Posts Tagged ‘lane’

animals and birdo birds in Roncey

Posted: March 18, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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On Queen St. West, just before it meets Roncesvalles Ave., is the Corona Restaurant and Nightclub.  Along the wall of this building are a number of pieces of street art.   Only a small section is visible from the street.

Two pieces of street art along the upper floor of a brick building. In front, closest to the street is a young woman's head. The other is a colourful stylized bird by the street artist Birdo. The words "Birdo Wales" are written in white letter between the two pieces. The Corona Restaurant with a yellow awning is on the right and James Dys Antiques and Collectibles is on the left. is on the left.

Close up of Two pieces of street art along the upper floor of a brick building. In front, closest to the street is a young woman's head. The other is a colourful stylized bird by the street artist Birdo. The words "Birdo Wales" are written in white letter between the two pieces.

If you follow the alley that runs behind Queen St., you will find more street art alongside the same building.

Destination Mammals Cabana mural,
The back part is a mural entitled ‘Destination Mammal Cabana’ by Birdo, Spudbomb and SKE1.  It was painted in 2012.

Destination Mammals Cabana mural,

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, middle part, large baboon wearing a party hat, a giraffe, a crazy looking zebra and a green turtle, street art on a wall.

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, purple ostrich, screaming baboon and a giraffe,

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, hairy creature with mouth wide open and wearing suglasses and a rhino by a beach umbrella, street art, graffiti,

Destination Mammals Cabana mural, upright yellow tiger, antelope wearing yellow and green stripe beach wear and some other hairy creature with sunglasses on.

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On the north wall of the same building…..

metal stairs to a small landing outside a door on the second storey of a concrete brick building. The walls of the bottom floor are covered with graffiti. Immediately behind the stairs is a large blue letter Z.

If you look closely at the above picture, on the right hand side metal pole supporting the landing, is a sticker.  Below, that sticker up close.

A small yellow bird on a small sticker. It is an Uber 5000 bird, wearing glasses and holding a red book. He's on a metal pole.
three murals on alley walls

mural by birdo, red background, a man's head and an creature with an animal face and a body that looks like a blue checked sweater

a mural by birdo, a small black and grey bird that is holding a geometric shape in blue and white diamond shaped sections.

Looking west along the alley towards Roncesvalles Ave.

looking west along an alley in late winter. Street art on the walls on the left, garage doors on the right. Buildings on Roncesvalles can be seen at the end of the alley which is about a block long.

but if you walk slightly west, away from Roncesvalles, you will encounter two more pieces by Birdo.  The ‘Dreamer’ is on the same building as the Destination Mammal Cabana that is pictured above.

A street art piece painted in a small stairwell, down from alley level. The door way is the head of a woman and her arms extend over part of the stairwell walls. She is dressed in red and blue including a birdo hat.

A birdo mural on a dirty light grey wall of a stylized bird and the word "dreamer" written in large black letters.

the Great Wall of Chinatown

Posted: March 18, 2015 in graffiti and street art, public art
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In an alley to the southeast of Huron St. and  Dundas West is a mural of the Great Wall of China.  It is 147 feet long (almost 45 m) and 12 feet high.

large mural of the great wall of China in an alley, wide angle view with two people walking in front of it

part of large mural of the great wall of China in an alley with a telephone pole in front of it.

part large mural of the great wall of China in an alley, the street end of the alley with part of the mural, the back door of a shop on the other side of the alley is also in view

part of large mural of the great wall of China in an alley, painting of a few people walking towards a building on the great wall

the signature part of a mural, Chinatown BIA, Chinese lettering and the names of the artists.

Chinatown BIA.
Mural painted by Blinc Studios artists: Allan Bender, John Nobrega, Rick Sauve,  Brian Broders, Jesse McQuaig and Ming Lau.
Painted in the summer of 2013.

winter trees

Posted: March 10, 2015 in general Toronto, nature
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Bare branches, snow, and sometimes blue sky –
things that usually only come together in winter.

Views that are hidden behind summer leaves are revealed in winter’s barrenness.

A very large tree in winter in front of three semi detached two stroey houses on the beach.

A street scene - row houses, some red brick and some painted in green, with two very tall trees in front of them.

Trees take on a different character when they have no leaves

An interesting shaped tree with many large branches in a snow covered alley with garages along both sides of the alley.

and they cast a different shadow.

The lower part of a tree, mostly the tree trunk, beside a pale grey fence, in the snow. The shadow on the fence shows a lot of the upper tree branches as well.

Toronto is a city of trees.  They are everywhere, and a surprising number of them are large, mature trees. 

