Posts Tagged ‘Julia Prajza’

Water is Life

Posted: October 7, 2021 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

Women Paint Riverside
“Currents of Change”

the word life painted on a fence white letters on blue background

the word life painted on a fence white letters on blue background with small flowers painted all over it.

below: The faucet is on and water pours into a glass.  Interesting lively water, full of colours and patterns in this mural by Kirsten McCrea

lift truck beside wall with new mural of a glass of water in many colours and patterns,

below: A large mural by Mo Thunder.  Follow the link to her website for more information about the mural – a mother and child lying side by side forming the land as water swirls around them.

the word life painted on a fence white letters on blue background

part of a mural by Mo Thunder on Broadview Ave of a mother and child lying in water, child has plants in her hand, mother earth theme, water theme

artist, Mo Thuner, on a ladder painting details on a mural with a small paint brush

murals in an alley

below: White flowers on a watery blue background by Julia Prajza

large white flower painted in a mural, on a blue watery background, ladder sitting in front of it, step stool with a can of spray paint

below: Invasive species such as phragmites in the Don Valley, by Merryn

metal stair cases, exterior of a variety store, laneway, bike, garbage bins, artist on a ladder painting a mural

below: Rabbit and deer having to contend with out of control greenery, possibly dog-strangling vine. Phragmites are reeds, those tall perennial grasses that grow very tall.

part of a mural by Merryn about invasive species in the Don Valley, a pink rabbit and a pink deer having to contend with out of control greenery

below: Raccoons frolic in the water and raccoons sit by the shore.  Even one raccoon spray painting a rock, naughty raccoon!  Mural by Emily May Rose.

below: by Haenahhh.  Arms around each other

part of a mural, a couple standing by a lake with arms around each other, seen from the back

below: Hands reaching out in a mural by Claire Browne,

murals behind Queen Street East, Riverside, Toronto, behind stores, water theme, blue, Women Paint Riverside,

black hand, large painted, mural, at bottom of metal exterior stairs and under a window with metal bars, part of a mural with water and plants

tall green plants in a mural by Claire Browne

below: Victoria Day‘s mural – what looks a bit like a blue water serpent but is actually a dragon flying high above us in the sky.

two murals in a Toronto alley, on the left, all in blue tones, a water serpent, very big and rising out of the water. on the right, a long horizontal lake scene with a pink border

below: In the pink is written, “A persistent drop of water will wear away the hardest stone.”

on a wood fence in an alley, a lake scene mural with pink border

below: by Scarbrite Collective (brightening the streets of Scarborough), aka Frannie Potts and Sylvie with help from Memengwaa Kwe Originals aka Caterina.

a woman backlit by large round white moon is holding an infant in the air, woman has long dark hair, sky is pink

laneway mural by Scarbrite Collective and Memengwaa Originals, a mother lifts her baby up backlit by full moon on a pink sky

part of a mural in an alley covers fence and a door in the fence, wood, painting of a landscape scene with water, green shrubs, a tree, and night sky with stars

below: Love not hate.  A blue raccoon stealthily walks across a roof above a mural that was painted by participants in this year’s Girls Mural Camp (a three week program in the summer for teenage girls).

murals in a lane in Riverside near Queen and Broadview, Toronto. raccoon on upper story approaching a window, night scene on lower floor with bird silhoutted by full moon

below: The other part of the Girls Mural Camp project.

on a garage door in an alley, a mural of a blue faced women with swirly white and blue hair, flowers in her hair

murals in an alley

below: by Moonlight Murals Collective

three water women mural on a wall

part of a mural with theme of water, blue woman dancing with eyes clsed

part of mural, pale blue legs and bare feet walking in swirling water

below: Three heads that seem wrapped by a fish, mural by Cedar Eve

below: Eyes closed

long haired creature with just eyes showing, long pink and red hair on a blue fence

below: The Girls Mural Camp 2020 mural is in the same alley.

girls camp mural in an alley near Hamilton Street in Toronto, poster like pictures connected with white lines like a schmetic drawing

blue raccoon painted on wall above a garbage can

NOTE: There is also an installation by monicaonthemoon on the back of the Broadview Hotel that is part of this project but I have given it a separate blog post – Hands, Florests, and Minds.

With support from:

Eastend Arts

Women Paint

Native Women in the Arts (NWIA)

Riverside BIA

StreetARToronto

Bloordale

Posted: August 19, 2021 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

looking down at the sidewalk, the words walk here are pressed into a grey stone brick.

below: ‘Greetings from Bloordale’, a painted Bell box by Faussy

painted bell box near east entrance to Dufferin station, Greetings from Bloordale, yellow background with pink and blue images on it

below: A mural on the exterior of the Russett Ave entrance to Dufferin subway station painted in 2017 by Ted Hamer and a group of students from the Toronto School of Arts ( Sonja Clarke, Stephanie Steele, and Maryam Sadeghpour).

