Posts Tagged ‘paint’

politics, hearts, and just because ….

Posted: December 18, 2022 in graffiti and street art
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Let me tell u …  about the graffiti that I’ve seen recently

in front of a very blue wall, a yellow bollard with three stickers on it. The phrase let me tell you is written on the three stickers

Little voices that protest ….

below: Such as “cars ruin cities” stickers.

sticker on a metal utility pole on Lansdowne, black with grey text that says cars ruin cities

Or protests of a more political nature ….

below: Doug Ford Resign.  (But you know he never will, no matter how low the Conservatives go).

pink sticker on a black metal railing, hashtag doug ford resign, mention of twitter and facebook, #dougfordresign

Of course not all graffiti is a protest against something. Sometimes it’s hard to discern any reason for it!  But often the variety and scope of eccentric and creative ideas makes finding
expression
Taking the time to produce and spread.

stickers on a metal utility pole, two are urban ninja squadron, and one has a red silhouette on concentric circles of yellow and white

stickers on a pole, one is portrait of man with black gold eyes and large fangs for teeth, the other is a cartoon like drawing of a roman soldier in orange

below: “Love is love” in a whole new way.  Can anyone pass by here and not take the time to read it?  Whether you think it’s stupid or it’s profound doesn’t really matter.  Someone thought that it was worth their time and effort to produce it.

spray painted in black, stenciled text on concrete wall beside outdoor stairwell that says love is love spelled backwards then spelled backwards again

below: Some love is quiet, hidden, in small hearts in places most people don’t see

small sticker on the back of a traffic sign that started as a hello my name is sticker, small yellow heart on itPink hearts to put a smile on your face.

a pink heart painted on a concrete barrier

pink heart stenciled onto a concrete support, with a spray paint black happy face beside it

below: So simple yet so happy.

black facial features, closed eyes and smiley mouth, graffiti on concrete railing support

below: In the “just because” category

two stickers on a pole, on top is black and white tag like drawing. one on bottom is four little characters in pink with outline and features in darker colours

small sticker of an animal drawn in black and blue, partially ripped, on a black metal litter collection box on sidewalk

below: Some references are obscure.  Pulp machete?

black drawing of a man's portrait, wearing hat, text underneath says pulp machete

below: “Revolutionary change for a dollar”?

spray painted in black, stenciled text on concrete barrier beside parking lot says revolutionary change for a dollar

below: “We are living in a simulation.”   These days simulation theorists are a digitized dime a dozen (I stole that line from a ‘Wired’ magazine article).  We can’t know that we don’t live in a simulation so no one is going to win or lose that argument, and besides, what difference would it make?  There are still people who don’t believe in evolution; maybe God’s hand is on the joystick.  We’ll never know.   Whatever your beliefs, credit to Mrbrandnu for the graffiti.

spray painted in black, stenciled text on concrete barrier beside parking lot says we are living in a simulation

I’m going to end this blog post on a hot and fiery, but mysterious, note – the next few are stencils with a red flame theme.  I’d love to know who the artist is.  Let me know if you know!

spray painted in black, stencil of spray paint can with red flames coming out of it

stencil, red flames, black paint roller

stencil, two red flames, a black silhouette of a bird in flight, on a wall of an abandoned building covered with ivy and other green overgrowth

stencil of a black rose with red flames coming off the top of it. Petals on fire

Elicser and Sweetman at West Lodge

Posted: December 15, 2022 in graffiti and street art
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Along a wall beside the playground at 103 and 105 West Lodge is a mural painted by Elicser Elliot and Nick Sweetman a couple of years ago.   It’s theme is the outdoors and it includes scenes like kids playing baseball, people reading and sitting outside, as well as people planting gardens.  There are also lots of animals – a large dragonfly shows off its wings, bees fly by, squirrels hoard nuts, a robin pulls a pink worm out of the ground, and a very large hedgehog sniffs the flowers.

below: Hedgehog covered with thousands of protective spikes.

