Posts Tagged ‘street art’

a flock of birdos

Posted: May 17, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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This blog post is about a flock of birdos, meaning that I found a lot of alley garages decorated with paintings by street artist birdo.  Or maybe ‘a menagerie of birdos’ would be a more accurate description as most of the pictures were of different animals such as elephant, cat, dog, coyote, and mouse along with a number of different birds.

These photographs were are all taken in alleys behind the south part of Dovercourt Road (between Queen and Sudbury streets).  The majority of the paintings that I saw were result of birdo’s work but there were examples of  and I have included them in this post too.

 below: Two birdo birds with eggs, with a slice of mushroom and pepperoni pizza by Shalak.

Three garages in an alley, with trees growing between them. The first two have garage doors with birdo murals on them and the third has a pizza street art painting by Shalak

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a large bird with blue head and orange beak sitting in a nest looking down at a large white egg

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a parrot holding a large blue egg

An old wood garage in an alley that is painted by Shalak, a slice of pizza with pepperoni pieces flying off it (or onto it!)

a person is sitting on a kerb in an alley, beside a wall with a large mural by birdo of an elephant and a mouse

street art mural on a wall in an alley by birdo - an elephant with a green head

below: Howling at the moon, with a cactus and a scorpion too.

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a coyote howling at the moon in the desert with a large cactus in the picture as well as a scorpion. words: birdo homes spud

below: Blue dog, pink lava lamp

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a blue dog beside a pink lava lamp on a table. words: birdo dmc, phil pans tense

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a four legged animal looks to be growling at something

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a large multicoloured cat. words: tense phil pans

below:  A rooted turtle and cool owl with sparkly shades

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a lavendar turtle and an owl with blue eyes and orange beak

street art mural on a garage door in an alley by birdo - a creature with a green and purple body and head that looks like a parrot

street art mural on a wall in an alley, a girls face, two little brown pigtails, 2 hearts and a turtle head

an old mattress leans against an old brick wall that has two pieces of graffiti on it. One is a blue and yellow egg shape with a blue arm and hand sticking out of a crack in it. The words "It's alive" are written beside it. The other is a small blue creature like shape

On a gararge door in a laneway, painted like the Canadian flag except there is a pineapple in the middle instead of a maple leaf. On the right hand side red stripe are the words "have a nice day"

A mural by bruno smoky on the side of a white container. It is a purple faced creature with blue tag like shapes around it.

below: “Just a robot that doesn’t like technology”

a lovebot on a silver garage door with the words "Just a robot that doesn't like technology, I'd rather be free"- signed Tasha

number 66 in a lane, garage door, door and walls covered with circles and triangles in different colours.

A door covered with a very abstract face painting and another graffiti face beside the door.

Prince and the unicorns

Posted: May 1, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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As I was walking across Queen Street West a couple of days ago, I saw a pink sparkly tribute to the musician Prince who died recently.   In 1993 while having contract problems with Warner Brothers, Prince changed his stage name to this symbol.  It became known as the Love Symbol although he was more regularly referred to as ‘The Artist Formerly Known as Prince’ for the next seven years.

A large pink painting on a sidewalk, a symbol used by the singer Prince. The painting is a memorial to him. His dates are given 1958 to 2016.

A few feet away, at the corner of Queen and Spadina I found the artist busy on another painting.  Victor, as in #whatsvictorupto, was in the middle of painting a blue and purple unicorn with pink glitter too.  I asked him if there was any significance to the unicorn.  He said that this was going to be his ‘Year of the Unicorn’.  He also mentioned that he already painted a few unicorns….

A man is painting a glittery pink and purple unicorn picture on the sidewalk as people pass by on Queen Street in Toronto

below: The finished painting

A blue and purple painting of a unicorn with pink glitter added to it too. Painted by Victor and signed as #whatsvictorupto

below: So far I have found two other unicorns.  First, this slightly faded unicorn on a four leaf clover is painted outside the Black Irish pub on Queen Street East at Sherbourne.

