Posts Tagged ‘poser’

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.

Ashbridges wallnoize wall

Posted: October 31, 2020 in graffiti and street art, locations
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There is a large construction project underway adjacent to the Ashbridges Bay water treatment facility between Lakeshore Blvd and Eastern Ave. The whole site is surrounded by plywood hoardings.  In mid-September, Wallnoize 2020 took over the area and painted water themed murals on a large portion of the hoardings.   More than ninety artists participated in this project, all coordinated by Cruz1.

signs at the entrance to the construction site for the new ashbirdge's bay water treatment facility on Eastern Avenue.

Let’s take a walk around the site, starting by walking east on Eastern Avenue towards Coxwell, south across the park, and then back along Lakeshore.  I suggest that you’re sitting down since I tried to cover all the murals and it might take a while!

below: Painted by Danielle Hyde

mural of large brown hands holding water

below: Trina Moyan‘s horse has a mane like many brightly coloured feathers.  “‘Water Spirit Horse’ – Nehiyaw Mistatim (Plains Cree horse).“

a brown horse with mane that lookslike coloured feathers, face painted in primary colours, mural

below: Portrait of a street artist in pink and white by Keitha Keeshig Tobias

mural in pink and white, a face wearing a gas mask, breathing apparatus for spray painting

below: by Siezswift

a tree in front of a text throw up mural in blues

autumn trees in front of hoardings covered with murals, wallnoize, leaves on the ground,

below: ‘Nibi Manitous’ by Cedareve. The water spirits are are shapeshifting between human and animal.

mural by cedar eve on blue hoardings, fish like creature with human heads

mural with two fish making a circle with a deer in betwee, some trees on both sides, multi coloured background

autumn trees in front of hoardings covered with murals, wallnoize, leaves on the ground,

below: “You are Loved” in a heart dripping with water in the center of a mural that is the product of the combined efforts of Shawna Howe and Monique Aura.   Rainbows and dancing stars.

mural on the hoardings around the ashbridge bay water treatment facility expansion construction site. the words you are loved are in a heart shaped space in the middle, brown hands holding a shallow brown bowl fromwhich a rainbow is pouring out into the smaller cupped hands of another person

below:  A head in the water by Shina

mural on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, brown profile in water near yellow and orange shore

below: Bird and flowers by Jennifer, her first solo piece

mural on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project, indigenous art style bird facing upwards with flowers on both sides

below: This picture of a bald man snorkeling was painted by still_hungry

mural on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project, head of bald man with diving mask and snorkel, in the water,

below:  He looks like he’s made of water and he looks like he’s on a skateboard.  Painted by 3tr_t

mural on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, blues wildstyle with man that looks like he's made of water, on a skateboard

below: Floating away, floating with the fish in a pink bathing suit.  Painted by Ghazaleh

hoardings around a construction site, beside vehicle entrance, a mural of a woman in a pink bathing suit floating on her back in a pool

below: by Francis Pratt, the poolboy cares apparently

the letters s o r b ae, with different fonts and different backgrounds

below: Branislav Dordevic‘s mural suggests keeping an eye on the water and ice, warm and cold.

mural, a large eye at top center, ice bergs, lake, ice and snow by onesketchyguy

below: Water being poured into three tall clear glasses because we’re all thirsty for clean water, a mural by Julia Antohi

three tall glasses of water, each with a different amount, with the words thirsty for clean water, in a turquoise box, a mural

below: A green god with his trident – either Neptune the Roman god of the sea or Poseidon his Greek counterpart, by tongbokes

a small tree in front of murals on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

below: After the green god, is a more somber toned mural with the words, 1752, Mi’kmaq Nation, Take care of the water.

looking uphill at murals on hoardings near Ashbridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

below: A mermaid in a jar by Yasaman Mehrsa. Has she been captured?  Is she in a protective bubble?  Do mermaids live in glass houses?

