Posts Tagged ‘slaps’

Queen West-ish

Posted: June 3, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, public art
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a yellow lovebot sculpture, with a red heart, on the counter at Nadege bakery

A Lovebot!  What a great way to start a day.  These two “live” at Nadege Bakery on Queen West.  The one on the left looks a little like mint ice cream with chocolate chips!  Or else the poor guy has some wickedly strange skin condition.

below: Washing the window makes for more reflections!

man washing inside of window, reflections of other people, cars, and buildings in the same window

below: The Ordinary

two signs above two adjacent stores, one on left says the ordinary, the one on the right says type.

below: And the not so ordinary

a little painting of a black bird with a long neck pecking at someone's brown hair, small painting mounted on a wood utility pole along with traffic signs, no parking

This is a “walk with friends” post.  Last Wednesday I walked with the Wednesday Walking Gang, most of whom I have known and walked with for years. Our “route” took us around the neighbourhoods to the west and south of Trinity Bellwoods Park.  We walked on streets such as Walnut, Stafford, and Shaw.

 

a woman walks down an alley towards a car parked by a garage

We saw houses, lots of houses…   some new…..

new three storey house on Stanley Terrace which is narrow street with park on the other side of the street

new addition to a house, with black cladding, older part of house is red brick

…  some old …

row houses, brick painted white house on left, then a blue house, and then brown, with a lot of green plants in the front yard.

green house with elaborately decorated front porch

…. and many in a row

a row of houses on Shaw street, mansour roofs, two storey,

… and even one with a pirate flag

front porch of a house, with a pirate flag on display

below: It’s great walking in May when spring gardens are in full bloom.   There were lots of front yards with interesting plants to look at.

an open picket gate by a front yard full of spring greenery as well as a tree with red leaves

below: Purple irises

purple irises in bloom in the front yard of a house

below: White clematis flowers

white clematis flowers growing against a grey wall

green shrub growing in front of a shiny surface wall with black paint graffiti that looks like a face

among many green plants and leaves, a small white statue of an old man, standing with two smaller people, one under each arm.

below: Geraniums in the window.

a brick house with lots of windows, pots of red geraniums are in the window

below: There’s something in the window – and it doesn’t look like flowers!

a cut out of a male body builder in just his skimpy underwear, flexing his muscles in an athletic pose,
hanging on the outside of a building in a lane, a painting of a dog, along with a Christmas wreath

below: Ready for summer?

backyard, semi divided house, patio table and chairs in the backyard along with a grey umbrella that is folded up

backyard space of a three storey brick building, with exterior metal balconies and access stair cases,

 

worker in yellow vest and hard hat controlling traffic on Shaw street because part of road is closed, rowhouses behind,

below: Utility pole replacement in progress – wow!  are those poles tall!

large flatbed truck carrying new utility poles parked on shaw street, workmen

construction workers standing around outside, by a sign on its side that says come in, we're open

orange do not enter sign on yellow metal fence in front of a red container

below: Three hoppers (funnels?), remnants of an industrial past.

three large metal hoppers, funnel shaped, at the top at roofline of brick building, old, once an industrial use

looking in through open door of mechanic's garage, swivel chair, shelves of tools

below: Queen Street, looking east from Shaw.

people waiting to cross intersection, queen at shaw, looking east on queen, TTC streetcar coming westbound stores, and other people, truck stopped at the red light, painted side of building on northeast corner

below:  Queen West at Walnut Ave where 7-Eleven gas is on the southeast corner (and gas is 135.9/litre).  St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church is the large red brick building on the north side of Queen West.

7 Eleven gas station on the southeast corner of Queen Street West and Walnut Ave., with St. Nicholas Ukrainian RC Church across the street

below: The north end of Toronto’s Stanley Park (not quite as big as the one in Vancouver!)

a woman with two dogs on leashes, walking across a park

There were two billboards, back to back, near King and Strachan that were part of the CONTACT Photography Festival.  They both had large images from Alanna Field’s “Unveiling” series.

spadina auto service, mechanic, building, with large billboard above with image by Alanna Fields, art, for contact photo festival

image of young black men, by alanna fields, on a billboard

construction site, with billboard above, billboard has image of black man with red background

There were other portraits seen along the way….

below: An orange painting on a white garage door, by doktor karayom.  Here little people seem to be emerging from this poor person’s head.  A little foot in one ear and an exploring hand reaching into the other.  Two cheeky little faces too.  I can’t imagine that that would be comfortable!

orange paint on white garage door, a large face with other smaller heads coming out of it, doktor karayom, in an alley

below: A bit more realistic, but still with a touch of macabre – young person with four hazel eyes painted by Alex Garant.

portrait of a young boy street art mural on the side of a house, boy has four eyes, one set right above the other, also two mouths

below: Normal eyes, blue eyes, on this woman with the long brown hair. Painted by Spud1

street art mural on a garage door in an alley, a portrait of a woman with long brown hair and blue eyes, by spud1

street art mural on a garage in an alley, a portrait of a woman with long brown hair blowing a dandelion, seeds into air, by spud 1

below: There was also the face of a queen, a portrait of Queen Victoria, in a Queen West (no, not Queen Wet!) mural near Trinity Bellwoods Park by Electric Coffin and Denial (aka Daniel Bombardier).

