Posts Tagged ‘man’

ending on Dufferin

Posted: February 14, 2020 in alleys, history, locations, old buildings
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

The general idea yesterday afternoon was to walk Oakwood, southbound from St. Clair.  What I didn’t expect when I left my cosy apartment was a strong cold wind,  so part of the adventure was dictated by which direction the wind was blowing and how to avoid it (if possible!).  If some of these photos look a little blurry, it’s because of the snow that was falling all afternoon.

below: Pizza Pizza on the northwest corner of St. Clair and Oakwood.

NW intersection of St. Clair and Oakwood with a bus at a bus stop and a pizza pizza restaurant

below: I hadn’t gone far when I found a lane so of course I had to follow it…  Looking back towards Oakwood Collegiate.

looking down a lane that runs parallel to St. Clair West, with Oakwood Collegiate in the background.

below: Old black and white photo of St. Clair Ave from 1911 just after construction of Oakwood Collegiate was complete.  Oakwood Avenue is now on the other side of the school in this photo.  It is interesting to note that St. Clair had streetcar tracks back in 1911 but was still a dirt road.  Apparently the city started building these tracks when the school was open – the St. Clair streetcar line was open in 1913.   I found this photo in Living Toronto – follow the link if you want to read more about the history of this school.

vintage black and white picture of Oakwood Collegiate from 1911 when St. Clair was a dirt road

icicles along the edges of garage roofs in the backyards of two adjacent houses, view from the alley looking over the gate

in an alley, beside an orange concrete block garage, a wooden staircase leads to an upper floor, covered with snow

below: And that is where I spotted this man with a little red heart…

rough painting on a garage door of a man's face with a small red heart beside it

below: … and across the alley from him was this woman, also with another little red heart. It’s Valentines Day today, how sweet and how appropriate.

on a brick wall, a drawing of a woman's face with the eyes being the most prominent, a small red heart beside her face

below: The hearts just kept on coming.  I’d only walked a few minutes and already I had enough for a Valentines Day post! 🙂

graffiti, red heart on a wood fence

below: At the end of the lane I spotted this too…. can you see the LOVE?  It looks like it’s written in the middle of the pink and blue graffiti but it’s actually on the metal vent.

looking towards the side of a pinkish building, with graffiti higher up, over the level of the 2 storey buildings beside the pink one

below: So much for walking down Oakwood.   I circled back to St. Clair West where I saw the Yummi Cafe & Laundromat with it’s hand written sign in the window.  Support Our Teachers!  These are trying days for education in Ontario as the teachers lock horns with Doug Ford and his Conservatives who speak first and think later.

storefront, yummi cafe and laundromat, picture of pink ice cream cone as an ad for Kawartha Dairy, also a sign that says support your teachers, offering them free coffee

a bike with a flat front tire is locked to a street sign pole on the sidewalk on St. Clair west

below: This is middle section of the Royal Heights village mural painted by Murals by Marg in 2019.  It is on the side of 1006 St. CLair West (at Appleton Ave).

middle part of the Regal Heights mural, geometric shapes in bright colours

below: To the right is a small butterfly, child height.  Choose to be kind.

a butterfly in a colourful mural with the wods choose to be kind written above it

below: The left side has a larger butterfly as well as a bright yellow door with a blue umbrella.  Let love rain down!

a multi coloured butterfly, mostly blue and yellow, made of geometric shapes, in a mural beside a yellow door with a blue umbrella painted on it

below: Right across the street (on the northeast corner of Appleton & St. Clair) is this mural.  I haven’t been able to find out who the artist was.

mural in blues and greys on the side of a brown brick building, an outdoor winter scene

TTC streetcar stop on St. Clair West, stores, traffic lights, and poeple waiting to cross the road

below: Looking west on St. Clair as you approach Glenholme.

looking west on St. Clair approaching Glenholme, people on sidewalk, traffic lights, Boom restaurant, other store fronts
below: A coin laundry as well as Glenholme Variety on the southwest corner of St. Clair and Glenholme.

