faces | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘faces’

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”

Graffiti Alley – first visit of 2026

Posted: January 13, 2026 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: big teeth, blue face, bluebird, Bunso, Dewucme, dogs, doors, faces, Graffiti Alley, Kalaruno, Kelcy Timmins Chan, Mixt Paints, murals, paint, people, portraits, skateboards, snowman, spray paint, tiger, words, Zelensky

This blog post is a quick look some of the “art” that can be seen in Graffiti Alley at the moment. There is lot on display even though I only walked between Spadina and Portland so this post focuses on the murals and larger paintings that I saw. The smaller stickers and paste ups will be in a subsequent post (sooner rather than later I hope!).

below: Blue birds and big ugly black dogs.

below: A portrait of Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine’s blue and yellow colours.

below: Daisy, in rabbit ears

below: On one of the corners, there is a long grey mural with bits of red….

below: “A lone samurai known as Ghost stands on watch”. A story and a mural by Dewucme

below: Portraits painted on skateboards – there has been a collection of such portraits hanging here for at least a year. I am not sure if these three are newer, or if I just forgot them last time. (Link to blog post of skateboards from 2025). I have updated the 2025 post to include a few photos that I took last week of other skateboard portraits that I didn’t see a year ago.

below: Portrait by Bunso

below: Other part of the above mural, but painted by a different artist (I think)

below: In memory of Andre Campbell

below: Behind the Queen Street stores

below: Painting on hoardings as downtown redevelopment (and subway construction) slowly encroaches on the Queen and Spadina neighbourhood.

below: “Find peace in your chaos” Plus, it seems to be wearing shirt and tie but it’s also drooling and looking just a little unhinged!

below: Monstrous television screen head with bloody gums and matching tie.

below: “Who you gonna call?” Ghostbusters green slimey thing!

below: He’s got one big eye and a scowl on his face. There’s a burning cigarette in his mouth and the Ace of hearts is tucked into his hat band. Quite the character.

below: Not all cats are cute?

below: A woman with her purple hair tied up with little glowing (but ghostly) lanterns in a mural by MonkYi

below: Climbing green onions (scallions?)? An upside down blue goose? … And in the middle, yellow siu mai (Chinese open-topped steamed dumplings, a dim sum favorite), all images from the imagination of Mixt Paints aka Kelcy Timmins Chan

below: There’s that snowman again, but on a different wall and surrounded by graffiti

below: Ninos Libres, by Kalaruno

below: Another Kalaruno painting

below: At least it’s a step up from tagging…..

below: A green finger on the trigger.

below: Blue. And strange looking. He’s hanging out in the doorway.

below: An introspective dragon

below: And last, many thanks to the usual Wednesday Gang!

Queen West-ish

Posted: June 3, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: #spud1, Alanna Fields, Alex Garant, birdo, Christina Mazzulla, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, Cosmo, Daniel Bombardier, Denial, doktor karayom, electric coffin, faces, Flips, gardens. flowers, graffiti, Jerry Rugg, lovebot, Queen West, slaps, snake, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, stickers, swan, Ted Hamer, urban ninja squadron, visual noise, white squirrel

A Lovebot! What a great way to start a day. These two “live” at Nadege Bakery on Queen West. The one on the left looks a little like mint ice cream with chocolate chips! Or else the poor guy has some wickedly strange skin condition.

below: Washing the window makes for more reflections!

below: The Ordinary

below: And the not so ordinary

This is a “walk with friends” post. Last Wednesday I walked with the Wednesday Walking Gang, most of whom I have known and walked with for years. Our “route” took us around the neighbourhoods to the west and south of Trinity Bellwoods Park. We walked on streets such as Walnut, Stafford, and Shaw.

We saw houses, lots of houses… some new…..

