Posts Tagged ‘mural’

music makers on Yonge

Posted: November 17, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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As I was walking down Yonge Street yesterday I happened upon this, faces playing peak-a-boo with passersby on the street.  It’s a new 22 storey mural being painted on the north side of 423 Yonge Street.  A ‘musical mural’ featuring the faces of musicians from the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s.

a vertical mural painted on the side of a multi storey building, the mural is a series of faces.

below: From top to bottom: Ronnie Hawkins, Glenn Gould, Diane Brooks, Jackie Shane and Muddy Waters.

a vertical mural painted on the side of a multi storey building, the mural is a series of faces in a totem pole like arrangement

below: The bottom of the mural

musicians and singers painted in a mural, a black man in a suit, a black man playing a guitar, a man with longish hair singing into a mic with his eyes closed.

below: Looking up…. Shirley Matthews, B.B. King, Gordon Lightfoot and Oscar Peterson.

famous musicians and singers from the past painted on a mural, B.B. King, Gordon Lightfoot and Oscar Peterson

#yongemural | #adrianhayles

body soul mind

Posted: November 14, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The words body, souls, and mind painted on a mural

In the southwest corner of Alexandra Park (near the SE corner of Bathurst and Dundas) there is a large colourful mural.  It was painted a couple of years ago by Elicser and Troy Lovegates.

 

large mural on the side of a house at the edge of Alexandra Park in Toronto, painted by Elicser and Troy Lovegates

part of a larger mural, the face and heads of two young black men.

part of a larger mural of elicser and Troy Lovegates, colourful people, A woman stands behind a seated man.

part of a larger mural of elicser and Troy Lovegates, colourful people, a heavy set man with a cap on, seated with large hands folded on his lap, wearing a sweater with rows of colourful diamond shapes. A large bee is flying above his head.

part of a larger mural of elicser and Troy Lovegates, colourful people, a man in a top hat and jacket, holding a bouquet in his upraised hand - a bouquet that looks like one a magician would use

part of a larger mural of elicser and Troy Lovegates, colourful people, a man's face in grey tones, many small objects coming out of his mouth - an eye, a finger with long fingernail, a cow's head, two bottle caps, a bird, and many more things.

large mural on the side of a house at the edge of Alexandra Park in Toronto, painted by Elicser and Troy Lovegates, most of the mural is in the photos along with some autumn foilage trees and some newer houses in the neighbourhood

elicser and CP24

Posted: November 12, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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I happened to be walking along Queen Street West this afternoon when I spotted something new…

elicser painting a large mural by CP 24 parkinglot on Queen St West, showing people in the tv business

A large mural on a wall by the CP24 parking lot by elicser

elicser painting a large mural by CP 24 parkinglot on Queen St West, showing people in the tv business - the almost completed mural

with the artist himself, putting on the finishing touches to the mural.

elicser painting a large mural by CP 24 parkinglot on Queen St West, showing people in the tv business - up close picture of him with a can of spray paint in his hand.

elicser painting a large mural by CP 24 parkinglot on Queen St West, showing people in the tv business - him on a lift painting above the heads of people walking past

go east, way east…..

Posted: November 11, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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I had heard about a mural at Lawrence and Orton Park so this morning I thought I’d check it out.   I ventured out Lawrence Avenue to just east of Markham Road.  As I drove I was reminded of how big this city really is.

below: This is the community mural that started my adventure this morning.  It was painted in nine sections and then assembled on the wall.   It is the work of Ted Hamer, Rowell Soller and Skratch Wonder.

a mural on the side of a building that has the words Lawrence Orton in blue and orange. There is also a blue jay in flught, a fox and a squirrel and a robin standing in the grass.

below: As I left Orton Park, I saw this mural from a distance.  Of course I had to stop and take a picture.  I got some strange looks.  Tourists are probably not too common in this part of the city.

vertical mural on a multirise building (about 15 storeys tall perhaps).

below:  While I was looking for the best angle from which to take the above photo, I noticed some markings beside the road.

red painting on concrete wall barrier beside sidewalk on bridge over Highland Creek, in red, a girl's head and the words, What I love about the city is there are all kinds of cultures and faith groups. There is a lot of trees and sunshine.

