Posts Tagged ‘grominator’

Roncy old and new

Posted: October 21, 2022 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Walking an old favorite, the upper section of Roncesvalles.

below: The old Roncesvalles Village mural with the 504 streetcar is still looking good….  Jac’s Milk convenience store at Wright.

Jac's Milk convenience store on Roncesvalles, with a large mural on the side wall, a TTC streetcar, text that says Roncesvalles village, people waiting for the streetcar

below: There is now a bright new mural for Roncesvalles. It was painted by Philip Cote and Jim Thierry Bravo. It’s title is: “The Original People Leading to the Eighth Fire”.

new indigenous theme mural for roncesvalles village, a large brown bear looks down at the text in the mural, a lone of fish and birds under the text, a row of rental bikes in front of the mural, an orange sun in a yellow sky

There are many symbols that have been incorporated into the mural.  The large brown animal at the top (over the window) is a wolf who was the companion of the first humans.  There is an article on the Roncesvalles BIA website that provides more information and insights into the mural’s stories and symbols.    Also, what used to be a pharmacy is now Early Bird & Worm – but the painting of the interior of an old pharmacy is still there, under the new black and white sign.

left hand side of new Roncesvalles mural with a large green fish, a blue bird, and a bear, on the side of a brick building

below: On the far right is a thunderbird, a co-creator of the world.

right hand side of mural painted by Philip Cote and Jim Thierry Bravo, indigenous symbols, thunderbird

below: It’s pumpkin season!

Roncesvalles fruit market store with produce on display outside, pumpkins and sunflowers

view in a store window, gold and black and white pumpkins, picture of a woman in a frame

looking in the window of Good Neighbour store on Roncesvalles

old black sign with red peeling letters that say we scoop kawartha dairy ice cream, some letters missing

a man anad a woman talking and looking at a phone while standing on sidewalk by bicycles parked there, across street from White Corner Variety Store, new condos behind the store, Roncy, Roncesvalles

3 store fronts on Roncesvalles, Thai restaurant, Amma Roti place, and

below: Relax and Recover

two garages in a lane, ivy covering a lot of the nearest one, the word relax painted on the door, on the second garage, two large eyes above the door, and a white heart on the door with the word recover written in the middle of it

below: An oldie – a grominator on a concrete wall in an alley

street art on a cement block garage in an alley, a black and white grominator on one side and an abstract of swirls and wavy shapes in multi colours on the other

below: Bike parked in front of a painted door.

a black goccia bike parked in front of a door with multi color painting, abstract, on it

below: A defaced 33wallflower33 slap on the back of the traffic sign.

33 wallflower slap on back of traffic sign, two children in period clothing, sidewalk scene beside the sign

below: Opossums eat about 5000 ticks per season – now you know!

metal sidewalk box that has been painted with a picture of a possum along with some facts about the animal

samples of store merchandise on a door, a mat that says everyone welcome, a canvas bag with an image of an old TTC streetcar, a pink bag with a black stenciled womans face on it

turquoise and gold sign in the window of a door along with a lace curtain, sign says closed

parts of an old green sofa discarded and left by a bus shelter

benched

Posted: March 28, 2021 in locations, public art
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old factory buildings in Liberty Village, with a connecting bridge between them that is over the street

Arty things around Liberty Village


small alley with a building on the right side with panels at street level that are decorated with murals

closer up view of murals in an alley

Back in May 2020, 14 benches in public places throughout Liberty Village were designed/decorated by different artists.

below: ‘Gathering’ by Patrick Li

a black metal bench with cut outs in red, of L and V shapes on the back piece
below: “Home of Innovation” by Jieun June Kim

a bench in Liberty Village with the back piece decorated in houses in primary coloursbelow: Red pigeons in front of a new condo – by Los Angeles-based artist Nathan Mabry.  If you step back and look at it from the right angle, the large red parts look like a pigeon as well.

