Posts Tagged ‘street art’

between Pape and Donlands

Posted: August 8, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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I decided to head to Pape and Danforth on Friday, on a very hot & humid afternoon.   The Danforth was just beginning to get ready for the Taste of the Danforth weekend festival.  I stopped for a bottle of water and tried to find a bit of shade while I figured out where to walk.  The street was still quiet.  The day was hot and humid and no one was moving quickly.   Not many photos to be had there.   Instead, I decided to walk a few of the alleys north of the Danforth between Pape and Donlands.

trucks parked on the street, a small ferris wheel being set up pon a street, stores, barricades

below: No famous graffiti artist has left their mark in your neighbourhood? No problem, make your own!
A collection of icons with even the bricks painted into the picture.

copies of famous street art painted on a garage door. Brick background has been painted on too. Mona Lisa, Campbell soup cans, the woman lifting the corner of the wall to sweep things under it. Einstein holding a placard that says love is the answer. A little dog by Albert Einstein's feet.

below: Three garage doors with street art including one by spud.

three garages in an alley, each with street art painted on their doors.

below: Cruz1art (aka Angel Carillo) and a girl power pink skull by dudeman

a low concrete building in an alley with street art by Cruz 1 art, one says girl power. Large pink skull, basketball hoop in the foreground.

below: “Turn the lights off and look to the sky”

street art in an alley of a woman with long hair, wearing sunglasses, a tag beside it.

below: I’m used to seeing ‘No Trespassing’ or ‘Keep Out’ signs but not so many ‘Keep Off’.

an old rusted sign that says 'keep off' attached tot he top of a chainlink fence, in between two garages in an alley

below: A happy Uber5000 birdie knitting away, a close knit street art painting.

an uber 5000 art piece on a garage door, yellow uber birdie is knitting something with blue wool. the words say "close knit"

below: Another creature by Cruz1

blue animal creature painted on a garage door, green shrub growing in front of part of it, art by cruz 1 in an alley

below: Two more painted garage doors, very linear, very stylized and abstracted.

two single car garages in an alley, both with street art paintings on them, also the back of the houses behind them in the lane.

below: A play on the word ‘cool’.  Snowy words and a penguin with sunglasses.  Unfortunately it didn’t make me feel cooler but only slightly nostalgic for winter.  Only slightly!

street art mural on a garage door in a lane, a penguin standing upright wearing sunglasses. The words, written in large blue letters with snow on them, What's cooler than sum glasses on?

below: On the left is “destroy and rebuild” and on the right is “We are 1, [illegible] mi gente siempre”.  The last bit is Spanish and translates to “My people forever”

two garages in an alley with art on their doors, on the left is an abstract in blue and orange with the words destroy and rebuild. On the right is a woman's face. She's slightly blue. Words written beside her are: we are 1, mi gente siempre

below: I think there was a point to this picture, but I’m not sure what it is.

the top of two pieces of wood in a picket fence type gate, pointed tops, wood,

below:  Since this stretch of the Danforth has been “Greektown” for as long as I can remember, it makes sense to find street art in Greek.  In this case, Greek love.

garage door painted bright blue, with the Greek word for love written on it in large letters

below: A slight chuckle, the next garage door is the translation.

garage door painted with a large cursive lettering word love in pinks on blue

below:  Insert a little rant about horrid TTC concrete fences here.  At least someone has found a way to brighten one of them up.   This one is right beside the entrance to Donlands subway station.

concrete fence with paint drip art on it

A few more pictures….

garage door in a laneway covered with streetart painting

geometric street art on a garage door, pink, grey and black

below: A survivor. A lone white rose amongst dead roses.  May you all survive the heat of summer!

one white rose growing against a fence in an alley , with lots of dead roses around it.