Queen West mural featuring portrait of a queen wearing a crown

below: Four goofy faces in all the wrong colours – great whimsical silliness

urban art painting ona garage door, 4 silly goofy faces in bright wrong colours, green faces, red eyes, or big yellow eyes,

below: There are no human faces here in this Birdo (aka Jerry Rugg) mural but there is an alligator (crocodile?) with red eyes and big teeth as well as a shark lurking at the bottom.

mural by Birdo, aka Jerry Rugg, on a two storey black building, a crocdile or alligator head, and a shark along with the geometric shapes that mark his work

below: Owl in the night sky, a painting by Christina Mazzulla

street art mural of an owl, white face, orange features

below: For many years there has been a white albino squirrel that lives in or near Trinity Bellwoods park.  Here, Ted Hamer has painted it on a Bell box by the sidewalk on Shaw.

painting by Ted Hamer, of the white albino squirrel that is seen at Trinity Bellwoods park, on a metal bell box on the sidewalk

 

below: Swan

mural of a white swan on pink background by the entrance to a store on Ossington

below: A large snake is coiled up and squeezed into the confines of the fence.

street art painting of a snake with its tongue out, on a fence, with houses and backyards behind

below: Rowell Soller’s work covers the front of this garage.

front of garage in alley covered by street art painting in red, yellow and blacks, by Rowell Soller,

below: Curves by Flips

street art painting by Flips, pink and white swirls and curls, with 5 orange plastic bollards in front of it

below: One could argue that this is actually a bench.

an old dark green wood bench with graffiti on it that says this is a sign. it also has the number 3333 painted on it.

below: Urban Ninja Squadron gets together with Cosmo and away they fly!

sticker graffiti on green metal box, visual noise and urban ninja squadron collaboration with cosmo. t bonez is helping to fly a flying saucer

below: A warning sign – this area is remotely monitored…

a city of toronto street sign for Ossington Ave., by a traffic light also a poster with a picture of Jesus that says warning this area is remotely monitored.

below: Do you have any photos sitting around the house just taking up space?

4 small photos tacked onto a wood utility pole with purple push pins

on a red and white, my name is sticker.. a black drawing of a face with Z shape eyes and triangle nose, lots of teeth in mouth, two ears,

below: Can you see the donuts?

large graffiti slap on cement utility pole, in pink, blue and purple

side of a Canada Post mailbox covered with graffiti stickers as well as small ads

three small graffiti stickers on the side of black mailbox

blue baseball hat in the window of a store, embroidered with the words good vibes only

Thanks everyone!

a group of people walking down an alley with garages on both sides, and taller buildings at the end

children walking past a group of photographers and giving them strange look

 

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

abandoned site, Baldwin & Spadina

Posted: January 18, 2025 in graffiti and street art
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There once was a building on the southwest corner of Spadina Ave and Baldwin.  That building is long gone but the hoardings around the vacant lot have become a home for graffiti.  Although advertising posters sometimes take over some of the space, there is often new graffiti too.

This is what was there in January 2025.

below: The Last Laugh by Nigel Smith.

graffiti on old hoardings at baldwin and spadina, a sign that says the last laugh, words written in red capital letters on black background

below: Paste-ups on plywood.   On the left – a City Kitty character in big pink frame glasses (and what’s that on his head?!).   Small black and white pasteups include Visual Noise with Urban Ninja Squadron.

pasteups on plywood hoardings

below: WOW! He is not dead yet.  Live!  Let Live!

three drawings on a fence, one red, one white, one blue, lines, face, and words, he is not dead yet, ugly, beauty

below: Two pieces by Bao aka (Bao Pham) who seems to like to mix cultural icons that aren’t usually associated with each other.

graffiti by Bao Pham, Trans Quebec, Beatles as storm troopers in a shield shape

below: “Fab Four Troopers” Quebec highway sign

graffiti by Bao Pham, Trans Quebec, Beatles as storm troopers in a shield shape

below: “Return of the Boom Bap Trooper”

graffiti street art by Bao Pham, storm trooper from Star Wars movies holding a ghetto blaster on his shoulder, wearing rapper jewellery

below: A woman’s portrait among the advertisements.

