Posts Tagged ‘Murals by Marg’

Miriam Garfinkle

Posted: October 29, 2026 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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… is an all that is north of Bloor, between Christie and Bathurst. Recently a group of artists painted quite a few of the garage doors here. “Flight of the Winged Ones” was the theme of this Laneway Mural Jam and it was dedicated to the memory of Miriam Garfinkle. The following photos are the murals that can now be seen in this lane – in no particular order.

two women painting a street art mural on a garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane

below: This is Adrian Hayles‘ contribution to the project. Miriam Garfinkle (1954–2018) lived on Barton Avenue, in a house which backs onto this laneway, from 2000 to 2018. She lived and worked in this community for most of her life.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane

below: Sebas Perez Vicentini painted this colourful mural with two long necked birds.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane by Sebas Perez Vincenti

below: A photographer takes pictures of birds and owls in a mural by April Grace and [sorry but I couldn’t read the name].

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane by April Grace

below: “Flight of the Winged Ones” title mural.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, purple owl in flight

below: Birch trees by the water by Joe Rich

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Joe rich, landscape with birch trees and water

below: Julia Harper’s thunderbird of the heavens

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Julia Harper, stars in night sky, thunderbird in the heavens

below: An archer concentrating hard on her red bow and arrow, by Hyunsun Park

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Hyunsun Park, female archer with red bow and arrow, taking a shot, concentrating

below: Chickadees by Nick Sweetman [This is actually an artwork from a few years ago].

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Nick Sweetman, chickadees

below: Gimun Ryu – A woman and her birds.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Gimun Ryu, a woman with open hand and pink birds flying towards her

below: A very stylized graphic-like rendition of birds at a cluster of bird feeders by Gust of Wind Studio (aka Mateusz Napieralski)

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, Gust of Wind Studioak a Mateusz Napieralski

below: Garages between Clinton and Manning Streets,

street art murals on many garage doors in Miriam Garfinkle Lane,

below: EGR‘s angel with a butterfly

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by EGR, an angel and a butterfly

below: ‘Kaktukopunjej’ by Veronica Orozco, in memory of Layton Stevens.

mural by Veronica Orozco, woman sitting against tree trunk while looking out over a lake, swallow flying past, against a setting sun, or it could be the moon, red handprint on woman's cheek, bird nest in tree, stars in sky

below: BJR, aka Bradley Reinhardt with a lively collection of birds in a tree – blue jay, robin, owl, cardinal, and more. A smiling grey bear and a fox are under the tree and Canada Geese are flying by. A green snake lurks under the tree.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, a lively collection of birds in a tree - blue jay, robin, owl, cardinal, and more. A smiling grey bear and a fox are under the tree and Canada Geese are flying by. A green snake lurks under the tree.

below: A blue Owl and a cardinal (with its foot in the door handle).

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Bradley Reinhardt, a blue owl and a red northern cardinal

below: Ohlordyitsjulia aka Julia Louise Pereira chose a nighttime scene of blue birds flying over rooftops in the city.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Julia Pereira, night scene in city, with birds flying around

below: The large orange bird (Phoenix?) was painted by Esky.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane,

below: Scofy Wallz, nature in the city.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Scofy Wallz, woman's portrait, Toronto skyline with lake and CN tower, birds, butterfly, milkweed

below: Faces among the hummingbirds and bright flowers, by Cocreation Art (aka Danielle Hyde).

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Danielle Hyde, faces, hummingbirds and flowers

below: More birds! Painting by Shoreland Arts, (aka Thelia Shelton).

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Thelia Shelton

below: A closer look at the birds perched on blue branches.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, pink and yellow birds on blue branches, Shoreland Arts

below: A fawn prances through the night sky, a nighttime apparition among the stars.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, night sky, stars, fawn

below: A whimsical look at a fat striped caterpillar who in turn is looking at the butterflies as they flit among the milkweed and goldenrod…. by Anderkaya (aka Sarah Whang).

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Sarah Whang
woman taking pictures of street art murals on garage doors in Miriam Garfinkle Lane,

below: A slightly creepy winged insect that resembles a tiger face… with many eyes! As you can see, the artist was Shalak (aka Shalak Attack)

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Shalak Attack

below: The chickadees are breaking free! … by Murals by Marg,

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Murals by Marg, chickadees

below: Talie Shalmon painted a red wing blackbird and her nest of 3 blue eggs.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Talie Shalmon, s large red wing blackbird flying towards a nest withthree blue eggs in it

below: A pair of indigenous art style birds.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, indigenous art, birds

below: A big bee checks out a few flowers

below: Cedar Eve, strawberries, blueberries and a couple of strange faces.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Cedar Eve

below: A very large bat flying over the garden, by Trina Moyan

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Trina Moyan, a large bat flies over a garden

below: The purple painting on the right was the contribution of nshtsh (aka Nishina)

a few street art murals on garage doors in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, including a purple one by Nishina

below: A cedar waxwing and a butterfly, by Miguel Albino.

Miguel Albino, street art mural, cedar waxwing bird and a butterfly, on a wood fence in Miraim Garfinkle lane
street art mural, birch trees, with orange circle in the middle, faces in the circle, feathers too
two women paintingstreet art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane,

below: mmm

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by DJNU, a bird with a crested head
two men working on garages and back fence, surrounded by street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane,

With apologies to the artists whose names I didn’t know.

ending on Dufferin

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