 

 

 

phlegm’s progress

Posted: August 5, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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British mural artist Phlegm has been painting a large mural on the side of 1 St. Clair West.   The first time I saw it, was on the 14th of July when it looked liked this:

below: The white background of the mural was painted first.

a street in Toronto, St. Clair Ave., with an older nine storey building with concrete facing, on the side, above the level of the stores beside it, is the outline of the start of a mural. All painted white, a seated figure.

I have been watching it, checking up on it every couple of days.  At first I took photos fairly frequently because I had no idea how long it would take before the mural was finished.

below:  19th July

a verylarge mural on the side of a building is in the process of being painted. An white outline of a seated person with their knees drawn up, one leg has been painted with a design in black

As it turns out, there is a lot of detail in the mural!  It slowly took shape.

below: 21st July

a very large mural on the side of a building is in the process of being painted. An white outline of a seated person with their knees drawn up, one leg has been painted with a design in black

below: Fast forward to today…. the mural is almost finished. …
but wait!  Isn’t that the CN tower on the shoulder?

large black and white mural by phlegm of a seated person with their knees bent up, made of tiny houses and buildings and other structures

below: Hey!  It is the CN tower.  And isn’t that the Gooderham/flatiron building?  And that building with the little dome, isn’t that on Yonge street?

close up of mural made up of toronto landmarks like the cn tower and the gooderham flatiron building

below: There’s the ROM and its ‘crystal’ too!   This is the ‘bottom’ of the figure and in this photo two things become clearer.  First, the scale of the project and just how big the mural is becomes apparent.  Second, the mural is of a person coming out of the earth, being pulled out by the roots almost.  But is it a person?  Or is it a living city?

the bottom part of a mural, man in scaffolding is still working on it, black on white, pictures of buildings.

below: The head part – play ‘spot the building’!  Is that old city hall?

head part of phlegm mural

below: Scalliwags is on one of the knees along with a lot of trees.

knees part of the mural

below: And last, the feet with more roots at the heels

feet of a person in a mural made of paintings of trees and buildings, roots growing out of the heels. satelite dish in the mural and on the building beside the mural

This project is also a part of the STEPS Initiative program.

This post also appears in a blog about street art. Phelgm’s Progress.

passing faces

Posted: July 12, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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I was walking along Queen Street West near Shaw St when pieces of paper on the wood construction hoardings around one of the buildings caught my eye.  The installation is no longer intact, but the pieces are still compelling.  The mural consisted of many faces of black men.  Even though some of the faces are peeling away, they still look like they are looking at you (or the camera).   Apparently there is another similar mural a bit farther west (by 1050 Queen St. West) but with black and white outlines and highlights instead of red, blue, yellow and green.

pictures of the faces of black men attached to wood construction hoardings and rough outlines and highlights drawn on the faces with crayon, in red, blue, yellow and green. Some of the faces are peeling away at the edges and the look a bit 3D

pictures of the faces of black men attached to wood construction hoardings and rough outlines and highlights drawn on the faces with crayon, in red, blue, yellow and green.

pictures of the faces of black men attached to wood construction hoardings and rough outlines and highlights drawn on the faces with crayon, in red, blue, yellow and green. The faces all look like they are looking into the camera

pictures of the faces of black men attached to wood construction hoardings and rough outlines and highlights drawn on the faces with crayon, in red, blue, yellow and green.

pictures of the faces of black men attached to wood construction hoardings and rough outlines and highlights drawn on the faces with crayon, in red, blue, yellow and green.

It may be cheating a bit, but the next picture is from a screen shot of a photo from the artist’s (lavishbat, #oluseye) instagram account.  It shows the whole piece as it was originally.

screen shot of a page from instagram, account of lavishbat, and the photo of a mural made up of hundreds of pictures of black men's faces.

love letters in paint

Posted: July 11, 2016 in events, graffiti and street art
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From June 20th to 25th, many street artists brought their talents to paint murals with the Great Lakes as their theme.  It was part of Pangeaseed Foundation’s Seawalls for Oceans.  Pangeaseed’s mission is to use science, art and creativity to “inspire positive change around pressing ocean environmental issues”.   This campaign originally focused on oceans but they have now branched out to increase awareness of the issues involving out fresh water lakes and rivers as well.  One of their methods is to support and encourage the painting of murals –  Seawalls have been painted in Miami, San Diego, Napier New Zealand, Cozumel Mexico and many other cities around the world… and now in Toronto too.