A large tree with bare branches in front of row houses from the 19602 or 1970s. red brick with contrasting white siding, black mansard roofs. Don Mills.

An alley with a wood fence on the right and a brick building on the left. A car is parked at the end and just beyond the car is a large tree. Winter time. snow.

A view from a snow covered park. Two large trees, the one farther away is a birch tree. A black metal fence is between the park and the sidewalk. Single family houses are across the street from the park but there are large apartment buildings in the distance.

Regent park housing slated for demolition, in the snow with trees,

A tree in front of an old brick house.

When we think of trees we usually think of shade on a hot day, or maybe the joy that spring buds bring, or maybe the rustle of fallen leaves in the autumn.   The winter tree is often overlooked but they too add to the character of this city. 

A large gold sparkly treble clef hangs from a tree branch. A decoration in winter.

Broadcast Lane

Posted: March 8, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Graffiti in a Cabbagetown lane.

Graffiti street art, smiley man's face in pink with orange hair and orange moustache. Also abtracts in blues.

Graffiti on a garage door obscured by a large pile of snow. Open metal gate between two garages, graffiti can be just seen down the wall on one of the garages, beyond the gate.

graffiti painting of a musician, trumpet player in yellow on blue background, above a garage door in a lane

backs of buildings, cars parked behind the buildings, piles of snow on the side of the alley, graffiti on the walls and garage doors.

A tree with it's branches painted in rainbow colours, from left to right: red, orange, yellow, green, blue. A man is sitting at the base of the tree, back to the viewer, in a yoga position. Unfortunately, part of the mural has been tagged over in sea foam green DWEL. Wintertime, snow on the ground. .

large stylized man's face graffiti in orange hues on a light grey door.

A large painted man's face on a brick wall. Close to it is a line drawing (black on white) of a woman's face but she's much smaller.

Two graffiti faces on a wall, one woman and one man. Metal bars surrounding a small parking spot behind the building partially obscure the wall.

Behind 509 Dance, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre on Parliament Street.

Mural over the back entrance to 509 Dance, ghetto blaster in one corner, a guy break dancing, and upside down almost, in the picture. He's wearing a yellow hat.

Close up of part of the mural where a guy is break dancing.

Chinatown mural

Posted: February 27, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Chinatown Mural
2011 by Alexa Hatanaka and Aaron Li-Hill
Commissioned by the Chinatown BIA & located in an alley near Dundas & Spadina.
The mural is based on scenes from everyday life in Toronto’s Chinatown.

Part of a mural on an alley wall. There are two parts of the mural visible in this photograph. An older man is riding a bicycle in one part and twp people are sharing an umrella and walking away from the viewer in the other part

fish eye lens photo of the mural, taken from the left hand side, older man on bicycle is the closest picture on the mural, next are the two people sharing an umbrella. The remaining parts of the mural are more difficult to discern. There is a car parked in the alley

mural showing three people, a child, the head of a middle aged man with a brimmed hat in profile, and an older man sitting

fish eye pens photo of the whole Chinatown mural

part of the Chinatown mural

Part of the Chinatown mural - an older woman is with a small child

Right end of the Chinatown mural, the end that is closest to Dundas St. The shop that is next to the alley in which the mural is painted can be seen in the photo.

A bike is leaning against a wall of an alley, there is snow on the ground. On the wall is the right hand end of a long mural

around the corner

Posted: February 9, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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I walked around the corner and down a small dead end lane and this is what I saw.

near St. Clair West

garages and gates in fences in a snow covered lane. Two of the doors have been painted in geometric designs.

On a brownish grey wall, some white paint has been applied to provide a backgound for some black line drawings of faces. There are four faces.

A mural on a wall of two polar bears - an adult and a young cub. It looks like they are walking on the snow.

Close up of the mural of two polar bears. in this picture, the whole cub is visible but only the nose of the adult bear is seen. The picture is signed J. Mora 2010

 

beep beep

Posted: February 9, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Wile E. Coyote is still chasing the roadrunner…..
right out of Looney Tunes and onto a wall in a Toronto lane.

street art painting of Wile E. Coyote from the looney tunes cartoon. He has a smug look on his face and he is holding a lit stick of dynamite.

street art painting of the Looney Tunes cartoon character the roadrunner. He is running past a window on a brick building.

 

around the bakery

Posted: January 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The Ontario Bread Company is located near Dundas and Ossington.
It had an Ossington Ave address but it is surrounded by lanes.
In September of 2013 it went out of business.  The building is still there but it is empty.