mermaid in a jar in the water, a mural

mural on hoardings near Ashvridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

mural on hoardings near Ashvridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

below: Surfer dude by broguymanz and a green throw-up on purple by Lukas Byra

mural on hoardings near Ashvridge Bay water treatment facility, wallnoize project,

truck and vehicle entrance to construction site, orange cones, wire fence, hoardings,

below: “Be Like Water” by Adrian Hayles and  what could be blue sea serpent, or a blue Chinese dragon, by Avril Wu

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, by an entrance to the site, a mural of a man

below: A mermaid of another sort, with skulls and burning candles, brought to life by Oriah Scott.

mural, long haired woman with nose ring, topless, upper body covered with tattoos, with scarves over her arms, halo on head, skulls beside her and a burning candle in each hand

below: Bomi (aka bomitosangrantes) painted the lines and white dots that cover this corner

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, cranes behind the fence, murals at the corner

below: It’s not that easy to see, but the grey letters that look like stones in water along a rocky shore were painted by Getso.  In the foreground is what looks like a mountain of flowing water (by bareket)

long line of murals on blue hoardings zround water treatment facitily upgrades construction site, with yellow water pipe running along beside, green grass,
below: This pink striped octopus with stars in its eyes is the work of Jieun June Kim.  Did you know that October 8th was World Octopus Day?

a mural of a pink striped octopus sitting in the water with head above water and some tentacles sticking up above the water, by Jeun June Kim

below: Like the words say, Kizmet the original Toronto raccoon, Radcliff is his name.  I don’t think he’s going after the cranes even though that’s what it looks like.  Swimming away from Radcliff is a Sedna, a curving woman by Angela Aulia.

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, a kizmet raccoon and a person swimming

below: A KERZ throw-up to the left of the BUBZ wildstyle  with the tam-wearing duck with a bottle of water on top

 

a duck character looks over the top of two text based graffiti murals one says kerz and the other is by bubzart

below: A “Clew” throw-up by Clewin77

throw-up style graffiti on mural in light blue and olive green

below: Three colourful fish swimming in the waves by Poonam Sharma

mural of stylized fish swimming in the water with the sun shining down from above

below: Blackbird flying along with the moon in different phases is the work of Natalie Very B.   On the right, the wildstyle text-based mural was painted by spud1

2 murals on hoardings, a stylized blackbird flying with the moon in different phases around it. on the right is a wildstyle

below: A watery wildstyle by Trevor Goodwin (aka Horus)

wildstyle mural on blue hoardings, pine tree beside

black and white wildstyle mural on blue hoardings, pine tree beside

below: The white eyes are a bit disconcerting – awake? asleep?-  but otherwise she’s colourful.  Kizmet32 again.

water treatment facility construction hoardings, mural, by kizmet 32, a woman's face in green, blue and red, on top of a textual

pine tree beside hoardings around a construction site that have been painted by wallnoize, a group of street artists who have each painted a mural on a section of the wall

below: Burner on the left and Poser on the right

two text murals on hoardings, on the right is poser, and on the left is one with two eel heads poking up on top

below: The happy grinning lobster with a fish on each arm is Gentle Giant aka big_doz261.   The other mural is by onerzeus

a cartoonlike character red lobster grinning with a female fish on either of two arms, one at each side

below: A little fish nears the blue head at the end of the CRUZ tag in this Cruz1 mural.

mural by Cruz 1 on hoardings around a construction site near Ashbridges, a blue face and lots of colours around word that says Cruz, plus a tiny fish in top right

blue text

below: by Rusty (aka gutter_crew_guru),  If anyone would like to attempt an interpretation, I’d love to hear from you.  There’s a lot of detail in the mural that is fascinating yet creepy. Happy Halloween!

bright orange background like fire

below: A collaborative effort between Rowell Soller and @tenneshaskyers

portrait of a black man in the middle surrounded by calligraphy in black and white

on blue hoardings, a row of text graffiti

below: A very realistic looking creature in the water painted by Cesar Ar.

very realistic painting of a water dragon or monster in the water

below: Mural by Julie Amlin

Julie Amlin mural on Ashbridge water treatment construction hoardings, curves and curvy shapes in different colours