southwest corner of Glenholme and St. Clair with large 3 storey brick building housing GLenholme Variery store and a laundromat.

below: In front of 98 Glenholme is this little sculpture, an old fashioned sewing machine on a pole.  It marks the home of Marcello Tarantino Sartoria (tailor).

little metal sculpture of a sewing machine on a pole with a bit of green above it

below: Another alley – the wind back here is not so bad!

old green Chevrolet delivry van parked in a snowy alley, also part of a mural with hearts on it, alley scene

below: An old green Chevrolet delivery van with Imperial Upholstering Co written across the side and above the front window in faded letters. Also fading is the text: Manufacturers of Individual Style(?) Furniture

old green Chevrolet delivery van with Imperial Upholsteriing Co written in faded cursive writing on the side

laneway scene, snow, car, poles, trees, garages, part of a mural with hearts on it

Mural by Ross Bonfanti and Sandra Tarantino with hearts, stars, a flying car and superhero kids.

mural by Bonfanti and Tarantino of superhero kids and los of pink and red hearts, a yellow star and a car with wings flying in a blue cloud

superhero kids mural

The alley ended at Dufferin and that is where I headed south.

below: The southwest corner of Dufferin and Davenport

south west corner of Dufferin and Davenport, pizza restaurant with large billboard on the roof

below: A black and white photo from 1912 of the construction of Dufferin Street at Davenport.  This photo is originally from the City of Toronto archives but I found it online in an article on the history of Dufferin Street in blogTO.

1912 black and white photo of construction of Dufferin, cobblestones or bricks, at Davenport

below: Mary looks down upon us, from a niche in the wall of St. Mary of the Angels church.

a small grey statue of Mary in a grey niche on the exterior of a brick church, St Mary of the Angels

below: Remnants of an art project left to weather on a fence around a schoolyard.

remnants of fabric or paper that has been wrapped around parts of a chainlink fence at a school yard

below: A smiling happy mural on the side of a dental office on Dufferin Street painted by spudbomb (2017)

long mural by spud bomb of a woman smiling, holding a red apple with a bite out of it in one hand and a globe in the other hand. She is wearing a red and purple striped close fitting outfit over her arms and head. On the side of a dental office. The word smile is written many times in different fonts

below: Just north of Dupont Street, the CPR tracks cross Dufferin.

a red railing separates a parking lot from a hill, in the background a white tanker railway car is passing over a bridge

train with grafiti on the side of the car passes over a bridge over Dufferin Street and there is graffiti on the walls of the underpass

graffiti on the side of a building by a small hill and some trees. The hill is part of the embannkment for the railway tracks

below: This strange pillar (artwork?) is on the southwest corner of Dufferin and Dupont.  It used to be the marker/sign for the stores in the Galleria plaza on that corner.  Everything there is under renovation at the moment so instead of tearing down the sign, it was converted into this.   Hence, “Love me till I’m me again”.

a sign that says Love me till I'm me again in red neon, on a column that has been spray painted in different colours, a neon red heart outline at the top, in a parking lot with cars passing by

below: From a different angle – the neighbourhood wins no beauty contest.

looking west on Dupont at Dufferin, old Galleria sign, parking lot, traffic lights, plaza

below: The architecture on Dufferin, both houses and stores, is a mishmash of styles (or non-styles!) that have evolved over the years.   The next few photos try to give you an idea of the variety.  First, at Dufferin & Rosemount

large house on the north west corner of Dufferin and Rosemount. Brick on the bottom, brown siding on the top, construction cones on the sidewalk around it

below: Dufferin & Hallam

house and stores on Dufferin street, including the San Antonio Coin laundromat and a Home hardware

chainlink fence with dead vines on it, snow, around the front of a brick house with broken railing on the porch

two storey barn style house, brick, with large pine tree in front yard

below: Dufferin & Auburn

intersection of dufferin and auburn streets, lowrise row houses with porch

side of a brick multi family residence, windows, white door, with a small white porch over the door, broke chair beside the door

