down by the beach

Posted on July 18, 2026 by Mary C

…. at St. Kilda (a seaside suburb of Melbourne)

below: Five Star Convenience

mural on the side of the 5 Star Convenience store in St. Kilda, Melbourne, showing street scene and beach scene, people on beach, woman roller blading on sidewalk, old fashioned souped up car, also rendition of the convenience store

below: Mural by Bronik – two naked women, one purple and one blue.

mural on the side of a modern residential building, large hand with silver ring on index finger, with yellow background, also a tag below it in pink and white with black dots

street scene, residential neighbourhood, St. Kilda, Melbourne, one wall has street art mural by Bronik on it.

below: ‘The Tiger Mural’ by Bailer and Conrad Bizjak… with a spotlight on the ship being tossed by the wave.

tiger mural by bailer and conrad bizjak, large tiger jumping into a wave holding a large gun? with spotlight on a small black boat being tossed in the large blue wave

below: A wispy painting by Tom Gerrard

mural by Tom Gerrard in St. Kilda, wispy abstract person in black and blue, seated, on a brick wall, above a door

below: Diamonds and diagonals on brick

brick wall, diamond patterns made by painting individual bricks, white and black with blue, red and yellow accents

4 green trash cans in front of a mural on brick wall, diamond patterns made by painting individual bricks, white and black with blue, red and yellow accents

below: Reaching skyward

mural on the side of a modern residential building, large hand with silver ring on index finger under a window

below: Calligraphy type street art on the corner, as well as all around the bottom, of the St. Kilda Exchange (telephone).

below: A small portion of the mural seen on the side of Neighbours Cafe. It was a collaboration between Bailer and CTO (Pete). The actual mural includes a long horizontal section of “flowing” black and blue hair… see the next two images!

below: Smokin’ red heart!

street art mural with large red heart with smoke coming out of it's mouth. it has heart shaped nose

below: High on a wall, a large white head (Moon Man) beside a banana peel.

below: DJ Carl Cox is the subject of this mural. Unfortunately his portrait seems to be distorted because of the angle needed to get this photo. As you can probably tell, it was painted by Lynch (aka Rory Lynch-Wells)

portrait of Carl Cox, a bald black man, with glasses, and open laughing mouth, street art mural high up on a brick building, by Rory Lynch-Wells

below: Contrasts – the white building with the ornate facade vs the simpler, more modern, building covered in graffiti.

buildings in St. Kilda, one is white with ornate trim, and the other is covered in street art

below: Someone write “why so lifeless” on this Bronik mural. The colours are vibrant but I will have to say that the facial expressions are dull and strange, and perhaps “lifeless” is appropriate.

mural by Bronik, 4 women sitting together, in bright colours,

below: Stickers

below: Hello Harry

black BMW parked in front of a mural by method, with text hello harry, killerrat, random,

garage door covered with graffiti street art

ugly purple face, with other graffiti scrawls on a wall

backyard, looking over the top of a wall that has street art on it, basketball hoop in the backyard

The last image – it’s not street art, but if you walk along the beach at St. Kilda, you may encounter this couple as they enjoy a leisurely drink by the water. These are Rabbitwoman and Dogman, creations of Gillie and Marc.

sculptures, rabbitwoman and dogman, sitting outsidde cafe on st. kilda beach, having a drink, creation of artists Gillie and Marc

Photos taken March 2025

flowers and birds on Dundas East

Posted on July 14, 2026 by Mary C

All of the pictures in this post were taken on Dundas East, just west of Jones Avenue. Along this stretch of Dundas, garages and backyard fences line the street. Most of them have been painted with bright and cheerful images of flowers, birds, animals, and other living things.

below: There is only one person who would paint a mural with these cute but mischievous raccoons, Emily May Rose

mural by Emily May Rose of raccoons playing with red flowers, and sitting on brown boxes

below: Sadly, unsigned and unknown. Two snakes slithering through pink flowers and green grass.