A unicorn in green, blue and black painted on a green four leaf clover by #whatsvictorupto The word Kelsey is also beside the painting

below:   Second, a unicorn on the sidewalk in front of Sick Kids Hospital

A blue and gold unicorn head painted in a red heart on a sidewalk, by Victor of What's victor up to.

below: A little bit of fun – it seems that a lot of people have uploaded their pictures of the  Prince painting to instagram in the past day or two!

a screenshot of a cellphone, pictures of the pink Prince symbol that different people have added to instagram

If I see any more unicorns I’ll let you know!

tim’s cups

Posted: April 19, 2016 in abstract, general Toronto
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Behold, I give you the Tim Hortons cup.  Empty.

an empty paper coffee cup from Tim Hortons that has been discarded - in the snow on top of a grey wood railing in front of a store. A street art painting of a man with outstretched hands is in the background.

Always fresh.  Toujours frais.
They even come in a number of handy sizes, usually small, medium, large, and extra large.

an empty paper coffee cup from Tim Hortons that has been discarded - on a wooden horizontal beam on a grey wall below a large red door, industrial building
They are found all over town,  compositional elements splashed onto the urban canvas.

an empty paper coffee cup from Tim Hortons that has been discarded - on top of a dark green barrel that is beside a lighter green barrel, in front of a red brick wall that has been partially painted grey

Some are carefully placed little art installations.  They certainly didn’t get there on their own!

an empty paper coffee cup from Tim Hortons that has been discarded - upside down on top of a metal pole that is about a meter high, in an alley, beside a gate

And others are willfully abandoned.   Often left on their own.  Alone.  Empty. Lidless.

a small red empty Tim Hortons coffee cup sits on the muddy ground outside the back entrance of an older grey brick apartment building

Sometimes they are found in groups.  Carried away and then forgotten.

a stolen shopping cart, black metal, sits on a piece of grass, beside the sidewalk, but behind a chained off driveway. In the top part of the cart are 4 TIm Hortons cups and in the bottom part, an empty coke can.

Sigh.  The Tims cup.  The omnipresent Tims cup.

One day I got tired of trying to decide whether or not to photoshop out a coffee cup that had been discarded on a sidewalk.  Maybe it would be better to take on a “if you can beat them, join them” attitude.  Instead of avoiding or removing cups, I should focus on them.  Make them part of the picture.  The redness of the coffee cups that Tim Hortons has been using recently adds to the appeal of making them the subject matter and not the subject of scorn and cause of exasperation.

Dominion Coal and Wood

Posted: April 13, 2016 in history, locations
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The eastern end of the Kay Gardner Belt Line Park crosses over Yonge St and the subway just south of Davisville station.  It then runs across the north side of Mt. Pleasant cemetery.  It comes to an end at Mt. Pleasant Road where the trail merges into the roads that run through the cemetery.

In 2014 students from Greenwood School painted a mural at this location.  The mural has three main elements.  A train to represent the Belt Line, the name of the community that it is located in (Mt Pleasant Village), and the words ‘use Dominion Coal and Wood’.    The last part is because not long ago, on this site, stood the large concrete silos that the Dominion Coal and Wood company used to store coal and wood.   The shape of the black background is very similar to the shape of the silos if viewed from above.

below: Mural, with Mt. Pleasant Road above it.

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mural celebrating mt pleasant village and the old dominion coal and wood silos that used to be at that location. At the end of the belt line trail where it merges into mt pleasant cemetery

below: Plaque located on the site of the old silos (now in the bushes beside a condo)

City of Toronto historical plaque describing the history of the Dominion Coal and Wood silos that used to be on Mt. Pleasant Ave near the old Belt Line Railway tracks.

transcription of the Heritage Toronto plaque:

“Dominion Coal and Wood

Originally located on Danforth Avenue, the Dominion Coal and Wood Company was founded in 1912 by William H. Smith.  In 1929, the company opened a landmark facility on this site.  Its nine adjoining concrete silos were designed by E.P. Muntz Engineering Company.  Coal and wood were transported here by rail car along the former Belt Line Railway and then sold as heating fuel to local businesses and home owners.