… some old …

…. and many in a row

… and even one with a pirate flag

below: It’s great walking in May when spring gardens are in full bloom. There were lots of front yards with interesting plants to look at.

below: Purple irises

below: White clematis flowers

below: Geraniums in the window.

below: There’s something in the window – and it doesn’t look like flowers!

below: Ready for summer?

below: Utility pole replacement in progress – wow! are those poles tall!

below: Three hoppers (funnels?), remnants of an industrial past.

below: Queen Street, looking east from Shaw.

below: Queen West at Walnut Ave where 7-Eleven gas is on the southeast corner (and gas is 135.9/litre). St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church is the large red brick building on the north side of Queen West.

below: The north end of Toronto’s Stanley Park (not quite as big as the one in Vancouver!)

There were two billboards, back to back, near King and Strachan that were part of the CONTACT Photography Festival. They both had large images from Alanna Field’s “Unveiling” series.

There were other portraits seen along the way….

below: An orange painting on a white garage door, by doktor karayom. Here little people seem to be emerging from this poor person’s head. A little foot in one ear and an exploring hand reaching into the other. Two cheeky little faces too. I can’t imagine that that would be comfortable!

below: A bit more realistic, but still with a touch of macabre – young person with four hazel eyes painted by Alex Garant.

below: Normal eyes, blue eyes, on this woman with the long brown hair. Painted by Spud1

below: There was also the face of a queen, a portrait of Queen Victoria, in a Queen West (no, not Queen Wet!) mural near Trinity Bellwoods Park by Electric Coffin and Denial (aka Daniel Bombardier).

below: Four goofy faces in all the wrong colours – great whimsical silliness

below: There are no human faces here in this Birdo (aka Jerry Rugg) mural but there is an alligator (crocodile?) with red eyes and big teeth as well as a shark lurking at the bottom.

below: Owl in the night sky, a painting by Christina Mazzulla

below: For many years there has been a white albino squirrel that lives in or near Trinity Bellwoods park. Here, Ted Hamer has painted it on a Bell box by the sidewalk on Shaw.

below: Swan

below: A large snake is coiled up and squeezed into the confines of the fence.

below: Rowell Soller’s work covers the front of this garage.

below: Curves by Flips

below: One could argue that this is actually a bench.

below: Urban Ninja Squadron gets together with Cosmo and away they fly!

below: A warning sign – this area is remotely monitored…

below: Do you have any photos sitting around the house just taking up space?

below: Can you see the donuts?

Thanks everyone!

behind Ossington

Posted: April 13, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: Aaron Li-Hill, alley, birdo, caratoes, catchoo, cow, durothethird, Elicser Elliott, faces, Flips, garages, George Sully, graffiti, horus, lane, murals, peanut butter, peru, polka dots, poser, spud, spud bomb, stikman, street art, Troy Lovegates, tuffytats

Moooo…. Hey there good looking!… Here’s looking at you! This was painted by Poser. Usually he does bunny rabbits but I think that he’s pretty good at painting cows too!

For a number of years now, there has been a lot of street art and graffiti in an alley that runs behind the east side of Ossington starting at Queen Street and ending one block north at Humbert. Some of it is interesting; some is not. A few garages and walls look the same as they did 12 or 13 years ago so some of these photos may look similar to older photos used in this blog.

below: In the background, an untitled piece by Caratoes. It was one of 5 murals painted in Toronto in 2016 for the “Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans” series. In total, there were over 500 murals in 20 countries in this series.

below: Six lit matches ready to go. This crazy cat is up to something no good…

below: An early Birdo piece, although the scroll names or street artists too. The first street art in the alley dates from 2012 when a group of artists painted some of the garages here.

below: A pink rose between two women.

below: Another oldie – this purple guy has been blowing a gust of wind for many years.

below: Vintage Spud bombs, some cheerful and some menacing.

below: A funny looking green creature with big white eyes and lots of skinny legs.

below: A couple, together in the stream, in a mural by Elicser Elliott with the title “Swim”

below: Geometric shapes with a touch of rainbow colour, by Peru

below: Large pink and white swirls and curls cover a wall. Any time that you see swirls like these, think Flips because that’s sure to be the artist that painted them.

below: Only a small portion of this moose painting by Aaron Li-Hill remains. I don’t usually show the original works but I am going to make an exception here. See next image.

below: This is what it looked like back in 2012 or 2013.

below: A newer Catchoo sticker.

below: A couple of faces taken from many faces around a garage.