street art mural on wood fence, a green and a red snake slithering through green grass and pink flowers

garages on Dundas East, with street art murals, two are dogs by Blackburn, and two are large apples with faces

below: La Pupila (aka Valentina) has painted rosy red apples with faces, and even a bite taken out of one of them.

mural on garage door, large pink and red apple, with green leaves, black feminine face, a large bite taken ot the top corner

below: Two dog portraits by Jeff Blackburn

two adjacent garage doors with paintings by jeff blackburn, both are portraits of dogs

below: Red hearts and laughter in a mural by Phillip Saunders

street art mural by philip saunders, of two people's faces, looking at each other, face to face, laughing, red heart in between the two

below: A young child with bond curly hair holds a very large pink flower in a painting by Wade Benedict.

backyards, garages, with street art murals, Dundas St east

below: Picking oranges and watering flowers, working together in the garden in a mural by Golden Butter Murals

golden butter murals painting on garage on dundas east, mother and child working in the garden

below: Making hearts. Long necked ducks or geese beak to beak.

street art mural on a wood fence, two long necked geese, beak to beak, in bright colours

below: White flowers by timmifuk

street art mural on a garage door, white flowers and green leaves, by timmifuk,

below: More garage door flowers – this time pink peonies in a vase.

street art mural, pink peonies in a brown vase

below: Orange lilies by hotsnackz (aka Chrissy Kuiack)

street art mural painting of orange lilies in bloom

below: Black on colour.

urban art on a wood fence, in four sections, one yellow, one purple, a green, and a blue, black silhouette paintings on each section of a different floral plant

below: Ryan Dineen painted this little bird

painting on a garage by Ryan Dineen of a small bird perched on a branch. bird has reddish orange nape of neck and lighter tummy

below: A young looking loon swims as the sun sets in a mural by Julia Prajka

street art mural of a loon by julia prajza

painted garages (murals) behind houses on Dundas street east, red cardinals in flight, loon, and a red trillium

below: Two red cardinals in flight by Adrian Hayles.

garage door murals, red cardinals in flight, by Adrian Hayles

below: A ruby throated hummingbird flies among the fireflies, by Blazeworks.

ruby throated hummingbird in flight, a street art mural on a garage door by blaze works

below: Close up of an abstract mural by Bareket (bkez)

close up of abstract painting, street art mural on a garage door, by bareket

below: Que Rock, butterfly

mural by que rock, flowers and native symbols

street art murals by que rock and jarus on dundas street east

below: “I’ll be here until you arrive”, a portrait of an older man with a beard, in shades of red, by Jarus

portrait of an older man, in shades of red, by jarus, on a garage door

below: Nick Sweetman – a pelican and a flamingo splashing in the water

nick sweetman mural on a garage door in pinks and blue, pelican on the pink side, flamingo on the blue, water bubbles splashing in the middle

below: On the right, covering two garage doors, is an aquatic scene by Jarus.

four garage doors in a row, all with street art murals, a spider, a butterfly and two with fish

below: This spider painting is signed “Vudu” (Christine Mazzulla?)

street art painting of a spider by vudu, on a garage door

below: Another bird flying over a garden full of flowers on a fence painted by Julia Louise Pereira (aka ohlordyitsjulia)

colouful mural on a wood fence by oh lordy its julia, also known as Julia Louise Pereira, flowers

below: A very Toronto sight, by Skamoney

back of two single family homes a white garage with a mural of the front of a TTC streetcar (older style) on it, with blue background

This was a StreetARToronto project

Photos taken June 2026

small part of jarus mural, all in shades of red, vase with two flowers, hat, bird

Kingston’s graffiti wall

Posted on July 12, 2026 by Mary C

There is a wall in Doug Fluhrer Park in Kingston that has been designated as a legal graffiti wall. At the moment (or at least last week when I was there) many of the paintings were the work of the same artist, Steve Oakley, aka ridinlow613. Pop culture references are plentiful.

graffiti on a wall, with weeds growing in front, and a brick building behind

below: Homer Simpson snores again.

