Posts Tagged ‘Ted Hamer’

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

 

Bloordale

Posted: August 19, 2021 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
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looking down at the sidewalk, the words walk here are pressed into a grey stone brick.

below: ‘Greetings from Bloordale’, a painted Bell box by Faussy

painted bell box near east entrance to Dufferin station, Greetings from Bloordale, yellow background with pink and blue images on it

below: A mural on the exterior of the Russett Ave entrance to Dufferin subway station painted in 2017 by Ted Hamer and a group of students from the Toronto School of Arts ( Sonja Clarke, Stephanie Steele, and Maryam Sadeghpour).

 

mural on the exterior of west exit from Dufferin station by Ted Hamer, of a country scene, a fox, and some people walking

below: Another Bloordale mural, this one on the side of TL Variety on the northwest corner of Bloor and Emerson

intersection of Bloor and Margueretta looking towards corner of Bloor and Emerson with Bloodale mural on the side of a building on the northwest corner

TJ Variety store on Bloor, northwest corner of Emerson, a cyclist passing by

below: Mr. Sundown

little white graffiti ghost character with stick arms, Mr. Sundown

below: Weathered sign at Bloor Christian Fellowship

weathered sign beside Baptist church

below: Torn awning at Five Star Variety

torn blue awning above Five Star Variety

below: Walking past a vacant lot on Bloor (once was a used car lot)

a man walks by a vacant lot on Bloor street

below: On the east wall of the Bee Shop

bee mural on the east exterior wall of the Bee Shop on Bloor

below: The beehive of qualities and virtues

close up of part of the bee mural on the side wall of the bee shop. green woman, trees, bees, honeycomb, words, the beehive of qualities and virtues

below: mural in an alley

mural on a red brick building in a lane

below: Bloor & St. Helens, construction fence around the parking lot of Value Village

construction fence around Value Village parking lot on Bloor, with apartment building at Bloor and Dundas in the background

below: Vito’s Barbershop in bright yellow

vitos barbershop and other two storey buildings on Bloor

below: Northwest corner of Bloor and Lansdowne

24 hour hasty mart on an intersection of Bloor

below: On the fence, north side of Bloordale Collegiate a shared map project by Shel Kahn and DMG+.  Choose a ribbon and pin it on the map to show where you would like to be.

an interactive art installation involving maps, on a fence outside Bloordale Collegiate

below: Also on the fence at Bloordale Collegiate, empty milk bottles.  “The milk from these bottles fed my daughter.   What wisdom to nourish a child you love?  How to make this country sweeter to First Nations children?”

empty white milk bottles arranged on the fence beside Bloordale Collegiate

below: hearts and flowers in a laneway

blue spray paint heart on a wood utility pole in an alley, by a wooden fence with a flowering shrub

yellow flowers growing in the laneway, in front of a yellow and green garage and fence

below:  Pumpkins growing on a trellis over the frontyard.

pumpkins growing on a trellis above a front yard

below: Julie Dzerowicz is the Liberal MP (federal) for the Davenport riding. I am not sure of the meaning of this window except as a protest of some sort?

protest in window, Freedom is slavery, ignorance is

top of two storefronts, Economy fruit, and a pizza place

below:The kitten mural has been partially painted over and the store is now empty.

empty store on the corner, mural of cats has been tagged

below: It looks like its got a face of an apple, shrimp legs, and a pickle on its forehead.

big red faced, apple?, character, street art on a garage door

below: Butterfly mural

butterfly mural in an alley

graffiti on a white garage door of a character's head with bowtie and one hand waving, words that say lookin' sharp

below: Lakes, mountains, and trees in a somewhat Group of Seven looking mural.  It is difficult to see in this photo but written in blue in the bottom right corner is a poem, ‘Blasphemy’, by Lawren Harris that appears in his book, “In the Ward: His Urban Poetry and Paintings.  I have included the poem under this image.

ivy on a wall of a building, a mural on the other wall, facing an alley. lake and mountains and trees in the mural

“It is blasphemy
To be merely mortal
To wilt under the weight of the ages
To succumb to second hand living
To mumble of catch phrases
To praise far off ways things
And sneer at your neighbour’s clumsiness
To say nay, nay, and smile at aspirations, dreams, and visions.”

*****

More poetry, this time on a door.

Top:

When I remember a boat
it yaws at the mouth of an inlet
And that’s all
From my bedroom window
You could make out the gull-white trim
And from the shore
listen to its restless guests
No water splashes against the prow it splits calmly to both sides
One sail booms and dies down
No wildlife
No sense of my mother’s voice, far away
the supper prepared
Much too much time
#whenirememberaboat #mine

a white door on a concrete block wall in an alley with poetry written on it

Bottom:

The sad instability and inscrutability
Of this impossible universe
Felt more deeply in the skin with each passing maritime hour
Our souls’ absurd sobbing
Over unfamiliar ocean expanses with islands in the distance
Over distant coastlines of land not visited
Over the ports that grow clearer with their houses and people
As the ship approaches
#maritimeode #alvarodecampos #fernandopessoa

Alvaro de Campos (1895-1935) was a Portuguese poet who also wrote under the name Fernando Pessoa.

