Posts Tagged ‘squirrel’

behind Shaw Street

Posted: June 4, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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Like an illustration in a book with no words, the story is in the picture and its interpretation is up to you.  Raccoons in masks and red capes performing (dancing?) while other raccoons sit in trash cans watching?  A whimsical mural by Emily May Rose – if you follow this blog, or if you are familiar with Toronto street artists, you will recognize this immediately as one of hers.  These cute little raccoons appear in many places around the city.  How many have you spotted? This particular mural is in an alley behind Shaw Street (east side) and north of Queen.

mural by Emily May Rose on a garage door in an alley, masked raccoons with red capes cavorting, one in a garbage can

close up of a raccoon in mural by Emily May Rose on a garage door in an alley, masked raccoons with red capes cavorting,

Some other street art seen in the alley…

below: A legless robot effortlessly glides around although it also looks like he might be aimlessly floating through space. He was painted by Brian Porter

painting of a cubic headed robot with two arms and no legs,

below: Monotone and angular, a very large squirrel is watching you (another Brian Porter piece).

a large squirrel painted on a garage door, lots of straight lines and angles, in shades of black, white, and grey

below: A woman entwined with a creature with a bird head (but scaly legs?) lying on the ground? flying in the air? swimming in the water?  The mural was painted by Birdo, aka Jerry Rugg.

mural by Jerry Rugg, birdo, of a woman and a bird like creature entwined and lying down, in an alley

below: Flowers basking in the rays of sunshine on a summer day

street art mural artwork on a garage door, flowers with a yellow sun shine and rays of sun in the background

below: Lots of purple flowers!

street art mural artwork on a garage door, all purple flowers

below; Pikachu seems happy enough, but that cup…  I look at that and I think of Mr. Bill.  Mr. Bill had dark round eyes and a big round red mouth.  For those of you young ones who are wondering what I’m talking about, Mr. Bill was a little figure made of clay who appeared on SNL starting waaaay back in 1976.  Oh Nooooo!!

artwork on a white garage door, face, red arm, hand out, holding piccachu and a coffee cup with a face on it

below: Rainbow unicorns, just in time for Pride month.

painting on a white garage door of rainbow striped unicorns under blue clouds and an apple tree

part of a colourful mural on a white garage door, squiggly shaped creatures some wormlike, some butterflies, some with big bulging eyes

below: Home is where the heart is.  It also seems to be where the sun shines and the flowers grow profusely.

garage door in alley, painted blue, with hearts and flowers on it, as well as a bright yellow sun in the corner

alley scene, row of houses at the end,

below: Marshmallows with stick arms and army boots!

on a wood garage door in an alley, a graffiti piece that looks like two marshmallows, one for head and one for body, with stick arms, wearing boots

below: Some dragons breathe fire so I’ve been told.  This purple dragon seems to have a different trick!

on a white garage door, a purple fire breathing dragon chases a few stick figure people, there is a green vine growing over the garage and covers the fire

below: A little blue bear with a happy face balloon, a sticker by doll face one.

stiicker on the back of a traffic sign, little blue bear holding a yellow happy face balloon

below: Graffiti stickers on a TTC No Dumping sign.

no dumping sign on a brick wall, with 2 graffiti stickers on it, one is urban ninja squadron t bonez on a motorbike, the other is a black and white man's face

 

red brick wall where some bricks have been painted different colours. a couple of the bricks have been stamped with the words Citadel Made in Canada

below:  And last, street art of a slightly different, but very similar, sort…. Someone’s little gallery

bike parked in front of a black wall with seven paintings mounted on it

Elicser and Sweetman at West Lodge

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

below: Hedgehog covered with thousands of protective spikes.

large hedgehog in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman

below: Playing baseball and keeping an eye on the bees

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

behind some trees, elicser elliot mural

large bee in a mural, painted by Nick Sweetman

below: An encounter with a skunk

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

below: Playing with friends.  Great dunk shot!

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

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

below: This robin has found very large worm

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

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

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

below: A blue dragonfly with translucent wings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

buds and birds

Posted: March 19, 2020 in nature, people, reflections
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Getting used to this “social distancing” thing but not the “stay at home” part.   A walk in the park seemed like a good way to mix the two – get a little exercise without running into too many people.

below: Keeping his distance

a man sitting on a bench in a park

It’s close to March 21st and the beginning of spring.   Actually this blog post started to take form after I parked my car and wandered aimlessly a few yards.  I was standing on a path in a ravine wondering which way to go… but why was I here?  I heard a bird, and then I heard another.

below: A robin snacking on sumach

a robin perched on top of a cluster of sumach buds and is leaning over to eat one

below: A female downy woodpecker

female downy woodpecker on a small tree

below: A little chickadee

chickadee sitting in a red dogwood, early spring, bright red branches, no leaves

below: It’s not a bird nor is it a sign of spring,  but it sat still enough to let me get my camera focused through the branches.

black squirrel sitting among tree branches, holding something in its mouth

below: The red dogwood branches have started to become more vibrant.

bridge over creek, sumach and dogwood bshes, winter to early spring, no leaves

below: Pussy willows have opened up their fuzzy white buds.  A definite indicator of spring.