Simpsons themed mural, Homer Simpson is asleep, other man holding a fistful of money, weeds and grasses have grown up to cover bottom of wall

below: Another character from the Simpsons (Otto Man, the school bus driver), but this time they share space with Ozzy Osborne.

two street art paintings, rock singer Ozzy Osborne and Otto Man from the Simpsons

below: Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King’s “It” has sprouted green leafy hair on top of his already colourful red.

street art, pennywise the clown from Stephen King novel. Red hair, blue clothing, evil eyes

below: Her sleeves suggest Disney’s Snow White.

below: With mouth wide open – singing? yelling?

below: Lola Bunny has a smile for you.

Lola Bunny portrait in a street art mural

below: Huckleberry Hound and Top Cat lounging around in the shade.

street art graffiti, green cactus, red heart, brown dog portrait

mural, black and white stripes in tornado swirl shape

below: If it was Snow White above, perhaps this is the wicked step-mother?

mural, wicked face of a woman with red lipstick

graffiti wall in Kingston, with contributions by different artists

below: Snakes!

mural, street art, by ridinlow613, two snakes, one is green and has its mouth wide open as it attacks the other, a red, yellow and black striped snake

below: Richie Rich “poor little rich boy” first appeared in 1953, later in the 1980s he had his own TV show.

street art painting of Richy Rich, cartoon character

graffiti, mouth, eyes, ear, noses, all disconnected

thirty years in downtown Oshawa

Posted on June 25, 2026 by Mary C

Over the past thirty years the city of Oshawa has added murals to many of its downtown buildings. Most of the murals celebrate the city in one way or another. Several focus on past events and the McLaughlin family appears a number of times. In the early years of the 20th century, the McLaughlin family turned their Oshawa-based carriage manufacturing business into the McLaughlin Motor Car Company. It eventually became part of General Motors.

Back in 2024 the city had a debate as to whether or not to refurbish and upgrade the 14 or 15 older murals that had been painted in the 1990s, or to just paint over them. Since they are still here, the paint over proponents must have lost.

below: “Oshawa 1935” by Dan and Peter Sawatzky

part of a mural by Dan and Peter Sawatzky in downtown Oshawa, image showing the city as it was in 1935

below: “Recreation by the Lake” by Tony Johnson, 1997 – relaxing on the waterfront at the foot of Simcoe Street. Barnhart’s Pavillion is in the background – this is where you’d go to dance on a Friday night. The round thing in the middle? That’s the Ocean Wave!

people sitting on the beach, Barnharts dance pavillion, in a mural by Tony Johnson

behind a fence, people sitting on the beach, Barnharts dance pavillion, in a mural by Tony Johnson

below: On the walls of the bandshell in Memorial Park there is a mural by David Yeatman that showcases Northern Dancer, a famous thoroughbred racing horse who was born and raised on Windfields Farm in Oshawa.

on the exterior of the bandshell in memorial park, mural by David Yeatman showing E. P. Taylor and the Windfelds Farm in Oshawa where famous racing thoroughbred horse Northern Dancer was born

mural by David Yeatman showing E. P. Taylor and the Windfelds Farm in Oshawa where famous racing thoroughbred horse Northern Dancer was born

below: Although the first Windfields Farm was in Toronto (on Bayview Ave), a second was established in Oshawa in 1950 when E.P. Taylor bought 1500 acres from the McLaughlin family. It was here that Northern Dancer (1961-1990) was born, and where he is buried. in 1964, he became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. On April 16, 2018, Northern Dancer’s grave became an official heritage site.

below: These four panels depict some of the history of the Ontario Regiment starting with its formation in 1866. The other panels memorialize various battles and conflicts that they have been involved in since then. These panels also stand in Memorial Park and were painted by John Hood