posters on hoardings, some advertising television programs, some HIV education website and in the middle is a graffiti street art picture of a woman with flowers in her hair

below: “Frida Moss”, A Frida Kahlo and Kate Moss mash-up, also by Bao

graffiti picture of a woman (photograph) with flowers in her hair and a cigarette in her hand

below: A green catchoo looking atch youcatchoo green rectangular face paste up

below: Ouch!  Another Urban Ninja Squadron paste-up, this one in collaboration with Dio Tha Dog.

visual noise, and urban ninja squadron black and white paste up on a pole

This post also appears in Eyes on the Streets blog

graffiti alley – spring 2024

Posted: March 15, 2024 in graffiti and street art
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As you might know, every once in a while I walk down Graffiti Alley to see if there is anything new that might be of interest.  This blog post is a result of last week’s walk….

below: Orange hair with attitude – “You don’t look smart because you have a beard!” by NYC based City Kitty. In the upper right corner all the way from the UK, a D7606 old style telephone featuring David Bowie… call a friend.

graffiti on a wall, pasteup of man with three eyes and a lot of orange hair and facial hair. Also a paste up by D76060 of a blue old fashioned rotary phone with an image of musician David Bowie in the center.

below: Havana to Toronto and of course, 2 + 2 always = 5.

two images side by side on a wall in graffiti alley

below: A diverse group of faces

below: Many more faces but mostly a frowny face man.  Every time I look at this picture I think of Poilievre but that opinion might get me into trouble!

stickers, graffiti, on a pole, a painting of a scowling frowning man on the wall beside the pole

below: Purple with green wings and a golden halo – horus and tuffytats (aka Trevor Goodwin) be dreaming again?

tuffytats painting on a wall in graffiti alley, female figure in purple with wings and a halo

below: “Tell them louder”

below: Yarn squares crocheted and attached to a pole with Urban Ninja Squadron’s T-bonez looking on.

yarn squares, knit and or crocheted, and attached to a utility pole in alley, a large urban ninja squadron paste up is beside it

below: No Dumping stickers

black and yellow city street sign saying no dumping,with many graffiti stickers on it

below: Playing on his knees.  That’s quite the instrument.  Cuba on his shoulder.

below: And a similar man with curly hair and beard, but this time in pink.

pink portrait of a man with curly hair, curly beard, and a mustache, his eyes are closed

below: A blue legless and armless robot along with a conehead type creature with a big mouth, both at 733.

below: FPmonkey – a young woman with long purple hair tied up with green flowers.   A single red tear drop on her cheek.

below: Uber5000’s marine life is still a colourful fixture in the alley.

below: Nearby, his Toronto/Canada themed mural has not lasted as well.  A couple of yellow birdies are still visible.

defaced uber5000 mural, with tags and graffiti over it, some yellow birdies still visible

below: Spiderman and the Spiderverse – some of the mural remains untouched but much of it has been tagged over

part of a mural about spiderman and the spiderverse but some of it has been tagged over

below: En masse has a number of pieces in the area including three metal boxes on the sidewalk – this is part of one of those boxes.  Almost all of their work is in black and white.

part of a black and white desiden by en masse on a metal box on the sidewalk

below: The tears of a clown when there’s no one around….

part of a mural, a clown with large white collar, white hat with red hearts on it, and a lot of white face make up is crying big tears, flower in his hat, big red mouth,

below: She’s green.

below: Tiny finds on a blue wall.  Princess Lays Chicken (Princess Laya Chicken?)

below: remnants of Black Lives Matter, and a new purple flower on the door.

below: A scrawny cat scribbled on yellow paint.  In case it is difficult to see, the sticker (or paste up) on the pole is an old television set with text near the bottom that says, “HAHA”.  Interpret it as you wish (as usual).

below: Rubbish in the lane (maybe just a spring clean up needed? … not that the alley is usually clean LOL)

 

Kensington graffiti – January 2024 edition

Posted: January 16, 2024 in graffiti and street art
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Yes, another Kensington post … to make it three in a row.

below:  A group with all eyes on their phones and perhaps all connected to the cloud.  But it’s a dark angry cloud, even a nuclear mushroom cloud, but nobody notices.

small paper graffiti stencil of a group of people in 3d glasses, all looking at their phones

below: On a Kensington pole, Visual Noise, Urban Ninja Squadron‘s T-bonez dressed as the farmer’s wife standing beside a very sturdy looking Sailor Dude Farmer from Ty Pro. A luchadore from Bruho waits below, ready for a fight….  “Bruho raced to fight the fascists.”

stickers on a pole in kensington

below: T bonez, this time with Bruho in a psychadelic pink and purple haze on a mushroom.

urban ninja squadron t bonez coloured picture, with a little catchoo

below: Catchoo’s little blue disc says save me but perhaps that’s what Tweety Bird should be saying – does he realize that the tiger is right behind him?! That’s no ordinary puddy cat! Paste-up by tweet_streetart (aka Tweet).

square catchoo face in pale blue and white on a pole with another slap of a tiger chasing tweety bird

below: Running ninjas , The Chosen Few

urban ninja squadron visual noise sticker, running while holding hands with bird

below: … and then he takes to the air.

t bonez graffiti slap, holding onto red helicopter whirlie blades

below: Another 33wallflower33 piece this time it involves kids and a horse.  I don’t want to know what the worm is up to or what might be going through it’s head (assuming worms have brains?).