Jipik'am mural of a snake with tongue out, first nations symbols, words that say land back

hoardings around a construction site that have been painted by wallnoize, a group of street artists who have each painted a mural on a section of the wall with city of Toronto water tower behind

below: The work of invader.zima

green text, with a machine

below: Horizontal stripes of fish and water in a basket, or woven onto fabric, by Dakota Brant beside a Octo-Godess-Sea-Witch Lady by Katrina Canendo

two murals

below: A vintage scuba diver among the weeds, by silestyle161

below: Two whales swimming in the ocean, an orca on the left by Ren Lonechild of Red Urban Nation. The whale on the right was painted by Camila Wong and she describes it on instagram as “Inspired from the Great Hokusai artwork, expressive waves with colourful brushstrokes and whale represent overcoming challenges in your life“.

2 murals, one is a whale and the other is a dolphin, swimming in the water

below: Three Nick Sweetman green moray eels looking at SADAR‘s (aka blazeworks) mechanical octopus.

two murals. one is 3 large eel heads in yellos by Nick Sweetman, the other is a mechanical looking octopus

below: Two murals made with text.  FATHOM on the left and the creative efforts of RUN (Red Urban Nation) Artist Collective

two textual paintings on a wall, one with hashtag red urban nation and the other says fathom

below: Ashbridges water treatment facility with the wall.

round Ashbridges water treatment tower with lots of green grass in front, a blue hoardings wall around the construction of new parts of water treatment plant, with lots of street art murals painted on the hoardings

below: Looking in the other direction.

city of toronto concrete water tower behind blue hoardings with street art murals on them

below: Calligraphy by Kreecha (right) and a painting by Art Child (left)

two murals on hoardsing with crane behind.

below: Two figures nose to nose with their reflections in the moonlight, by Julii McMillan. The nail polish matches the blues of the water.

mural by Julii McMillan of two identical heads nose to nose in the water up to their noses, reflections of the two. hands beside heads so they reflect too. water, dark, moonlight

below: Victoria Day painted the very pink woman with grey hair who is surrounded by lily pads and little green dinosaurs? eels?   To the right is Clean Water text by SKAM

two murals on hoardings around new water treatment plant by Ashbridges, on the left a very pink faced lady with grey curly hair in the water with little green dragons and lily pads. on the right, text painting that says clean water H 2 O

below: A lovely orange octopus by Spyone beside a man partially submerged in the water, Rise Up by James (aka mistersoy)

two murals on hoardings around new water treatment plant by Ashbridges, an orange octopus and a man in a red and white striped T shirt with words rise up

A white boat with many portholes sails past, while on the right, by Andrea Rodriguez (aka Andrea Cataro) a pink dolphin and a grey walrus swimming underwater.

a dog and cat head in front of a large white boat in one of the two murals on hoardings around new water treatment plant by Ashbridges. other mural is a pink dolphin and a blue narwhal playing in the water

below: Abstract and sort of geometric, in teal and purple, by David Baron

abstract geometric mural by forge fury in teal, purple, and black

mural, an old woman's face in the middle, stylized brown trees, lines for earth and sky

below: A wonderful woman with turquoise dreadlocks in a turquoise sea under a pink octopus wearing a tophat.  This mural was painted by Désiré Betty

mural on hoardings, a woman with long braided turquoise hair under a pink octopus wearing a black top hat, mural by dbetty13, Desire Betty

below: A blue, purple, and white sea monster  by Andre Castro looks towards red and purple text by mr_tensoe2 

two murals side by side on blue hoardings, on the left is a blue monster by andre castro and on the right is an orange and red text graffiti

looking along a wall of murals on blue hoardings

below: By dat_dude_stu

text street art in layers, red on top, yellow in the middle and green on the bottom

below: Something other-worldly by fongkikid

a painting by fingkikid, fuzzy abstract watery thing in blues and purples

below: By mr. Water

mural, in blues, stylized waves, or text, could be either

looking along a wall of murals on blue hoardings to where they cross and block the sidewalk

below: Swirls by Flip surround a slightly greenish woman with hair that merge into the waves.  The woman’s face was painted by @gosiakomorski One Love – Don’t let hate win.

