Posts Tagged ‘trp613’

intersections – Dufferin & Queen

Posted: May 11, 2026 in construction, graffiti and street art, history, intersections, old buildings, transportation
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a woman stands under an umbrella on a rainy morning as she waits for a green light at Dufferin and Queen

The intersection of Dufferin and Queen Street West is dominated by the CN railway & GO transit tracks.  Large underpasses to the north and to the east define the character of the streets here.

Google map of Dufferin and Queen West area

Between 1881 and 1891, the population of Toronto more than doubled, from 86,415 in 1881 to over 181,125 ten years later (numbers are from census data).  As the city expanded, infrastructure struggled to keep up as it usually does.  It was decided that Queen Street needed an underpass instead of a level crossing.  In 1896 the first bridge was built.  At this time, Dufferin street ended at Queen to make room for the tracks.   Dufferin was now divided into a north and south section.

below: This is a 1898 photo from the City of Toronto archives  showing the new railway bridges over Queen Street West.  The view is westward. Dufferin is difficult to see in this image but it ends under the railway bridge that is farthest away.   Parkdale train station would have been just outside the picture on the left side.  It was closed by 1970.

black and white photograph, 1898, from city of toronto archives of queen and dufferin intersection

below: Still on Queen Street and still looking west but from farther back from the railway bridge which is now in the distance.  The big square-ish building on the right is a Veterinary Surgeon’s office.  The ad on the side of the building is for ‘The Sun’ where you could find the highest grade of bicycles, manufactured by G. T. Pendrith. The photo was taken in November 1896.

black and white photo from late 1890s, Queen street looking west towards railway tracks and Dufferin Street

source: There are many places to find this photo on the internet. This copy came from Wikimedia Commons.

below: Looking east along Queen from Noble Street, past Dufferin to the railway tracks, 1954. The Gladstone Hotel in the distance.  There is a Shell gas station on the southwest corner, and although it’s difficult to see, a policeman is standing in the intersection directing traffic.

black and white photo from Toronto Public library digital archives

source: Toronto Public Library digital archives.  Photographer – James V. Salmon

 

below: Southwest corner today …. that Shell station is long gone. A newer condo development fills that corner (built since 2010).

man crossing Dufferin st at Queen, looking west

person in red rain coat crossing queen street west at dufferin, painted sidewalk box in abstract design in the foreground, railway underpass with traffic in the background

below: The stone wall along the east side of Dufferin looks very similar to that of 1954.  The buses have been modernized though – we now have new shiny red hybrids.

newer lectric hybrid TTC bus northbound on Dufferin at Queen

The “Dufferin Jog” was fixed in 2010 when another railway bridge was built.

below: Looking north up Dufferin during the construction of the bridge, 2010.  This is another image from the City of Toronto archives.

construction of the bridge for CN rail and GO transit, to eliminate the dufferin jog, 2010, from city of toronto archives

source: Fonds 601, Series 2860, File 4, Item 1 (City of Toronto archives)

below: North on Dufferin today (not exactly the same view as above).  Bus lanes, or rather transit priority lanes, have recently been painted red.  The red brick building on the east side of Dufferin still remains.

looking north on dufferin from the railway bridge at Queen Street west

below: There are changes coming to the northwest corner of the intersection.  This photo was taken from the corner of Noble and Queen and is generally north looking.

northwest corner of Queen & Dufferin, photo taken from corner of Noble and Queen and looking northeast, vacant lot, buildings have been demolished

below: Hoardings on the north side of Queen

hoardings beside sidewalk on northwest part of queen and dufferin

below: The view behind the hoardings

vacant lot, behind hoardings, buildings already demolished

To the west of the tracks is the Parkdale neighbourhood with its colours and idiosyncrasies.

queen stret west looking west from dufferin, rainy gray morning, with traffic and a TTC streetcar

pale blue door with windows that have been covered with a floral pattern, green door frame, large store windows have been covered in blue

Rustic Cosmos Cafe sign with cow in a teacup. cow is wearing a black top hat and high heel shoes