One of the locations chosen for the murals was around Ossington and Queen where they join a number of murals that were already there.

below: The S.S. One Love sails high above an alley, painted by Peru143

large mural by Peru on the back of a two storey building, a large red ship called the S.S. One Love in the water

part of a mural by Peru, lots of blue, looks like a stylized snake

below: Painted in mostly shades of grey, a mural by Caratoes (aka Cara To), a street artist based in Hong Kong.

a two storey vertical mural by caratoes in grey tones, fish and faces on the top and an object made of black and white triangles on the bottom

Close up of the top half of a mural by caratoes in grey tones, fish and faces

below: A large water bird swims along the surface and watches the people passing by.
Painted by Jon Todd.

large mural of a water fowl sitting on the water on the old white Queen West self-storage building.

viewed from the corner so you can see two sides of the building, large mural of a water fowl sitting on the water on the old white Queen West self-storage building and another mural on the other side of the building

As you can see from the above photo, there are three round images painted on the south wall of the old Self Storage building.

below: Closest to the street, a mural by Sermob

round mural painted by Sermob, car parked in front of it, stylized figures on water

below: In the middle and tying the three circles together is a mural of entwined fish by Miguel Valinas from Mexico.

large round mural of two large fish, intricate patterns on the fish, entwined head to tail to form a circle with their bodies

below: A sleepy baby otter in its parents’ arms, painted by Sens, also from Mexico

a large round mural of a family of otters. Baby otter is sleeping in his parents' arms. by Valinas

below: A mural on a bright yellow wall –  a shark and a dinosaur amongst geometric shapes that are characteristic of birdo’s work.  There is also another animal head beside it.  This was a collaboration between birdo, tens2, fuel, kostyn, phil and barney and it pre-dates the Love Letters to the Great Lakes murals.

large mural by birdo, street art, on a two storey bright yellow building, a shark, and an alligator (or crocdile) head

small mural of an animal head, street art, by Fuel, Kostyn, birdo

below: From bright colours, to black and white – birdo’s collaboration with En Masse.  A mural with the words “RIP Don Valley River”

black and white mural in an alley, turtle, geometric shapes, woman's face, leaves, RIP Don Valley River

below: It’s a rather dark lament about the state of the Don River.

detail of a black and white mural by birdo and en masse with sybols of death and decay.

below: Standing on an island, ‘Hello’ by Chicago-born  Hebru Brantley in 2015

a large mural of a boy standing on a small island, wearing sunglasses, and saying "Hello", painted by Hebru Brantley

below: Whales, lobsters, fish and other creatures swimming amongst the seaweed, painted by street artist lebonar (aka Olivier Bonnard)

two sides of a building with murals, one side is a large mural of a boy standing on a small island, wearing sunglasses, and saying "Hello", painted by Hebru Brantley and the other side (store front)

below: More marine life, but in an unfortunate spot. I’ve been to see this mural twice, and both times the fence was locked.  It looks like the fish has an arm that it’s using to reach for the unsuspecting crayfish – a metaphor for invasive species and their effects on marine life and their habitats.  It was painted by Cinzah Seekayem from New Zealand.  You can see better pictures of it on his instagram page.

a mural of marine animals on the side of a building, but behind a locked fence

fish mural on a white wood fence, muted tones of greens, blues and browns.

colourful mural by Peru with the letters K E S H

Other posts about this project:

  1. other murals at Queen and Ossington, seawalls and serpents
  2. murals by the Don River, at the mouth of the Don
  3.  murals at Queen, Spadina and Bulwer

 

#seawallsTO | #pangeaseed | #loveletterprojects

singing birds, the devil, and more

Posted: June 21, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Running east from Christie subway station behind the stores on Bloor West is an alley.  There are a few murals there, either in the lane or visible from the lane.   Below are pictures of five of them, although the last one is more graffiti than mural.