33 wallflower 33 paste up of two kids on horse back, along with a catchoo worm sticker with its tongue stuck out

below: This threesome has seen better days.  On the left, in the original the woman is serving up Doug Ford’s head in a frying pan (33wallflower33).

33wallflower 33 black and white paste up besie a catchoo worm sticker along with a tweety street art cat holding a teddy bear

below:  There’s that worm again!  T-Bonez is now standing beside a cute koala and the woman in the 33wallflower33 piece is stripping down to her panties.  No frying pans or horses here!

graffiti on a pole along with street signs

below: “Death is just the beginning” Don’t you wonder what it’s the beginning of?

two text graffitis, small, on wall, one is written on brown tile and says death is only the beginning and the other is a white sticker written in blue

below: Sentient cookie (aka Cecil Tian) man with heavily tattooed arm, smoking…  with the poor fellow below crying his eyes out, almost literally.

below: Rubber Ducky

sticker, little yellow rubber ducky

below: There is another Sentient Cookie sticker at the top.  The red in the middle is the creation of Fernando Chamarelli

below: Markus

below: Stay hydrated!

sticker, black and white, man is drinking from an oil or gas container

below: Golden crown on blue painted metal, Rocky Zenyk.

metal, crown, on utility pole

below:  Hands holding a solid structure, home, from which nature, flowers and leaves, flourish.

engraved and coloured brass rectangle street art, beside part of a black and white mural

below: Grey metal this time, and words say” Forsan Miseros” across the top, above what appears to be a man praying.  He is surrounded by flames, beseeching the gods.  The full text is “Forsan miseros meliora sequetur” and it is Latin; the internet translates it as “For those in misery, perhaps better things will follow”.  Latin scholars may disagree.

below: completely covered

back of a traffic sign on dundas, completely covered with stickers

below: Little green paint roller army man running into battle, somewhere on the streets.  More political is the “Free Palestine” sticker above it (from them from whom?).

three stickers on a pole, a green army man with a paint roller in his hand, a free palestine sticker, and another

below: Hello my new friend

written on red on top of a black and white graffiti painting, the words, hello my new friend

Previous two Kensington street art posts:
1. blues, and more in a Kensington lane
2. Is everyone nice?

 

Never tired of walking Yonge Street.

Posted: January 2, 2024 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations
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This is a walk that started with the Sherlock Holmes wall behind the Toronto Reference Library that I noted in a prior post.  After a brief stop at Balzacs, we continued south on Yonge to Dundas.  With all the new development on Yonge there was a lot to see.  For the most part this is a documentation of the changes on Yonge Street and perhaps one day it will be part of “A history of” the area.

christmsd decprations, pine and pine cones, on light standard with 4 globe lights, tall condo in background

new glass towers, condos, being built behind old brick buildings on yonge street

below:  Asquith Ave, looking towards Yonge with the Toronto Reference Library on the right.   New condos rise above the old brick facades from the 1880s.

looking westward on asquith towards yonge, toronto reference library on the right

yonge street toronto street sign with upper part saying Bloor Yorkville, also red and white no entry sign with a sticker on it that says free palestine from hamas

below: Looking south on Yonge Street from just north of Bloor.  Bloor Street West now gets lost in the canyon between tall towers.  The one on the southwest corner of Bloor and Yonge is planned 91 storeys but is now between 1.2 and 1.6 billion dollars in debt.  The ONE. Now with an uncertain future.  The project was taken over by a court-appointed receiver back in October.

looking south on yonge, west side, from just north of bloor

looking up to top of condo tower being built, cranes, other tall buildings, one bloor west

looking north up yonge street towards bloor

below: Looking east on Bloor from Yonge.

bloor street, looking east, southside, from yonge,

below: What was once new is now old.

sign in an upper floor window that says always something new except the word new is worn out and parts are missing

below: The old Church of Scientology building remains empty and derelict.  It’s boarded up at street level and many of the windows are cracked.  The building has been empty since 2010.   Back in 2014/5  there was talk that the organization was going to totally renovate the interior and exterior of the building; there are renderings online of the proposed changes.  At that time they owed the city close to $100,000 in back taxes.  “This building is designed in the International Style, with a clean facade and balanced proportions ” is the beginning of a description of the property on the ACO (Architectural Conservancy Ontario) website as it apparently has a heritage designation.