large hedgehog in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman

below: Playing baseball and keeping an eye on the bees

outdoors theme mural on wall at west lodge ave apartment buildings, parkdale

behind some trees, elicser elliot mural

large bee in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman

below: An encounter with a skunk

woman in blue uniform sitting on ground beside large skunk, kids watching her

below: Playing with friends.  Great dunk shot!

mural by elicseer elliott, people outside, two boys playing basketball,

part of a mural along a wall by elicser elliot, a girl with a white head scarf holds a large orange flower. winter time, snow on the ground

below: This robin has found very large worm

mural, nick sweetman, brown dog standing beside a large robin that is pulling a pink worm out of the ground

mural, boy outside, kneeling on grass and playing with large pink worm, another boy is hiding behind a tree

corner of wall, interior angle, with mural painted on it, kids outside

below: A blue dragonfly with translucent wings

blue bodied dragonfly in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman, 103 West Lodge Ave., wall, snow on the ground, beside some large trees

elicser elliott mural, three kids outside, one in purple top and orange shorts sitting against tree, reading a book.

below: A black squirrel and a grey squirrel and thousands of nuts!

mural, outside, close up of a black squirrel and a grey squirrel and their piles of nuts

two people sitting in a garden, part of a mural on a wall, one person in a green t shirt is planting a small green twig in the brown dirt, the other person is female and has a purple head scarf

portion of wall painted by Elicser Elliot and Nick Sweetman, people outside,

snow covered playground with one wall covered in a mural painted by elicser elliott and nick sweetman

snowy morning on Queen West

Posted: March 20, 2022 in alleys, graffiti and street art, landmarks, stores
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… and Graffiti Alley

stencil graffiti, words that say met u in toronto written twice in a circle around a happy face, yellow on black, sprayed on a brick wall in Graffiti Alley

in Graffiti Alley, on a door, a big pink heart with love written in cursive through the middle of it

below: Northeast corner of Spadina and Queen West

northeast corner of Spadina and Queen in a snow flurry,

early morning, storefronts on Queen West, fruit market, empty store, lots of cardboard boxes on sidewalk waiting for trash pickup

below: Mannequins on orange

mannequins in Joe Fresh window, orange background, kids clothes

sidewalk scene on Queen West, bus shelter with Queen West advert, green P parking sign, some stores,

below: Queen Street westbound approaching Bathurst

TTC streetcar westbound on Queen West approaching Bathurst, snow falling, other cars waiting for red light,

below: It’s always nice to see that there’s at least one Lovebot still hanging out in Graffiti Alley.

in Graffiti Alley, a lovebot pasteup up hgh, love bot and a bunch of balloons

below: On the door, a jumblefacefoto collage

jumblefacefoto collage paper pasteup on door in graffiti alley in the middle of a text throw up street art

below: Reach out and touch someone

Bell phone booth covered with stickers, plus a fake bony hand holding onto the receiver, in Graffiti Alley

below: Open your eyes

brick wall with paper pasteup graffiti, open your eyes, a jumblefacefoto

below: Are you smiling?  Are you happy?

old KFC building, empty, with graffiti painted on wood leaning against the building, black letters on white that say In a passive society smiles are not the faces of happy people R "2022"

TTC streetcar at Queen and Spadina, in the snow

an older couple walking on sidewalk on Queen West waiting for greenlight at Bathurst by taccorito restaurant

below: Southeast corner, Queen & Niagara

early morning, yellow lights on in plant store on Queen West, a woman walking past,

below: Same intersection slightly later in the morning and from a slightly different angle

people on the sidewalk at queen west and niagara, traffic lights, woman pushing stroller, Japanese mural in the background, chive plant store in the foreground

two storefronts in old brick building, Queen West, Park Avenue Cleaners and Shanti Baba

photograph on exterior of store, group of people standing together, number 789 Queen West is next door

t bonez urban ninja squadron paste up of him in yoga pose

mural of a naked upper body with arms up and flowers around the head with words turn off your mind

below: Windigo Army piece

street art painting of an indigenous man with long black braid, wrapped in a white and black blanket, with yellow and red aura around him

below: A little orange character pasted to a pole; the work of kode_dipz aka Kyara Cabrera Fong

kode 905 slap graffiti little orange character with green face and tummy, on a pole

below: Because of the construction of a new condo at Richmond and Augusta there has been scaffolding in a section of Graffiti Alley. The other day some of it was being dismantled. This woman is more visible now but some of the bars remain.