below: Standing alone at 1432

old house number 1432 Dufferin with a new fence

below: 1452A and its neighbours

three houses on Dufferin, the one on the left is 1452A

a 2 storey semi divided house on Dufferin, upper level has a balcony with with a green and white railing, winter, snow on the ground

two storey semi divided house beside Dufferin Bloor auto shop, bus stop in front,

below: An ominous sign – a boarded up house on Dufferin Street.  Is change far behind?  Just in case, I like to document what’s there because in this city, you turn around and everything’s different.  And you think to yourself, “What used to be there?”  But you can’t remember because that is how our memories work and isn’t that disconcerting?

a large tree grows in front of a brick house that has been boarded up

Deluxe grouping

Posted: November 26, 2019 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

This incredibly intricate butterfly or moth by alfalfa faces Bathurst street.  The body of the butterfly makes the human face within the insect unmistakable .

a large street art piece of a butterfly with man's eyes on the wings, boy of butterfly looks like man's nose

On the south side of the same building is this captivating turquoise-skinnedcharacter painted by muisca.

character with turquoise face and yellow and orange hair and dress, by muisca, mural on the side of a building

On the north side of the building there is a driveway that leads to an alley.   There are murals on the side of the building as well as on other buildings and garages immediately adjacent.

 

below: This tiger by luvsumone (aka Moises Frank) is on a garage door in the alley.

partially abstract painting of a tiger by luvsumone, xyz

below: If you follow the sound of many pigeons cooing you’ll find yourself in front of one of the garages that must have a pigeon loft on the upper storey.  The same garage has two pigeon murals.  This stylized pigeon who seems quite happy with his can of spray paint is on one side while the pigeon in the next image is on the garage door.

a stylized pigeon, painted on the side of a building, with a spray paint can by it's head

below: Stay fly pigeon, luvsumone, painted in 2017

a large painting of a pigeon on a garage door in an alley

below: Another of the alley murals.

4 garbage bins lined up beside a small building with a mural of a young woman with blank eyes above the bin

below: The north side of the building has three murals of people.  These eyes are part of a larger man’s face.

part of mural of man's face, two eyes and a nose,

below: A woman’s face seems to float on the brick wall.

a large woman's face painted on the side of a brick building

close up of a pair of blue lips painted as part of a mural of a woman's face

below: This wall has also become a memorial wall.

mural of young woman's face, looking straight ahead, eyes partially closed, arms crossed in front of her,

words written under a group of street art pieces, deluxe the 6, names of street artists

Halloween on Church, 2018

Posted: November 2, 2018 in events, people
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

It was the last night of October, the rain had stopped earlier in the evening, and Church Street was closed between Gloucester and Wood streets.  It was ‘Halloween on Church’, an annual street party filled with costumes on display wanting to be seen and other people wanting to see and take pictures.   These photos represent only a small selection of what there was to be seen that night (obviously!).

below: A one night stand to remember

a person at a Halloween costume dressed as a one night stand, table up to neck, a clock, and a picture on a frame on the table, or rather, the night stand

below: Glowing red and green

two women pose with three people wearing oversized skulls on their heads, with lights inside that make the eyes appear bright, two red eyed skulls and one with green eyes

below: Japanese ghouls, dressed to kill?

two women in elaborate embroidered red silk kimonos, one with a parasol too, one with a make up gash on her cheek

below: White man on keyboard.

man in black tux with white cloth overhis face plays a keyboard that he has around his neck

man dressed in a dress that is made of yellow police caution tape, also wearing a police cap. Posing with a woman who is also wearing a poilce hat

below: A group of people went as the 3D Toronto sign.

a group of people pose for a photo. Each is holding a 3D letter and together they spell Toronto, a miniature copy of the 3D Toronto sign at Nathan Phillips Square.

below: More playing with lights, this time as stick people.

two people in jogging suits with hoods, with lights down the front so it looks like stick people

Church Street, Halloween party, a couple in costumes suitable for day of the dead celebrations, juxtapositioned with a man holding a baby

a man in an elaborate gold embellished old fashioned scuba diving mask with glittery gold coloured rays emanating from it

two people standing under a clear umbrella with little lights dangling from it, one person has a black mask on and a costume like the invincible movie character

couple posing for pictures at the corner of Church and Wood, both are dressed in Halloween costumes, night time,

below: Looking at instagram in a new light, from a different point of view.

a photographer has made it look like he's a live instagram photo

below: With a doll and a lit candle

a man in a black and white striped shirt is holding a doll and a lit candle

below: With a doll and a dog.

