Posts Tagged ‘omen514’

Dew Lang Lane and area

Posted: May 18, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
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Back in 2012, the city approved the naming of an alley… Dew Lang Lane.  You can find this lane just north of the Danforth near Donlands.  Prior to the legal change,  “Dew Lang” had been used as the unofficial name by local residents.  The name comes from parts of the two streets Dewhurst (Dew) and Langford (Lang) that the lane runs between.

a man walks through an alley, and parking lot

below: Omen514’s fist bump

mural of a fist bump on a garage, with a basketball hoop above it, alley,

below: “Turn the lights off and look to the sky”  by Jerry Rugg (aka Birdo) & Wales.

mural in alley,woman wearing sunglasses, text that says

alley scene, 2 murals, a wood fence, and the back of a brick house

below: Spud1 left his mark here along with the advice, “Live, Love, Paint”.

spud mural on a garage in an alley, with text, live, love, paint,

below: Signs of spring that can’t be held back

lilac bush over the top of a wood fence in a lane, full of pink blossoms, peak bloom

ivy covered pole and wires, no parking sign partially covered with vines too

truck parked in a lane, unloading from the back, lane has very tall tree, some fences and garages too,

below: In a very tight spot but bursting out.

a mature tree with large tree trunk wedged between the sides of two garages

below:  One of the latest trends in urban living is the laneway house.   They are popping up all over the place and this area is no exception.

black box shaped house, new infill housing in an alley

below: Another trend, this one in home renovations, is building upwards.  Adding a third floor or a rooftop deck is now common (and is often more noticeable from the back).

newly renovated house as seen from the alley behind, big new windows, and a new upper level

below: The repurposing of church buildings is another trend (albeit a bit older than the above two).  In this case, Temple Baptist Church, opened 1925, is now residential.   A small plaque in one corner of the building serves as a reminder of its original function.  From the application for heritage status for the building:  “Temple Baptist Church is a fine example of a revival of the Georgian Classical Style adapted for Post-Reformation churches in 18th century England.”  Not many Toronto churches were built in this style.

Temple Baptist Church, now condos

below: The central window with its leaded coloured glass and Credit Valley stone trim around the windows.

central window, with leaded coloured glass, of the old Temple Baptist Church, now condos, brick building from 1925.

old brick wall in alley, covered with graffiti in bright colours, yellow, blue and green

mural of a man bending down, lower part has been covered with a tag
two garage doors with urban art, on right is a strange looking woman with her tongue partially stuck out
mural in an alley, girl with pearl necklace and white wings

below: A beckoning summer scene, Muskoka chairs on the dock.  Have a seat and watch the sunlight play on the water.

mural of two muskoka chairs on a dock by the lake

below: Old black line drawings on old white garage.

black line drawings on old white garage
close up of black line drawing graffiti on white garage, with green vine growing over it

looking through chainlink fence to vacant lot with remains of construction site on it

looking through chainlink fence to construction site with wheelbarrow as well as black and orange cones, orange plastic rolled up

below: The new west entrance to Donlands subway station opens onto Dewhurst.

entrance to Donlands subway station, low brown building with glass front and sides

below: Inside

interior of new west entrance to Donlands subway station, white walls, wood accents, a window

interior of new west entrance to Donlands station, from landing in stairwell between street level and subway level, two women walking

sticker graffiti on a pole, a faded blue robot and a pink pigeon head

below: A second pigeon…. this one wear a cheerful bright red cap as he struts around

sticker graffiti on rusted metal, a pigeon wearing a bright red cap, standing,

stylized orange flower petals on a red wall, mural, around a window,

First 2025 visit to Graffiti Alley

Posted: January 23, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
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My previous post, “skateboard portraits” was from a walk down Graffiti Alley the other day.   This post contains more photos that I took that snowy afternoon… so, let’s take a look!

below: Uber 5000’s yellow bird is still walking his dog and singing a song on this side of this red brick building.  It’s at least 10 years old?  The black and grey portrait on the right is much newer.