A slightly snow covered parking lot between two low rise buildings, both of which have murals painted on them. .

street art on a wall. In the middle is a brown loaf of bread with the words Ontario Bread Co written around it. There is a black and white tag on either side. two windows and a door of the building are also in the photo.

Lovebot is now on their mailbox!

a small black and white lovebot sticker, the one that looks like a king of hearts playing card, is on the mailbox

The bakery was founded in 1935 by Polish immigrants and they specialized in Polish, and other Eastern European, breads.  BlogTO did an interesting piece about the bakery in August 2013.

 There is a lumber yard adjacent to the bakery on the same lane.
What follows are some of the photos that I took as I walked the “block” of lanes around the bakery and the lumber yard.   Some of the graffiti has been there for a few years.

 

Lifelike painting of a beaver, but larger than life. Very realistic looking, sharp front teeth, little arms and big flat tail.

Old graffiti taf in yellows and blues on a grey brick wall. Two windows have been bricked over in red brick. One window has a green wood covering. It includes the words "RIP Ryan Dunn"

jumble of different scribbles and tags and old graffiti along a wall.

A view of the back wall.

looking down an alley with the side of a two storey building being the dominant part of the picture. It has a large number of colourful graffiti tags painted on it.

The words on this one say “It’s a bittersweet symphony”

A large colourful tag and street art piece. It's a bittersweet symphony is written into it. The left side is dark with a black background, the right side is brighter with a yellow and orange background.

This pair stands under the shower in a quiet corner.

Wheatpaste paste up picture of a woman in a long black sleeveless dress who is pouring water from a jug over the back of her head. The water is falling on a girl who is sitting behind the woman. The girl is holding an umbrella.
Rob Ford may no longer be mayor, but his legacy lives on …. in the form of anti-Ford graffiti.

tags on a brick wall in black, orange and white. Anti Rob Ford graffiti also there in the form of a crack pipe with Fords face on it. "Spud doesn't condone crack" I think are the words written beside the crack pipe.

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall

colorful graffiti tags on a brick wall
graffiti tag in greens and purples on a wall on a snowy day. Above the tag is a weathered sign that is peeling but it can still be read - No Dumping Along this wall.

This piece is on Rolyat Street, just north of the Ontario Bread Co.

A wheatpaste paper graffiti piece of a girl's head in duplicate, looks like she's reflected below. Long black hair. Big black eyes.

The last two pieces of street art are in a neighbouring lane, just to the northwest.

large pink creature street art, a small pink heart with the words 'lost doggy' is beside the creature

graffiti buzzard and tag behind a house.

Irene Ave

Posted: January 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Irene Ave. is a short street that runs behind the north side of Bloor Street West between Carling and Shaw streets, just east of Ossington Avenue.  Irene Avenue Parkette takes up most of the south side of Irene Avenue.  There is an alley that runs between the park and the back of the stores on Bloor West.

The Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre, through the Graffiti Arts portion of their LOFT program, has sponsored a number of murals in this alley.

This is what it looked like on a cold afternoon last week.

laneway in winter, some snow and ice on the ground. Three cars parked. A mural on the side of a two storey building. Reddish rust coloured background with two faces, one woman and one man.

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blog_irene_lion

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The next picture was taken in June of 2012.
The mural is still there but I couldn’t take a proper photo of it last week as there was a car parked too close.

A mural of Teetnage mutant ninja turtles painted on a garage door.

When I walked around the block to check out the fronts of these buildings, this is what I found

Street art mural by elicser of three men on a bench. One is smoking a cigarette, one is reading and one is holding a lunch box in his hands.

A mural by Elicser and to the right the LOFT Youth Centre for Social Enterprise and Innovation.

finding green in the alleys

Posted: November 30, 2014 in abstract, general Toronto
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The other day I walked a number of lanes and alleys, Max Hartstone Lane, Ken Lai Lane,   and Oscar Ryan Lane, to name a few.

I’m not sure if it was the greyness of the day or the preponderance of ugly tags but I was feeling rather uninspired as I walked.  An interesting green wall caught my eye so I started searching more out green things.  This is the result of that search.
Close up of a green wall and door, showing the hinge which is also painted green

streaks of greenish discoloration as well as rust on the side of a corrugated metal wall

An old boarded up window on a wood wall, all painted green

A greenish coloured figure of a girl with the word Cloth written beside her

A green garage in need of paint. A window frame is sitting on the ground beneath the window. Dead leaves on the ground.

A brick wall painted in two shades of shiney green paint. There is a large crack running diagonally across the wall.

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