A woman in long braids holds a green fabric doll and a small dog in her arms. Her face is covered with makeup that makes her look like a skull with large black eyes, a black nose and a mouth with notches (stitches?)

below: This one is for Jude, something about wanting to take this one home with her…..

a topless man leans against a concrete pole to pose for a photo. He has a large tattoo that covers most of his right arm. He is wearing a rubber mask with rabbit ears and a bandana over his face as well as large goggles.

below: With pale pink hair, a shimmering dress, and a big smile

a person with a pale pink wig and shimmering fabric dress

three people in big long haired wigs, one red head and two blondes

below: Crossing light sabres with Darth Vader.

a woman crosses light sabres with darth vader, hallowwen party on Church St. in Toronto

below: Kermit only has eyes for Miss Piggy….. or else!

two people in costume, one as a life sized Kermit the Frog and the other as Miss Piggy, both from The Muppets

more from Graffiti Alley

Posted: November 28, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
3

It’s taken a few days, but here is the last (of three) of the blog posts featuring photos that I took this past weekend when I walked Graffiti Alley.

below: Levar Burton is my father, or at least that’s what’s written on the wrist.

mural in Graffiti Alley - a large blue hand the size of a door, with watch on wrist and words Levar Burton

below: Swimming with the octopi?  Or else she’s landed in hot water?  An other worldly mural by Planette.

mural in Graffiti Alley - by planette, a womanwearing face mask and helmet and in water up to arm pits, tentacles coming out of the water in front of her.

below: Mural by earth crusher,

mural in Graffiti Alley by earth crusher - man in black suit, white shirt and black tie, small rectangle machine head and a smart phone in each hand

below: How can it be evil if there is a cupcake and an ice cream cone? I think that Choo Choo the cat from Hanna Barbera’s Top Cat.

mural in Graffiti Alley - Choo Choo the cartoon pink cat from Hanna Barbera Top Cats,with white t-shirt on, Mike Myers evil character from movie, a cupcake and an ice cream cone

below: Huckleberry Hound seems to have reason to fear the cops.

mural in Graffiti Alley - cartoon dog in blue on door, with words run cops!

below: But everything is A OK with this guy!

cartoon character with pyramid shaped body, small black arms and large white hands, open mouth with red tongue = mural in Graffiti Alley

below: The hamburger probably isn’t coming out of the garbage bin! It doesn’t look like she’s too impressed with it though,.

below: @kyleghostkeeper, another tattoo artist. Red eyes, eyebrows, and lips but turquoise hair.

large woman's face, blue hair, re lips, over done make up

below: A stencil and a sticker.  Another @stick_tags  “Are you living your dream?” sticker.

stencil graffiti of a person in white coat

below: There’s a lot going on here – all small and not all noticed the first time in part because of the mess.  The cat, a small man screaming, and the words “just a pawn” written a few times.

graffiti in a doorway. stencil cat, words that say just a pawn, stencil small man screaming

graffiti words on a wall in Graffiti Alley, bad man no take no selfie

There are always words written on walls.  Sometimes funny, sometimes profane, and sometimes just weird.  Today, we have comments about selfies and queer witches.   Both made me smile.

graffiti words stencilled on a wall that say Queer witches for a better tomorrow

mural in Graffiti Alley - person wearing gas mask and holding a spray paint can in outreached hand

The next two blog posts are also from Graffiti Alley.

noticed

Posted: November 16, 2017 in general Toronto, graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

A small collection of a few of the things that I’ve noticed over the past while.
Pictures of little things that haven’t found a home yet.