These four panels depict some of the history of the Ontario Regiment starting with its formation in 1866. The other panels memorialize various battles and conflicts that they have been involved in since then. These panels also stand in Memorial Park and were painted by John Hood

below: Borsberry Music Hall, by Brian Romagnoli

part of borsberry music hall mural in oshawa with images of a flute, bust of Beethoven, harp, ,two glasses of red wine, two red roses, violin, conductor, top hat, piano keys, and stage curtain

part of borsberry music hall mural in oshawa with images of a french horn, a clarinet, a fan, sheet music, a violin, and a flute, also a well dressed couple in the background coming down a curved staircase

below: Building on a strong foundation in ‘Oshawa’s Development (Historical Industry and Development)’ by Robin Burgesse. Three local businesses are shown – Warren Mills, Williams Piano Factory, and the McLaughlin Carriage Company

mural in oshawa with text Building on a strong foundation, by Robin Burgesse. Three local businesses are shown - Warren Mills, Williams Piano Factory, and the McLaughlin Carriage Company

below: The Oshawa Generals was a Major Junior League hockey team that was formed back in 1937. Bobby Orr is probably the most famous player but Billy Taylor,Terry O’Reilly, and Eric Lindros are also pictured in this mural (Paul Ygartua, 1997)

mural by Paul Ygartua showing famous hockey players that once played for the Oshawa Generals junior team, including Bobby Orr, Eric Lindros,

below: ‘Turning the Wheel’ by Dani Crosby commemorates the John Bolase Warren Flour Mill that used to sit on this site. (tore down a mill to put up a parking lot?!?). This large gristmill was built in 1837 and demolished in 1981.

below: Instead of looking back at the past, this mural by Bruno Smoky (Clandestinos) focuses on the future, a green future (including electric vehicles).

mural by Bruno Smoky, green future energy, electric vehicles, windmills

below: This long horizontal mural on the side of Wall ‘N Floor Decor is “Driving Force” by Rudolf Stussi (1996). It illustrates the evolution of the automobile starting with the Oshawa Carriage Works.

below: Another history mural that references the Oshawa Carriage Works is “Full Steam Ahead” by Gus Froese, 1995. The title is shown as a headline in The Oshawa Daily Reformer newspaper.

below: Another artwork that celebrates the automotive industry is one that consists of 5 panels by artist John Hood. Here are two of them – crash test dummies, and a nod to the people who helped develop and refine engine technology

crash test dummies, in mural by John Hood

man working on a car engine, mural by John Hood

below: “Camp X” by Tony Johnson (2001). It tells the story of a secret Special Training School 103 that opened in 1941. It was here that 500 “secret agents” were taught hand-to-hand combat, interrogation techniques, psychological warfare, explosives training, espionage, sabotage, and how to survive behind enemy lines.

below: The perils of painting murals beside parking lots! A hummingbird is front and center in this bright and cheerful mural, “Stop and Smell the Flowers”.

mural with hummingbird, flowers, butterflies

below: Little by Little Becomes a Lot

long wall with street art mural, background is bees, butterflies, birds, and flowers. there is also text in block capital letters that say little by little becomes a lot

below: Life is Beautiful

Side of building painted black, with street art calligraphy in cursive, life is beautiful

Photos taken June 2026

animals under the 401

Posted on June 15, 2026 by Mary C

There are two large murals by Nick Sweetman that cover the two sides of Bathurst street as it passes under the 401 highway (in Toronto). Both of them are a collection of animals – birds, frogs, cows, cats, foxes, bats, tigers, and more. This is a selection of images from those two walls.

Photos taken May 2026

Sanko trading company

Posted on May 30, 2026 by Mary C

below: People walking on Queen Street West in Toronto. Do you think that they realize that a large yellow eye is watching them from behind? This is the eye of a very large painting of a cat, probably a Japanese cat.

The mural, the JapanTown mural on the side of the Sanko Trading Company, has been re-painted. The previous mural dates from 2013/4. A blog post with photos of what that looked like in 2015 is at: Sanko Wall. This blog post should give you an idea what it looks like now.

