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
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
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.
below: “Look around, love around”. Like philosophy, it can be interpreted as you wish. It’s like “vague posting” on social media.
below: I hope that you all have a “baby love dove”! It sounds very romantic!
below: Elevate love
below: “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.
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!
below: And of course, there is always the opposite of love
Some text reads like the words of a motivational speaker…
below: … such as this one, “You are sacred, you are worthy”
below: “You’re almost there”
below: “Fear less, create more”
below: “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”
below: “Practice being brave”
below: “We need each other”
Some get philosophical (or at least try)
below: “No moment more fleeting than the present”
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.
below: “We are poor because they are rich.”
There are some warnings on those walls and fences too!
below: Poor Laura!
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
What would you say?
below: A well covered door at number 49. It looks like a mess but within the chaos there are a few interesting pieces…..
below: Vroom, vroom, checking out the scooter…
below: A weathered underwater woman by Blub along with a superhero Captain America in blue by Undeterred.
below: A cute little fish with the remains of a little crown.
below: Diversity is Hope
below: Unlocked
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 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
below: The original was climbing the walls before the red crayon guy came along and gave him something to draw with….
below: Taking flight on a Florentine horse, a religious horse at that. A perfect companion for a night of painting.
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.
below: Fly away
below: Crossed swords
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.
below: Street people
below: Chasing balloons
below: He holds the key
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.
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?
Photos taken February 2026
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.
below: Along one wall is a large mural by Ness Lee – women with long hair
below: Looking north on Biscuit Lane
below: Wanted poster for what looks like the Pink Panther in black hat and shades. Wanted for “harbouring stool pigeons near sanctuary”
below: “Wanted for keeping it 2 real”. Marvin the Martian?
below: …. and even more (with some repeats)….. A smug Pink Panther and a concussed Sylvester…. Beep! Beep!
below: It’s the alphabet all jumbled up in many colours, many ‘fonts’, and many sizes.
below: Superhero time! Superman, Spiderman, and more.
Photos taken April 2026
below: Warburton Lane in central Melbourne was full of stickers and paste-ups including this happy little octopus with a zigzag smile
below: This pile of animals by Kaffeine – with a pink pig in a jaunty vest on top – covers a double door and more
below: About the graffiti on the left – one of the characters that often appears in Mr. Dimples graffiti such as this one, is the fellow with the funny rectangular head – with a button for one eye and a stitched X for the other.
below: A D7606 crayon writes something on the wall while two big eyes watch. But I’m worth it!
below: “Until the wind from the west brings you back again” is in the middle, to the left of a very red T-bonez from Urban Ninja Squadron (peace man!). On the other side there is a cat collage on sheet music by chacha_doune (aka Cha). It’s difficult to see but the train headed your way has “God Save the Queen” written on one of its front corners – That paste up seems to be a collaboration between D7606 and Voxx Romana.
below: White chickens
below: That’s the biggest carrot that I have ever seen! … and the skinniest ankles!
below: … Safety pins and a lot of piercings! This crazy pink haired punk emu is full of holes! Painting by John Murray.
below: Meet Nancy – another John Murray emu
below: This is Effie; she’s obviously related to Nancy!
below: A little bit real in the midst of a lot a fantasy. By Lukas Kasper.
below: More mixing of reality and fantasy – human, animal, and robot with a disturbing outcome.
below: High red shoes and not much else
below: mmm
below: A lone fisherman surrounded by barbed wire.
below: Angry suburbia
below: mmm
below: Mr. Dimples again
below: Neftnik’s young woman wears a green outfit with leggings that are blue with red polka dots.
below: That’s a bomb?
below: Up, up, and away – that’s one way for a ladybird to fly away home!
below: A jumble of slaps
below: Peppa Pig, Nemo, a happy flower, and a banana with a face… and more.
below: Potted plants
below: A handful of dripping diamonds
below: Robot heads on circles
below: Portrait of a woman
Photos taken February 2025
… a few murals seen on Boulevard Décarie in Montreal.
below: By Cecile Gariepy, holding up blue cube houses and showing them to each other in “Chez Nous” on a wall of Habitations Bourret housing project. a gift from the organization MU to the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) for their 50th anniversary. 2019
below: Fonki painting of bulldogs and pugs
below: Tilly, another bulldog, painted on pink on what is now an empty building.
below: This portrait of Tilly was painted by Kevin Ledo.
below: This is the street art seen under the portrait of Tilly.
below: Dora the Explorer, in a Tim Hortons & Wendys parking lot.
below: Dora the Explorer chases butterflies.
Photos taken April 2026
There is a small collection of murals that pay tribute to actors and theatre in the area near rue Wolfe and rue Robin. All of them were painted under the auspices of MU, an organization that is devoted to creating murals about people and their community.
below: One of these murals is a portrait of actor Denise Pelletier (1923-1976) painted by Mateo (with help from Ilana Pichon, Rocio Perez, and Julien Sicre).
below: On rue Robin there are two matching murals side by side. On the left is one in blue with a man sitting on top of a ladder. The text reads, in French, “Ne compte jamais sur rien ne restez ni sur un echec, ni sur un succes” ( = Never count on anything, don’t dwell on either failure or success.). It is a tribute to the founders of Théâtre de Quat’Sous and was painted by Gene Pendon.
below: “Commencez toujours autre chose c’est la suite qui compte” = Always start something new; it’s what comes next that counts. This is a quote by theatre director (and writer) Paul Buissonneau (1926-2014). It is the work of street artist Sender.
below: La Roulette was the name of Paul Buissonneau’s first theatre. It began in 1952 – performances were outdoors in Montreal parks. According to a nearby plaque, this mural was not a Mu production, instead it was a La SPAG initiative (la société pour la promotion des arts gigantesques) and was created by Laurent Gascon. Gascon has produced eight other similar murals that showcase actors, performers, singers, etc.
below: Lastly, there is tribute (painted by Hsix156) to Dominique Michel (b. 1932), a Quebec actress, singer, and comedian. She began her career in cabaret but got a start in television in the 1960s.
For more information about MU, check out their website (mumtl.org)
Photos taken April 2026
One of the large murals brought to Lynn Massachusetts by Beyond Walls is one on Munroe Street by Caleb Neelon (with help from Lena McCarthy). It is on the side wall of a building adjacent to a parking lot so it is easy to see but difficult to get a good picture of the whole mural without a wide angle lens. It was painted in 2017.
The mural is full of details! Polka dots, stars, and other little shapes. Also miniature drawings of animals, people, buildings, and much more.
It is a patchwork of shapes in many colours, all stitched carefully together with black thread. It is an artful arrangement of shape, colour, and texture. A series of circles around little fuzzy blue creatures (called Sonik) forms the central core of the mural.
More information on Beyond Walls
Photos taken July 2024
Eyes on the Streets 