mural of a woman with a cloth covering her head, behind scaffolding bar,

below: Life©️ one eyed red daisy supersized

black and orange traffic pylons beside the entrance to Graffiti Alley with a red one eyed daisy painting by life co beside it, then a row of paintings on hoardings

graffiti and street art on plywood hoardings that got switched around

4 faces found in different pieces of street art, all cartoonish, including a one eyed pink monster with oozing body,

below: Part of UBER5000’s Toronto mural.

large uber5000 Toronto mural in Graffiti alley, lower portion of it, behind chainlink fence

below: By luvs – a woman and her dog, with duplicate vision

part of a mural by luvs of a woman's head and a bulldog beside her, duplicate eyes and sunglasses that she's looking over, on a garage door in rush lane

two women walking their dogs in a snow storm on Spadina

from inside, a man walks past window of Le Gourmand bakery cafe on Spadina

below: A properly worn mask…..

window of flashback vintage, a mannequin in brown jacket and blue dress, mask needed sign on door

a collection of dolls in a store window with yellow metal grille in front

What is creepier?  Dolls or mannequins?

two images of mannequins in a window, one in pink and the other in red with red hair, both with large bows in their hair

below: Poetaia wants to know what you’re up to, wink, wink.

sticker graffiti on a wood utility pole that says What are your plans for the weekend?

below: Peeling paper makes the gold words difficult to read

grid of painted paper on top of street art, peeling at edges

below: There’s a yellow eye and possibly a blue one too?

paper collage face with yellow eye,slightly peeling at the edges

two mailboxes on a black door, 555 is salmon colour and 557 is black

two stickers on a metal pole on the topis a picture of a man's head with word think and on bottom is t bonez with finger over mouth as in saying shhh shush

small sticker graffiti on pole

small black and white sticker graffiti on pole, picture of man in a mask holding shoulders of a woman

El Mocambo Lane

Posted: November 2, 2021 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The El Mocambo, a Spadina landmark since 1948 has had a makeover

new sign for El Mocambo Tavern on Spadina, palm tree with LED flashing lights in the leaves and neon lights spelling the name of the tavern on the trunk of the tree

… including a new sign to go with its renovations.  It has just re-opened after being closed since 2014.

The alley behind the tavern has been spruced up a bit too – 24 new murals have been painted over the past few weeks all within the theme of “Grit”

street art on the back of the El Mocambo tavern

street art black and white indigenous girl in first nations clothing, black and white stencil

below: Elicser Elliott’s painting of the back of a building, with a masked and hooded horseman to the left.

mural by elicser on back of building in alley

below: Road runner and coyote, still together

upper levels of apartments and businesses on College street as seen from alley behind, some street art, a painting of the road runner, and elicser mural, lots of stairs,

below: Doorway painted by Adore

street art on recessed doorway by adore, text tag throw up of adore plus winged green man

below: Circular calligraphy by kreecha

street art by kreecha circles of ornate calligraphy, white in the center, then a red ring, then a pink ring, surrounded by white on black

below: A Poser street scene

mural in El Mocambo Lane by poser, houses on a street with his tag below

below: Devilish art

street art in El Mocambo Lane, grit laneway, blue text tag with little orange devil diving into it. devil wearing only a white diaper

street art murals in el mocambo lane

below: An older man sits on a bench watching the pigeons, a painting by Steam.

murals and street art in el mocambo lane, man on a bench with pigeons,

part of a mural of a realistic older man with balding grey hair, sitting on a bench with his cap in one of his hands

below: Archer in the city with a loaded paint brush, part of a mural by Keitha Keeshig Tobias

female archer with arrow as a paint brush dripping with pink paint, street art in a toronto lane

upper part of a mural, city at night with tall buildings and lit windows, pink blob

below: Oh oh!  Little pink guy seems to have broken through…. painting by Skero

cat mural in el mocambo lane, cat wearing green coat, pink flowers and some white smiling bunnies too

pink smiling flowers and a white smiling rabbit in a mural

street art painting of a grey woman

stuff in alley, a mop, circular mirror, wood pallet

This project had the support of the city’s StreetARToronto program, the Chinatown BIA, as well as local businesses including El Mocambo and Gwartzman’s Art Supplies. It was led by Amos Danniels (a.k.a. ‘SIGHT’) as its co-curator and project manager along with Project Coordinator Nishina Loft.