 

a sign on a chainlink fence that says notice. otherwise it is blank

below: It’s not two people each riding an old fashioned bike even though that’s probably the first thing that you think of when you see it.  It’s one bike with two wheels and two riders going in different directions.  Going nowhere probably.  Seen in the front window of Tandem Coffee on King Street East.

a picture of two people riding old fashioned bicycles, in black, in a window.

below: Don’t just peer out the window, get outside and be a part of the world.  There’s so much to be seen!

the front of a grey car parked in front of a white wall in an alley where there is a line drawing graffiti of a man peering from behind the curtains of a window.

below: Love letter to a bike.

a little painting of a bike and a heart that makes it look like the wheels are eyes and the heart is a mouth

below: The mannequins on the balcony in Kensington are now gold!

two gold coloured mannequins with no clothes on are on a balcony of a blue building. one is sitting on the edge and one is standing

below: I’ve seen a couple of these images now. This one is a paste-up on a black metal box near Bloor & Borden. I’ve also seen another painted on hoardings around a construction site, possibly on Bathurst Street.  There was a similar image on the wall of Honest Ed’s but this one has a bit more detail in it, especially the hair.

 

pasteup in black and white of a man with open mouth, his eyes are attached to a black baseball cap that is blowing off his head, to the side and back from his head. he's wearing a black suit and tie.

below: A small sticker, slightly creepy, almost as if the poor girl is being stalked.

small sticker of a girl with long turquoise hair, staring straight ahead, wearing a low cut yellow dress. Behind her is pair of eyes

below: An old clock hiding under a newer sign, forgotten.  Stopped long ago.

a small round clock, old, attached to an outside wall, underneath a bright sign with red and yellow light bulbs around it.

below: It looks like Mary’s been discounted.

a statue of the VIrgin Mary wrapped in plastic, for sale at an outdoor sale, with a sign above her head that says 20% to 50 % off.

below: Always good advice!  Painted in pink on a window that catches the afternoon sun and makes interesting shadows on the blind behind.

the word breathe is painted in pink on a window, the sun makes a shadow of the wod on a blind behind the window.

below:  Take one ball, a stool, and paint and add some imagination – a unique garden ornament to brighten the day of passers by.

in a yard in a residential area, an artwork that is a large ball on a stool that has been painted in swirls of many colours with some black line drawing figures.

below: Decorative tiles on the front of a brick building on Yonge Street (two photos).

decorative tiles form a panel on the front of a brick building, red flowers, green lattice,

below: I wonder what the T stands for?

decorative tiles form a panel on the front of a brick building, red flowers, green lattice and an elaborately embellished letter t

below: Keep your eyes open and you’ll be surprised too!

two round red reflectors mounted on a wood fence, look like two eyes, a piece of green tape is also on the fence in such a way that it looks like the mouth

 Today I’m going to end with the photo below.   To me it encapsulates the idea that photographers can be a weird bunch. Somewhere out there someone has a close up photo of these pipes and dials.  It’s probably a great picture! …. because if they hadn’t been there, I may have taken the same picture.  Instead I took a picture of the photographer in action.   Never stop seeing.

the back of a person takeing a close up picture of a dial or part of a pipe system

Never stop noticing.

gargoyles on the path

Posted: October 17, 2017 in nature, public art
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

We went exploring.  With a three year old.  A three year old who is starting to explore the world as only a three year old can.  One who gets joy from ‘balancing’ on the green line as we walked the Lower Don Path.

little girl in a pink jacket is wlking down a green line that is painted in the middle of a path, approaching an underpass under the railway tracks.

We were walking with a purpose – to find ‘Monsters for Beauty, Permanence and Individuality’ by Duane Linklater.  This is a collection of cast concrete gargoyles, replicas of those on Toronto buildings, that is now on the Lower Don Trail.  Last week I saw them from the subway as it passed across the Bloor Viaduct so I knew approximately where to walk.