below: Part of a Troy Lovegates mural (as are the next three images)

below: Looking south. The closest garage on the right has a mural painted by Spud.

below: Durothethird paints peanut butter & (probably) chocolate

below: Horus, “Well and good”

below: At the north end of the alley

below: Writing on black and purple

below: Portrait of George Sully, Canadian designer

below: Love yourself, over and over again, and in many different colours!

below: An old stikman in a frame, weathered but still there.

below: And lastly… Too extraterrestrial, which someone seems to love

below: Looking north

Elaborate and more

Posted: November 17, 2024 in galleries
Tags: ceramics, demons, Elaborate, faces, figurines, flowers, Gallery 235, Harbourfront Centre, Jess Riva Cooper, Joon Hee Kim, Julie Moon, Kaley Flowers, Lindsay Montgomery, Marc Egan, Marissa Alexander, mirrors, pottery, sculpture, women

The previous blog post featured a wall that was covered with ceramic tiles that created an image of a Tree of Life – It is part of “Elaborate”, a group exhibition, at Harbourfront Centre’ s Gallery 235. This blog post takes a look at some of the other art in that exhibit as well as a few more ceramic art pieces that can be seen in display in cases in the halls of the Harbourfront building.

First, in the hall, Joon Hee Kim’s wonderful busts of fanciful whimsical characters.

Also in the hallway, round pieces by Jess Riva Cooper where flowers bloom from mouths, noses, and ears of the central subject(s) swirling to form wreaths around them. The series is titled “Pullulate”

below: “Helleborus viridis” 2024, 45 cm in diameter

below: Some of pieces have hands in the central position, hands that rip the flowers from the ground and/or tear them apart.

below: Large droopy flowers in weird colour combinations on a table, sculptures by Julie Moon,

below: On the table in the background in the above photo are little sculptures by Lindsay Montgomery. This is a close up of one of them. Maybe someone spilled its cup of tea?

Montgomery’s work is in two sections. The above figurine is a newer piece from the series “Despairware” “which references books of demonology and iconographies of feral femininity with Staffordshire figurines from the 19th century” (from the words on the wall at the gallery). She is also showing some of her older work here, a series called “Neo Istoriato” which re-imagines paintings and pottery from the Renaissance. Two examples:

All together in a big pot in the fiery mouth of Hell while the demons dance with glee.

below: Kaley Flowers, cracked and broken glass to mimic water within a frame of ceramic shells, rocks and marine forms.

below: Marissa Alexander, eight women hanging on the wall. Hung up, hanging about, hanging out….

And last, there are a few individual tiles by Marc Egan that are very similar to the flowers and leaves in his Tree of Life.

bits of paper in Graffiti Alley

Posted: July 19, 2023 in graffiti and street art
Tags: 33wallflower33, catchoo, Dorians House, dragon, faces, graffiti, paper, Praxis, sentient cookie, slaps, stickers, Tips, tips it up, Tips the artist, urban ninja squadron, wheatpaste

Another visit to Graffiti Alley to see what’s changed…..

below: Collage on the back of a sign with contributions by many.

below: An orange dragon graces a utility pole.

below: Sentient Cookie with “The words you’ve said to me a decade ago still echo in my brain”.

below: Another section of wall covered with the remains of stickers and slaps.

below: Truth, It’s that simple. Consume daily. “Free through an earnest volition. Side effects include decreased stress and increased mental clarity…. ” Dorian’s House.

below: Who do you love? Apparently someone loves his/her girlfriend while someone else loves, and misses, Stephanie Ann.

below: More ink additions, this time on a bird. Someone has written, “no phone no wife” – either he thinks that without a phone he can’t find/attract a wife (no tindr?) or he has neither a phone nor a wife (lucky man?). Interpret as you want. Also, there is Kone x Roc on his wing as well as Sari D. declaring her love forever.

below: Someone left their shoe behind… and that’s quite the reaction from Tips

below: 33wallflower33 whetpaste – My body my choice

below: … and another

below: Urban Ninja Squadron running away with an angry bird…. and Adopt by Praxis in bright pink

below: An angry white cloud seems to hover hover a drawing by catchoo

below: More catchoo

below: What’s this chef serving up?

below: L S and Z

below: A skull and Noah forever.