Red metal sculpture in front of a new condo development in Liberty Village, with red metal pigeons on top of the shapes

below: ‘Perpetual Motion’ by Francisco Gazitua

a large white metal sculpture in a park in Liberty village

below: “In Memory of Omi and Opa” by Thelia Shelton

A black metal bench between the sidewalk and street, the back of the bench has yellow figures all holding hands

below: “Love Conquers Our Differences” designed by Christiano De Araujo and produced by David Ogilvie Engineering

an apartment building across the street, a bench on the sidewalk in the foreground. The bench is red with a picture on the back of a man and woman yelling at each other and a red heart in the middle

street in Liberty Village, one utility pole is painted in turquoise with red triangles and the word Love written in cursive

metal bicycle rack with a large paste up of urban ninja squadron t bonez wearing white briefs and nothing else, also no head

below: Brightly carpeted stairs behind one of the old brick buildings typical of Liberty Village

a bright pink and orange carpet on the stairs leading to the second storey behind an old brick building in Liberty Village

below: mural by Jarus

mural of a woman sitting drinking coffee except the top part of her head and face are missing

below: One smart mural.

large mural that is the word genius

billboards and graffiti

turquoise metal box with liberty village words on a street

below: Grominator watches the dancers

grominator graffiti on a metal box beside sidewalk, a cherry picker lift machine parked beside it, under an overhang that says loading dock. Mural of black people dancing on the wall behind the lifter.

black and red metal bench in front of a two storey beige brick wall with a large number 60 painted in black on it

below: It’s not easy these days but “smile, enjoy now”.

black and white picture of a woman in a white hat and white fluffy scarf on hoardings with blotches of yellow and blue, also blue writing that says smile enjoy now

you can have it all written in red on reflective hoardings

below: “Can” by Michelle Cieloszczyk, 2017

large sculpture of a crushed metal can, grey, beside a pile of snow on a pedestrian walkway in Liberty Village

decorative birdhouse with red roof with a string of lights and a fake cardinal or two

two yellow metal bumpers at the end of the railway tracks, left over from a real railway line, ends in park by a fence along another, real, train tracks, graffiti on the walls beyond the tracks, houses beyond that

Time for coffee!

blog_closed_seated_outside

exterior of Coffee Shop Loiue with sign in window above door that says this is a coffee shop

exterior view of a window that had clear plastic on it. plastic is ripping and peeling

walking north on Croft Street

Posted: September 16, 2019 in alleys, doors, graffiti and street art, locations
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This is another blog post about Croft Street, a short street that runs between College and Harbord streets just east of Bathurst.   It has changed a lot since I first wrote about it in 2013.  The corner of Croft and College Streets was home to the mural commemorating the fire of 1904 – it is long gone.  In between then and now, the south end of Croft was spruced up with colourful murals and planters in 2016.   These are a few pictures that I took as I walked up Croft yesterday (after dodging construction stuff and workmen at College).

 

below: A mural by Elicser is at the northeast corner of College and Croft.

elicser mural on Croft street, man in doorway with a drink in a pineapple in his hand, other person sitting with hand over face

below: Praying mantis mural

mural of a large praying mantis on a wall

below: Croft is not immune to the construction/renovation craze that we’re in the midst of.

a digger and a blue porta-potty in a vacant lot construction site, with a row of backyards and backs of houses behind

below: The fire station tower at College and Bellevue is now visible from Croft street.

the fire station tower at College and Bellevue is visible beyond a vacant lot and a street of houses and backyards

below: Looking up Croft Street.  One of the garages now has a Raptors logo and the one next to it is being renovated.

Croft street alley with garages on the left, and apartments above some of them, a mural of a man's face where the bottom half has been painted over with white paint

below: Some of the 2016 murals and planters are still in place.

garage doors with murals in Croft street

a simple painting of a blue bird on a branch of leaves

below: Looking north across Vankoughnet Street

a very small white house at the corner of a street and an alley, a view up the alley

door with glass panel with white tape over one of the bottom corners, walls painted in yellow, pink, and blue splotches

below: A door to nowhere

2 storey building. Garage door covered with a tag graffiti on the bottom, a white door surrounded by brown shingles on the upper floor.

below: We are the future and we don’t want any junk mail

a wood wall and door in an alley painted red and brown, the number 74 on it twice, a mail slot with white paint around it to make slot look like mouth with tongue stuck out, no junk mail written too, a picture of a man on the door with the words we the future

below: The door with the metal strapping is still there.