The group of artists (‘The Summit’) who painted the mural also made a video for youtube: The JapanTown Project No. 5

Photos taken May 2026

when the walls speak to me

Posted on May 17, 2026 by Mary C

If I believe what is scrawled and scribbled on walls, there’s a lot of love out there…. but not all of it is “happily ever after”. Unrequited love can be a sad thing as Mickey has learned.

graffiti that is all text that says I will always love you my babbies No matter what they say or make up, but it needs 2 end not us the rumours you are still my Mini even Know you don't want me as your Mickey. I love you

below: “Look around, love around”. Like philosophy, it can be interpreted as you wish. It’s like “vague posting” on social media.

graffiti that is all text, words that say Look around, love around

below: I hope that you all have a “baby love dove”! It sounds very romantic!

graffiti that is all text, words that say My lover My protector My Angel My Best Friend my soulmate My Everything My Whole World My baby love dove, love 4 ever an always plus a day

below: Elevate love

graffiti that is all text, words that say elevate love

below: “Love your neighbor”

graffiti that is all text, words that say love your neighbor

below: I will file this one under ‘love’ as well

below: And this one as love too – although it could be lust or just admiration? Nah, the hearts give it away. Alex probably knows the answer.

graffiti that is all text, words that say Alex Lee is the hottest alive, A + A

below: “I’ve always known it was you” is another rather ambivalent statement. Yes, you are the one and only for me or, yes, you’re the one who stole my phone…. It could be the start of many narratives!

graffiti that is all text, words that say I have always known it was you

below: And of course, there is always the opposite of love

graffiti that is all text, words that say I don't even miss him

Some text reads like the words of a motivational speaker…

below: … such as this one, “You are sacred, you are worthy”

graffiti that is all text, words that say

below: “You’re almost there”

below: “Fear less, create more”

below: “Hope is tax free”

graffiti that is all text, words that say Hope is tax free

A few graffiti sayings sound like they could have been written by your therapist.

below: Take seriously each other’s vulnerability”

graffiti that is all text, words that say Take seriously each other's vulnerability

below: “Practice being brave”

below: “We need each other”

graffiti that is all text, words that say we need each other

Some get philosophical (or at least try)

below: “No moment more fleeting than the present”

graffiti that is all text, words that say No moments more fleeting than the present

graffiti, black marker on grey concrete, that says tears in the rain

Or more political…

below: “To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace.” … although at least one person has made it known that they disagree.

sticker that says to be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace. someone has written bullshit across it.

below: “We are poor because they are rich.”

poster with pictures of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, with words, we are poor because they are rich

There are some warnings on those walls and fences too!

below: Poor Laura!

graffiti that is all text, words that say Laura has cooties. It's true, I saw them!

Sometimes there is just a bit of whimsy

below: Henry has left his mark here.

But, as we all know, many have no meaning at all…

below: … unless someone has decided to name themselves Potato 300

graffiti in blue that says the skys not classified

What would you say?

covering a Florentine door at number 49

Posted on May 2, 2026 by Mary C

below: A well covered door at number 49. It looks like a mess but within the chaos there are a few interesting pieces…..

A double grey door with rounded arch, lots of graffiti, paste ups and stickers on it,

below: Vroom, vroom, checking out the scooter…

two slaps on a door, one is by daught calm and is a man in a red plaid jacket with black hat and beard, riding on a motorized wheelchair, the other is three grey faces on black background

below: A weathered underwater woman by Blub along with a superhero Captain America in blue by Undeterred.

paste ups and graffiti on a door, a superhero in blue, an older man with a glass in his hand, a piece by blub of a woman with goggles on,

below: A cute little fish with the remains of a little crown.

two paper paste ups graffiti on a grey door, one is a little fish with a crown oh its head, and the other is a red band-aid

below: Diversity is Hope

large paper wheatpaste on a door, black woman with arms crossed to her shoulders, laughing, with text diversity is hope, by RAF Union

below: Unlocked

graffiti including one by cartoon car slaps of a green car, a pink light, a dog, a man with a green face, the word unlock,

below: A comment on society and our fixation with phones and technology – Solitudine Contemporanea (contemporary loneliness) by Laben (Alex Laben)

below: Work Zombies and Justice for Wei Wei (Chinese artist)

Photos taken March 2026

exitenter revisited

Posted on April 26, 2026 by Mary C

Exitenter is a street artist whose work can be seen all over Florence (his home town).