Water is Life

Posted: October 7, 2021 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
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Women Paint Riverside
“Currents of Change”

the word life painted on a fence white letters on blue background

the word life painted on a fence white letters on blue background with small flowers painted all over it.

below: The faucet is on and water pours into a glass.  Interesting lively water, full of colours and patterns in this mural by Kirsten McCrea

lift truck beside wall with new mural of a glass of water in many colours and patterns,

below: A large mural by Mo Thunder.  Follow the link to her website for more information about the mural – a mother and child lying side by side forming the land as water swirls around them.

the word life painted on a fence white letters on blue background

part of a mural by Mo Thunder on Broadview Ave of a mother and child lying in water, child has plants in her hand, mother earth theme, water theme

artist, Mo Thuner, on a ladder painting details on a mural with a small paint brush

murals in an alley

below: White flowers on a watery blue background by Julia Prajza

large white flower painted in a mural, on a blue watery background, ladder sitting in front of it, step stool with a can of spray paint

below: Invasive species such as phragmites in the Don Valley, by Merryn

metal stair cases, exterior of a variety store, laneway, bike, garbage bins, artist on a ladder painting a mural

below: Rabbit and deer having to contend with out of control greenery, possibly dog-strangling vine. Phragmites are reeds, those tall perennial grasses that grow very tall.

part of a mural by Merryn about invasive species in the Don Valley, a pink rabbit and a pink deer having to contend with out of control greenery

below: Raccoons frolic in the water and raccoons sit by the shore.  Even one raccoon spray painting a rock, naughty raccoon!  Mural by Emily May Rose.

below: by Haenahhh.  Arms around each other

part of a mural, a couple standing by a lake with arms around each other, seen from the back

below: Hands reaching out in a mural by Claire Browne,

murals behind Queen Street East, Riverside, Toronto, behind stores, water theme, blue, Women Paint Riverside,

black hand, large painted, mural, at bottom of metal exterior stairs and under a window with metal bars, part of a mural with water and plants

tall green plants in a mural by Claire Browne

below: Victoria Day‘s mural – what looks a bit like a blue water serpent but is actually a dragon flying high above us in the sky.

two murals in a Toronto alley, on the left, all in blue tones, a water serpent, very big and rising out of the water. on the right, a long horizontal lake scene with a pink border

below: In the pink is written, “A persistent drop of water will wear away the hardest stone.”

on a wood fence in an alley, a lake scene mural with pink border

below: by Scarbrite Collective (brightening the streets of Scarborough), aka Frannie Potts and Sylvie with help from Memengwaa Kwe Originals aka Caterina.

a woman backlit by large round white moon is holding an infant in the air, woman has long dark hair, sky is pink

laneway mural by Scarbrite Collective and Memengwaa Originals, a mother lifts her baby up backlit by full moon on a pink sky

part of a mural in an alley covers fence and a door in the fence, wood, painting of a landscape scene with water, green shrubs, a tree, and night sky with stars

below: Love not hate.  A blue raccoon stealthily walks across a roof above a mural that was painted by participants in this year’s Girls Mural Camp (a three week program in the summer for teenage girls).

murals in a lane in Riverside near Queen and Broadview, Toronto. raccoon on upper story approaching a window, night scene on lower floor with bird silhoutted by full moon

below: The other part of the Girls Mural Camp project.

on a garage door in an alley, a mural of a blue faced women with swirly white and blue hair, flowers in her hair

murals in an alley

below: by Moonlight Murals Collective

three water women mural on a wall

part of a mural with theme of water, blue woman dancing with eyes clsed

part of mural, pale blue legs and bare feet walking in swirling water

below: Three heads that seem wrapped by a fish, mural by Cedar Eve

below: Eyes closed

long haired creature with just eyes showing, long pink and red hair on a blue fence

below: The Girls Mural Camp 2020 mural is in the same alley.

girls camp mural in an alley near Hamilton Street in Toronto, poster like pictures connected with white lines like a schmetic drawing

blue raccoon painted on wall above a garbage can

NOTE: There is also an installation by monicaonthemoon on the back of the Broadview Hotel that is part of this project but I have given it a separate blog post – Hands, Florests, and Minds.