The Lower Don Trail only has a few access points – we entered by Riverdale Park and walked north.

a hanging vine, autumn coloured, in front of the train tracks.

below: Renovations of the underside of the bridge at Bloor/Danforth have just been completed and already one piece of graffiti has appeared.

grey concrete bridge with black metal supports, part of the structure, with one graffiti face drawn in red

Just a bit farther north, and on the west side of the path we encountered the artwork.  It’s a scattered arrangement of some interesting pieces.  If left in place, some future archeologist of the future might stumble upon it and be totally mystified.

cast concrete sculpture of a seated woman with her head bent forward

Today I got myself tied up in knots as I fought with words as I tried to write this post.  How do I describe the thoughts behind the installation?  Should I talk about the meaning of gargoyles vs grotesques?

a few concrete gargoyles scattered on the ground by the Lower Don Trail, part of Duane Linklater's art installation.

But then I realize that I should just leave it be.    Be content.

a concrete block and man's head gargoyle, with moustache, folded arms holding a scroll or similar), about 2 feet square, Bloor Viaduct in the background

After all, what was more important was that the blocks turned out to be the perfect size for a three year old to stand on and roar like a lion.   We played.  And it was fun.

a young girl stands on top of a conrete block with the face of lion, she has her hands beside her mouth as she too roars like a lion

red sumach trees in the background with dead brown heads of plants growing in front

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

early June version, Graffiti Alley

Posted: June 2, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

people walking down Graffiti Alley on a sunny afternoon

I found myself on a sunny Friday afternoon with time to spare.  I haven’t walked Graffiti Alley in the warmth for quite a few months so off we went, hunting for new things, forgotten things, and special ‘are they still there?’ things.

below: Vitality at 505 “It’s showtime baby girl, own it”

street art painting of a black woman's head, short hair, eyes closed, also on the door is the word vitality and the number 505

below: I guess that it’s painful to have your face stuck on a wall.

a dark grey three 3D rendition of a man's face. He looks like he's in pain.

below: Some black line drawn figures on top of text street art.

two figures, drawn abstractly with black marker on top of orange street art,

a drawing of a large eye on top of pink and green street art

on top of pink and green abstract swirly street art, a drawing in black marker of a hand, with a face (eye and mouth) coming out of the back of the hand.

below: Arty strings by lek_gold

a man on a lddder, a car parked, multi coloured strings used to make art by stretching it between nails on an outside wall.

below: This little giraffe has aged well.

a small stencil of a giraffe stands at the bottom corner of a wall

below: It looks like he has a strawberry beard and I’ll assume that that’s a can of spray paint in his hand, not a can of shaving cream!

street art painting on a garage door, turquoise background, a man standing with a spray paint can in his hand, awkeardly drawn, simplistic, man with only one eye and a large beard that looks like a strawberry

below: A yellow monster rises from the barrels.

behind a red van and two green metal barrels, a yellow monster street art painting on a wall

below: I didn’t touch it.  I just took a picture of it.

street art in blues and greys over whish someone has written in blue marker, don't touch this.

below: Anyone seen a guy running around in his underwear?

a pair of blue jeans are lying on the ground at the foot of a wall that has pink and green street art on it.

feeling hungry?

Posted: January 16, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, public art, stores
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

You can almost find it by following your nose!

I’ve been in many alleys where the smell has been less than desirable but today I was taking pictures in an alley that smelled wonderful!  A small alley running south from Bloor Street beside the The Dirty Bird restaurant….or more accurately The Dirty Bird Chicken & Waffles.

And the pictures that I was taking there?
Well, they were of chicken and waffles and people eating of course!

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a woman is sitting at a table in the restaurant

Elicser has painted a mural in the alley alongside the restaurant.

a man in a red baseball cap on backwards is drinking,

below: I love how the straw is placed!