 

mural on the exterior of west exit from Dufferin station by Ted Hamer, of a country scene, a fox, and some people walking

below: Another Bloordale mural, this one on the side of TL Variety on the northwest corner of Bloor and Emerson

intersection of Bloor and Margueretta looking towards corner of Bloor and Emerson with Bloodale mural on the side of a building on the northwest corner

TJ Variety store on Bloor, northwest corner of Emerson, a cyclist passing by

below: Mr. Sundown

little white graffiti ghost character with stick arms, Mr. Sundown

below: Weathered sign at Bloor Christian Fellowship

weathered sign beside Baptist church

below: Torn awning at Five Star Variety

torn blue awning above Five Star Variety

below: Walking past a vacant lot on Bloor (once was a used car lot)

a man walks by a vacant lot on Bloor street

below: On the east wall of the Bee Shop

bee mural on the east exterior wall of the Bee Shop on Bloor

below: The beehive of qualities and virtues

close up of part of the bee mural on the side wall of the bee shop. green woman, trees, bees, honeycomb, words, the beehive of qualities and virtues

below: mural in an alley

mural on a red brick building in a lane

below: Bloor & St. Helens, construction fence around the parking lot of Value Village

construction fence around Value Village parking lot on Bloor, with apartment building at Bloor and Dundas in the background

below: Vito’s Barbershop in bright yellow

vitos barbershop and other two storey buildings on Bloor

below: Northwest corner of Bloor and Lansdowne

24 hour hasty mart on an intersection of Bloor

below: On the fence, north side of Bloordale Collegiate a shared map project by Shel Kahn and DMG+.  Choose a ribbon and pin it on the map to show where you would like to be.

an interactive art installation involving maps, on a fence outside Bloordale Collegiate

below: Also on the fence at Bloordale Collegiate, empty milk bottles.  “The milk from these bottles fed my daughter.   What wisdom to nourish a child you love?  How to make this country sweeter to First Nations children?”

empty white milk bottles arranged on the fence beside Bloordale Collegiate

below: hearts and flowers in a laneway

blue spray paint heart on a wood utility pole in an alley, by a wooden fence with a flowering shrub

yellow flowers growing in the laneway, in front of a yellow and green garage and fence

below:  Pumpkins growing on a trellis over the frontyard.

pumpkins growing on a trellis above a front yard

below: Julie Dzerowicz is the Liberal MP (federal) for the Davenport riding. I am not sure of the meaning of this window except as a protest of some sort?

protest in window, Freedom is slavery, ignorance is

top of two storefronts, Economy fruit, and a pizza place

below:The kitten mural has been partially painted over and the store is now empty.

empty store on the corner, mural of cats has been tagged

below: It looks like its got a face of an apple, shrimp legs, and a pickle on its forehead.

big red faced, apple?, character, street art on a garage door

below: Butterfly mural

butterfly mural in an alley

graffiti on a white garage door of a character's head with bowtie and one hand waving, words that say lookin' sharp

below: Lakes, mountains, and trees in a somewhat Group of Seven looking mural.  It is difficult to see in this photo but written in blue in the bottom right corner is a poem, ‘Blasphemy’, by Lawren Harris that appears in his book, “In the Ward: His Urban Poetry and Paintings.  I have included the poem under this image.

ivy on a wall of a building, a mural on the other wall, facing an alley. lake and mountains and trees in the mural

“It is blasphemy
To be merely mortal
To wilt under the weight of the ages
To succumb to second hand living
To mumble of catch phrases
To praise far off ways things
And sneer at your neighbour’s clumsiness
To say nay, nay, and smile at aspirations, dreams, and visions.”

*****

More poetry, this time on a door.

Top:

When I remember a boat
it yaws at the mouth of an inlet
And that’s all
From my bedroom window
You could make out the gull-white trim
And from the shore
listen to its restless guests
No water splashes against the prow it splits calmly to both sides
One sail booms and dies down
No wildlife
No sense of my mother’s voice, far away
the supper prepared
Much too much time
#whenirememberaboat #mine

a white door on a concrete block wall in an alley with poetry written on it

Bottom:

The sad instability and inscrutability
Of this impossible universe
Felt more deeply in the skin with each passing maritime hour
Our souls’ absurd sobbing
Over unfamiliar ocean expanses with islands in the distance
Over distant coastlines of land not visited
Over the ports that grow clearer with their houses and people
As the ship approaches
#maritimeode #alvarodecampos #fernandopessoa

Alvaro de Campos (1895-1935) was a Portuguese poet who also wrote under the name Fernando Pessoa.

 

*****

More Bloordale doors

below: Pale green (seafoam green?) leaves and flower rising upwards at 1195. “Floral Impressions”, painted by Julia Prajza.

painted doorway at number 1190. Pale green leaves rising upwards on a pink and greenish blue background painted by Julia Prajza

below: A happy musical gate, “Joy in Little Things” by anastatica.art aka Anastasia Tarkhanova

a gate painted in orange, maroon, sand white by anastatica art

below: “Portals” was part of BIG on Bloor Festival at the end of July. Some residential doorways (six?) were painted like the two above as well as this one: “Shoals” by Andre Castro.

a door on Bloor Street painted in pink, blue, and white dabs

below: Martin Luther King surrounded by stained glass patterns and tiny beige tiles at 1179A

door alcove with small beige tiles, a black mailbox with number 11 on it, and an image of Martin Luther King and stained glass patterns on the door

******

Other graffiti and street art

below: Bell box painted by Gosia Komorski

bell box painted by gosia komorski, woman with teal face in profile, hair is black with circles of flowers and eyes

below: Truck with a pink blossom tree on the back and an orange bird on the side

truck with street art painted on it, a tree with pink blossoms on the back and a bird with large wings on the side

paste ups and paint on a wall, skulls, zonr,

below: Purple man

purple drawing of a man wearing a hat, on a yellow wall

below: Garfield trying to be incognito

graffiti slap, garfield the cat in a green costume

below: Vandalized words on a phone box

poster on a blue phone box that is torn and tagged, a woman on a bicycle is riding by