Graffiti Alley street art paintings, many, including uber 5000 walking dog and singing,

below: Profile portrait by TheHalfDecent

Graffiti Alley street art painting, profile portrait of woman in black and purple, car parked in front of it

below: “Let them drink beer”, a stencil from D. Terra

below:  A 33wallflower33 pasteup in the foreground, with a corner of one of Nick Sweetman’s bird murals in the background.

pasteup by 33wallflower33, a black and white vintage photo of a woman, cut to oval shape, on a red surface. graffiti alley, a mural by nick sweetman is in the background, a blue bird in flight

below: A collaboration between Nick Sweetman and Shanehuss produced this drippy, melting jaw portrait.

street art mural, calligraphy in grey tones is the background, man's portrait with red skin, purple hat, metal frame glasses, the bottom part of the face is either washing away or melting.

below: The top portion of ” RIP King Reign & Son of Soul” remains.  This tribute mural was painted by Elicser Elliott and Omen514.  I am not sure who is responsible for the newer painting on the bottom, the one in yellows and blues.  That’s probably a ‘signature’ in the bottom left but I don’t recognize it.

Graffiti Alley street art painting, 2 men wearing caps, King Reign and Son of Soul tribute mural, also a uber5000 little yellow bird with a tea cup in his hand

part of King Reign and Son of Soul tribute mural by Elicser Elliott and Omen 514, with newer abstract mural covering the bottom part

below: Graffiti Alley in the snow.

graffiti alley in the snow

below: Sun of Aquarius (aka Andre Mandela Lopez) painted this naked figure with brown wings and bird mask

in an alley, exterior stairs to upper level balcony in alcove with two sides painted with murals, including one by sun of aquarius

below: A pole covered with knit squares while T-bonez is shushing you.

Graffiti Alley street art painting, on wall, pole in front of wall that is covered with knit squares, also a pasteup of urban ninja squadron, t bonez

below: A pointy nosed, long snouted dog by Mr. Myl, aka Luis Casas, who was originally from Havana Cuba.

mr myl street art painting in graffiti alley, on bright pink background, an orange and yellow dog with log snout and orange teeth, small ears, sitting position

below: Another Mr. Myl dog, this one with its blue eyes popping out.   I don’t think that it’s because of the woman next to him.  “Para mi Tita” is Spanish for “For my aunt”.

mr myl street art painting in graffiti alley, on bright pink background, an orange and yellow dog with log snout and orange teeth, small ears, sitting position, beside a portrait of a woman holding a large calla lily, with text

below: Blue haired woman by April Showers

below: And another blue haired woman…..

below: … and a third.  I think that I see a trend.  Methinks April Showers likes blue hair.

grey car parked in parking lot at end of alley, murals painted on the walls, stickers cover the signs

below: An anti-camera, anti-photographer image, “Gimmy a break, clik, clik, clik” featuring uber 5000’s yellow bird and blue cat, with the Pink Panther is a supporting role.   Love the red specs!

street art on a wall by stairs, pink panther, uber 5000 yellow bird, tags, also uber 5000 complaints about photographers

below:  Poser bunny in red

street art, red poser bunny

below: He (she?) seems puzzled by the snow?!

a young person with short dark hair, and a yellow t shirt, mural in graffiti alley

below: Is it a man or is it a chicken?  A red headed cigarette smoking, spray painting character by Tuffytats

street art painting by tuffytats

below: This one looks more like a chicken should look, so fowl.

below: An environmental message – “Got mercury?” from a non-profit group trying to raise awareness of the impact of mercury poisoning on indigenous communities.

graffiti on a wall, yellow bird from uber5000, red and turquoise character with devil horns and furry hair

graffiti alley in the winter, snowing, some snow on the ground

below: Good Luck!

street art painting, green background, a red apple sitting on 2 books, an arrow runs through the apple

graffiti alley mural, guitar player, red guitar, also an elicser elliott piece of a person wearing a rabbit hat

below: Another 33wallflower33 vintage woman.

graffiti on a wall including woman in bikini by 33 wallflower 33.

below: Chubby purple cheeks gives a thumbs up

street art painting of a large purple monster face

below: Still reaching out and trying to touch someone…..

old telephone booth in graffiti alley

street art mural, asian woman with purple hair tied up on top of her head with glowing lantern

graffiti on a wall including a red heart with J + J written in the middle

a mural is a mural is a ?