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, a woman with long flowing hair and with her eyes closed

below:  Luvs crocodile with crocs floating in the water to the right of a small elfin(?) woman with long pink hair by @monicavcao

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, a crocosile, very realistic looking, by luvs, with its feet in water

below: At the end of the painted section of the hoardings is this old green car, “little deuce coupe” surrounded by skulls, a dudeman ‘trademark’ of sorts.

wallnoize street art murals on blue hoardings around new water treatment plant, one end of the hoardings, by the bike trail, an old green car by spud, and a graphic in neutral tones,

Albert Jackson Lane

Posted: September 16, 2019 in general Toronto
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Albert Jackson Lane is a small alley that runs south from Harbord Street.

upper storey door with metal stair case and its shadows. White door. Red flower box on railing outside door.

below: What is happening to Harbord Fish & Chips? (Albert Jackson Lane is on the right).

small brick building painted white was Harbord Fish and Chips, sign is gone and the building is being renovated

below: Looking down the alley, the first impression is that it is rather nondescript but a few bits of colour suggest that walking down the lane might be worth the effort.

looking down a short alley, Albert Jackson Lane, with garages lining both sides, the backs of houses at the end including one that is being renovated

below: A purple and teal fish by birdo, aka Jerry Rugg

birdo mural on a garage door, orange background, fish swimming behind a stone, fish is teal and tail is purple and teal striped

below: Part of “Secret Garden” by Emily Kouri

mural by emily kouri from 2012 on a garage door, in pinks and blues with yellow circles with butterflies in the circles

below: An older mural that completely covers the garage and the fence on both sides.  I am not sure who the artist is.

older mural on garage and fence on both sides, covers the whole thing, in oranges, browns, and greys,

below: This character is well known – a poser bunny.

poser bunny and text, pink bunny, pink text, on light blue background, text is on garage door, bunny is on wall beside door

below: The Toronto skyline and its reflection in Lake Ontario in a mural by Mel Coleman.

a mural of Toronto skyline reflected in Lake Ontario, stylized, by Mel Coleman in Albert Jackson Lane, painted on a garage door

below: A talking head, a square head on TV.  I love the bunny ears on the TV – who has those anymore!

on a beige garage door, a white rectangle painted and on that, black drawing of a man with with a square head on TV, a lamp is beside the television

below: At the end of the alley, a house with major renovations in progress.

row of backs of houses from lane, house in middle has windows removed and hole in the walls being enlarged

of many ages

Posted: August 7, 2019 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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Follow the pointy fingers!

4 black and white stencils of hand and fingers pointing, on the sidewalk, pointing towards a mural on a wall

In a Kensington alley just north of Dundas there are several new faces.

two large faces painted side by side in an alley

below: A very bright face by Curtia Wright

large face mural on an exterior wall in an alley, in bright fluorescent oranges and blues, wearing a large floppy hat

below: An up close look at ‘Lovely’ by ahayahisone (aka Philip A. Saunders, or P.S.)

close up of a face in a mosaic like style with shapes of different colours making up the skin, green eyes, red lips, by Philip A. Saunders, called Lovely

below: A portrait of Philip Saunders by luvsumone (aka Moises Frank)

portrait of a man in shades of brown, orange and purple, with a hat, by luvsomone, a mural in an alley

A Poser bunny face and a companion mini happy face too

a black on silver poser bunny painting on a wood fence in an alley, a little happy face is in the top left corner of the picture

Bonjour from the future

black woman's head in space helmet of clear glass, futuristic clothing around her neck, Jamaican flag painted on her collar, purple lips

This one looks very much like it’s another P.S. painting.

male head in many different colours

Not as bright, but still surviving in the lane, are a couple of older faces

faded, on an old wood fence is a profile picture of a woman that is faded, the wood grain comes through very clearly, some peeling paint on the edges

on a fence that is vertical slats of wood, a portrait of a woman in blue

Mario sticks his head above text graffiti that says flyguy

head of Mario from the Nintendo game peaks over the text graffiti

“Keep yo head out the clouds” to which someone has responded.  At first I thought the response was “Nah, Rock that cloud.” but on closer inspection I see that I am wrong.  I like my answer better!