With support from:

Eastend Arts

Women Paint

Native Women in the Arts (NWIA)

Riverside BIA

StreetARToronto

Cabbagetown graffiti and street art

Posted: May 26, 2021 in graffiti and street art
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below: A new TTC streetcar on a Toronto street, a mural by Colin Tea

a mural of a toronto street with a TTC streetcar on it, over two garage doors in a small Cabbagetown lane

below: Another Colin Tea mural, a larger than life raccoon looms over a city neighbourhood

a mural of a larger than life raccoon standing over houses, by Colin Tea, in a lane with other garages

below: CN Tower and Toronto skyline on a very blue sky

mural of blue birds flying above blue sky and CN tower and toronto skyline, exterior wall with a door in it

below: A Tokyo Meow

mural of a black and white car with pink inner ear saying meow, mural signed bu tokyo on a wall with two barred windows

below: Lovebot and the city beside a woman in square glasses and black flats.

A small paste up on a brick wall, black and white drawing of a woman in black flats, shorts, sleeveless top, square glasses, and long black hair. There is also a lovebot sticker nearby, an egg timer with red heart on top and city of Toronto skyline on the bottom

below: Two faces, one in better shape than the other

peeling paste up on a wall beside a mural of a face in purple and green tones

paper paste up on a wall that is badly peeling around the edges, an abstract face with blue nose and yellow skin
below: Another drawing paste-up that is peeling around the edges.  They are rather intriguing and I wish that I had seen them when they were whole.

below: T-bonez as the boy wonder, Urban Ninja Squadron

a man walks past a black and white urban ninja squadron sticker, T bonez dressed as robin and another character dresses as Batman

below: T-bonez with Timmy Drift

urban ninja squadron sticker, weathered and a bit faded, on a pole with red and yellow stripes
below: Horny and green with big white teeth

green dragon or monster head on a blue garage door, big white eyes, horns, big mouth with white teeth

mural on a brick wall in white and turquoise of a stylized head divided into sections,

below: Email God – church’s closed, 2021

written in black on plywood hoardings is email god church's closed 2021

below: You are not your mistakes

mural of a seated woman on a brick wall, an advert for Benjamin Moore paint

dogs, and more, by the dog park

Posted: May 14, 2021 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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On Gerrard Street East, beside a parkette, is a grey concrete building that has been brightened by some paintings by Spud1 and kreech9 (and others?)

beside a park, a two storey concrete building with murals of dog portraits on the first storey, between the windows

red car parked in front of a body shop with a mural on the side of its building. Black and white dog in mural with black fuzzy ears, sunglasses and a Toronto baseball cap

part of a mural, a grey dog's face


part of a mural, a furry small dog's face in shades of brown with black nose and eyes, blue and orange spudbomb stencils under the dog, also words say #spud1. Pink and blue swirls for background

part of a mural, orange and white animal face with other symbols and abstracts

in the foreground, part of mural with blue, green, and yellow swirls. A hot dog with wiggly line of mustard down the center of the wiener is on top of the swirls

….And around the corner, past a pile of tires, is a wall of flowers, a happy face, and a rainbow.

a pile of tires in an alley across from a white wall painted with lots of colourful flowers, stylized form

painted, large 6 petal pink flower with yellow triangles at central edge, and an orange hexagon center, on same wall, a green happy face

alleyway with metal exterior stairs to upper floor, a pile of tires, and a wall full of colourful flowers and a rainbow

looking up an alley with a mural on the left and a chainlink fence with lots of saplings on the right

two new murals at Yonge & Sheppard

Posted: September 30, 2020 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Today’s post features two new murals near Yonge and Sheppard

below: Looking towards the tall buildings southwest corner of Yonge & Sheppard including the green Emerald condos with their curled tops.