below: As it turns out, these are from the summer of 2011.  Lawrence Avenue is 6 lanes wide and at this point it crosses Highland Creek and Morningside Park – a long bridge, a rather barren stretch of concrete and pavement.

red picture of a boy on a concrete barrier beside a sidewalk as it passes over a bridge. The word welcome is written beside him.

below:  Bridges were meant for going under, right?   Luckily there was an entrance to Morningside Park right there, and luckily I left my toboggan at home  🙂   Morningside Park is part of a network of parks that follow the Highland Creek.  It starts near Markham Road and the 401 and runs south to Kingston Road near Guildwood station.    A search for an answer to the question, “How many ravine parks does Toronto have?” has yielded no results yet.  I’ll keep looking.

paved path leading down a hill to a ravine park, apartment buildings in the distance. Sign beside path says no skiing or sleigh riding on the slope.

below:  The answer to another question, “Is there graffiti under the bridge?” was more easily found.

in a park under a bridge, grassy area, some trees on either side, 2 concrete support pillars with street art on the bottom of each.

below: The bottom of the pillars were painted back in 2010 and 2011.

street art on a concrete support pillar of a bridge, a man upside down, large head with top of head on the ground, feet up in the air. moustache, smiling mouth,

below: Hope takes flight over the city.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to see but the word hope is written on the city at the bottom of this small mural but it is behind the weeds.

small mural on the bottom of a concrete pillar, a bird takes flight over a city at sunrise. The word hope is written on the mural

below:   Personified Hope, from the picture above, wraps around to another side of the pillar as he/she moves upward.  Also seen here is one of the feet from the upside down man.

side of a concrete pillar with light blue line drawing of person looking upwards, abstracted.

below:   Another pillar has a painting by elicser.

street art by elicser in blue of a family. Man with red hat, woman and kids huddled together, fall park scenery in the background.

street art on the bottom of a concrete pillar, two black men. One is Mohammad Ali.

park with grass and autumn foilage trees, apartment building in the background, a large bridge passes over with four or five concrete pillars. SUnny blue sky day

street art painting on a pillar under a bridge of a young man in a blue hoodie and brown baseball cap

street art painting on a pillar under a bridge, wispy picture of a woman with long hair, hair swirls upwards to a satelite dish and a flying bird

bridge over a park and creek

geometric shapes abstract many colours street art

below: There were also a couple of paintings on the other side of the creek. There was water in the creek. Too much to cross safely.
Or at least, too much for me to cross safely!

graffiti on a pillar in the park with weeds and small shrubs growing around it.

It was a very quiet place to be this morning.  I saw a couple of people on the path, including Batman, but they were silent.

line drawing in black of Batman's head and shoulders, drawn on a paved path in a park

large chalk drawing of a man's face in black, white and pale purple, on a paved path in a park

One last photo, taken as I was driving home across Lawrence.  I guess it’s somewhat appropriate for the time.  Not sure why one would be sporting such a sticker in Ontario though.   C’est la vie.  To each their own.

red car with a sticker on the back that says Donald Trump 2016 Make America Great Again.

I saw many people at bus stops waiting for the 34 Lawrence bus and I wondered how long it took them to get to the subway.  Lawrence is 6 lanes wide and I tried to picture it with an LRT running down the center.   (but that’s a whole other blog post, perhaps another day).

Coxwell tiles

Posted: November 11, 2016 in locations, public art
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mosaic artwork in greens and yellows

Coxwell subway station is still in the midst of its renovations and upgrades.  As part of the project, the wall on the west and south sides of the station have been painted a bright yellow.   This yellow was then the canvas for a large number of mosaic creations.

some of the mosaic medallions on the Coxwell mosaic mural

below: The new mosaic mural covers the wall alongside the pathway that leads from Coxwell station to the Danforth.  The murals painted on the side of the Sunset Grill restaurant, on the opposite wall of the path, were there previously.

yellow Coxwell pathway mosiac mural with the murals from the restaurants beside the pathway

below: A beaver made from bits and pieces – with round eye and two large teeth.

a beaver made with mosaic tiles and pieces of glass

below: At the corners of the mural are seed pods that have released their seeds to the wind.

mosaic representation of a large seed pod that hs released its seeds.

below: The south side of the subway station is adjacent to a Green P parking lot on Danforth.  Along this wall, a quote by Agnes MacPhail has been added below the mural.  “We meet all life’s greatest tests alone”.  Agnes MacPhail (1890-1954) was the first woman to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons where she served from 1921 to 1940.  After her time in federal politics, she represented the provincial riding of York East in the Ontario Legislature.  In 1951 she was responsible for Ontario’s first equal pay legislation.

