getso | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘getso’

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

at Croft and College

Posted: April 1, 2023 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: cheshire cat, Christina Mazzulla, dragonly, Elicser Elliott, frog, getso, Jeff Blackburn, jewelwings, love, murals, Nick Sweetman, people, popsicle, praying mantis, raccoon, tongue

Most of these murals were painted in the summer of 2020.

below: “Protect your energy”

a painting on the side of a wall on Croft Ave., by elicser elliott, of two people with text protect your energy

below:A raccoon in pinks and purples, by Jeff Blackburn

mural featuring a large raccoon head in shades of pink and purple

part of a collaboration mural on a wall, yellow popsicle by Jeff Blackburn and an ebony jewelwing damselfly on a leaf by Nick Sweetman

below: by Nick Sweetman – two ebony jewelwings, a male and female along with a partially submerged frog with its tongue ready for action. Jewelwings are a species of damselfly.

mural on a wall by Nick Sweetman, ebony jewelwing damselfly, frog with long tongue partially submerged in water

below: GETSO (or Getsofacto)

street art piece with trash bins in alley

below: A larger than life grinning Cheshire Cat by Christina Mazzulla.

below: Some people by Elicser Elliott hanging out in a doorway.

below: Love in the alley short metal pole in front of hydro meters painted purple, a sticker on the pole along with the word love in paint

Photos taken January 2023

Ashbridges wallnoize wall

Posted: October 31, 2020 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: 3tr_t, @kizmet32, Adrian Hayles, Andre Castro, Andrea Cataro, Andrea Rodriguez, Ashbridge water treatment plant, Avril Wu, Bareket, big_doz261, blazeworks, Bomi, Branislav Dordevic, broguymanz, bubz, Burner, car, cedar eve, Cesar Ar, clean water, clewin, construction, cranes, crocodile, cruz1, Dakota Brant, Danielle Hyde, dat_dude_stu, David Baron, Desire Betty, dudeman, eels, fish, flip, fongikikid, forge fury, Francis Pratt, getso, Ghazaleh, gosiakomorski, gutter_crew_guru, horus, invader.zima, Jieun June Kim, Julia Antohi, Julii McMillan, Katrina Canendo, Keitha Keeshig Tobias, kerz, Kreecha, Lukas Byra, luvs, mistersoy, monicavcao, Monique Aura, mr. Water, mr_tensoe2, Natalie Very B, nibi manitous, Nick Sweetman, octopus, onerzeus, Oriah Scott, Poonam Sharma, poser, Radliff the raccoon, Red Urban Nation, reflections, Ren Lonechild, rise up, Rowell Soller, Sadar, Shawna Howe, siezswift, silestyle161, SKAM, skulls, spud, spudbomb, spyone, still_hungry, tenneshaskyers, text, throw-up, tongbokes, Trevor Goodwin, Trina Moyan., tuffytats, Victoria Daay, wallnoize, water spirit horse, waves, wildstyle, xyz, Yasaman Mehrsa

There is a large construction project underway adjacent to the Ashbridges Bay water treatment facility between Lakeshore Blvd and Eastern Ave. The whole site is surrounded by plywood hoardings. In mid-September, Wallnoize 2020 took over the area and painted water themed murals on a large portion of the hoardings. More than ninety artists participated in this project, all coordinated by Cruz1.

Let’s take a walk around the site, starting by walking east on Eastern Avenue towards Coxwell, south across the park, and then back along Lakeshore. I suggest that you’re sitting down since I tried to cover all the murals and it might take a while!

below: Painted by Danielle Hyde

below: Trina Moyan‘s horse has a mane like many brightly coloured feathers. “‘Water Spirit Horse’ – Nehiyaw Mistatim (Plains Cree horse).“

below: Portrait of a street artist in pink and white by Keitha Keeshig Tobias

below: by Siezswift

below: ‘Nibi Manitous’ by Cedareve. The water spirits are are shapeshifting between human and animal.

below: “You are Loved” in a heart dripping with water in the center of a mural that is the product of the combined efforts of Shawna Howe and Monique Aura. Rainbows and dancing stars.

below: A head in the water by Shina

below: Bird and flowers by Jennifer, her first solo piece

below: This picture of a bald man snorkeling was painted by still_hungry

below: He looks like he’s made of water and he looks like he’s on a skateboard. Painted by 3tr_t

below: Floating away, floating with the fish in a pink bathing suit. Painted by Ghazaleh

below: by Francis Pratt, the poolboy cares apparently

below: Branislav Dordevic‘s mural suggests keeping an eye on the water and ice, warm and cold.