Posted: December 4, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Recently I saw a blogTO article about “A massive Overwatch mural” that was being painted on King Street West.  I was curious so off I went to check it out.

below: Here is the mural.   Yes it’s big, but massive no.  When I think massive I think Phlegm’s mural at Yonge and St. Clair, or Adrian Hayles music murals near Yonge and College.   And whoa, what’s that in the bottom right corner?  This is an ad for a video game and this is a picture of Karya, one of the characters.   Under the heading of ‘you never know where things are going to lead’ – Overwatch is a multi-player team game where competitions are held and prizes won.  There is an Overwatch World Cup which was won by South Korea in both 2016 and 2017.  This year there was a Canadian team and they came second.  Yeah Canada!

mural on the side of a building with words join us overwatch. Blizzard entertainment is the sponsor. character from the game is featured.

below: Around the corner is another mural.  This one is painted onto the side of an old brick building by Omen514.  As you can see, it is part of the most recent ad campaign by Sick Kids Hospital to raise 1.3 billion dollars to rebuild the hospital starting with the building at Elm and Elizabeth streets.  The black and white of the mural matches the black and white of the video advertising.   Omen514 had help from Nick Sweetman, Earth Crusher, Poser, and Five S, all of whom are street artists as well.

mural on the side of an old building, black and white, by omen, an ad for Sick Kids hospital, 4 sick kids waiting for treatment.

below: … And another mural in the same neighbourhood.  This one is on the side of the Kiin restaurant (Thai) and as you can see, the name of the restaurant is in the mural.  Again, street art but not street art.  Whatever you choose to call it, it’s much more appealing than a blank grey wall.

mural on the side of Kiin restaurant, a purple elephant standing beside a river with four boats, flowers growing beside the river.

below:  Businesses, such as Champs Food Supplies pictured here, have been using murals to draw attention to themselves for a long time.

older small building Champs Food Supplies Ltd with a large new condo behind it, red car parked beside it, mural on the side wall

below:  It is still standing even as it’s being dwarfed by the condo developments around it.

older small building Champs Food Suplies Ltd with a large new condo behind it, red car parked beside it, mural on the side wall

below: And even farther back in time – This is the MacLean building that was built in 1914 (designed by George Wallace Gouinlock).  It is at 345 Adelaide St. West, and the sign is on the east side of building.   Hugh C. MacLean publications  was founded in 1909 by Hugh Cameron MacLean.  It published mostly trade journals such as ‘Footwear in Canada’. The company was bought by the Southam family and become Southam-Macleans… and then finally Southam Business Publications in 1964.  As it turns out, there were two MacLeans brothers in the publishing business,  Hugh and brother John Bayne MacLean who founded the MacLean publishing company that would eventually become MacLean Hunter – the home of MacLeans magazine before it was swallowed up by Rogers Media.

 

old brick building on Adelaide street, parking lot beside, cars in front, up on top storey (of 6) is an old ghost sign,two in one, one for Hugh C. Macleans publications and another that is too faded to read

below: This ghost sign is actually a double.    The words ‘head office’ can be seen by the word MacLean and there is a box to the left of that.  The number 33 is on the box and obviously means something.  I haven’t been able to decipher the rest of the sign.

old ghost sign,two in one, one for Hugh C. Macleans publications and anther that is too faded to read

And then there is street art that is just that, decorations on a wall.

mral on a low wall, two orange safety markes in front,

After I took the above photos and before I had finished writing this blog post, I came across another Sick Kids fundraising murals by the same artists as the one above.

below: Looking north up Broadview at Thompson street, just north of Queen.

mural on the side of an old building, black and white, by omen, an ad for Sick Kids hospital, 4 sick kids waiting for treatment.

below: The central portion of the mural.

mural on the side of an old building, black and white, by omen, an ad for Sick Kids hospital, 4 sick kids waiting for treatment.
below: In the mural the kids are collecting pieces of lumber, pipes, and concrete blocks.   This is similar to the ad where kids are “running through city streets and alleyways, gathering building materials and running to an empty piece of land ready for construction.” (source)

mural on the side of an old building, black and white, by omen, an ad for Sick Kids hospital, 4 sick kids waiting for treatment.