Alexander felafel on the corner of Queen and Gwynne

side entrances to a building, two doors with 4 mailboxes between them. one of the doors is covered with stickers

billboard on side of old brick building, with text that says made you look. it's an advertisement for a store of that name

large street art mural on Queen west on side of building that is sound studio above and market below

The Milky Way runs parallel to Queen on the south side.  There has been lots of street here and I have blogged about it before, 5 times before as it turns out.  The first time was back on 2015 (Walking the Milky Way) and the most recent was in 2023 (Aging on the Milky Way)

where Milky Way meets Gwynne Ave., old houses on Gwynne

mural in Milky Way, grey tones, women's face, eyes closed

part of a mural in Milky Way, triangle shape with two eyes and words be aware!

graffiti sticker on a pole, a raccoon in a field of pumpkins

photo of a man's face, wearing sunglasses, pasteup graffiti on a pole

below: On the north side of the railway tracks, there is a pedestrian crossing and bike path.  There is also a quiet corner with a couple of benches.  The rest of the images in this post were taken on that pedestrian crossing.

beside the railway tracks, two benches

below: The Turd Reich – a wonderful series of paste-ups of our “favourite” men in uniform.   Donald Trump, Elon Musk, British MP Nigel Farage, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu,  JD Vance, and Vladimir Putin have been dressed up as World War II Nazi soldiers.  This collection first appeared in London, England about a year ago. They are they creation of Grow Up Art.

paper paste up graffiti on a glass wall beside railway tracks

below: A hole in the fence, with a well worn and muddy path!

a hole in the fence beside train tracks

fence, pedestrian crossing for bridge, with lots of graffiti on it,

below: Thing 1 and Thing 2, right out of the Cat in the Hat.

three paste up graffiti pieces on a concrete support to a pole. One is T bonez and trp 613 sailor dude dressed as thing 1 and thing 2 from Dr Suess Cat in the hat. second paste up is pink donut with a heart shaped hole and last is a white rabbit face

below: A little red X marks the spot

graffiti on wall, you are here, good bye 2025

below: We are all connected

paint on a glass wall, including words we are all connected

below: Every man needs a muse.  Who is your Venus?

graffiti with words Venus, every man needs a muse

little red graffiti face on white paint

graffiti stickers on city of toronto bike parking rings, pink iced donuts, visual noise,

graffiti stickers

graffiti stickers

yellow t bonez, visual noise, urban jinja,

graffiti stickers

graffiti stickers and slaps on a pole, by sentient cookie and geekypet,

below:  “Always remember you’re Heart & Soul, you are Loved 4 ever.  Trust me.”

love your 4 ever graffiti on red paint

Graffiti by: Catchoo, D7606, Feellings Boi, Geekypet, Sentient Cookie, Sketchrat,  TRP613, Urban Ninja Squadron, Visual Noise, Vivvy, Zonr (and others)

walking through railway underpass, beside woman waiting at a TTC bus stop

the smaller stuff too

Posted: January 16, 2026 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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…in Graffiti Alley

My previous post was also about a walk down a section of Graffiti Alley (Spadina to Portland).   This post is from the same walk –  because there were so many  images that I wanted to share, I decided to divide the fun into two parts.  This second part takes a closer look at some of the smaller pieces.

graffiti stickers covering signs at the entrance to graffiti alley where there is lots of street art in the background

below: Peeling paper hands….  A 33wallflower33 group of three women in their dashing outfits … and a charming man with devil’s horns and red glasses.

paper paste up graffiti on a door

below: Although it’s getting more difficult to see, there’s a Poser rabbit by the door.  The door is disappearing behind a layer or two of paper and paint.

a door covered with graffiti, with more street art paint on the walls beside it

below: There is a little pink stikman on the light above the door.

pink stikman graffiti on a light over a door in an alley

below: Once upon a time this skinny little guy was pink but ooops, a layer of paint and now he’s prematurely grey.

white stikman graffiti on a white wall behind metal bars

below: In her face – another stikman

small red stikman on yellow paint with a woman's face at the bottom layer

below: Last stikman for today… sometimes you find them tucked away in hard to see places.

green and black stikman hiding behind a hook with a black strap on it

below: Party line?  Four hands phone.