a narrow brown door with metal strapping grid on it beside a garage door with red, yellow, and blue stripes, wall is covered with green shingles

below: A large grominator on a brick wall

a large grominator graffiti on a brick wall, blue eyes

below: Morning glory flowers and vine growing up a street sign pole.

a street sign pole with morning glory flowers and vine growing up it, one way sign, speed control zone sign, no parking signs,

below: More flowers, red rose stenciled onto a garage door

red rose stencil street art on a garage door

below: Garage doors painted by Bruno Smokey and Andrea Manica

garage doors with murals on Croft Street including one by Bruno Smokey

below: A fun ride in vibrant colours by dudeman

a fun mural of an old car by dudeman, in reds and oranges with front grille and radiator in blues

behind tall weeds, a painting on metal attached to a utility pole, painting of a bird, a red back sandpiper

at Harbord street entrance to Croft street, a woman on a bicycle waiting for traffic, Central Tech school across the street, a mural for the store Just For Her beside the cyclist

grominator and more

Posted: April 23, 2019 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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Every once in a while, but not as often as I should, I go through old files and folders of pictures that I have taken.  Pictures that I have meant to use but never got around to it.  Today I found a series of photos from mid-February, back when there was snow on the ground.   In amongst them were some graffiti and street art shots from somewhere between Chinatown and Kensington and those are the ones that I chose to show you here.

terra cotta coloured wall with a black door. graffiti and tags in the door including a pasteup poster of two men. A red stencil of a maple leaf is on the wall

below: A tribute to Prince on a utility pole

graffiti featuring face of Prince, on a utility pole

below: Mural by @emstroart (aka Rei Misiri) and @kuyaspirit

large mural on the side of a red brick house

below: It’s seen better days.  A grubby and dirty dog in the water.

old picture of a white dog in a pond, with yellow background, painted on a wood fence. One board is broken, paint is peeling, fence is dirty

snowy alley with two ruts for wheels of cars, garages with graffiti on left side, small church near the end of the alley, large condo and CN Tower in the distance

below: Two grominator creatures- one of them is an historic figure (!?) beside a cat

a grominator mural on a white garage door in a lane

below: …. and the other has a happy friend

a grominator piece of graffiti and a pink smiley face monster, both on a brown garage door in an alley

snow covered lane with garages

below: A few hearts and a little star in a whirlwind of colour.

three tiny yellow hearts and a tiny yellow star drawn on a wall with colourful spray paint graffiti

below: Even the pole was included.

text street art on the lower level of a building in a lane

workmen on the side of a street, windter, snow, alley with a mural on the right,

a bike locked to a tree on a sidewalk in front of a mural on a building, snow,

walking dundas and dufferin

Posted: September 29, 2017 in doors, old buildings, stores, windows and walls
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Yesterday I was out near Dundas West and Dufferin to visit an art gallery, the Stephen Bulger Gallery, as they have a showing of photos of the Union Station renovation by Larry Towell.  I don’t have any photos from that exhibit, but it is on for another week if you’re interested.

a woman is looking at clothes on a rack that are for sale outside a store, chalk board syas You Babe, other people on the sidewalk, store in background is Elite Plumbing and Heating

Instead, I have photos from the walk that I took afterwards.  I started walking west on Dundas and south on Dufferin, looking for interesting doors, windows, and stores.  I wasn’t disappointed.  Of course, I was distracted (alleys!) along the way (graffiti!) but I have tried to stick to the architectural shots for this post.  Sort of.  In no particular order….

below: There was a car parked in front of this building so I cropped off the bottom.  The optical illusion covered the whole front of the building.  It’s definitely unique!

the front exterior wall of a building is decorated with a painting of 3D cubes arranged in an optical illusion

below: Two people walk past a forest of trees and shrubs.

lower part of a brick building has been covered with a mural that is orange background, and cut out (wood) flat green trees in various shapes. A real tree grows in front of it, a metal traffic box is painted with a scene of two people walking with the same orange background

below: Lisboa Hardware and Building Supplies with many household items on display outside – including barbecues, watering cans, and carpets. Old paintings linger on the tile wall.