wood fence painted red with yellow words that say Keep yo head out the clouds, with a couple of white clouds, one with green eyes and a nose and mouth

on a wood fence, a drawing in white pencil of a man in a tie, beside him are the words cloudy daze. above him are two clouds

Kensington Pedestrian Sunday, July 2019

Posted: August 4, 2019 in general Toronto
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a young man plays a violin in front of a pedestrian Sunday banner

It was a very busy (i.e. crowded) Sunday afternoon at Kensington. Last Sunday that is.

an Asian woman walks holding a white umbrella with frilly trim

below: Bubbles of joy

a young boy in yellow shhorts and blue shoes is laughing as he runs through a stream of bubbles, outside on the street

below: Honkers on their saxes performing on the sidewalk.

two saxophone players, hinkers group, at outdoors performance

below: Street performance by Hero-San, a Japanese man who has been performing around the world for 25 years.

hiro son, a Japanese performance artist stands on one hand on a box in front of a crowd, outdoors, on the street, street performance

below: His show is part comedy and part stunts involving standing or walking on his hands.

hiro son, a Japanese busker and performance artist does a hand stand on the arms of two men standing facing each other, orange sweat pants and legs open wide for balance, a crowd is watching from behind

below: The finale was Hero-San walking on his hands while going through the open legs of a young boy. Even though his body was very close to the ground, only his hands actually touched the ground.

hiro son, a Japanese performance artist is standing on his hands in front of a young boy who has his hands close to his mouth, crowd watching in the background

below: A wagon full of plants to sell. $25 each.

people around a man with a woagon full of small marijuana plants that he is selling for twenty five dollars a plant

below: Sitting in front of poser bunnies while the world walks past.

two people sitting in front of poser bunnies mural in Kensington as other people walk past

below: A dog and many tattoos

a dog on a leash being held by a person with tattoos on booth knees and shins

two black women walking down the street while looking at their phones, on in a bright pink T shirt

a woman walking in short brown dress and floppy beige hat, another woman sitting in the window of a cafe and a third woman in striped pants and grey hat

below: Paper graffiti on a utility pole

on a utility pole, a paper graffiti piece of a man's face with the eyes from a different picture

Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington are the last Sunday in each month from May to October.

as summer winds down

Posted: September 26, 2018 in general Toronto, locations
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below: The sign over Kensington but I guess that’s obvious.

metal sign above the buildings, says Kensington in capital letters

Kensington pics from a warmer Saturday morning earlier in September.

 

below: Liz says eat more cheese

old framed black and white photo of Queen Elizabeth, on top it someone has given her a word bubble that says eat more queso (Spanish for cheese), in the window of a cheese store

below: A smoke and a phone.  Swiping right or left?

a woman in a white blouse sits on a bench ooutside a restaurant, on a wood bench, smoking a cigarette

below: A homemade sign

a hand made stop sign, red octagon, with the word stop in large white letters and racism written in black letters underneath

below: Well dressed Swiss Misses

3 half mannequins dressed in tops, standing in two old containers that say swiss miss puddings

below: Walls and skin

a young woman with blue hair and many tattoos is looking at her phone as she sits on a kerb

below: Just a part of the van.  If you’ve been to Kensington you may have seen this van – it’s totally covered with stickers.

part of the side of a white van that is covered with stickers

below: Churro chairs

two metal chairs outside a churros place

below: Morning coffee.  Saturday mornings in Kensington begin quietly.

the patio in front of Moonbean coffee shop, with two men sitting at tables

below: Faded and forgotten

two fake sunflowers, very faded, in a window, between the glass and the bamboo blinds,

below: These poser bunnies are a recent addition to the street art in Kensington

poser bunny mural on a brick wall, a pinkish bunny and a yellow one, the yellow bunny is holding a bottle of alcohol

below: Mona Lisa and her fruit basket still look out over Kensington Ave.  She still hasn’t eaten that banana.  The black and white part of this now iconic mural (with the banana) was painted more than 30 years ago.  The rest of the fruit was added after.

realistic mural of Mona Lisa holding a basket of fruit, high on a wall in Kensington

below: Looking a little frayed around the edges, like some of us at the end of the hot summer!