The largest of these murals is ‘Under the Radar’, or at least those are the words painted on the mural.  It is on three sides of a building that backs onto the alley.

below: East side of the building

The side of a building is painted with a mural of birds sitting on a wire. Purple, black and blue are the colours in the mural.

part of a mural, blackbirds sitting on a wire, dark blue background, on a brick building in an alley

below: The back of the building

Under the Radar mural on the back of a building in an alley, featuring birds, with baseball caps, with colourful shoes and sitting on branches of a large tree

Under the Radar mural on the back of a building in an alley, featuring birds, with baseball caps, with colourful shoes and sitting on branches of a large tree

a blue and purple bird sings while standing on the branch of a tree, it's wearing a baseball cap. Part of a mural

part of a larger mural - a cat chases a bird, under a tree branch, tire rope swing on the tree in the picture too, the cat looks a bit like Felix the cat cartoon character

below: “Painting to the artist is like flight to the bird. Freedom”

part of mural, a dark blue bird sits in a tree. The words "Painting to the artist is like flight to the bird. freedom"

below: West side of the building

brick building in a laneway. At the top is an old sign that says IDA Hanin Drug Mart. Below, a large mural with birds.

below: White on black, a mural signed as @oskwong @release852 (2 photos)

mural on the side of a one storey building, black background, white line drawing, balance, good and evil, angel and devil, @oskwong, release852 as the signature on the mural

below: The central portion – it looks like the devil and maybe an angel? Good vs evil?

detail of a white drawing on black mural, ceter portion, devil and angel, by Oscar Kwong, release852

below: This mural is signed, ‘the Loft’ which is an acronym for Life Opportunities Food and Technology, a program run by the Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre.

back of a row of stores, lane view, air conditioning unit, garbage bins, a mural of a man wearing a suit and hat. Sign on mural says The Loft, by

below: A bicycle riding alligator.

a wood fence with a graffiti painting of a black alligator or crocodile on it. in an alley

below: White fish bones contrast with a bright orange garage door.

graffiti, white spray paint line drawing of fish bones with head and tail, large, on an orange garage door in a laneway

below: It’s not very often I have to watch out for a Mercedes AND a Ferrari in the lane!

a red Ferrari and a beige Mercedes drive past each other beside a coin laundry in a lane.

Bloordale, north of Bloor

Posted: June 18, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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below: “Stop and we’ll build” in Bloordale Village, an area along Bloor St. West between Dufferin St. and Lansdowne Ave.

Street signs on a metal pole. The top on is a Bloor St. West sign with the words Bloordale village on it as well. Below that is a stop sign that someone has written "and we'll build", altered sign

Last Saturday was Bloordale’s third annual community garage sale and laneway crawl.  Many front yards were full of items for sale.   A couple of families were selling homemade food and there was at least one lemonade stand.

A woman stands in her front yard talking to a man and his daughter who are on the sidewalk. Her frontyard is full of items that are for sale in a yard sale.

I walked the area fairly early in the morning so many of the activities were just getting set up.  There were things to do and games to play in the alleys and in Susan Tibaldi park.  I have blogged previously about this area so last Saturday I only took pictures of things that were new.   There weren’t very many changes in the alleys.