below: Water being poured into three tall clear glasses because we’re all thirsty for clean water, a mural by Julia Antohi

below: A green god with his trident – either Neptune the Roman god of the sea or Poseidon his Greek counterpart, by tongbokes

below: After the green god, is a more somber toned mural with the words, 1752, Mi’kmaq Nation, Take care of the water.

below: A mermaid in a jar by Yasaman Mehrsa. Has she been captured? Is she in a protective bubble? Do mermaids live in glass houses?

below: Surfer dude by broguymanz and a green throw-up on purple by Lukas Byra

below: “Be Like Water” by Adrian Hayles and what could be blue sea serpent, or a blue Chinese dragon, by Avril Wu

below: A mermaid of another sort, with skulls and burning candles, brought to life by Oriah Scott.

below: Bomi (aka bomitosangrantes) painted the lines and white dots that cover this corner

below: It’s not that easy to see, but the grey letters that look like stones in water along a rocky shore were painted by Getso. In the foreground is what looks like a mountain of flowing water (by bareket)

below: This pink striped octopus with stars in its eyes is the work of Jieun June Kim. Did you know that October 8th was World Octopus Day?

below: Like the words say, Kizmet the original Toronto raccoon, Radcliff is his name. I don’t think he’s going after the cranes even though that’s what it looks like. Swimming away from Radcliff is a Sedna, a curving woman by Angela Aulia.

below: A KERZ throw-up to the left of the BUBZ wildstyle with the tam-wearing duck with a bottle of water on top

below: A “Clew” throw-up by Clewin77

below: Three colourful fish swimming in the waves by Poonam Sharma

below: Blackbird flying along with the moon in different phases is the work of Natalie Very B. On the right, the wildstyle text-based mural was painted by spud1

below: A watery wildstyle by Trevor Goodwin (aka Horus)

below: The white eyes are a bit disconcerting – awake? asleep?- but otherwise she’s colourful. Kizmet32 again.

below: Burner on the left and Poser on the right

below: The happy grinning lobster with a fish on each arm is Gentle Giant aka big_doz261. The other mural is by onerzeus

below: A little fish nears the blue head at the end of the CRUZ tag in this Cruz1 mural.

below: by Rusty (aka gutter_crew_guru), If anyone would like to attempt an interpretation, I’d love to hear from you. There’s a lot of detail in the mural that is fascinating yet creepy. Happy Halloween!

below: A collaborative effort between Rowell Soller and @tenneshaskyers

below: A very realistic looking creature in the water painted by Cesar Ar.

below: Mural by Julie Amlin

below: The work of invader.zima

below: Horizontal stripes of fish and water in a basket, or woven onto fabric, by Dakota Brant beside a Octo-Godess-Sea-Witch Lady by Katrina Canendo

below: A vintage scuba diver among the weeds, by silestyle161

below: Two whales swimming in the ocean, an orca on the left by Ren Lonechild of Red Urban Nation. The whale on the right was painted by Camila Wong and she describes it on instagram as “Inspired from the Great Hokusai artwork, expressive waves with colourful brushstrokes and whale represent overcoming challenges in your life“.

below: Three Nick Sweetman green moray eels looking at SADAR‘s (aka blazeworks) mechanical octopus.

below: Two murals made with text. FATHOM on the left and the creative efforts of RUN (Red Urban Nation) Artist Collective

below: Ashbridges water treatment facility with the wall.

below: Looking in the other direction.

below: Calligraphy by Kreecha (right) and a painting by Art Child (left)

below: Two figures nose to nose with their reflections in the moonlight, by Julii McMillan. The nail polish matches the blues of the water.

below: Victoria Day painted the very pink woman with grey hair who is surrounded by lily pads and little green dinosaurs? eels? To the right is Clean Water text by SKAM

below: A lovely orange octopus by Spyone beside a man partially submerged in the water, Rise Up by James (aka mistersoy)

A white boat with many portholes sails past, while on the right, by Andrea Rodriguez (aka Andrea Cataro) a pink dolphin and a grey walrus swimming underwater.

below: Abstract and sort of geometric, in teal and purple, by David Baron

below: A wonderful woman with turquoise dreadlocks in a turquoise sea under a pink octopus wearing a tophat. This mural was painted by Désiré Betty

below: A blue, purple, and white sea monster by Andre Castro looks towards red and purple text by mr_tensoe2

below: By dat_dude_stu

below: Something other-worldly by fongkikid

below: By mr. Water

below: Swirls by Flip surround a slightly greenish woman with hair that merge into the waves. The woman’s face was painted by @gosiakomorski One Love – Don’t let hate win.