 

old church of scientology building on yonge street, boarded up a street level, cracked glass windows,

 

below: Vapes, vibes, and cannabis.  A brief summary of downtown Yonge Street?

store fronts on the west side of yonge, south of bloor, Vapes, Cannabis,

below:  The northwest corner of Yonge and St. Joseph Street.  Bake Code, Sacred Seed, and Pay2Day.  Richmond Hill’s number one cake store is coming to the store on the south end.  The pictures look yummy!

old buildings from the 1800s on Yonge street, two storey, store fronts, brick, at St. Joseph street , Pay2day, Sacred Seed,

 

below: Southwest corner of Yonge & Wellesley

southwest corner of yonge and wellesley with old store fronts,

below: Same corner as the photo above, but from a slightly different angle to show the new curvy condo on the south side of Wellesley.

wellesley street looking west from yonge street, convenience store on southwest croner, noew curvy condo tower in glass behind it

below: More condo development.  This time on the north side Wellesley just west of Yonge.  Centre Court.

truck parked in driveway of gate 2 of centre court construction site

below: A new park on Wellesley, Lillian McGregor Park, named for Dr. Lillian McGregor (1924-2012), of Whitefish River First Nation, who was a nurse and a community leader.  She received many awards including the Order of Ontario and she was the first Indigenous woman to be awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Toronto.

green supports on white sculpture in park

below: Artwork by Winnipeg artist, a crane by  Kenneth Lavallee in Lillian McGregor park.

sculpture of long necked goose looking down at goose egg, in park on wellesley ave in toronto

below: Spotted along the way, two shiny small pieces of graffiti – shine shoes sir.   By Rocky Zenyk.

brass puck on stone, graffiti, words cut into it

small brass plaque on a post, words engraved into it

below: But does it work?

old open style phone booth on yonge street, covered with graffiti

below: Kiokii And, Unicorn Beauty, and ABC Books.

store fronts on the west side of yonge, south of bloor, ABC books, unicorn beauty,

below: Menu in the window – potato noodles and ramen and more.

menu in the window of a chinese restaurant

below: If Chinese cuisine is not your thing, there is always tandoori chicken or palak paneer nearby.  “Come and enjoy your festive season with our specials”.

sign in window for kothur indian restaurant

below: And then for something different…. for dessert you can try ‘chilled mango sago cream with pomelo’ or ‘the bath teddy bear’, or many other different taste sensations.  I think that I need to start stopping at more of these places and actually sample some of these foods!

food pictures of items on menu in restaurant

below: Kobi Korean restaurant and Metro Cigar along with one industry that is booming along with Toronto’s construction craze, the toilet rental business!

porta pottie truck parked in front of stores on yonge street

below: At the intersection of Gloucester Street and Yonge is this new red creation, a sculpture by Albert Paley

red metal sculpture on sidewalk on yonge street
below: 33wallflower33 graffiti

33wallflower33 slap graffiti on a pole, 3 ladies in period costume, black and white,

33wallflower33 pasteup graffiti on the corner of a building, woman in long dress

signs on stores on yonge street

below: Available…. one shiny red Christmas elf costume complete with silly hat.  She doesn’t look very happy having to wear it!

young girl mannequim with long black hair, wearing a santa claus costume, or elf costume

below: A cheerful little bear welcoming you to College Park

shape of a bear in red toque and scarf, in lights, christmas decoration at college park

below: Construction, and one lane blocked, near College

looking north on yonge from college, withone lane of traffic blocked because of construction

below: Looking north on Yonge towards College Street.

looking north on yonge towards college, west side, hoardings between sidewalk and street

below:  Different architectural styles.

old three storey brick buildings on yonge street
below: .. with a closer look at some of the brick and stone details

close up view of architectural details on some brick stores on yonge street

below: More old architectural details seen on exterior walls along Yonge Street

black, top of column details on exterior wall
old round stone medallion on exterior of building

below: Southeast corner of Yonge & Gerrard, now an empty shell surrounding a hole in the ground.

southeast corner of yonge and gerrard, old building now just a frame as redevelopment of the site begins

below: Reflection of the old Charles Tavern tower, now part of a new condo development.

looking south on Yonge

below: More construction, northwest corner of Yonge & Elm where the facade of a building on Elm is being preserved.

construction site behind chainlink fence

ink and marker scrawls on coloured hoardings around construction site

below: The Zanzibar remains standing amid all the changes happening around it.