Originally just one among many similar suppliers in the city, Dominion Coal and Wood outlasted most of its competitors.  The company expanded into building supplies as coal sales dwindled, but continued to sell coal here until the site was closed in 1999.  Although recognized as an increasingly rare type of industrial architecture, the historic silos were demolished in 2001. “

 

below: The nine silos, about 1972.  The photo is from City of Toronto Archives and was found online at JB’s Warehouse (a good source if you are interested in more information at Dominion Coal and Wood)

picture of the Dominion Coal and Wood silos on Mt. Pleasant, from city of Toronto Archives, taken about 1972. With an old Mt. Pleasant streetcar on the street by the silos.

below: I tried to replicate the above photo, about 42 years later.  The Mt. Pleasant streetcars are long gone as is the gas station on the NW corner of Merton and Mt. Pleasant.  A corner of the tall white apartment building on the right can be seen peaking from behind newer condo buildings.  Of course, the dominant part of the picture is the condo development that was built on the site of the Dominion silos in 2002.

condo building across the street, about 12 storeys high, made of brick and glass, a couple of cars are on the street

Sackville Street murals

Posted: April 6, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Sackville Street, just south of Dundas, is right in the midst of the Regent Park renewal project.  It is also the site of two murals.  First, there is bright and colourful mural which is painted on the side of a new apartment building.

mural painted by Shalak Attack and Bruno Smoky in Regent park Toronto, showing a brightly coloured woman;s face, with a flower in her hair and her body (from the shoulders up) made of buildings in a jumble as well as a blue owl (large bird) in flight, passing in front of the sun that is represented by circles of orange and red radiating out from the bright yellow center. A green hand is reaching up towards the sun

A man with a dog an a leash is walking by a mural of a brightly coloured woman;s face, with a flower in her hair and her body (from the shoulders up) made of buildings in a jumble. Painted by Shalak Attack in Regent Park

close up of a mural by Shalak Attack and Bruno Smoky of a blue owl (large bird) in flight, passing in front of the sun that is represented by circles of orange and red radiating out from the bright yellow center. A green hand is reaching up towards the sun

The other mural is a painting by elicser on hoardings around a building under construction.

a long mural by elicser painted on hoardings around a building under construction. People flying past in the mural

below: With the ubiquitous Timmie’s cup on the ground.

the end of a mural, a man is sideways, arm above his head, painted on a mural, a large orange concrete block is in front of the wall, an empty Tim Hortons cup (Timmies cup) is on the ground.
part of a mural of flying people by elicser, a woman in a light purple dress and head scarf as well s a boy in beige Tshirt and blue shorts

Two people painted flying sideways on a mural, a brown man with no shirt on and a much smaller person below him with a yellow T-shirt. An orange concrete block is on the sidewalk in front of the mural along with an orange and white traffic cone

people flying sideways on a mural by elicser, including a girl in a pink dress

people flying sideways on a mural by elicser, including a woman in a blue dress and a man with a red hat.

flying people mural by elicser

the words Regent Park are written in pink paint on a light blue background, painted on wooden hoardings around a construction site.

April flurries

Posted: April 5, 2016 in graffiti and street art, nature
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April showers bring May flowers, or so they say.

painted on a garage door, bright green background with black roses with red leaves and white daisies, also with black leaves, a red butterfly and a blue butterfly

BUT, wait just a minute!  You know it always snows in Toronto in April.  Always.

young man's face painted in pink with white features (stylized, not realistic) with orange hair and orange shirt. beside him is the word no written in large pink letters with an exclamation point after it.

And this year is no exception.

drawing of two eyes and a mouth on a grey wall. There is fear in the eyes and the mouth seems to be screaming. Beside the drawing is a window with green metal bars and a small leafless tree growing in front of the window. Snow on the ground.

It’s cold enough that even the poles are wearing scarves.

an old scruffy yellow metal pole in an alley has a black knitted scarf tied around it. There is a bit of snow on the scarf.

But why should that stop us?  There’s always a silver lining and there’s always lemonade to be made.
In this case, it is the opportunity for one last look at the city in winter (we hope!)

backyard, entrance off alley, little red car parked on snow covered parking lot. blue sky, backs of two storey houses

looking through a backless garage where the garage door is open. The garage is empty. you can see the backyard, covered in snow as well as snow covered steps leading up the second storey

looking down a narrow lane to a large two stroey red brick house across the street, a woman is riding past on a bicycle.. winter scene

eyes open, watching for spring

Posted: April 3, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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Faces in the alley, Graffiti Alley

As March turns into April and winter sort of turns into spring.

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below: Looks like someone has already started his spring cleaning.

blog_graffiti_man_spring_cleaning

below: He says, “See you in hell”.
She thinks, “I’m already there. You should try living beside this smelly thing.”