A large graffiti face covering the side of a garage in an alley. Line drawing in green and orange.

below:  We are Starlight, we are golden…. **

some green weeds growing in front of an old garage in an alley with a black door on which someone has spray painted the word starlight.

below: … and it seems that we were all born in outer space.  Lovebot and some friends.

mural on a garage door in an alley. a green giraffe, a blue lovebot, and a purple goose, with the words "We were all born in outer space"

Along the side of a building on Jenet Ave I found a large mural of three faces painted by Shalak, Fiya and Bruno Smoky.  It faces a parking lot and there were cars in the way.  I took some photos anyhow; I think you should be able to see the faces reasonably well.

below: Two women, the one on the left was painted by Shalak while the one on the right is by Fiya.

two faces, mural, painted on the side of building, both women, a multicoloured face in profile by Shalak on the left and a woman with purple hair by Fiya on the right.

below:  The mustached man and his fish was painted by Bruno Smoky.

mural of a man's face, eyes closed, wearing a hat, mustache, older man

part of a mural, a gold fish swimming, it is also reflected in the windows of the car that is parked beside it.

below: Remnants of old Rob Ford graffiti still remain around the city including this doorway.

an old doorway in a red brick building in a lane. There is an old graffiti face of Rob Ford painted on the door. R I P has been written on his forehead.

below: This building on Brock Street on has been empty for years.

the back of an old three storey brick building that is empty. The doors and windows have been boarded up. Some tags have been painted there, cinq, dfine and stud.

below:  The front of 668 Brock Ave with its Salvation Army ghost sign.  In 1921 it was home to the Brock Avenue People’s Mission while next door at 666 Brock Ave., the Number 16 Corps of the Salvation Army was stationed.  Its history since then is still a mystery to me.
ghost sign, Salvation Army, across the top of an old brick building, number 668 Brock St., three storeys with fancy brickwork across the top of the roofline. boarded up, metal fence in front, concrete covered front yard, yellow fire hydrant.

a metal box on a wall, both painted a yellowish brown, on the box someone has written woof woof woof woof woof meow vertically so that meow is under a pile of woofs. The house across the street is in the background.

below: At the not so picturesque corner of Lansdowne and Paton Rd., I found a metal fence.  A sign on it says that it is the ‘Lansdowne Fence Temporary Artwork’ by artists Scott Eunson and Marianne Lovink, commissioned by the TTC in 2010.   But why is the TTC involved with this vacant lot?

metal fence on the corner, on two sides of a large vacant lot.

below: And as you can see, it’s a large lot.  As it turns out, this was the site of the TTC Lansdowne Carhouse up until 1996.  Although the carhouse was classified as a heritage building, it was demolished in 2003.  The land has been vacant ever since.

a chainlink fence with some metal cut outs of flowers and pigeons on it, with weeds growing up in front of it, and a few real pigeons on the ground.

below: Lansdowne carhouse, 1996, photo credit: Robert Lubinksi, TTC collection, found online.

historical picture of Lansdowne carhouse, 1996 with old TTC buses in front of the building

below: A new mural has been painted on the side of the South Indian Dosa Mahal restaurant at the corner of Emerson and Bloor.  It is the creation of SPUD and his team with the support of StreetARToronto and the Bloordale BIA.  It’s probably the biggest tiger cub in Toronto!

large mural of a tiger cub playing with two balls, one red and one blue. The cub has one green eye and one blue eye. Covers the whole of the side of a building

part of a large mural of a tiger cub playing with two balls, one red and one blue. The cub has one green eye and one blue eye. Covers the whole of the side of a building - head of the cub and part of the blue ball

part of a large mural of a tiger cub playing with two balls, one red and one blue. The cub has one green eye and one blue eye. Covers the whole of the side of a building. - tail and red ball

below: Dasdardly Whiplash in his latest role as a graffiti artist near Lansdowne subway station.

street art painting on a doorway and wall in an alley, of cartoon character Dastardly Whiplash with his mustache, black cape and top hat spray painting a tag on a wall.