old phone booth but with 4 receivers, all covered with paint and graffiti

below:  A bleeding heart, a pansy flower, and a woman with a red hat and big ear rings.

small graffiti in graffiti alley, a red painted heart, paper paste ups of a pansy flower and a person's head

below: Polly wants a cracker before she takes over the world, or at least that’s what she told me.

paper paste up graffiti, one is a green bird with text that says bird takeover

below: A young woman with blue lipstick and jagged pink make up on her cheeks.  A spiked collar is around her neck.  Make of it what you will.

graffiti, woman with blue lips and spikey black hair, beside word peace stenciled twice in paint

below: Another young woman,  this time she’s a little softer (at least in appearance) – drawn by Catchoo.

below: Multiple Sailor dudes (trp613) in two varieties hanging out with a happy little catchoo critter and its smiley daisy balloon.

lots of paper pasteup graffiti in graffiti alley, one is a catchoo character holding a daisy shaped balloon

below: “Save me”!

paper pasteup graffiti in graffiti alley, including a blue floppy disc with text that says save me, by catchoo

below:  It looks like catchoo has been busy.

graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: More of that wall.

lots of slaps, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: Darth Vader makes an appearance too.  Who’s that man peeking through the hole?

orange skull, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley, also Darth Vader,

urban ninja squadron and others, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: One flower sprouts a bald person while the other produces a sunny orb.  That black octopus doesn’t look very happy – perhaps in this winter weather it needs more than just a woolly toque.

paint graffiti in graffiti alley, black octopus wearing a red toque

below: There are those women again!

33wallflower33 sticker of three flapper women

below: Dogma slaps standing tall in his puffy jacket and bright red mitts.

2 slaps graffiti on a wall already covered with street art paint. One is a dog, standing on two feet and dressed in human clothes - or perhaps it is a man with a dogs head

below: Riding a D7606 crayon – T-bonez always finds new adventures.

paste up graffiti high on a wall, t-bonez, from urban ninja squadron is riding a large orange crayon with D 7606 (name of another artist) on it,

collection of stickers, graffiti alley,

below: A collaboration between Tamm Shinzo and April Showers Art produced this little round piece – sitting on top of the clouds with the moon shining over her shoulder.

round paper paste up on a utility pole in Graffiti Alley,

below: Cryptid Supremacy – a rat with a very long tail

pink background with drawing of a rat sitting on a bench, long tail, words: cryptid supremacy

below: More rats, this time “the rat race is rigged”.  Also another skull (skulls are very popular!), this time by Broke Canvas (aka Colin Green) on yellow.   And third, is it a rainbow or a very sad face?  – slap by Rider Waitress (aka Frances Sousa)

graffiti on a wall, a black rat with words the rat race is rigged, a yellow square with a drawing of a skull by broke canvas, and last a rainbow with two flowers that looks like a sad face, by rider waitress

below: While we’re dealing with rats – Squee!  They are all fleeing from an NYC trash can.  Don’t litter!

a sticker on a wall in graffiti alley, mice fleeing from a trash can, squeee

below: Another small collection – Catchoo shows up on a soy sauce bottle while a Sentient Cookie (aka Cecil Tian) character gets taped to the wall… remember that banana?!   And last, in the top left corner, a Cartoon Car Slaps.

catchoo soya sauce bottle, sentient cookie paste up and a cartoon slaps slap, garffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: Juice box time. By Clem Crevetz

sticker on metal pipes in graffiti alley, man sitting, with juice box in his hands

small green fish sticker beside a lock on a door

small graffiti painting, black line drawing of a face, with very pointy chin, on white background

elicser elliott painting of a woman in rabbit ears, drinking a can of pop

graffiti where is my $$

alley graffiti stickers, blepser and nervo
pasteup little character in white suit, probably marcel morceau, the mime artist

elle was here, written on sidewalk in pink

Kensington graffiti – January 2024 edition

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

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

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

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

stickers on a pole in kensington

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

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

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

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

below: Running ninjas , The Chosen Few

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

below: … and then he takes to the air.

t bonez graffiti slap, holding onto red helicopter whirlie blades

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

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

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

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

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

graffiti on a pole along with street signs

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

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

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

below: Rubber Ducky

sticker, little yellow rubber ducky

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

below: Markus

below: Stay hydrated!