Photos taken June 2023

Bone Head in Graffiti Alley

Posted: July 16, 2023 in graffiti and street art
Tags: Bone head, faces, Graffiti Alley, mural, paint, shirts, skulls, ties, wall

There are a series of 5 paintings by Bone Head nestled between the windows of a building that backs onto Graffiti Alley in Toronto. As the name suggests, Bone Head painted characters with large boney heads or skulls. They also have a penchant for white shirts and striped neck ties!

graffiti painting by bone head on a brick wall in the narrow space between two windows, large boney head, narrow white shirt and striped neck tie

faces on Howland

Posted: May 31, 2023 in graffiti and street art
Tags: Dupont, faces, Howland Ave., mural, Troy Lovegates

On the side of Fat Pasha Restaurant at the corner of Howland and Dupont there is a large mural of ten local Annex residents painted by Troy Lovegates.

Annex alleys

Posted: October 26, 2022 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, Annex, backyards, Bagpipe Lane, Barbara Barrett Lane, bus, C Mazzulla, Christina Mazzulla, David French Lane, dog, dudeman, Elicser Elliott, emily may rose, faces, fence, garage, Harbord village, houses, lane, Leslie Phelan, magnolia, murals, raccoons, spray paint, tomo, TTC, you are here

This past Saturday’s walk started on a familiar corner, Bloor and Bathurst, but at a new place, Mallo Coffee. I don’t always mention my coffee starts and stops but not all of them have wonderfully eccentric washrooms! The wiggly strands of light were blue which gave the room an eerie blue glow.

Pre-COVID there was a proliferation of small independent coffee shops in the city. It’s nice to see that many have survived and many new ones are opening up. It’s not so nice to see the remains of those that didn’t make it.

From Bloor and Bathurst I walked generally east with a little south thrown in. Is this The Annex? or Harbord Village? Technically the quadrant to the southeast of Bloor and Bathurst is Harbord Village but I kept seeing street art referencing The Annex.

When you’ve been taking pictures in a city for more than 10 years, you end up walking the same streets and alleys. Sometimes you find yourself with identical pictures. Other times things have changed and there’s a new story to present. For this blog post there is a bit of both. Some of the murals that I saw in the lanes behind Bloor were new to me but there were many that I have blogged before. Rather than show all of the previous murals, I have linked to older posts.

below: Part of “Meet me at the Magnolias” by Leslie Phelan

below: The back part of a larger Elicser Elliott mural on the side of Dirty Bird Chicken and Waffle restaurant on Bloor Street. The full mural is featured in the blog post “feeling hungry?” from early in 2017.

Bagpipe Lane runs behind the south side of Bloor for less than a block

below: A few simple designs

below: Boris Badenov from the “Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” – who is he trying to blow up now?!

Barbara Barrett Lane is the eastern continuation of Bagpipe Lane. This is what you see when you first enter the lane from Borden Ave.

below: Nine years ago this was part of a mural that covered the back of buildings on Bloor Street. You can see it, and other murals that were in Barbara Barrett Lane at the time, in a blog post from 2013.

There is a large mural by Elicser Elliott on Barbara Barrett Lane. I have already posted quite a few pictures of it so rather than show more of the same, here is the link to the “elicser paints people” post.

David French Lane runs south from Barbara Barrett Lane.

below: Near the north end of David French Lane is this black and white garage. It is now partially covered with ivy and vines but it too also been around since 2013. At that time many of the garages were already covered with street art but they have all been re-painted (see 2013 blog post, ‘graffiti on garages’)

below: This mural on David French is very similar to the “street scene” mural on Barbara Barrett shown above. I wish there was a signature of some sort on them!

In 2017 there was a laneway paint project, “You Are Here” on David French Lane. Once again, you can see images of most of the garages in a previous blog post.

below: Dudeman’s skulls and old TTC bus were part of that project. Route 77B was a combination of the 77 Spadina bus and the 510 Spadina streetcar; it runs from Spadina station (on Bloor) south to Queens Quay before looping and returning north.