below: Small places of worship are scattered all over the city.  Many are in buildings once used for other purposes, including (by the looks of it) this one, the Belarusan Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Parish of St. Kiryla of Turau.  Trivia #1 of the day: autocephalous is “self-headed” and in this context refers to a church whose bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop.  Trivia #2:  St. Kiryla (c.1130 – 1182) was an eloquent and poetic preacher in Turau which is south of Minsk and east of Warsaw.  And on that note I will move on before I end up writing a treatise on Eastern Orthodox religions.

low, one storey brick building with a pink double door, metal fence and gate in front, ornate cross above the door.

below: Not your average patio!

back deck of a light industrial building, no railing, two canvas chairs, steps down to ground level where there is a couch
two old cars, one red and one dark grey, are parked in an overgrown backyard on an alley.

large black letters sprayed onto a light grey garage that say Love But Think

And last, let’s finish with a splash of bright summer sunshine!

two large yellow flowers attached to the handle bars of a bicycle

** yes, I know I’ve misquoted

Frank Kovac lane

Posted: June 8, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Frank Kovac Lane is a short alley just south of Christie subway station.  Some of the garage doors were painted with murals in past years and, as usual, there were plenty of tags.  Recently, the lane was the scene of a community mural painting session thanks to the 4th Toronto Rangers (Girl Guides), StreetARToronto,  artist Nick Sweetman, and some local residents.  Now some of the tags are gone and more importantly, some more garage doors are home to bright and cheerful murals.  A few of them are included here.

below: At the north end of the lane is this large, colourful mural by Nick Sweetman.
Two large blue bears have found a plethora of honey.  Will the bees share?

large mural by Nick Sweetman on a wall in Frank Kovac Lane, two very large blue bears are eating honey from honeycombs while a few large bees buzz around.

part of a large mural by Nick Sweetman on a wall in Frank Kovac Lane, two very large blue bears are eating honey from honeycombs while a few large bees buzz around - close up of one bear's face

below: The new murals continue the animal theme, “Urban Wildlife”, starting with this fox.

garage door in an alley painted with a mural of a fox head beside a bicycle wheel with trilliums growing up in front of it.

below: A common Toronto animal, a raccoon, beside a red fire hydrant.

view in an alley, a lavendar coloured door. to the left of the door is a garage door painted with a mural of a raccoon and a red fire hydrant.

below: A blue jay eyes some blueberries.

mural on a pale yellow garage door of a blue jay sitting on hydro wires, also a bunch of wild blueberries is in the image

below: Several monster faces have lived in this alley for a while and they still remain.
This one looks like he needs a hair cut.

garage door painted with a monster face, big mouth and teeth, orange nose, in tones of blue, grey and orange, ivy is growing over the top of the garage and it looks like green hair.

three garages in a row in an alley, all painted with a large monster face

a skinny blue graffiti figure on the edge of a garage, between two garage doors with stylized and abstract faces painted on them. One is black and green and the other is black and white

An old garage and concrete fence with a door in it. The fence is cracked above the door. The door is painted black with bright colour scribbles, the garage door has a black and white mural on it

a painting in grey tones of a young boy in old fashioned shorts and long sleeved top, standing.

below: This graffiti is actually on Harbord Street but I couldn’t resist taking a picture of it
– a camera and an “oh snap”

Above Guan's auto service shop, a graffiti on an upper storey wall, a small camera and turquoise lettering and words in pink that say Oh snap. Above that is a red billboard for Bud and Burger

alleyway of dreams

Posted: June 7, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The Alleyway of Dreams is an art project begun in 2012 that aims to spruce up and add some colour to a lane near Danforth and Main.  I walked the alley yesterday and this is what I saw.

below: A large mural by StreetARToronto, caring hands and large bees in Bee Haven. (2 photos)

part of a mural on a wall in a lane, a pair of yellow hands, a small plant pot is in one hand, a small green seedling is growing in the pot

part of a large mural on a wall in a lane, three very big bees

Artist Nadia Hakime has painted several animals on the garages in fences in the alley.

below: In the barnyard, four cows and three pink pigs.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - four cow heads and three pink pigs

below: A blue rhinoceros with a horn that resembles a flowering tree.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a blue rhinoceros with a horn that looks like a tree

below: This giraffe thinks you’re standing on your head.  His world is a very upside down place!