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

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

metal, crown, on utility pole

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

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

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

below: completely covered

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

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

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

below: Hello my new friend

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

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

 

catchoo and friends

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

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

three stickers on a pole, catchoo, and others

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

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

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

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

Kensington paper

Posted: November 11, 2021 in graffiti and street art, locations
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November 2021 edition

below: Jumbleface foto collage, slightly peeling.  Keep cold.

jeremy lynch jumbleface foto pasteup collage on a window in Kensington, eyes

below: Doesn’t he fit right into the poster?  Or are you busy looking at all the little creatures swarming around t-bonez head?

on the back of a bike rack, pasteups and stickers, urban ninja squadron in green,

below: It’s Life, it’s a one-eyed red daisy

red petal, blue eyed daisy, it's life sticker

below: Smugrat, Las Mujeres Vampiros, bentoghoul, and others.

stickers on plywood hoardings, outside, mujeres vampiros,

below: Wash your hands after It’s Life yellow daisy takes first prize

three stickers, bottom one is wash your hands

on plywood hoardings, coffee cup poster, with t-bonez and a large missile in the background

below: Miss You!  Nika loves Aura, and other messages around the coffee.

coffee cup poster

below: Crying real water

small sticker with water in eyes, crying tears

below: And you’re looking blue too.

small blue square sticker that says I'm feeling blue

below: Gas Phaseout? We CANDU It!  Part of the poster has been torn off ….

posters on a utility pole, top one is climate change action, rosie the riveter picture with words

below:  … but this Homer Simpson poster is probably related.  Climate Hero!  Eating donuts?  No… “In Ontario nuclear workers provided 90% of the electricity needed to phase out coal – North America’s greatest CO2 reduction.  Let’s phase out natural gas next”.
I can’t read all the handwriting but part of what someone has written on the poster says: “How did you turn off my portable Panosonic TV Karen? Did your boyfriend help you?”  Can you make any sense of that?

two posters on a metal pole, top one has Homer Simpson

Nordheimer ravine – paint and paper

Posted: July 10, 2021 in graffiti and street art, locations
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below: M is for Mural and probably more.  One of the pieces of street art and graffiti seed under Spadina Road as it crosses Nordheimer Ravine.

street art and graffiti on a concrete support of a bridge, old woman's head and face and lots of names - Alex, Sam, Becca, Faith, tall grass and shrubs growing around it

below: A closer view with God & Love and many little hearts.

close up of old woman in mural, words god and love are written above her, some symbols beside her, lots of little hearts

below: A little black and white dog stands beside another part of the bridge

a small black and white dog stands beside graffiti on the bottom part of a bridge support. triangle headed man holding a big question mark, the word vice, a man with red head band and red bandana over lower part of face,

below: Black Lives Matter mural under the bridge with the now iconic phrases of “I can’t breathe” and “No Justice, No Peace”.
BLM mural on bridge supports, I can't breath, no justice, no peace are words painted on it, also a wall full of names of those who have died

below: A closer view showing some of the names that are painted on the wall.

below: Home to someone, surrounded by graffiti – including “You are what you give others”

tent and belongings of a homeless man under a bridge surrounded by tags and other graffiti

a man in blue top and shorts runs on a path under a bridge , support of bridge has graffiti on it, large red s and b on blue background

below: Some of the stickers seen in the area – an S333 red ring pop and Lucha graffiti. Life© takes first place with trp613 in second, and Bruho coming in third.  Another Bruho character tries to escape the computer monitor with red and blue Kizmet32 faces right below.  Every Knows Us as a man in a gas mask.

3 poles with stickers on them

below: A mouse and a lost creature

stickers on pole, one of a mouse, and other with word lost

graffiti on the concrete supports of a bridge

below: Black and white photos with Chinese lettering make up this paper paste-up

paper paste up graffiti on a concrete pole with chinese lettering and black and white photos on it, orange and blue spray paint beside the paste up

below: Pink and white text

pink and white tag graffiti, text, calligraphy, on dark green background on lower part of concrete bridge support

woman walking on path in ravine park, with graffiti on wall behind her