The entrance to the Lisboa Hardware and building supply store with lots of household merchandise outside

below: A blue bike is parked in front of the french doors of the Black Dice Cafe.

a blue bike is parked outside the glass windows and door of the black dice cafe

below: A very typical two storey house in this part of Toronto.  This was the predominate style of architecture of residential buildings at a certain time – late 1800’s and early 1900’s I think (and maybe longer?).    I like the Canadian flag in the window and the new tree in the tiny front yard.

a girl on a bike rides past the entrance to an alley. Behind her is a two storey house in tan coloured siding, with darker tan trim, bay window, Canadian flad in the doorway,

below: On Dufferin Street, an increasingly common scene as glass towers pop up all over the city.  The west side of Dufferin Street, just north of Queen.

In the background, two large high rise buildings, modern, in the foreground, a row of older two storey houses

below: A similar scene on a smaller street nearby.

a row of two storey houses on a small street with a two aprtment blocks behind them.

below: Distractions in an alley – this one was a dead end (with the dead end behind me).  One of the disadvantages of having your garage in an alley like this is that getting your lawn mower from the garage to the yard involves a bit of a walk.    But look at all those doors and windows in buildings that look like they’ve been painted from the same palate.

a man walks a lawn mower down a short alley, garage doors on both sides of him as well as in front of him, back of houses behind the garages and taller apartment buildings behind that.

below: Another alley with a different character.  An open door covered with graffiti, balconies above the garages, and what is that?  – a TTC pole at the top of the stairs?

view down an alley,

below: The entranceway of an older brick low-rise apartment building on St. Clarens Ave.

The entrance to a three storey apartment building, with wood railings on fake balconies and some brick work too

below: Another distraction!  A crochet bombed pole beside a bright pink wall.

a utility pole is wrapped in crocheted squares in many colours, the house beside the pole is bright pink

below: I happened upon this cute little free library too –    so cute and whimsical with its big eyes keeping watch.   There has been some controversy about these in Toronto recently.  One owner of little library was ticketed for violating a city bylaw that disallows structures on a person’s property within 3.5 metres of a sidewalk.  It was ordered removed within 14 days or a $100 fine would be levied.   Yesterday City Hall decided not to pursue this.

a little free library in front of a green coloured house. Inside the window of the library are two large googly eyes

below: Nearby was another little free library with a little latched door.  It seems that here you can also pick up a pair of shoes along with a book!

white box on stilts, a little free library, trees and shrubs around it, a pair of shoes on the sidewalk in front of it.

below:  Did I find Toronto’s smallest house?

a car is parked in front of a very small one storey house that is between two large and taller houses,

below: Somewhere in the jungle is a front door or two!  A shared sidewalk to squabble over in the winter – who gets to shovel it.

two overgrown front yards with a sidewalk down the middle, a semi divided brick house in the background.

below:   Gates.  I’ve never understood the reason for little gates like these.  Back in their youth they probably looked quite trim and proper.  Now they are sagging and rusted and showing their age; perhaps that’s a reflection of their owners?  Not a complaint – a rusted gate has great photographic potential.

a fence across the front of two houses, each with their own sidewalk and gate.

 

below: Fire damage that is now being repaired.  The neighbours seem to have built a thriving shrine (good luck charm?, religious offering?  is there a name for these?) beside their front door.

A row of houses where one is damaged from a recent fire. Burned front door. Windows have been boarded over, a skip for garbage isin front, workmen on the site

below: We have our share of ugly doors on ugly walls.

two white doors side by side on a dirty concrete block wall that someone has written the words In Toronto it's okay to hate transvestites

below: Have a seat

two grey wicker chairs in front of two adjacent white doors on a concrete wall. the building beside is orange

below:  On Dufferin Street between Dundas and Queen – Once upon a time this house was totally decorated in pink and white.  Some of it remains – the arch in front of the door as well as the fence at the side of the house.  Now it is bigger, squarer, and uglier.   Even the grominator graffiti on the wall can’t overcome the ‘boringness’ of the renovated structure.

sqaure two storey brick house under renovation, with pink and white metal fence around it. a grominator graffiti on the side

below: I don’t want to end this post on an ugly note, so here’s a cheerful bright yellow door!

yellow door on a rust house

a nippy morning in Kensington

Posted: January 7, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, stores
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Hello! “What’s up?”  has become “sup?”  I see.

a small collection of little things on a wall including the word sup? made with white strips of wood. Also the word hello is painted on the wall. Collage includes a large spring, a light bulb and blobs of something orange.