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a giraffe against blue sky with clouds. It's head is bent down so that the giraffe fits in a square space

below: A cute little bunny and a friendly blue dog ready to make friends.

Two sections of a fence painted with animal heads - a brown bunny on a green grass background and a blue pug dog

below: A majestic looking tiger.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a tiger's head

below: Humphry the donkey turns to look.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a donky's head on a turquoise fence

below: Grapefruits on the left and peaches? apricots? on the right.

two sections of wooden fence painted, one with pink circles and the other with orange ovals

below: A wonderful blue chameleon is smiling at passers by, painted by Steven Micallef.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a bright blue chameleon

below: A ‘Starry Starry Night’ shed, thanks to Vincent Van Gogh and artist Nadia Hakime.

a copy of Vincent Van Gogh's 'Starry starry night' is painted on the side of a shed in a backyard.

blue vertical stripes painted on a white garage door, close up shot, with some new green growth on a small tree that is growing beside the garage

blog_stay_out_door_alley

#alleywayofdreams

The Alleyway of Dreams facebook page

kids and community, around Woodbine

Posted: June 7, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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This post is about community involvement and the murals that result.  They aren’t great art and they weren’t meant to be.  They are about the stories we tell about ourselves and our communities.  They brighten our public spaces and enrich our neighbourhoods.

The first is a series of murals painted by Gledhill Public School students. There are murals by the graduating classes of 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 in a lane near the school.

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2008, black silhouettes under tree branches, hand prints too

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2009, black silhouette of the Toronto skyline with big colourful footprints, some roughly drawn people too , an airplane flies overhead

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2009, black silhouette of the Toronto skyline with big colourful footprints, some roughly drawn people too

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2010. A blue semi-circle

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2011. 2011 in large numbers across the bottom with grey silhouettes of people, brightly coloured squares with faces across the top

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2011. 2011 in large numbers across the bottom with grey silhouettes of people, brightly coloured squares with faces across the top

Just to the east, Woodbine subway station is undergoing much needed renovations and expansion.  Some of the hoardings around the construction site have been covered with three murals.   They were painted by:  Haley G., Sasha K.S., Francis H., Melika W., Tristan C., Savannah P., Adrina P. and Anna-Lisa A as well as Jim Bravo and Andrenne Finnikin as part of the ‘City on the Move, Young Artists in Transit’ mural project.

Looking across a street to a construction site around which a fence has been erected. There are three murals painted on the hoardings.

The first mural is a juxtaposition of past and present, people playing beside the creek. The creek, trees, and birds are all the same.  There is now a city in the distance and clothing we wear has changed, but we still enjoy the outdoors like our ancestors did.

1910 to 2013, mural of past and present along the creek. Kids playing on either side, the past on the left, the present on the right, bird watching, standing in the grass,

Above ground, a fair, an amusement on a summer day.   Below ground, the subway is being built.

mural depicting people at a fair. A child is licking a giant round lollipop, a girl is holding a doll, a ferris wheel is in the background.

And last, woodpeckers in the trees as well as a poem by George Elliott Clarke who was the Poet Laureate of Toronto 2012-15.  It describes the murals and is transcribed below.

mural painted on TTC construction hoardings, trees and birch trees with no leaves on them, with a couple of woodpeckers

The poem on the last mural:

Seeing Beauty, at Woodbine
 
Citizens, let’s pasture ourselves in parks
And gardens, so skyscrapers mingle with trees,
And we recover Native faith, Settler
Hope, to savour birds’ trills and swoops, fording
Creek and times past, to touch us, where we stand.
 