A wall with a chainlink fence above it, a large green construction crane is behind the wire fence. The wall has been covered with a mural, yellow background and mosaic pictures on it. A quote runs along the bottom at ground level, white letters on black background, quote by Agnes MacPhail

A wall with a chainlink fence above it, a large green construction crane is behind the wire fence. The wall has been covered with a mural, yellow background and mosaic pictures on it. A quote runs along the bottom at ground level, white letters on black background,

below: West side of the wall, looking towards Strathmore Blvd.

west side of the mural, yellow wall, Coxwell station, mosaic pictures

below: A mosiac bee amongst the flowers…

a circular mosaic picture of a bee amongst white and orange flowers on a blue background, all on a yellow wall. Part of a larger mural

below: … and a real bee sitting beside a mosaic red rose.

mosaic picture of a red rose with green foilage, with a real wasp sitting on it.

below: Two mosaic pieces, a circle with the names of the artists and a semi-circle rainbow with the names of those who contributed to the creation of the mural.  The transcription of the words is given below.

on a yellow wall, some circles made of mosaics. One is the list of people who made the whole mosaic mural and the other is a semi-circle, rainbow colours, of people of contributed to the mural

Lead Artist: Cristina Delago,
With Boloebi Charles Okah, Bronwen Parker, Holly-Jo Horner, Jing Tian, Karen Roberts, Melanie Billark, Robin Hesse, Sarvenaz Rayati, Shae Stamp, Shashann Miguel-Tash, Skyy Marriot, Somayeh Nasiri, Victor Fraser, Will Spratley.

Special Thanks: Woodgreen Community Services, Dulux Painter, Tomasz Majcherczyn, Cathy & Barry Joslin, Cercan Tile, Jacqui Strachan, City Councillor Janet Davis, Jeff Billiard, John & Ed at Danforth Brewery, Mark Wrogemann, Clara Lou, Eleanor Ryan, James & Cooper, John Kenneth & Cherie Daly, Lowe’s, Maisie Fuss, Melanie Morris, Michelle Yeung, S. Dimitrakpoulos,  The Vogls, The Zeelie-Varga Family, Wyatt & Teagan, as well as Laurie, Chantal and Gavin

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Regent Park athletics

Posted: October 22, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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At one end of the new sports field at Regent Park, there is a large mural by elicser.

green soccer field and clay track in the foreground, small trees and a mural along the end of the field, new apartments being constructed in the background.

below: The west end of the mural, waiting on the sidelines with basketball at the ready as well as watching the soccer game.

mural by elicser elliott on a fence between grassy field and new apartments being built, people watching a soccer game, a person sits on a bench with a basketball between their feet.

part of a large mural, large letters that spell Regent Park

below: The cricket players are between the words ‘Regent’ and ‘Park’ as seen above.

mural showing two male cricket players

part of a larger mural, a man and a woman walking on a street, the man is drinking with a straw

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below: The mural continues behind the basketball court.

outdoor basketball court, with a mural in the background, and construction beyond that.

below: Basketball players both on and off the court.

mural of basketball players playing, mural is behind a basketball court, also mural of close up of players feet with running shoes on

mural of a woman, and some text, on a fence behind some outdoor picnic tables

below: The east end of the mural

two text street art pieces, one in yellows and oranges with the man in the moon in the middle

 

new neighbours at Underpass Park

Posted: October 15, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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I first blogged about the murals and street art in Underpass Park last summer after the pillars and bents on the east side of Lower River Street (at the skate park) were painted.   The newest paintings are on the west side of the street.

painting of a toddler on a concrete support, street art

Street artists Troy Lovegates and Labrona are in the midst of painting 16 portraits of 16 east end residents – one on each face of four pillars that help support the Eastern/Adelaide/Richmond overpass.

street art murals on 4 bents holding up the ramp of a highway, underpass park, the paintings are of people, in the foreground is a woman with a yellow T-shirt and a hat with little flowers

mural of people on a bent of an underpass

a man stands on a lift as he paints a mural, in the foreground is a man in a shirt with red triangles all over it that has already been painted.

a mural of a group of people linked together with their arms.

a street artist (Troy Lovegates) is on a lift and painting a mural on the concrete supports on an underpass. Other supports are in the picture, they have already been painted.

paintings on a bent holding up a ramp. Two men standing on the pillar, and a group of people with telescopes looking upward and pointing.