Well, let me show you some of what’s up in Kensington these days.

two hysro poles, one with a lot of signs on it and the other with three horizontal wood sections at the top of it. Signs are a street sign for Kensington Ave in both English and Chinese, a yellow no dumping sign that has been covered in stickers, and a no parking sign. Signs for Chinese businesses are in the background.

  It’s a much quieter place on a nippy winter morning.

below:  Does anyone have an extra jacket they could lend her?  Frostbite isn’t fun.

graffiti on a wood fence, a painting of a bare breasted woman's torso.

below:  It’s Canadian patio weather so it can’t be that cold. Right?

view into a backyard from an alley, some snow on the ground, a Canadian flag is hung on a wall over two brown plastic Muskoka chairs and a small patio table. A string of Christmas lights is above the flag.

below: Loose bricks become loose teeth.  Some guy is trying to hide under the stairs.

street art painting of a face on the side of a building beside a construction site, building is an old house that is empty. face is painted under the marks on the wall where the stairs were, and teeth are loose bricks hanging vertically. a red and purple throw up text graffiti is in front of the painting.

below: Fathom graffiti on the foundations of an old house that has been torn down.
Hot and cold perhaps?

graffiti by Fathom on a brick wall at a construction site, line drawings in black of a man's face, a steaming cup of something hot, and a popsicle. Like hot and cold.

below: Filet of sole

The globe sculpture at Kensington that sits high on a pole. Two of the fish that swim around the globe, one of the fish has a pair of black and red nike shoes with their laces tied together, over the front of the fish.

below: Cool camel with his headless (mindless!?) glittery arm candy.

a mannequin with a camel mask on, wearing sunglasses, with a large ring through it's nose, wearing a robe with a busy pattern in shades of brown, another mannequin that is headless is beside the camel. The second mannequin is wearing a dress covered in shiny sparkly gold sequins.

below: Persian stews and a pink octopus…. what’s in a Persian stew?  If beef stew is beef and rabbit stew is rabbit….   well, I’ll assume that Persian stew isn’t Persians just like Irish stew isn’t Irishes.
I also liked the way that the street art on the open gate merged with the painting on the wall behind.

blog_persian_stew_octopus_graffiti

below: Still meditating with blinking – not distracted by the Christmas balls in front of her face.

mannequin in a window sitting in a yoga position, and covered in painted patterns, multicoloured, gold Christmas balls are hanging from the ceiling around her.

below: I thought that this was a window ornament, like the kid you see as a door knocker.  But when I zoomed in more closely, I found that is was an old curling trophy!

an old weathered curling trophy sits on a window ledge, where it has been tied on. Window behind, reflection of the trophy in the window.

below: A little sparrow doing some people watching, its feathers all puffed up to keep warm.

a little sparrow (bird) sits on a railing outside that is decorated with cedar boughs and red Christmas lights.

below: A woman and a rose in black and white, by bubz

a black and white mural by bubz, grey tones actually, of a woman with long hair and a white rose

below: Outdoor office.  I told you we Canadians were a hardy bunch.

an old office chair with black padded back and seat sits up on a small trash bin made of concrete blocks. A light dusting of snow covers all surfaces

below: Druid and a Christmas tree.

top part of a brick building, two windows, a Christmas tree in one of the windows, the word druid written in yellow spray pain above the windw, a new condo being built in the background
below: Lovebot, grominator, and a poser bunny all together by the rooftops.

blog_lovebot_grominator_poser_bunny

below:  A number of these little paste-ups (the guy in the yellow frame) by t-bonez have sprung up around downtown.   This one is on Augusta.

people walking in Kensington, walking past a wall with a pasteup on it of a man in uniform saluting he's drawn from the waist up and is in a yellow frame.