Once was pleasure in a street fair – ice cream
And lollipop, but also in strolling
Or rolling down to work, shirt-sleeves rolled up,
Dawn light unfolding, That’s what’s visible.
(Underground, a steel vein branches, roots, and throbs.)
 
Torrential leaves stacked up towers, now fallen,
Last Fall, Birds tap into the standing logs
Winter planted.  Spring rain well refreshes
The city.  Now, young artists tap dreams –
Drafting Beauty – to which all say, “Bravo!”
 
by George Elliott Clarke

anatomy lesson, and more

Posted: May 31, 2016 in graffiti and street art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Today’s blog starts with an anatomy lesson as illustrated by vampz on a wall in Graffiti Alley – the arterial and venous blood flow of the head and neck.

street art painting of a larger than life, realistic depiction of the blood supply to the human head. Skull with eyeball, teeth, some neck muscles as well as arterial and venous blood vessels. In profile.

I walked the alleys behind Queen St West today to see if there was anything new.  The biggest new pieces were the above head and a new birdo creation, pictured below.  A realistic looking blue jay and a floating pink gem.

a garage decorated with a mural by birdo, of a realistic blue jay and a pink cut gem floating in front of the bird.

  below: The back part of the blue jay is on the side wall of the garage
which produces an interesting 3D effect.

a garage decorated with a mural by birdo, of a realistic blue jay and a pink cut gem floating in front of the bird. The front part of the bird is on the garage door and the back part of the bird is on the side wall.

below: This tribute to the basketball Raptors and their appearance in the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals is also a new addition.  DeRozan is pictured on the left and my apologies for not knowing the player on the right.  Unfortunately, it was too close to garbage day and the bins were overflowing so I couldn’t move them out of the way.  Next time.

streetart mural in tribute to Toronto Raptors basketball team and their presence in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016. The heads of two black basketball players on a red and purple background.

below: And unfortunately, garbage was an issue today.

a bin of garbage plus a pile of garbage bags in front of a street art piece, a face and a tag in green and red, signed hangman, detroit.

below: The face isn’t new to the alley, but the words are.
Written by a woman with priorities!

Pretty female working retail falls in love with guys who need bail
the sweet smell of lust or love
you mean well, but money can get her a new car and clean nails.
The Lady”

number 669 in lime green letters above a stylized woman's face with yellow hair and a blue top. Someone has written words on the brick wall beside the painting.

below: Love Department featuring Phoebe.
You can find more of her on instagram @phoebenewyork

A little paper paste up of a large headed girl with black hair and a large red heart on her head. on a pink background with the words Love Department. Stuck on a garage door painted in pink and blue shapes

below: Even a simple smile will do most of the time.

under the rusted metal of a wire grill over a window, on a wall that was painted in black and orange street art, there is a small white line drawing of a girl's head

below: Cloud Monet and the woman in white, or Who you lookin’ at Mr. Fish?

small vertical drawing of a woman, drawn in white, wearing a long form fitting dress, standing, on brown, tied to a wall with a mural laready painted on it.

a painted piece of street art has been partially covered with many vertical lines in black marker, producing an interesting pattern over the colours below.

Three hinges have been bent forward so they are flat, multicoloured graffiti behind them, words written on the hinges except for the bottom one which has a question mark on it.

below: A couple of stikmans.  No anatomical realism here!

a little wooden stikman with only one leg on a green concrete block wall, with white stencilled daisies above him, street art in an alley

a very pale blue stikman on a very pale blue window and wall.

below: A bit of mystery.  I’m not sure if it’s a stikman or if it’s a newcomer to the alley

orange coloured stikman, double, foot to foot, in a pink wall with foam insulation on both sides of him

below: Pull up a seat and rest a bit, we’re almost done.

cast off furniture in a lane, two chairs, a TV, a small yellow set of drawers, a mop,

below: The final words on today’s walk.  Someone’s not happy!

graffiti wods on a red and white wall, "Graffiti Sucks"

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