Emrald condos and development at the southwest corner of Yonge and Shephard

below: Backside of the Sheppard bus station which is where I found….

back of outside part of Shephard Subway station with a bus waiting by building, and an out of service bus parked towards the side, tall buildings of Yonge and Shephard area in the background

“Flock Together” by KJ BIT Collective

mallard duck in water and woodpecker on tree, part of Flock Together, a mural by Jieun June Kim and Erica James

These colourful birds were painted by Jieun June Kim and Erica James with the support of StreetARToronto and the city.

two birds in a mural by K J Bit Collective

part of a mural by K J Bit Collective, mallard duck in water, goldfinch, and a cardinal in front of a pink building

below: The older two storey storefronts on the west side of Yonge street reflected in the new windows of the updated Yonge Sheppard Centre on the east side.

reflections in the window of Winners store at Yonge and Shephard, shows low rise older brick storefronts on the other (west) sideof Yonge

below: Continuing northwards, there is this large hole in the ground on Yonge at Spring Garden.

a large hole in the ground, construction at Yonge and Spring Garden, old Legion building in the right, tall North York buildings in the background

below: And here we find another new mural (painted earlier in September I think) also painted by two artists.

two murals on the side of a building in a small alley in North York

below: On the righthand side, the artist was @rowellsoller

part of a mural of a black man with wavy white hair, blue text graffiti, and a yellow circle

below:  “Make me smile” with a ‘free flowing water queen’ with pink curls by @rowdyradrat aka Ian Gabriel is the other half of the mural.

words, make me smile, and a Japanese looking face on a mural in an alley

Luttrell Loop Lane murals

Posted: August 27, 2020 in graffiti and street art
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Almost two years ago, inthe fall of 2018, a group of artists brightened up Luttrell Loop Lane with some murals.  Luttrell Loop Lane is on Danforth, just west of Victoria Park.

below: A marvelous blue portrait by luvsomone

in blue tones, on a garage door, a portrait by luvsomone of a face with closed eyes

below: A partially hidden face in a mural by Anya Mielniczek

partially hidden by bushes and plants, a face street art mural by anya mielniczek

below: Unveiled

revealed, when branches moved away, partially hidden by bushes and plants, a face street art mural by anya mielniczek

a mural on a garage door by anya mielniczek of a face

below: The imagination of Al Runt and the characters that it produces is on display in this mural.

part of an Al Runt mural on a fence, orange background with lots of his typical characters in bright colours

mural of a large white bird, swan?, heron?, stork?, with wings in position as if about to fly, large yellow flowers

below: The garage at the corner gets four murals.  On the garage door is a moon over a little house by Jieun June Kim.  Beside it, Bomi has painted a mural using linear shapes (for lack of a better word to describe it).

at the intersection of a street and an alley, a garage with street art on all sides facing road, with four different murals on it

below: The whimsical and funny raccoons of Emily May Rose help with the gardening.

a raccoon mural, raccoon with watering can, gardening and looking after plants

teal raccoon in a mural looking at a plant growing in a white planter

mural on a garage door of purplish figures, looks very first nations-like

below: A skateboarder on her way to somewhere important, by Kim Therese Dolan

mural on a yellow fence of a person on a skateboard with a bag in one hand, by kim therese dolan

sign on a yellow wood fence that says beware of dog, a black squirrel is sitting on top of the fence

This project was supported by The Laneway Project

Bathurst to Christie thereabouts

Posted: May 2, 2020 in alleys, construction, doors, graffiti and street art, windows and walls
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Yesterday’s meandering walk around a neighbourhood was a loop from Bathurst subway station.

below: So happy to see this pair yesterday! When I was walking down Yonge street a few days ago, they passed me and I didn’t notice until they were out of camera range.