part of a mural in a Kensington lane of a woman with long dark hair and a white and blue dress, she is standing. In front of her is parked a bike.

below: Taking a snowy walk in the neighbourhood that is protected by Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum from the 3 Ninjas movies.

looking down a street in Kensington, looking towards Spadina, older brick housses on the street, a group of people walking down the sidewalk, snow on the ground, winter trees, a neighbourhood watch sign that has been altered with a picture of the three boys from the movie 3 Ninjas.

below: Everyone likes Christmas!  Even a stormtrooper….

a mannequin outside a store is dressed in a Star Wars white storm trooper costume with a Santa hat and a T-shirt with the face of a stormtrooper also with a Santa hat. The store is painted yellow and has a bright red door that is open

two t-shirts on display outside a store, both are white and both have heads of famous people wearing Santa hats. One is David Bowie and the other is E.T.

below: More rooftop graffiti.  This time, with new condo development behind.  The old brick buildings with glass monsters popping up behind them – a very familiar site these days.

graffiti on the top of a red brick building, trees in front, a large new condo being built behind.

below: In keeping with the sort of PG rating of this blog, I’ll show this poster as the background!

a woman in pink gloves is taking a picture of a graffiti paste up in a street, taking the photo with her phone

below: The end, no exit. I’ll go no further, except…..

the end of a dead end alley, with graffiti on one of the walls, and a sign that says no exit painted on the wall in white.

to say have a happy New Year and I hope that 2017 is filled with lots of opportunities to walk and explore!

part of a larger mural, black line drawings on white of two smiling faces

Have a blast!

wooden decorations on the upper part of a store, cutouts painted to look like two women sitting on top of rockets as they blast into space

north to Humbert

Posted: August 21, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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There is a lane that runs parallel, and just to the west of, Ossington Ave.
It’s only one block long, running north from Queen St. West to Humbert Street.

In the summer of 2012 this lane was the site for “Brighten the Corners For the Love of Art” mural project.  The project involved a number of local community groups such as ProAction Cops and Kids as well as the Academy of Lions (a gym on Ossington Ave).  Twenty artists painted many of the garage doors and fences in the alley.   Some of the paintings remain, some have been defaced, and others have been painted over entirely since then.  This is what the alley looked like last week.

An alley that runs parallel to Ossington Ave., looking north with garages on both sides and a tree overhead, looking towards Humbert St.
Two birdo creatures on a brown garage door
Two spud bomb graffiti characters on a blue garage door in an alley

A large white spud character on a garage door, with big googly eyes and arms that come out from where his ears are

 

a number of colourful street art paintings on a garage door and gate in an alley

garage door painted orange and then a geometric street art painting in greys and purples painted on that

A door in an alley with two montsters painted on it. A one eyed purple monster with a long pink tongue is sitting on top of a blue monster who is trying to pinch the end of the purple monster's tongue

Close up of a graffiti piece, many colours, with a blue 3D stick figure surrounded on three sides by frame-like boards

Two garage doors with street art. On the left is a yellow lovebot and a red grominator. On the second is a large woman's face that has been scribbled on as well as a fairy-like creature. The latter two are the work of EGR.An old broken toilet is in the corner.

A purple faced man is blowing grey clouds, the alley is in the background.

A mural of big headed, big toothed creatures by broken alley on a garage door in a lane.

The creatures on the garage door above always remind me of ‘scrubbing bubbles’ from the cleaning products of the same name.

A picture of blue scrubbing bubbles from TV ad

from Portland to Niagara

Posted: July 10, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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A few days ago I posted a series of photos of some of the graffiti and street art that I saw in Graffiti Alley between Portland and Spadina.   This post is a continuation of that one as it consists of the photos that I took on the same day but in a different section of the alley, between Portland and Niagara streets.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a very large grominator on the second storey, beside a door that goes nowhere

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a large two headed grominator above a garage door, and a birdo creature on the door.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - on a concrete wall, a birdo creature with a mouse head, a blue waffle body and pink and turquoise striped curvy body with long legs. It is holding a green oval shape in its front paws.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a wooden gate, double doors, so that when the doors are closed a stylized face is the result. It has mirror symmetry.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - three large scowling men's heads in blue above a garage door that has swirls in pinks and purples.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - black line drawing on white of a young man standing on the left and a young girl sitting on the right