red and white striped awning above a store, tattered

the side of a building covered with graffiti

below: Not long ago there was only Mary in this window. Jesus is now keeping her company.

the window of Crows Nest Barber with a statue of Mary and a statue of Jesus in the window

Amen

Graffiti Alley all over again

Posted: August 10, 2018 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Graffiti Alley keeps drawing me back to see if there are any changes.    What is new and what has disappeared.   To see who is hanging out in the lane today and have a silent chuckle or two at the tourists.

below: Sunny days in Graffiti Alley

a woman carries an open blue umbrella on a sunny day as she walks down Graffiti Alley

below: Let’s Eat Sandwiches Together Forever, by elicser, seems to have been refreshed recently.

let's eat sandwiches together forever, a mural by elicser, with people and sandwiches, people in the middle are hugging

a mother and daughter walk down Graffiti Alley, past a lrge mural of a young man by Janus

below: He’s pointing to the sky because he’s giving us a detailed weather forecast.

a man in a yellow vest is talking in Graffiti Alley

below: The last time that I walked down Graffiti Alley, elicser was in the midst of painting this door.

a mural of a person in an old fashioned aviator's helmet and goggles, and wearing a blue dress, on a door in an lane
a mural of a person in a gas mask (spray paint mask) on a door in an lane with pink on either side

below: Hello!

a woman sits on a window sill on a building iin Graffiti Alley as a man takes her picture

below: Montreal and Toronto and the writing in between.

text street art with the words Montreal and Toronto written in the top corners

below: A lovebot of a different sort.  Almost unrecognizable except for that heart.  Only lovebot has a heart like that.

lovebot street art

below: A large carp painted by Nick Sweetman.  A fish out of water.

a large carp mural by Nick Sweetman in Graffiti Alley

below: Broken window

orange door and street art in Graffiti Alley

below: Pink roses and words of love and encouragement (and a little bit of flattery).  The future is bright and do more of what makes you happy.

pink roses and words about love on a mural

below: A new poser bunny at Portland Place

a poser bunny on a wall

below: Toronto Blue Jays vs. stencils are wack

street art painting of a street artist in grey hoody and mask, hoody has Toronto blue jays logo, but someone has used black marker to write words on hoody say Stencils are wack

below: Walking past the praying mantis which is memorial to Jesse.

people in graffiti alley with a large pink praying mantis mural

below: Rat and a spray paint can can’t keep the eyes in their heads.

below: Unfortunately, part of the uber5000 wintertime Toronto mural has been tagged over.

below: Honk! honk! An uber5000 yellow bunny offers a donut

A man avoids the puddles in the lane as he walks past an uber5000 mural of a yellow birdie with a donut, birdie is driving a little orange car

below: Starbursts (or flowers, or just interesting shapes) in pink and yellow

part of a painting on a metal garage door of two starburst shapes, one in pink and one in yellow

below: The elephant isn’t in the room, it hasn’t made it down the stairs yet.

graffiti above and below a diagonal metal staircase, an elephant above the stairs and a dog below. The dog is saying woof

below:  A collaboration between immortalwales and kyleghostkeeper.   Both are tattoo artists and they both have instagram accounts if you are interested in seeing their work.

woman wearing a white head scarf and large glasses, with red lips

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.

Pedestrian Sunday, August 2017

Posted: August 29, 2017 in graffiti and street art, landmarks, people
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Once again, the last Sunday of the month was Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market.  There was a large turnout this past weekend!  Lots of people, music, food, sunshine, and good times.

below: Dancing in the steet

a small group of men are playing instruments and singing Spanish songs, a crowd of people have gathered to watch, outdoors, on a street, some of the people have started dancing on the street

Two men stand beside their bikes talking, a woman in a straw hat an dsunglasses sits behind a table with a yellow table cloth with items for sale on the table

a large number of people in an alley. A banner over the alley says Kensington Flea Market and Beer Garden

below: A song, a mandolin, and a Polish Boy Scout belt buckle?

two musicians, one is playing a mandolin and singing the other is just singing, they are both sharing the same microphone

below: She is showing lots of courage!