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a man is sitting at a table in the restaurant . he has a very large chicken and waffle sandwich in front of him as well as a pink milkshake. The red and white straw of the miclkshake is actually a venting pipe

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a woman and a man are sitting at a table in the restaurant eating chicken and waffle sandwiches

from a mural by elicser along the exterior wall of the dirty bird chicken and waffle restaurant - a woman is sitting at a table in the restaurant with a very tall chicken and waffle sandwich in her hands

 

sort of Queen West

Posted: January 15, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, stores
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

I started walking Graffiti Alley the other day but I didn’t stick to my plan.  I meandered and wandered through other alleys as well as I generally headed west.

below: A bright, vibrant, wonderful piece by birdo in an alley north of Queen Street West.

a birdo mural on a garage door of a woman in grey tones with a round red mouth in the shape of an O. she is holding her hand up near her face and a bird is sitting on it. The background of the mural is red and greenish triangles.

below: Another birdo nearby

birdo mural on the side of a building, a red high heel shoe, a brown circle, a grey head plus the colourful geometric shapes often found in a birdo mural, in reds and turquoise

below: Only remnants remain.  Was it a stikman?  Or was it something else?

a tiny bit of a stikman is left on a post that is covered with spray paint.

below: Auston Matthews already has his picture on T-shirts.
It can’t be easy having the hopes of all those Maple Leaf fans resting on your shoulders.

in front of a store that seels T-shirts, a blue T-shirt based on the famous Obama Hope poster, but this time the portrait is of a Maple Leaf player with the word hope below.

below: Of course normal is boring. What I need is a t-shirt that says “rather be walking”

Two t-shhirts in a store window, a grey woman's t-shirt with the words Normal is Boring on the front and a black t-shirt with the words rather be in bed.

below: This wall is not new but there is usually a car parked in front of it when I walk past.  King Reign and Son of S.O.U.L. were two Toronto hip hip artists who passed away in 2016.

a wall in Graffiti Alley, layers of different artist's work, some uber 5000, some elicser, plus a grey ton picture of two men wearing caps with the words son of soul king reign written underneath them.

below: Stickers on a box

stickers on a small metal box on a brightly coloured wall. almost the whole box is covered, a lovebot heart, a pink cat, a blue octopus, a shark, plus some stickers that are ads for music or records.

below: I love the juxtaposition of the car in the mural with the real cars parked in the alley. Also the alignment of the first two walls makes the painting look like one.

in an alley, a white car is parked between a blue car and a mural painting of a blue car. There is also a mural of three people with the words summertime in the city.

below: This is another painting that I saw in Graffiti Alley.
I think that it’s new, or at least I don’t remember seeing it before.

a street art painting on the back of a building in an alley, a surreal piece with a cube with one side as a face, two creatures are floating out of the top of the cube - they are tethered to each other. The bottom creature is half in the cube and the surface of the cube looks like liquid.

below: Your words of advice for today.

a street art piece in an alley that is purple background with with a dripping brownish circle with two eyes and the words don't forget to drink water. The alley is also in the picture with parts of a couple of other murals visible

below: Fake. as in Fake news. Fake people. Fake money.  Fake graffiti artist?

the man from the monopoly game is painted on a wall. Someone has sprayed a white x through his face and written the word fake on his top hat.

below: These grey paper paste-ups have appeared on top of a number of street art paintings in Graffiti Alley.
I’m not sure who did it or why.
a grid of grey paper paste ups has been put on top of a abstract street art painting on a wall in an alley.

below: Blowing bubbles. Looks irresistibly ready for someone to pop it!
It was painted by @wamurals aka WayneArt

on the corner of Queen West and a smaller side street, the Convenience Canada store with a small white picket fence outside of it. On the wall is a mural of a woman blowing a big pink bubble with gum and the words head candy written above her head.

below: Hidden houses. Being pushed out by the big boys.

three layers, in the background a high rise building, in the middle ground, the tops of three single family homes on Richmond Street, in the foreground, poster covered hoardings for construction on Queen Stree West.

below: Half of a lovebot in a doorway.

half of a large black lovebot painted in a doorway (one side of him). A black lovebot with yellow details and a red heart.