large shaggy brown dog sitting in a motorcycle sidecar, wearing sunglasses

You can’t talk about Bloor and Bathurst without mentioning the redevelopment of Mirvish Village.

construction site

two cranes at a construction site

below: Purple door

purple door in an alley, between two garage doors

below: Pale blue door

light blue door with peeling paint, beside wall with old red tar paper shingles

below: Pink, well probably faded red, door – and yes, it became a game of how many different coloured doors could I find.   It looks too small doesn’t it?

faded red, now pink, door on a white house, dirty and greyish stucco on the exterior, small bit of grass in front, one way sign on the utility pole in front of the house.

below: Dobgoblin and drawings on the greenish door.

seafoam green colour garage door with graffiti drawings of people, dobgoblin,

below: Anchored vs held down?

graffiti on a brown garage door, picture of an anchor along with words don't hold me down

below: Chalk heart

graffiti on a brown garage door, chalk heart in pink and yellow with orange word hello written beside it

below: Chalkboard philosophy, I think, I can’t be certain though. Maybe the gnomes know.

two small gnomes stand beside a chalkboard on a porch with words on it that say

below: It’s still Covid-19 time, still line-ups in the grocery store

Fiesta Foods grocery store on Christie Street, with line up of people waiting to get in

below: The Green Beanery coffee shop at Bloor and Bathurst is now permanently closed.  What I have missed most these past few weeks is discovering little coffee shops to stop at as I walk.

looking in window of Green Bean coffee shop that is now empty, reflections of photographer as well as people walking on the street

below: A riot of magnolia blossoms just about to be in full bloom

magnolia tree in front of some houses with magnolias about to be in full blossom

below: The sign has become not a running stop

stop sign in front a large tree just beginning to bud in spring, words added to stop sign so it now says not a running stop

below: Christie and Garnet

Christie street, looking north at Garnet Ave.,

below: Perly Family Lane with its painted garage doors.  For more pictures of the garages, see my blog post from 2016.

alley, PerlyFamilyLane, with painted garage doors.

below: Old and new side by side

back of a semi divided house, older asphalt shingles on exterior of the one on the left while on right has been renovated in light grey with new large window on ground floor

below: And nearby, short and tall

a semi divided house where the one on the right has added a third floor

below: Small house, large yard

very small beige house with one window in the front, large grassy front yard, between two largeer houses that are closer to the street

below: A large and impressive sycamore tree reaching up to grab the sky.

semi divided house with large sycamore tree in front of it

below: Basketball in the alley

alley, laneway with a basketball net ready

below: An old Pontiac Parisienne with its rear bumper on the ground.  It seems to have its own lot.   Parisiennes were produced through the 1960s and 1970s ans then well into the 1980s.   Would a car maker today call a car model a Parisienne?

old blue car, Pontiac Parisienne, with its back bumper on the ground, parked off the street between two houses

below: A white picket fence.  Is there something nostalgic or sentimental about a white picket fence?  Or is that only if you’re “of a certain age”?  Why did it become a symbol of middle class suburbia?

white picket fence along the side of a beige house with two large trees in yard, a door with newer wood porch and steps

below: Keeping an eye on the street

a ceramic ornament on top of a red tiled roof, animal, Chinese,

I came across the garage belonging to Albino Carreira that I saw, and blogged about, back in 2016.  He has added more shells, beads, and small objects.

front of decorated garage, shells, wood pieces, found objects,

below: Side of the garage

red side wall of garage decorated
a collection of shells used in decorating the exterior surface of a garage, also a small blue toy bear and some silver beads with a picture of the Greek flag

objects attached to a red wall, the exterior of a garage, plastic butterflies, beads, shells, and a small grey metal artwork that looks like a man emerging from a grey wall

below: As a bonus, there was a brief encounter with this van – complete with a wave.

side of van covered with shells and small toys, driver is waving from partially lowered window

back of van covered with shells and small toys

below: Before I go, one last door.  This time it’s mottled brown as there is some creamy orangey colour being revealed as the brown peels away.

back of a house, silver car parked, patio stone walkway to back door. screen door as well as old mottled brown and beige door, small stairs to back porchwhere there is a white chair

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