a mannequin sits on an upper balcony but only her legs and feet show in the picture, hanging from the balcony are some pieces of paper with the word courage written on them

a young man drills out the center of a pineapple while two women blend the chunks into juice. The juice is then poured back into the hollowed out pineapples and sold as a drink

a head mannequin in a store window, with an orange piece of fabric wrapped aroungd her head. Other fabric in the window. also two people reflected in the glass

two men with baseball caps are sitting on yellow Muskoka chairs on a sunny afternoon. One is facing the camer - he is holding a piece of paper in one hand, he is yawning.

below: A quiet corner for a good book

double entrance to semi-divided house, both doors are open, there are bookcases beside the doors. In one of the doorways, a boy in a green t-shirt sits and reads

looking into the window of a bakery/restaurant. Three people are sitting at a table that looks out the window. One is one his phone and the other two are looking out the window. The sign on window, in red lettering is Ricas tortas,

items for sale on a table outside, three shoes (no pairs), one gold, one red velvet and one patterned, on a purple table cloth. Also for sale, two round orange lamp shades

below: Numbers on the alley by #whatsvictorupto

an alley in Kensington with a painting by #whatsvictorupto on the ground - numbers

below: Drinks – the changing nature of Kensington market is reflected in the food and drink that is available.  There is now a large South American influence in the area so products like Inca Cola and Chicha can be bought.

sample of drinks for sale at a food stall at a street festival, nestea, coke, water, some soft drinks as well as south american products like chicha (purple) and

below: A poser bunny still lurks in an alley.  Everything around him as changed be he remains.

an old poser bunny on a wall in an alley

below: Sign on phone – Stop busting our phone!  Outside the Moonbean Coffee Shop

a small phone booth outside a coffee shop with a patio. Some people are sitting on the patio, Moonbean coffee. On the phone is a round white hand written sign that says Please stop busting our phone

a man looks at sunglasses at a table outside where they are for sale. The sign says Pedstrian Day Sale, sunglasses ten dollars, straw hats ten dollars

an old green and white pickup truck parked in a driveway in Kensington Market, beside a store with a very faded sign that barely says King of Kensington

below: Who you callin’ a pretty boy?

an ugly white dog, on a leash, is looking at the camera, outside, on the street, with the legs and feet of some people

items in the window of a store, as well as on a table set up outside the store

below: The Joker and a friend.

in an alley, two graffiti pieces. One is a pasteup, realistic and detailed drawing of Heath Ledger as the Joker and the other is a quick black line drawing of a man's face

a nippy morning in Kensington

Posted: January 7, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, stores
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Hello! “What’s up?”  has become “sup?”  I see.

a small collection of little things on a wall including the word sup? made with white strips of wood. Also the word hello is painted on the wall. Collage includes a large spring, a light bulb and blobs of something orange.

Well, let me show you some of what’s up in Kensington these days.

two hysro poles, one with a lot of signs on it and the other with three horizontal wood sections at the top of it. Signs are a street sign for Kensington Ave in both English and Chinese, a yellow no dumping sign that has been covered in stickers, and a no parking sign. Signs for Chinese businesses are in the background.

  It’s a much quieter place on a nippy winter morning.

below:  Does anyone have an extra jacket they could lend her?  Frostbite isn’t fun.

graffiti on a wood fence, a painting of a bare breasted woman's torso.

below:  It’s Canadian patio weather so it can’t be that cold. Right?

view into a backyard from an alley, some snow on the ground, a Canadian flag is hung on a wall over two brown plastic Muskoka chairs and a small patio table. A string of Christmas lights is above the flag.

below: Loose bricks become loose teeth.  Some guy is trying to hide under the stairs.

street art painting of a face on the side of a building beside a construction site, building is an old house that is empty. face is painted under the marks on the wall where the stairs were, and teeth are loose bricks hanging vertically. a red and purple throw up text graffiti is in front of the painting.

below: Fathom graffiti on the foundations of an old house that has been torn down.
Hot and cold perhaps?

graffiti by Fathom on a brick wall at a construction site, line drawings in black of a man's face, a steaming cup of something hot, and a popsicle. Like hot and cold.