below: A whole lovebot mixing it up with another creature.  I think it’s by grominator but I’m not sure.
I like to think of it as lovebot fighting his demons.

a lovebot mural in an alley, he looks to be fighting a grominator monster

below: Look up, way up, to find the switch from love to fear.
Yikes!, it’s switched to fear now and it’s not going to be easy to change it.

high on a wall, a small 3D lovebot heart beside a light switch that is love on one side and fear on the other.

below: Lucy and trouble and a weird looking face in a messy dimly lit doorway that assaulted my nose.

in a dimly lit doorway, a lot of scribbles and graffiti including a roughly drawn face, the word Lucy and the word trouble

below: Many of the planters along Queen West have been painted including this tribute to Gord Downie.

a rectangular cement planter on Queen Street west with pine and cedar boughs in it. The sides have been painted. On the end is the head of a lion, on the side is the word courage and a picture of Gord Downie from the music group The Tragically Hip

a rectangular cement planter on Queen Street west with pine and cedar boughs in it. The sides have been painted. On the end is the roman numeral 4 and a red heart. On the side is a black cat walking on a red background.

below: A little astronaut floats away. But he’s not up in the air where you’d expect to find him. He’s way down low near the ground.  Perhaps he’s not floating away, perhaps he’s falling back to Earth?

a small paste up of an astronaut floating in space, on a black wall, close to the ground.

Don’t over think it though.  Just keep your eyes open and ready for the unexpected!

singing birds, the devil, and more

Posted: June 21, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Running east from Christie subway station behind the stores on Bloor West is an alley.  There are a few murals there, either in the lane or visible from the lane.   Below are pictures of five of them, although the last one is more graffiti than mural.

The largest of these murals is ‘Under the Radar’, or at least those are the words painted on the mural.  It is on three sides of a building that backs onto the alley.

below: East side of the building

The side of a building is painted with a mural of birds sitting on a wire. Purple, black and blue are the colours in the mural.

part of a mural, blackbirds sitting on a wire, dark blue background, on a brick building in an alley

below: The back of the building

Under the Radar mural on the back of a building in an alley, featuring birds, with baseball caps, with colourful shoes and sitting on branches of a large tree

Under the Radar mural on the back of a building in an alley, featuring birds, with baseball caps, with colourful shoes and sitting on branches of a large tree

a blue and purple bird sings while standing on the branch of a tree, it's wearing a baseball cap. Part of a mural

part of a larger mural - a cat chases a bird, under a tree branch, tire rope swing on the tree in the picture too, the cat looks a bit like Felix the cat cartoon character

below: “Painting to the artist is like flight to the bird. Freedom”

part of mural, a dark blue bird sits in a tree. The words "Painting to the artist is like flight to the bird. freedom"

below: West side of the building

brick building in a laneway. At the top is an old sign that says IDA Hanin Drug Mart. Below, a large mural with birds.

below: White on black, a mural signed as @oskwong @release852 (2 photos)

mural on the side of a one storey building, black background, white line drawing, balance, good and evil, angel and devil, @oskwong, release852 as the signature on the mural

below: The central portion – it looks like the devil and maybe an angel? Good vs evil?

detail of a white drawing on black mural, ceter portion, devil and angel, by Oscar Kwong, release852

below: This mural is signed, ‘the Loft’ which is an acronym for Life Opportunities Food and Technology, a program run by the Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre.

back of a row of stores, lane view, air conditioning unit, garbage bins, a mural of a man wearing a suit and hat. Sign on mural says The Loft, by

below: A bicycle riding alligator.

a wood fence with a graffiti painting of a black alligator or crocodile on it. in an alley

below: White fish bones contrast with a bright orange garage door.

graffiti, white spray paint line drawing of fish bones with head and tail, large, on an orange garage door in a laneway

below: It’s not very often I have to watch out for a Mercedes AND a Ferrari in the lane!

a red Ferrari and a beige Mercedes drive past each other beside a coin laundry in a lane.

Older Entries