I discovered his work when I was in Florence early in 2020 before COVID blew the world up and you can find some photos from that time at: first Exitenter post,

below: Dancing with the ladies

graffiti in Florence Italy by artist Exitenter, black drawing of a person with two dancing ladies stencils

below: The original was climbing the walls before the red crayon guy came along and gave him something to draw with….

graffiti in Florence Italy by artist Exitenter, black drawing of a person looking up a wall, red crayon drawing of a second figure, holding hands with first and dancing

below: Taking flight on a Florentine horse, a religious horse at that. A perfect companion for a night of painting.

graffiti in Florence Italy by artist Exitenter, black drawing of a person holding a paint roller with pink paint, and riding on a horse that is really a Florence church

below: And baby makes three!

below: Standing on the shoulders of giants – lifting others up towards love

below: More lifting up, more red crayon guy.

graffiti in Florence Italy by artist Exitenter, black drawing of two people, one standing on the shoulders of the other while drawing another red figure, lots of other written graffiti on the wall, mostly names and dates of people who had passed by

below: Fly away

graffiti in Florence Italy by artist Exitenter, black drawing of a person holding onto a string that is attached to a red balloon. balloon is flying away, taking person with it. text says fly away

below: Crossed swords

graffiti in Florence Italy by artist Exitenter, black drawing of two people wearing red and white hats, sword fighting

below: I wanted to make a reference to Mr. Ed here. He was a ‘talking’ horse in an American television sitcom in the first half of the 1960s. It was so long ago that it was filmed in black and white. But Mr. Ed didn’t have a television for head, his head was on TV.

graffiti in Florence Italy by artist Exitenter, black drawing of a person standing with his back to a horse. three small hearts above man's head, head of horse is a television (could be a very large dog not a horse)

below: Street people

two men walking on street, passing a building with
graffiti in Florence Italy by artist Exitenter, black drawing of two people, one smaller than the other, like adult and child,

below: Chasing balloons

bike with black metal basket parked by an exit enter graffiti of a person trying to reach the string attached to a red balloon that is being blown away

below: He holds the key

little drawing by artist exitenter of a little person holding a key, key is beside a real lock on a metal cabinet

below: The woman holding her heart is not the work of Exitenter, but the two little figures below her are. The woman was created by Sarcastic Collage.

large paste up, wheatpaste, of a woman with hearts over her eyes, holding her anatomically correct heart that has a red rose coming out of it, below her are two little figures by exit enter, graffiti in Florence

below: Most of Exitenter’s drawings involve his little people, but not all…. Here is a simple jester’s hat and (graffiti symbol) crown.

below: Standing on love – he reached the summit after a long climb?

below: Another version of reaching for hearts and flying away. Where has love taken you? Where will it take you next?

graffiti in Florence Italy by artist Exitenter, black drawing of a person holding onto a heart that has lifted him into the air, with lots of words written by other people, as graffiti, around it

Photos taken February 2026

down Biscuit Lane

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Mary C

Biscuit Lane is a short, narrow alley in Toronto that has street art murals on both sides.

below: A Toronto mural in a Toronto alley.

below: More Toronto, painted by Thomas the Anonynous

below: “I’ll always be here with you!”

below:Cartoon characters & Pop culture references! Bert doesn’t look too comfortable!

below: Inspector Gadget, one of the Smurfs, Betty Boop, Tweety Bird looking angry, Goofy isn’t sure what’s happening, Launchpad McQuack, and Droopy Dog.

below: Marge Simpson with her enormous blue hair, Yogi Bear (fondling that hair), Jessica Rabbit, Bert, Woody Woodpecker, Little Hiawatha, The Mask and Huckleberry Hound.