Zanzibar tavern on yonge, beside a cannabis shop

below: Reflections at Yonge and Gould (looking north)

Yonge street, tall buildings, lots of reflections,

below: Another view from Yonge and Gould, this time looking south to Dundas Street.

yonge and gould, looking south towards dundas street

below: If you look closely at the photo above, there is a store on very right that looks like the name starts with Fun.  This is Funduk, and if you look in the window, this is what you might see… Top row closest to the window is Special pomegranate with hazelnuts.  Beside it is almond paste with raspberry.  What choices!!

in a store window, rows of red rolls, turkish delight for sale,

signs and store fronts at yonge and gould,

Yonge and Gould, international food

people getting on and off a TTC streetcar on Dundas, with pictures on the side of the bus shelter in the foreground
folding metal grate over shop window, word toronto in red is written on the window

I’ll end this post with a selection of the small graffiti that I saw

below: Be a hero … or

black and white slap graffiti on a pole, be a hero, a man is holding a black umbrella over the head of another men, both men in black suits

below: Ride a broomstick … or

graffiti sticker on a black pole, woman riding a broomstick

below: Comment on Republicans …

pasteup slaps on metal box already painted

below: …. And wash it all down with an ice cream cone.

pink and blue melting ice cream, sticker on a pole, graffiti

graffiti sticker

stickers, graffiti on a pole

catchoo and friends

Posted: September 18, 2023 in graffiti and street art
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A group of stickers seen on a pole on Queen Street East recently

has an image from Catchoo combined with a perplexed Sailor dude from Ty Pro in the top place – what a cute balloon! At the bottom are three heads that you might recognize from previous posts.  In pink is T-bonez from urban ninja squadron and the chosen few; on the right is a luchadore mask from bruho.

three stickers on a pole, catchoo, and others

Here catchoo collaborates with  c_priority (a k a Christopher Piccinich )  Even within the blacks of his suit there are little catchoo symbols and characters.  I was hoping that there were secret messages written on the pieces of paper on the desk but there are just squiggly lines.

sticker on a pole, catchoo along with at priority, man on red inflatable on top of desk, pointing to picture of heart framed and hanging on a wall

Last, feelings boi joins the fun.  Is it a sword? or an umbrella?  Whatever it is, there are smiles all round.

visual noise tbonez urban ninja squadron sticker with umbrella, joined by feelings boi character with long curly hair

bits of paper in Graffiti Alley

Posted: July 19, 2023 in graffiti and street art
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Another visit to Graffiti Alley to see what’s changed…..

below: Collage on the back of a sign with contributions by many.

many stickers on the back of a traffic sign

below: An orange dragon graces a utility pole.

an intricate painting of an orange dragon on whitepaper, stapled to pole in graffiti alley, with portrait of a woman in the background

below: Sentient Cookie with “The words you’ve said to me a decade ago still echo in my brain”.

below: Another section of wall covered with the remains of stickers and slaps.

many stickers and small wheatpaste on a wall, many colourful pieces

below: Truth, It’s that simple.  Consume daily.  “Free through an earnest volition. Side effects include decreased stress and increased mental clarity….  ”  Dorian’s House.

a poster pasted on top of graffiti covered wall, picture of a bottle with yellow pills and label that says truth. words beside bottle say it's that simple

below: Who do you love?  Apparently someone loves his/her girlfriend while someone else loves, and misses,  Stephanie Ann.

graffit, red background with a little white bird, with text who do you love?

below: More ink additions, this time on a bird.  Someone has written, “no phone no wife” – either he thinks that without a phone he can’t find/attract a wife (no tindr?) or he has neither a phone nor a wife (lucky man?).  Interpret as you want.   Also, there is Kone x Roc on his wing as well as Sari D. declaring her love forever.

sticker with text glass bird, small sticker with drawing of a fat bird, some people have written in ink on the bird

below: Someone left their shoe behind… and that’s quite the reaction from Tips

a brown shoe on the ground, stickers on a metal pipe, some say postering, another is a black drawing of a face

below: 33wallflower33 whetpaste – My body my choice

wheatpaste by 33 wallflower 33 of two women and words my body my choice

below: … and another

wheatpaste by 33 wallflower 33 of two women and words my body my choice

below: Urban Ninja Squadron running away with an angry bird…. and Adopt by Praxis in bright pink

urban ninja squadron graffiti, also an adopt poster in bright pink

below: An angry white cloud seems to hover hover a drawing by catchoo

stickers on pole, including one that looks like an angry white cloud, a drawing in a circle shape by catchoo

below: More catchoo

a sticker by cathcoo of a face on shiny silver background

drawing by catchoo of many small different coloured faces mostly in shades of orange and green

below: What’s this chef serving up?

black drawing on white, man in chef hat holding a platter with what looks like a shark fin or a sailboat

below: L S and Z

below: A skull and Noah forever.

stickers on a pole, one says Noah forever, a small drawing of a skull

Photos taken June 2023

888 Dupont

Posted: June 7, 2023 in construction, history, intersections
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old numbers on a building, 888, removed but traces left behind, on a teal coloured wall

below:  888 Dupont Street is at the northeast corner of Dupont and Ossington.  The building was designed by Canadian architect William George Hunt and was built in 1921.  The first owner was Thomas Oswald Aked whose company Aked & Co (or Aked Worsted) was in the yarn spinning business.