below: Filet of sole

The globe sculpture at Kensington that sits high on a pole. Two of the fish that swim around the globe, one of the fish has a pair of black and red nike shoes with their laces tied together, over the front of the fish.

below: Cool camel with his headless (mindless!?) glittery arm candy.

a mannequin with a camel mask on, wearing sunglasses, with a large ring through it's nose, wearing a robe with a busy pattern in shades of brown, another mannequin that is headless is beside the camel. The second mannequin is wearing a dress covered in shiny sparkly gold sequins.

below: Persian stews and a pink octopus…. what’s in a Persian stew?  If beef stew is beef and rabbit stew is rabbit….   well, I’ll assume that Persian stew isn’t Persians just like Irish stew isn’t Irishes.
I also liked the way that the street art on the open gate merged with the painting on the wall behind.

blog_persian_stew_octopus_graffiti

below: Still meditating with blinking – not distracted by the Christmas balls in front of her face.

mannequin in a window sitting in a yoga position, and covered in painted patterns, multicoloured, gold Christmas balls are hanging from the ceiling around her.

below: I thought that this was a window ornament, like the kid you see as a door knocker.  But when I zoomed in more closely, I found that is was an old curling trophy!

an old weathered curling trophy sits on a window ledge, where it has been tied on. Window behind, reflection of the trophy in the window.

below: A little sparrow doing some people watching, its feathers all puffed up to keep warm.

a little sparrow (bird) sits on a railing outside that is decorated with cedar boughs and red Christmas lights.

below: A woman and a rose in black and white, by bubz

a black and white mural by bubz, grey tones actually, of a woman with long hair and a white rose

below: Outdoor office.  I told you we Canadians were a hardy bunch.

an old office chair with black padded back and seat sits up on a small trash bin made of concrete blocks. A light dusting of snow covers all surfaces

below: Druid and a Christmas tree.

top part of a brick building, two windows, a Christmas tree in one of the windows, the word druid written in yellow spray pain above the windw, a new condo being built in the background
below: Lovebot, grominator, and a poser bunny all together by the rooftops.

blog_lovebot_grominator_poser_bunny

below:  A number of these little paste-ups (the guy in the yellow frame) by t-bonez have sprung up around downtown.   This one is on Augusta.

people walking in Kensington, walking past a wall with a pasteup on it of a man in uniform saluting he's drawn from the waist up and is in a yellow frame.

part of a mural in a Kensington lane of a woman with long dark hair and a white and blue dress, she is standing. In front of her is parked a bike.

below: Taking a snowy walk in the neighbourhood that is protected by Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum from the 3 Ninjas movies.

looking down a street in Kensington, looking towards Spadina, older brick housses on the street, a group of people walking down the sidewalk, snow on the ground, winter trees, a neighbourhood watch sign that has been altered with a picture of the three boys from the movie 3 Ninjas.

below: Everyone likes Christmas!  Even a stormtrooper….

a mannequin outside a store is dressed in a Star Wars white storm trooper costume with a Santa hat and a T-shirt with the face of a stormtrooper also with a Santa hat. The store is painted yellow and has a bright red door that is open

two t-shirts on display outside a store, both are white and both have heads of famous people wearing Santa hats. One is David Bowie and the other is E.T.

below: More rooftop graffiti.  This time, with new condo development behind.  The old brick buildings with glass monsters popping up behind them – a very familiar site these days.

graffiti on the top of a red brick building, trees in front, a large new condo being built behind.

below: In keeping with the sort of PG rating of this blog, I’ll show this poster as the background!

a woman in pink gloves is taking a picture of a graffiti paste up in a street, taking the photo with her phone

below: The end, no exit. I’ll go no further, except…..

the end of a dead end alley, with graffiti on one of the walls, and a sign that says no exit painted on the wall in white.

to say have a happy New Year and I hope that 2017 is filled with lots of opportunities to walk and explore!

part of a larger mural, black line drawings on white of two smiling faces

Have a blast!

wooden decorations on the upper part of a store, cutouts painted to look like two women sitting on top of rockets as they blast into space

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