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a stencil that looks like a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, both characters are sitting on a tree branch, Hobbes is stretched out and sleeping, Calvin is sitting. THe words 'There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a large blue socket puppet with bulging eyes and a big black marker in its mouth.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - Two buildings in the picture. In the foreground is a one storey garage with a large totund stylized guitar player sitting on the ground with one knee up. Behind him you can see another painting of a guitar player but this one is a bit more realistic.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - A basquiat crown on a cartoonish face on a door

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a sylized blue woman from the waist up. Puffy curly hair. She's been scribbled on including a heart on her chest.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - Back wall of a store, large woman's face on part of the wall

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - the side of a concrete garage, small tree in front of it. To the left of the tree is a man's head and hand. In his hand is a lollipop but with it shaped like the symbol for Shell Oil. Beside it are the words Rich Kid Lollipop. To the right of the tree is a little blue figure with a pink basquiat type crown

a small collage by clowntearz, a sad face, rainbow, clouds,

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a collage like piece of street art on a garage door by clowntearz. Googley eys, cannabis leaves, happy faces, zigzags, green alien faces, red ooze

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a tag in browns and turquoise

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - on a wall at the bottom of the stairs, a mulitfaced person by elicser with a woman standing beside him with her arms stretched towards him. The words 'Kill'em with niceness' are written between the couple

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - blue lettering, G P C

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a very large chocolate sundae, complete with whipped cream and a cherry, on a blue garage door

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a woman's face in profile, seems to be looking at a large ice cream sundae.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - BRDL, Penguin looking worried, dollar bills are flying out of his pockets and into a (real) vent of the building. He's wearing a blue tophat. Word bubble says

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - A large white man's face on a garage door, with a pile of broken boards in front of it. The man is supposed to be Kim Jong of North Korea

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - the upper part of a topless woman with curly pink and turquoise hair. Running vertically beside her are the words 'I got out of bed for this' and below her is the words 'or leave'

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a lovebot of hearts playing card sticker on a metal pole beside a sticker of a woman's head with curly black hair and big earrings in the shape of a cross

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - brightly coloured painting in many colours and shapes

yipyaps sticker on a metal pole in an alley

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - angular shaped tag in blues

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - words scawled on a garage door,

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - an orange tag on rusty red background, painted across a wide doorway

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto -

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - Charlie Brown in the bottom right corner of a garage. In green are the words Be WHo You Are

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - on a wood fence, someone was scrawled the words

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - a colourful tag on a white garage door. The number 710 is above the door.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - two stickers on a pole. A small skull and cross bones and a large one that is a black and white creature with website liarliar.etsy.com on it.

graffiti and street art in Graffiti Alley in Toronto - five stickers on white, also a big orange X. One sticker is a knuts frog with its tongue stuck out.

where the 401 passes over the Humber River

Posted: May 29, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Highway 401 passes over the Humber River just west of Weston Road. Beside the river is the Humber Recreational Trail that follows the river.  Just south of the 401 there is a break in the trail because of the train tracks so a short detour via Weston Road is needed if  you want to continue walking.  Otherwise, the trail runs south to Lake Ontario and north to the city limits at Steeles Ave.

Just north of the 401 is Pine Point park and that is where I went to access the bridge under the 401.   It is a big bridge with a lot of concrete surfaces.  In other words, it is a large canvas for street art.

The most eastern wall of concrete has been painted with a mural by Shalak, Smoky and Fiya as part of the the Pan Am Path.  The path is a “legacy” from the Pan Am games and will result in a trail the goes from Brampton to Pickering.   Most of this path will incorporate existing trails but new sections are also being built.   Anyhow, the mural consists of two women lying on a bed of flowers, one at each end of the bridge.  Both are holding a white mask.  In the middle is a heart and a pair of lovebirds on the branch of a tree.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, looking along the length of the wall with a woman's head lying on a bed of pink flowers in the foreground.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, a hand holding a white mask.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, an anatomical painting of a heart that looks #D, surrounded by a yellow circle

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, two green lovebirds on a tree branch, with a background of multicoloured diamond shapes arranged concentrically

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, a hand is holding a white mask.

part of a mural on a concrete wall under a bridge under the 401 in Toronto, looking along the south end of the wall with a woman's head lying on a bed of pink flowers in the foreground.