old industrial warehouse building on the northeast corner of Dupont and Ossington, teal cloured cladding with lots of small square window panes, graffiti tags all over the windows, posters along the wall at street level

After World War I, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind established a broom, brush, and mop-making business to provide employment for servicemen who had lost their vision in combat.  In 1952 this business, Blindcraft, moved into 888 Dupont.

below:  The entrance to 888 Dupont is now behind a construction fence.

double grey metal doors, entrance to 888 Dupont, now behind construction fence, on three storey industrial building, first built for a yarn company, Aked and Company

In recent years the building became home to many artist studios.  Although the building was never deemed residential, some artists used it as a place to live.  They have now been evicted to make way for condo development by TAS Design.

below:  Through a gap in the window…

interior of an abandoned building with old furniture and furnishings still in the building, a shopping cart, gas pipe, trash,

outdoor sidewalk space, narrow, between old building and construction fence

side of a an empty building at 888 Dupont waiting for demolition, small space beside building with old chairs and other junk under a steel beam overhang

The building has also become a canvas for some graffiti including some protesting redevelopment in general and condos in particular.

below: Toronto vs Condos

two stickers on a city development notice that instead of saying toronto vs everybody, say toronto vs condos

below: “I told you that… with guns get what they want”.  Some of the words are covered but the meaning is still clear.

poster protesting condo development, picture of a gun, text that says I told you that those with the gun wins

below: Poster – Who can afford to live here?  Which one of you can afford this?

graffiti poster with lots of text, weathered and difficult to read

below: Large one-eyed daisy by Life© (life in the streets)

large one eyed daisy. blue eye, graffiti on an abandoned building

a poster on a construction site for Tilley clothing, graffiti too

posters, advertising grapefruit gin cocktail drink by Muskoka brewery, on a wall at a construction site with graffiti

posters on the wall of a construction site including a large map of the world with pairs of baby shoes around it (large photo)

below: Liars – Doug Ford (Ontario Premier) and John Tory (ex-Toronto mayor).

sticker on a city blue and white development notice sign, faces of Doug Ford and John Tory with the word Liars

below: Happy little family? Pasteup by 33wallflower33

pasteups on a piece of plywood on a wall, car, three members of a family, mother, father, and daughter in a line, just their faces

southeast corner of building, 888 Dupont, now empty and covered with graffiti

graffiti on a wall

orange construction sign, pedestrians use other sidewalk, with stickers and pasteups on it, an old car in black and white

farther west on Gerrard

Posted: February 4, 2023 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings, reflections
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mural, purple letters on black and orange background, word says broadview

traffic signal, red light, on pole with many street signs, plus 40 kmh sign, Broadview and Gerrard

A short while ago, I posted some pictures from Little India which is centered on Gerrard Street.  If you travel farther west on Gerrard you come to what has become known as Chinatown East (as you approach Broadview).

construction infill on Gerrard, building behind the stores,

below: Nappa, Chinese cabbage, and White radish,

on display outside, for sale, chinatown, veggies,

below: Scenic Aqualium Co., Exotic Fish and Bonsai (yes it has an ‘L’).

a woman walks down gerrard street, past scenic aquarium store with exotic fish and bonsai for sale

window of a chinese restaurant, orange walls inside, copies of the menu taped to the window, open sign is lit

sushi restaurant, a fruit and vegetable store, and other shops on Broadview

below: Shoes, boots, and umbrellas.

small shoe repair shop on gerrard, umbrellas for sale, red chinese lantern hanging from ceiling

piles of taro root and butternut squash for sale

below: Carrots and tomatoes

carrots and tomatoes for sale, chinatown

vegetables for sale in chinatown

below: Pomegranates in boxes and forks on the wall

interior of fruit and vegetable market in chinatown

outside display boxes painted green and full of citrus fruits for sale, chinatown store, awning overhead, people walking by

stores on gerrard, in chinatown east

under a blue awning, shelves of plastic wrapped fruits and vegetables for sale

hung hair salon on gerrard street

faded menu board on the sidewalk, chinese restuarant, also a van from orkin pest control parked there

xray and ultrasound sign in chinese, also law office, and other businesses

below: Aging price list

an old weathered sign outside a hair salon on Gerrard Street, red lettering on white but moldy grey

a woman walk spast mi mi restaurant on gerrard street

below: Old Lumberking ghost sign on the southwest corner of Logan and Gerrard

building at the southwest corner of Gerrard and Logan, has a yellow ghost sign for Lumberking

below: Broadview and Gerrard – looking east along Gerrard

looking east from Broadview, Scotiabank on the north side of Gerrard and A & W burger restaurant fast food on the south side, both in old brick buildings, rainy day, wet pavement

below: Streetcar stop on the southwest corner of Broadview and Gerrard

people getting on and off TTC streetcar at Broadview and Gerrard

an ad for boba boy bubble tea in an old window, surrounded by street art mural

bike rental stand in front of a vacant lot with a large mural to one side, mayan temple from central america

below: Square and orange on top.