 

*****

More Bloordale doors

below: Pale green (seafoam green?) leaves and flower rising upwards at 1195. “Floral Impressions”, painted by Julia Prajza.

painted doorway at number 1190. Pale green leaves rising upwards on a pink and greenish blue background painted by Julia Prajza

below: A happy musical gate, “Joy in Little Things” by anastatica.art aka Anastasia Tarkhanova

a gate painted in orange, maroon, sand white by anastatica art

below: “Portals” was part of BIG on Bloor Festival at the end of July. Some residential doorways (six?) were painted like the two above as well as this one: “Shoals” by Andre Castro.

a door on Bloor Street painted in pink, blue, and white dabs

below: Martin Luther King surrounded by stained glass patterns and tiny beige tiles at 1179A

door alcove with small beige tiles, a black mailbox with number 11 on it, and an image of Martin Luther King and stained glass patterns on the door

******

Other graffiti and street art

below: Bell box painted by Gosia Komorski

bell box painted by gosia komorski, woman with teal face in profile, hair is black with circles of flowers and eyes

below: Truck with a pink blossom tree on the back and an orange bird on the side

truck with street art painted on it, a tree with pink blossoms on the back and a bird with large wings on the side

paste ups and paint on a wall, skulls, zonr,

below: Purple man

purple drawing of a man wearing a hat, on a yellow wall

below: Garfield trying to be incognito

graffiti slap, garfield the cat in a green costume

below: Vandalized words on a phone box

poster on a blue phone box that is torn and tagged, a woman on a bicycle is riding by

go east, way east…..

Posted: November 11, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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I had heard about a mural at Lawrence and Orton Park so this morning I thought I’d check it out.   I ventured out Lawrence Avenue to just east of Markham Road.  As I drove I was reminded of how big this city really is.

below: This is the community mural that started my adventure this morning.  It was painted in nine sections and then assembled on the wall.   It is the work of Ted Hamer, Rowell Soller and Skratch Wonder.

a mural on the side of a building that has the words Lawrence Orton in blue and orange. There is also a blue jay in flught, a fox and a squirrel and a robin standing in the grass.

below: As I left Orton Park, I saw this mural from a distance.  Of course I had to stop and take a picture.  I got some strange looks.  Tourists are probably not too common in this part of the city.

vertical mural on a multirise building (about 15 storeys tall perhaps).

below:  While I was looking for the best angle from which to take the above photo, I noticed some markings beside the road.

red painting on concrete wall barrier beside sidewalk on bridge over Highland Creek, in red, a girl's head and the words, What I love about the city is there are all kinds of cultures and faith groups. There is a lot of trees and sunshine.

below: As it turns out, these are from the summer of 2011.  Lawrence Avenue is 6 lanes wide and at this point it crosses Highland Creek and Morningside Park – a long bridge, a rather barren stretch of concrete and pavement.

red picture of a boy on a concrete barrier beside a sidewalk as it passes over a bridge. The word welcome is written beside him.

below:  Bridges were meant for going under, right?   Luckily there was an entrance to Morningside Park right there, and luckily I left my toboggan at home  🙂   Morningside Park is part of a network of parks that follow the Highland Creek.  It starts near Markham Road and the 401 and runs south to Kingston Road near Guildwood station.    A search for an answer to the question, “How many ravine parks does Toronto have?” has yielded no results yet.  I’ll keep looking.

paved path leading down a hill to a ravine park, apartment buildings in the distance. Sign beside path says no skiing or sleigh riding on the slope.

below:  The answer to another question, “Is there graffiti under the bridge?” was more easily found.

in a park under a bridge, grassy area, some trees on either side, 2 concrete support pillars with street art on the bottom of each.

below: The bottom of the pillars were painted back in 2010 and 2011.

street art on a concrete support pillar of a bridge, a man upside down, large head with top of head on the ground, feet up in the air. moustache, smiling mouth,

below: Hope takes flight over the city.  Unfortunately, it’s hard to see but the word hope is written on the city at the bottom of this small mural but it is behind the weeds.

small mural on the bottom of a concrete pillar, a bird takes flight over a city at sunrise. The word hope is written on the mural

below:   Personified Hope, from the picture above, wraps around to another side of the pillar as he/she moves upward.  Also seen here is one of the feet from the upside down man.

side of a concrete pillar with light blue line drawing of person looking upwards, abstracted.

below:   Another pillar has a painting by elicser.

street art by elicser in blue of a family. Man with red hat, woman and kids huddled together, fall park scenery in the background.

street art on the bottom of a concrete pillar, two black men. One is Mohammad Ali.

park with grass and autumn foilage trees, apartment building in the background, a large bridge passes over with four or five concrete pillars. SUnny blue sky day

street art painting on a pillar under a bridge of a young man in a blue hoodie and brown baseball cap

street art painting on a pillar under a bridge, wispy picture of a woman with long hair, hair swirls upwards to a satelite dish and a flying bird

bridge over a park and creek

geometric shapes abstract many colours street art

below: There were also a couple of paintings on the other side of the creek. There was water in the creek. Too much to cross safely.
Or at least, too much for me to cross safely!

graffiti on a pillar in the park with weeds and small shrubs growing around it.

It was a very quiet place to be this morning.  I saw a couple of people on the path, including Batman, but they were silent.

line drawing in black of Batman's head and shoulders, drawn on a paved path in a park

large chalk drawing of a man's face in black, white and pale purple, on a paved path in a park

One last photo, taken as I was driving home across Lawrence.  I guess it’s somewhat appropriate for the time.  Not sure why one would be sporting such a sticker in Ontario though.   C’est la vie.  To each their own.

red car with a sticker on the back that says Donald Trump 2016 Make America Great Again.

I saw many people at bus stops waiting for the 34 Lawrence bus and I wondered how long it took them to get to the subway.  Lawrence is 6 lanes wide and I tried to picture it with an LRT running down the center.   (but that’s a whole other blog post, perhaps another day).