 Facing the above wall, and on the other side of the trail, is a wall that has recently been painted by a group of street artists.  A picture is better than my attempts at translation!

graffiti signatures, tags, on a wall beside a large red and black tag. Smoky, Shalak, Own, HEC, Ren, Mska, ctr, wey, wisper are some of the ones that I can read.

 The following photos are from that wall.

large grominator street art painting, along with a small lovebot

a little lovebot in the mouth of a large grominator, a close up of details of a larger painting.

street art picture of a poser bunny with an outstretched skinny arm pointing to the left. He's on a large intricate tag.

part of a mural under a bridge - lovebot, a giant light blue lovebot swirls on a wall

part of a mural under a bridge - a wacky white face with open mouth. One hand of the creature is holding a sign that says 69 and the other hand has one finger pointed upwards

part of a mural under a bridge - large mantishrimp creature with long antennae (tentacles?) emerging from behind a tag

part of a mural under a bridge - two paintings. On the right is a very realistic growling wild cat (bobcat) wearing a blue and white baseball cap. On the left is a large spray paint can with a picture of a seated person on it. A large red dragon is behind that person, although the head of the dragon is coming forward above the person's head

part of a mural under a bridge - a tag in oranges blues and purples

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, a very large rooster in profile with its tail feathers reaching to the top right of the picture

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, a human like figure, with South American influences, lying on its side, the word WASTOID written across its belt

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, a large toucan head with a pink beak and yellow and orange head plume

part of a mural under the 401 in Toronto, tag like painting with a white hand, an eye and a small pyramid

part of a mural under a bridge - a large multi coloured wolf head that is in the process of being painted. A woman is positioning a ladder so that she can paint the upper parts of the piece.

part of a mural under a bridge - a large multi coloured wolf head

There are at least four more walls in this underpass.  Running parallel to the trail (all the photos above) is a tunnel like part of the underpass to the west.  There is no trail or river in this section, just dirt and rocks.   There is some older graffiti on the walls here as well as the beginnings of newer paintings.  I think that the plan is to complete these walls too.  In the meantime, this is a sample of what’s there now.

graffiti painting - Lovecat and a Japanese girl in pink kimono hiding her face behind a blue fan. A cute little blue bunny is in the bottom right.

lovebot genie painting on a concrete wall.

mural painting on a wall, looks like a green zombie head coming out of the ground. photo taken from a low angle

street art - a memorial in greys, a man with a tear on his cheek is holding a skull

a yellow grominator street art painting, bulging veiny eyes and many crooked sharp teeth

 And lastly, along the river edge

street art on a concrete bridge support, reflected in the river beside it is a yellow lovebot as well as some large tag letters

lovebot, grominator and those in between

Posted: May 24, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Lovebot and Grominator seem to have developed a friendship.
They have begun appearing in public together.

A graffiti painting on a white garage door, a yellow lovebot with red heart and a red face grominator with blue eyes and blue mouth and teeth
Lovebot seems to have had an influence on Grominator.

A grominator figure wheatpaste, black drawing on white, including body, arms and stubby little legs. He has 3 lovebot hearts, 2 1/2 are red

on Queen St. West near Dufferin

But they can still be found on their own, all over town.

A wheatpaste lovebot of hearts playing card way up high on a wall

a yellow grominator graffiti painting, yellow with black and white bulging eyes

on Brock Ave., near Dundas West

 

A large lovebot on a brick wall on Dundas West. Included is a circuit drawing (electrical) around him.

at 1505 Dundas West

 

a very large lovebot painted on a wall. He is close to two storeys tall.

on Brock Ave., near Dundas West

A large lovebot on a concrete support under a bridge by a river

on the Humber River

 

A No parking sign on a very red wall. Sign says "authorized parking only" and someone has put 2 lovebot stickers on it.

 We’ll keep an eye open for other lovebot and grominator sightings!

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