The pillars on the east side of Lower River street were painted as part of the Pan Am Path and were completed before the Pan Am Games started last summer.

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below: From inside the skate park, looking westward.   Lots of people!

elicser painting of a basketball player in a red hoodie on a pillar in underpass park, other pillars and bents are in the background, all of which have been painted with pictures of people, painted by different street artists.

below: Looking beyond the park and out over Bayview Avenue, train tracks,  and the Don River. Two faces by anser.

two line drawings of faces by anser on posts holding up a road

The murals on the pillars in the park are part of the StreetARToronto initiative.

Beltline murals at Eglinton

Posted: October 11, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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A beautiful Thanksgiving day, sunshine and autumn temperatures – what better time to get outside and enjoy a walk with friends?  Today’s walk included the Beltline from Mt Pleasant cemetery to the Allan Expressway.  Along the way we saw a couple of murals so I stopped to take a few pictures. These murals were under the bridge over the Beltline at Eglinton West.   Both were part of the StART (StreetARToronto) program and were painted in 2013 by artists Viviana Astudillo and Logan Miller.

below: On one side of the underpass are scenes from the days when a railway ran along the Beltline.

part of a mural under a bridge on the Beltline path, by StART, in brown tones of the hhistory of the railroad in the area (scenes from), an older man in a brown cap

part of a mural under a bridge on the Beltline path, by StART, in brown tones of the hhistory of the railroad in the area (scenes from), a large locomotive with a man standing by the front of it.

part of a mural under a bridge on the Beltline path, by StART, in brown tones of the hhistory of the railroad in the area (scenes from), kids in different coloured caps playing beside a train

part of a mural under a bridge on the Beltline path, by StART, in brown tones of the hhistory of the railroad in the area (scenes from) a young man in a brown cap

below: The mural on the other side of the underpass depicts scenes of the modern day path including hawks, people, joggers, cyclists, walkers and dogs.

part of a mural under a bridge on the Beltline path, by StART, two hawks on the ground.

part of a mural under a bridge on the Beltline path, by StART, people walking on a path through the woods including a jogger, a woman walking a dog, and a cyclist.

part of a mural under a bridge on the Beltline path, by StART, of nature scenes, a large dog is sitting beside a tree

below: Someone has left there mark here too.

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a new Chinatown dragon

Posted: September 17, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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There’s a new dragon in Chinatown.  It lives on a wall on Dundas West, just east of Spadina.

mural of a large blue dragon on a wall, outrside, with red and gold coloured spines

This colourful addition to Dundas West was painted by Blinc Studios Artists, Allan Bender, John Nobrega, Jesse McCuaig, Azadeh Pirazimian, Chris Brown, Frannie Potts and Mohammad Jaberi with the help of the Chinatown BIA and the City of Toronto.   It must not have been an easy mural to paint – the wall is not flat but all parts of it have been covered.

looking at a mural from close up, looking upwards. The wall is not flat, there are many indentations, the mural has been painted on sides of the indentations.

Another wonderful mural to brighten up the alley!

view down an alley, a mural is on the right, a girl is walking down the alley

 

 

on the sunny side

Posted: September 15, 2016 in general Toronto
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a variety store on a corner of 2 streets in a mostly residential area. Green awning on one side of the building, an orange umbrella stands over the corner. sign on store says Sunshine Variety.