below: Luvs crocodile with crocs floating in the water to the right of a small elfin(?) woman with long pink hair by @monicavcao

below: At the end of the painted section of the hoardings is this old green car, “little deuce coupe” surrounded by skulls, a dudeman ‘trademark’ of sorts.

the Yorkville-ification of street art

Posted: September 13, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: art, Brian Lanier, Charlie Chaplin, gallery, getso, Marilyn Munroe, Mateo, Mathieu Bories, mickey mouse, Mona Lisa, Mr Brainwash, murals, Ola Volo, painting, people, peru, Risk, spray paint, Taglialatella gallery, Whatisadam, xray, Yorkville

Over the span of just a few years I have watched as street art went from questionable legality to mainstream; now it’s jumped to very trendy. From vilified to Yorkvillified?

below: This large mural was created by Kazakhstan born, Montreal-based, Ola Volo.

below: Close up of part of the mural by Whatisadam

below: Mathieu Bories, also known as Mateo, works on the woman’s blue and yellow head scarf.

below: This OK is coming unstuck, peeling off the wall. This mural was painted by Ben Johnston whose work often features text that looks 3D

below: This staircase, with artwork by Getso, is going to turn into a instagram hotspot. Her shoes may be famous already! Actually, I took a quick look through a few possible hastags while writing this post but so far there haven’t been too many images of people posing here.

below: Across the back wall, above the upper level, is a long mural by Mr. Brainwash that is supposed to look like a wall of graffiti

below: Up on the scaffolding working on Mickey Mouse and his orange ears, is Xray aka Brian Lanier.

below: I think that it says love, a mural by Peru143

below: The streaks and splotches of colour are part of the wall that was painted by Risk. It is also the space surrounding the entrance to the Taglialatella Gallery. It was this gallery, along with INK Entertainment, that brought together the artists to paint the murals and many of them have pieces for sale in the gallery. I appreciate that the gallery is supporting street art and that artists can make money from their work but there is a heavy presence of commercialism around this enclave of murals that makes me uncomfortable.

a few new ones

Posted: September 13, 2019 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: Adrian Hayles, Drippin_soul, emily may rose, Euclid Avenue, getso, Greta Thunberg, Kalkidan Assefa, Meaghan Claire Kehoe, mural, raccoons

…murals that is.

On Euclid Avenue just south of College there is a lane that runs towards Palmerston Avenue. I am not sure if it has a name (Paese Lane is the extension of this lane on the other side of Euclid). As you can see, there are now some murals in this lane.

below: Pinks and blues combined in a mural by Getso

below: An unfinished mural by Adrian Hayles

below: A portrait of Greta Thunberg by Meaghan Claire Kehoe.

below: A dark haired woman in a blue head scarf with a purple conehead flower by drippin_soul aka Kalkidan Assefa

below: Raccoons have taken over this part of the alley! A mural by Emily May Rose

below: (across the lane from the ones above) This little green guy is up to no good! Great ready for an explosion! Perhaps life’s a blast?

Laneway mural project organized by KJ Bit Collective

wunder mural

Posted: December 5, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: arms, braes, dog, getso, Graffiti Alley, memorial, Mike Kennedy, mural, painting, sight, street art, tenso2, tribute, wales, wunder

Late in November, work was started on a new mural in Graffiti Alley

below: Working on the facial details

below: The work in progress.

It is a memorial (and tribute) to Mike “Wunder” Kennedy who was active in Toronto’s street art community. He was the one who coordinated the painting of the large murals around Broadview and Gerrard that featured the seven new wonders of the world. You can find pictures of these murals in a blog post from September 2016 .

below: Mike’s portrait when it was partially finished.

The mural was painted by Getso, Sight, Arms, Wales, Tenso2, Braes, and CTRJ

below: The finished portrait.

I like to think that Mike would be happy with the results.

birdo and getso in circles

Posted: October 22, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: bird head, birdo, circles, circular, construction Regent Park, getso, gradient, hoardings, horse head, round, sphere, stripes

Cranes and construction hoardings, not much new there.

below: On Dundas East, as part of the ongoing Regent Park revitalization project, there is another crane over another construction site. The hoardings around this project feature paintings by two street artists, birdo and getso.

below: These pictures were taken back in September. The hoardings are in a covered pedestrian walkway so they are in a shaded area. The railings make it unsafe to stand in the street to take close up photos, or at least I didn’t feel too safe the morning I was there.

as I walk Toronto

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