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below: Jarus has painted a young man

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below: It seems that even Lovebot needs to eat…  Not sure about the purple hamburger bun though!

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P.K., a newcomer to the alley?

Posted: April 2, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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I took a short walk through the graffiti alleys behind Queen St. West yesterday.  I found four new face/skull paintings by artist P.K. (which is short for?) all close together on Rush Lane, and all near 530 Richmond St. West.

alley laneway streetart by artist PK of a stylized face, or could be a skull - intricate black line drawing of skull and facial features on teal background

alley laneway streetart by artist PK of a stylized face, or could be a skull - black outlines of top of skull, eyes, nose holes, and sort of teeth, on red background

below: A turtlecaps paste-up from last year is still on the wall.

alley laneway streetart by artist PK of a stylized face, or could be a skull - black spray paint outlines of features on multicoloured background - on a brick wall between two windows, small turtlecaps paste up also in the picture

alley laneway streetart by artist PK of a stylized face, or could be a skull - red and yellow drippy blobs on a black background

2016, a new year

Posted: January 1, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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2016, a new year just begun, and with it a new country and a new blog.

I’ll be taking a break from blogging about Toronto as I do a bit of traveling once again.  I have started another blog as a home for the street art that I see.  It will include the pages of non-Toronto street art that I have on some pages in this blog (some have already been moved) as well as any street art that I see on this trip.

New blog: Eyes on the streets

 

 

 

under bridge, under school

Posted: December 25, 2015 in graffiti and street art, landmarks
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Playing hookey, spray paint cans in hand, under the bridge.

 

steps behind a school

long wooden staircase going downhill in autumn with lots of dead leaves on the ground

On the Bayview Extension, a black car drives under the Bloor Viaduct, past concrete supports with graffiti on them.

graffiti on concrete bridge supports, block letters

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - creature in yellow and orange with the words: One love to [heart] and for my best friend Gracie

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - creature with black face and covered in green leaves, with a few purple petals on top of the head. words, RIP Julian Waxhead, as well as a pink and black geometric street art painting

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - creature with black face and covered in green leaves, with a few purple petals on top of the head. words, RIP Julian Waxhead

graffiti on concrete bridge supports

graffiti on concrete bridge supports

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - with words totally busted oren

stencils on concrete, in red, words that say: Police Chiefs are Freemasons

stencil, on concrete, in red, words that sat: Don't steal it's the gov't's job

graffiti under a bridge, light blue character

graffiti under a bridge, black deveilish face with horns, beard and teeth, black face, white details, red around it

line drawing of a skinny man wearing a top hat beside head of a caricature of Queen Elizewbth in green and yellow. The words, Crack Kills

graffiti in the corner of a bridge support, concrete,

 

hand written sign duct taped to a chain link fence that reads: Apologies to the graffiti art people. It's that time of year again that city makes us clean up. But... clean slate 101. Peace.
below: On two sides, back and front, of the same post.

Two sides of the same pole. One side has a stencil in red that says Objects in Space. The other side has the same stencil, but in reverse.

graffiti under a raised parking lot

looking up at the metal cross bar supports for the wire fence along the Bloor Viaduct

Toronto Historical commission sign about the history of the Prince Edward Viaduct, a bronze plaque posted on the brick wall, interior, of Castle Frank subway station.

 

transcription of the plaque:

The Prince Edward Viaduct
Designed by Edmund Burke architect, and Thomas Taylor, construction engineer, the Price Edward Viaduct was opened on 18 October 1918. The Viaduct joined Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue from Sherbourne Street to Broadview Avenue, to provide easy access to the rapidly expanding suburbs east of the Do River. The Bloor section, carried on an earthen embankment, stretched eastward from Sherbourne to Parliament Streets. The Don section supported by a bridge 494 metres long, extends westward from Broadview Avenue. The Rosedale section, with a bridge span of 177 metres, forms a connecting link between them. On the recommendation of Jacob and Davies, consulting engineers, provision for a lower second deck was incorporated into the viaduct to carry subway trains. This foresight proved to be of inestimable value in building the Bloor-Danforth subway line 50 years later.
Toronto Historical Board, Toronto Transit Commission, 1981

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