So excited!  So happy to be able to walk on the sunny side of the street and not be struck down by heat stroke!

below: You could say that we’re walking on cloud nine at the change of weather.

metal cutout figures of people walking, alongside a chainlink fence as part of an art installation

This past Sunday was a great day for a walk.  Luckily, it was also the day that Penny (author of ‘Walking Woman’ blog) and I had set aside to explore westward from Christie subway station.   Actually, we were going elephant hunting.  Well, it started off as an elephant hunt, but it turned into a treasure hunt – a treasure trove of Toronto quirkiness.

shadows of a railing along the side of a street with no sidewalk, just narrow space between the fence and the kerb, green bike lane. At the top of the photo is a shadow of a pedestrian walking, backpack on.

Eureka! As it turns out, it was also a great day for elephants to hang around outside.  This is Sally, a lifesize fiberglass elephant that stands nearly 3 metres tall.  She’s been standing here since 2003 and despite a little crack at the top of her trunk, she’s looking pretty good for her age.

a large white plaster? elephant stands in the frontyard of a house, tree beside it, bikes parked behind it. Residential street.

It was also a good day for gorillas to sit in trees.  A shout out to the man who was standing under this tree talking on his phone, oblivious to this furry creature above him.  The same man who gave me a strange look when I walked over with my camera, but then who shared a laugh with me when he too looked up and saw the monkey.

a large stuffed gorilla sits in the V formed by a tree trunk and a large branch of a tree, gorilla is wearing red boxing gloves.

Quirky treasures like woolly headed scarecrows.

a scarecrow in pink shirt and wooly hat stands high over a garden, between a garage and a fence in an alley.

below: Tartan columns holding up shady porches.

a shady porch at the front of a brick house with two columns painted in black and red tartan, or plaid.

below: Pet waint at Lansdowne subway station.

a sign that says pet waint on a sign that says Toronto in front of Lansdowne subway station entrance

below: A solitary dandelion in a lawn of astroturf. Even fake grass isn’t immune to the ubiquitous dandelion.

a single dandelion grows in a lawn of astroturf (fake grass) where it meets the concrete sidewalk

below:  We encountered many Little Free Library boxes.  This is not just a Toronto phenomenon and I’d have to say that it is beyond the “quirky” stage.  There is now a Little Free Library organization where you can register your library.  They claim to have over 40,000 registered libraries in over 70 countries.

a woman in a white baseball cap is reaching into a 'little free library' shelf of books outside a house

When I checked their website, I found a map of Toronto locations.   There are the libraries that are registered with the organization; I know that there are more than what is on this map.  What the map does show though is that these little libraries are numerous and that they are spread around a lot of the residential areas of the city.

map, from google maps, of the locations of little free libraries in the city,

below: Quick, get your Valentines Day roses while they’re still on sale!

a sign in front of a store selling plants and flowers that says Valentines Roses on sale, 10% off

below: The middle way, in case you’re lost?  There was a man standing there, the middle man so to speak, but he didn’t hang around long enough for me to get his picture.

two houses with a small walkway between them. Someone has written mid on one side and dle on the other so together they spell middle

below: Figures watching over a front yard, including angels and a buddha.

upper part of a statue of a young girl with decorated wall behind. Coloured picture of a biblical scene, 2 small angel statues and a buddha statue

below: And of course, what’s a Toronto walk without a lovebot?

lovebot and a lovebot nintendo gameboy on a wall above a graffiti bird with a word bubble that says everybody got a hungry heart

Near the end of our walk, we passed what is known as the Terracotta House.

house covered with terra cotta tiles with different designs on them. upper part of front of house

This house was built in 1905 by John Turner, a builder.  In the late 1800’s terra cotta tiles went out of style and there was a glut of them on the market.   Mr. Turner was using up excess stock that he had on hand?  Or advertising his business?  Or just taking advantage of a cheap material?   Whatever his motives, the house is still standing and is still a unique piece of architecture more than 100 years later.  I wonder what his wife thought of it?

house covered with terra cotta tiles with different designs on them.

detail of house covered with terra cotta tiles with different designs on them.

May all your walks, or cycles, be on the sunny side …

part of a mural called Strength in Numbers, on a wall, a painting of two cyclists. One is a black man with dreadlocks and the other is a woman in a polka dot dress with a box on the back of her bike.

… no matter how long they are!

an old tree trunk has been turned into a support for many little arrow shaped signs that point the direction to cities around the world along with how many kilometres it is to those cities.

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