a few thin branches of pussy willow

below: There weren’t many tree buds but this tree (and others of its type) were an exception.

small clusters of pink buds at the end of branches and twigs on a tree

below: There was a train too!  A different kind of sign of life.

park and trees in the foreground, early spring, with train on bridge in background

young birch tree

a purple graffiti heart painted on the concrete support at the bottom of a large metal trestle

Spring, and a walk in the park.  Sometimes it’s just the little things….  including someone to share your space.

a couple walks together over a small pedestrian concrete bridge

below: Reflections in the Wilket Creek

reflections of lifesaving equipment beside the Wilket Creek

reborn

Posted: April 10, 2019 in nature
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As winter passes into spring
A walk around Edwards Gardens in early spring

below: A red cardinal in a tree

a red male cardinal perched on a branch with no leaves, early spring

below: Red berries that have wintered on their thorny branches.

close up picture of small red berries on a thorny stem

below: The remains of coneflowers on their sturdy stems.

two dead conehead flowers, just brown prickly cone shaped part at the top, on tall dead brown stems,

below: Pussy willows just emerging

pussy willows on a branch, just opening up

below: On a small twig, both an old leaf and new buds.

one dead leaf on a small branch that has need buds, spring time

below: A squirrel enjoying the seeds that someone has left for it. w

a brown and grey squirrel sits on a stone ledge eating seeds

below: Dead and dried, seed pods that opened long ago.

dead seed pods on dead stems, flowering shrub type of plant

below: New fuzzy magnolia buds

new buds on a tree, fuzzy greenish brown

below: A sparrow with its back to the camera

a little sparrow perched on a small branch of a shrub

below: These strange looking growths are the beginnings of skunk cabbage plants.

three skunk cabbage plants beginning to grow in the marshy areas at the edge of the snow, where the snow has just melted , a purplish bulb shaped plant

many dead plants with prickly cone shaped heads and stems, macro shot, those in front in focus, many out of focus in the background

below: The pale yellow of the willow trees as their leaves begin to bud.

a yellowish coloured statue stands in front of a large willow tree that has just begun to bud, also some tall dark green pine trees in the background

a dead end

Posted: November 16, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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Exploring streets and lanes I don’t think that I’ve walked before… or at least I don’t remember them!
Following every possible alley.
Then one turns a corner and becomes a dead end.
Frustrating to have to turn around and retrace my steps but rarely is it a waste of time.

 

 

looking down an alley, an abstract mural of triangular shapes is on one wall

below: There really isn’t much to this graffiti but at least there’s a creative (albeit gruesome) use of the garage door knob.   The poor guy is shocked and probably in pain as he’s stabbed in the eye.   I’m not sure if the other fellow is screaming or laughing loudly.

two stupid line drawings on a white garage door

below: Flash, glare and a happy light bulb.

light bulb graffiti with a text graffiti incorporated into it.

below: A blackburn giant squirrel covers a garage door.

a squirrel mural by blackburn. greyish brown squirrel on magenta background, fills the garage door

roughly drawn head with hair on one side, brown eyes, and an X for a mouth

a row of second empire style two storey houses as seen by looking down an alley towards the street. A red car is parked on the street

 

piles

Posted: October 13, 2013 in events
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Piles of chairs, piles of bicycles and piles of plastic bags.  That is the best way to summarize three of the Nuit Blanche installations that remained on display for a week or so after the 5th of October.

…

First, the pile of chairs

Garden Tower, by Tadashi Kawamata of Hokkaido Japan

in front of Metropolitan United Church

“As if each person who sat on these chairs left a piece of himself, the work evokes the beautiful and utopian spects of the myth of the Babel Tower, a humanity speaking with one voice and engaged, with solidarity, in the building of a better future.”  (from the sign accompanying the installation)

a large pile of chairs sits in front of a church

Garden Tower chairs in front of Metropolitan United Church on Queen Street East.

 

A hollow pile of chairs about thirty feet high. The photo is taken from inside the pile. The sky can be seen in the photo.

Looking upward from inside the pile of chairs. There was a pathway that ran through the base of the tower.

 

A squirrel sits on the bottom of a red and white striped chair that is upside down.

new found habitat for one of Toronto’s four legged residents

…

Then the pile of bicycles: 

Forever Bicycles by Ai Weiwei at Nathan Phillips Square

Part of the curved walls of city hall are in the background and part of a number of bicycles is in the foreground.

bicycles in front of city hall

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A woman wearing a green sweater and a bicycle helmet is standing in the middle of a pile of more than 3000 bicycles. She also has her own bike with her.

one bike amongst many

Nathan Phillips Square on a grey and foggy morning. There are a few people in the square who are looking at the large art installation that involves a structure made from more than 3000 bicycles

Nathan Phillips Square on the wet and foggy morning after Nuit Blanche.

…

Last, the pile of plastic bags:

Plastic Bags by Pascale Marthine Tayou of Cameroon

interior, Bell Trinity Square

The interior of a large office building. A group of men are standing and talking under a large collection of red, white, green and yellow plastic bags.

The plastic bags hang from the ceiling like a big blob.  Like confetti, or bits of coloured paper, ready to be dropped on the people below.

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