass. Elicser has painted a large mural that extends from the park through to the Woodfield Community Rail Garden that is on the other side. As you walk through the underpass this is what you see:

It’s February so the community garden is still resting for the winter. A shed with all four sides painted by Monica on the Moon provides some colour in the meantime.

The path continues…. a slight curve and you’re on Woodfield Road and on your way again.

feeling hungry?

Posted: January 16, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, public art, stores
Tags: alley, Bloor St., chicken, dirty bird, eating, Elicser, food, fried chicken, lane, man, milkshake, mural, people, restaurant, sandwich, waffles, woman

You can almost find it by following your nose!

I’ve been in many alleys where the smell has been less than desirable but today I was taking pictures in an alley that smelled wonderful! A small alley running south from Bloor Street beside the The Dirty Bird restaurant….or more accurately The Dirty Bird Chicken & Waffles.

And the pictures that I was taking there?
Well, they were of chicken and waffles and people eating of course!

Elicser has painted a mural in the alley alongside the restaurant.

below: I love how the straw is placed!

Peperonata Lane

Posted: December 6, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: 2013, alley, bird, building, clandestinos, colours, construction, deer, Elicser, faces, fiya, Galle, garage, garage doors, hawk, houses, lane, Little Italy, miles, Montrose, paintings, people, Peperonata Lane, poise, poser, renovations, shalak, smoky, squares, street art, tags, wallnoize

Peperonata Lane runs north from Harbord Street. Most of the garage doors in the alley have been painted. Some were painted as part of a Wallnoize project in 2013.

below: Take a seat… and see what kind of street art there is here.

below: A woman feeds the chickens.

below: This mural, done in 2009, is one of the older ones in the lane.

below: A deer and a hawk

below: Elicser people and a text painting by poise.

below: Split face on a fence, by fiya

below: A poser bunny

below: Multicoloured grumpy cat by shalak and clandestinos.

below: Wrinkled man with fish in hand, by smoky

below: A garage door painted by miles.

From City of Toronto documentation on the naming of Peperonata Lane, November 2012:

“The residents whose properties border on the lane have provided the following background information on the proposed name:”

” …throughout each year, the Galle family, who’ve lived at 441Montrose (the east side) since 1972, includes many Montrose residents in their annual celebration of making the “sugo” or tomato sauce, the roasted peppers and peperonata party, and the spirited soppressata contest, which they bring from their home country of Italy. Everyone learns the old world techniques and celebrates their new life in our Canadian context.

To commemorate how our lives have been enriched by the Galles welcoming and generous spirits, and in keeping with the traditions they’ve taught us and that we’ve now made our own, we propose the lane be named “Peperonata Lane” as a way of celebrating their unsung contribution to our neighbourhood”.

body soul mind

Posted: November 14, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: Alexandra Park, autumn, bathurst st., colours, Elicser, faces, hands, hat, mural, park, people, Troy Lovegates

In the southwest corner of Alexandra Park (near the SE corner of Bathurst and Dundas) there is a large colourful mural. It was painted a couple of years ago by Elicser and Troy Lovegates.

elicser and CP24

Posted: November 12, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: art, CP24, Elicser, mural, people, Queen St. West, spray paint

I happened to be walking along Queen Street West this afternoon when I spotted something new…

A large mural on a wall by the CP24 parking lot by elicser

with the artist himself, putting on the finishing touches to the mural.

go east, way east…..

Posted: November 11, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
Tags: animals, autumn, batman, community, drawing, Elicser, faces, graffiti, hair, head, Highland Creek, hope, Morningside Park, msn, mural, Orton Park, PanAm Path, people, public art, Rowell Soller, satelite, Scarborough, Skratch Wonder, street art, Ted Hamer

I had heard about a mural at Lawrence and Orton Park so this morning I thought I’d check it out. I ventured out Lawrence Avenue to just east of Markham Road. As I drove I was reminded of how big this city really is.

below: This is the community mural that started my adventure this morning. It was painted in nine sections and then assembled on the wall. It is the work of Ted Hamer, Rowell Soller and Skratch Wonder.

below: As I left Orton Park, I saw this mural from a distance. Of course I had to stop and take a picture. I got some strange looks. Tourists are probably not too common in this part of the city.

below: While I was looking for the best angle from which to take the above photo, I noticed some markings beside the road.

below: As it turns out, these are from the summer of 2011. Lawrence Avenue is 6 lanes wide and at this point it crosses Highland Creek and Morningside Park – a long bridge, a rather barren stretch of concrete and pavement.

below: Bridges were meant for going under, right? Luckily there was an entrance to Morningside Park right there, and luckily I left my toboggan at home 🙂 Morningside Park is part of a network of parks that follow the Highland Creek. It starts near Markham Road and the 401 and runs south to Kingston Road near Guildwood station. A search for an answer to the question, “How many ravine parks does Toronto have?” has yielded no results yet. I’ll keep looking.

below: The answer to another question, “Is there graffiti under the bridge?” was more easily found.

below: The bottom of the pillars were painted back in 2010 and 2011.

below: Hope takes flight over the city. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see but the word hope is written on the city at the bottom of this small mural but it is behind the weeds.

below: Personified Hope, from the picture above, wraps around to another side of the pillar as he/she moves upward. Also seen here is one of the feet from the upside down man.

below: Another pillar has a painting by elicser.

below: There were also a couple of paintings on the other side of the creek. There was water in the creek. Too much to cross safely.
Or at least, too much for me to cross safely!

It was a very quiet place to be this morning. I saw a couple of people on the path, including Batman, but they were silent.

One last photo, taken as I was driving home across Lawrence. I guess it’s somewhat appropriate for the time. Not sure why one would be sporting such a sticker in Ontario though. C’est la vie. To each their own.

I saw many people at bus stops waiting for the 34 Lawrence bus and I wondered how long it took them to get to the subway. Lawrence is 6 lanes wide and I tried to picture it with an LRT running down the center. (but that’s a whole other blog post, perhaps another day).