row houses, square roofline, two storey, orange brick upper, bay windows, stores on ground level,

below: More stores  –  Jiahua Trading Company with its assortment of goods beside the Dai Kuang Wah Herb Market.

stores in Chinatown East, Jiahua Trqding Company and an herb store

late afternoon in the rain, a person waits with a black dog for the traffic light to turn green

below: One Plus One Hair Salon, Tung Hing Bakery, and Sing Sing BBQ House – all adding to the eclectic mix of store fronts in the area.

businesses and stores on Gerrard Street, Chinatown East,

below: House reflections

reflection of a house in a window surrounded by street art

below: No more ‘Epoch Times’ in front of this store.

window in front of a store in chinatown, western union ad, lotto 649 ad, empty newspaper box, other goods behind glass

below: A get together of paper characters – The Incredible Raffa, Las Mujeres Vampiro, Life (that’s the one-eyed daisy), T-bonez got knifed in the back.

pasteups in a group on a brick wall, urban ninja squadron, mask, daisy with one eye,

below: Peace, in red

red urban ninja squadron t bonez sticker on a grey metal utility pole, giving peace sign

below: White roses to heal with

large painting in white on black brick white roses, and text that says here to heal, a woman's face is partially hidden by the white roses

below: Homer Simpson with 64 slices of cheese!

painting by Chris Perez on the side of a cheese store, Homer Simpson in his underwear sitting at a table and eating cheese

a sign outside a store that says repair unlock and then words in mandarin

below: Santa Claus and a skeleton – covering more than one holiday at a time.

a skeleton halloween decoration is on the railing of a porch, in front of it, on the grass is a small santa claus in a red sleigh on a small pile of snow

alley behind Gerrard St., large old garage, leaning, covered with grey shingles, old tree‘

below: Old mural street art painting in the alley (from 2016)

part of a mural in an alley, on a wood fence, nose and open mouth of a furry animal with big teeth and fangs

close up of a monkey or ape face with bright red nose, mural in an alley

looking down an alley, with houses on the street at the end of the lane, garages, winter but no snow, fences, old trees,

below: Infill – new housing being constructed in the alley

plywood covers a new building, infill housing being constructed in an alley,

backyard on a laneway that is all mud and puddles
looking down a lane with an orange jeep parked by a green garage, a brick building at the end with blue doors

in a driveway or parking lot, with a white metal gate, along one side of a store, a mural of many flowers

part of a painting on the side of a store, a blue fish and some lotus leaves

Dundas Street runs parallel to Gerrard, just a bit to the south…. and that is where you’ll find this dog sitting outside in rain or shine.

a small dark brown brick house with a window, some stickers in the window, and a large paper paste up of a dog beside the window

below: The Dundas Street Public School class of 2022 left their mark on the fence with their messages of love and peace.

chainlink fence by a school has many little square paintings attached to it, each one was by a student from the class of 2022.

below: As did the the class of 2021

chainlink fence by a school has many little square paintings attached to it, each one was by a student from the class of 2021.

This blog post may be getting too long so I will start to end it here with a brief survey of the older residential architecture on Gerrard and Dundas and the streets in between (for those of you who are interested in such things).

below: A semi with a shared central peak.

red semi detached house on gerrard with pointy roof in the center, one side has built an enclosed porch by the front door

below: Little diamond windows

flat roofed seim detached house in fake brick, two small diamond shaped windows in the front, both sides with white porch

old brick two storey rowhouses with black mansour roof with upper windows in roof

bay and gable row houses on gerrard street, painted in different colours, grey, white, maroon, one with a bright red staircase and railing.

below: Details made with contrasting colours of bricks

a row of brick houses, most with yellow brick contrasting detail near the roofline

below: Another semi detached house with a shared central peak.

white two storey plain semi house with shared central peak

below: Flat roofed houses with blues and reds.

below: Shapes – rectangles on top, rounded windows,

square roofline brick building with green trim

below: Cameras on the corner…. and a megaphone too?

on the northeast corner of Gerrard and Logan is a pole with security cameras and a loud speaker, looking diagonally across to southwest corner, TTC streetcar stopped there

And lastly,  a shout out to Lamoon Thai Cafe where I stopped for a hot drink (great Thai tea!) and to get out of the rain for a few minutes.

side of a building, window, with interior lights on, illuminated sign of a cup of tea in the window, Lamoon Cafe, Thai drinks and food

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