Author Archives: Mary C

around and behind Ossington

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Ossington Avenue is an interesting street to walk with it’s numerous stores, restaurants and coffee shops.  But there is another fascinating world hiding behind the main street in the numerous lanes and alleys in the area.

on Ossington Ave., older buildings that are now stores. one is painted olive green, another is white, and third is red brick. at the end, is a building with large yellow and blue vertical stripes, a bench is on the sidewalk

For this blog post, I have assembled more of the photographs that I have taken around Ossington since January of this year.  It gets a bit long because I decided not to chop it into smaller pieces, so grab a seat and let’s get started!

a bench beside a green wall in a snow covered parking lot, door beside bench has love U! written on it

below: A whimsical Uber5000 painting on a garage door.

uber 5000 mural, green biplane with 3 yellow birdies, including one standing on a bomb. dog standing on one of the airplane wings

below: Hearts on fire, burning love, and the fireman that is trying to extinguish the flames – in a mural created by D. Terra Stencils.

stencil,ural by D. Terra stencils, a crouching fireman holds a hose and shoots water upward towards a big red heart

below: One of the cutest raccoons that I have ever seen, also painted by D.Terra Stencils.

mural by D. Terra stencils, of a young raccoon, green leafy background

below: Some more cute raccoons of a different sort go camping in a mural by Emily May Rose

Emily May Rose raccoons go camping, with a grey and orange trailer, a yellow umbrella, and a folding chair too

two grey Emily May Rose raccoons play in a pile of dirt, while drinking canned drinks

below: … and some more raccoons!

Emily May Rose raccoons in a painting on a fence in an alley

below: …. and even more!

in an allley, wall and door, raccoons by Emily May Rose and text graffiti too
toronto alley near ossington with street art on fences and garages

below: Smaller black stencil graffiti on a white garage door – an iconic image of Marilyn Monroe as well as a Kung fu Panda.  The other woman gets a splash of bright red.

black stencil graffiti on a white garage door, portrait of Marilyn Monroe, and kung fu panda image, as well as another woman's head and face

below: A trumpet player and a gun fight.

black stencil graffiti on a white garage door, a man playing a trumpet, also two men in a gun fight with one standing over the other who is lying on the ground.

below: Bikes on the stairs with a colourful bird keeping a watchful eye.

in an alley, exterior stairs to a small balcony, bike parked on stairs, mural of a bird painted on wall beside the stairs

Moooo…. Hey there good looking!…  Here’s looking at you!  This was painted by Poser.  Usually he does bunny rabbits but I think that he’s pretty good at painting cows too!

street art mural of a black and white cow looking at you, on a garage

below: An old square brick building, garages and fences with graffiti, old trees, and a row of houses at the end of the lane – this captures the look of a typical Toronto lane.

looking down an alley, garages with graffiti on the right, fence on the left, at the end, a semi divided house that is different on either side, also at end of alley, on right, a larger red brick building (old)

below: Home patio, outdoor living urban style.

exterior of building, concrete block painted a dark yellow,, white door, and black window, with 2 small chairs and a table, and a stool, immediately outside the building

below: “Stop and enjoy”.  I like how the poster below the stop sign says “mediocrity” which makes the overall message, “Stop and enjoy mediocrity”.  A bit snarky.

stop sign on a pole in an alley, beside a garage door with street art on it. text graffiti on the stop sign so that it says stop and enjoy

in a laneway with street art murals on all the garage doors

part of a larger mural, a face in the sun, eyes closed, some vines are growing over the face

older drawing on garage, man's face, coconut tree with palm leaves,

below: The tail end of a fishy mural.

a small alley near Ossington, cars parked in alley, one side has building with mural on it, the other is a house with grey siding cladding

below: This aquatic themed mural dates from 2016 when a group of artists painted many murals in the area, all with the Great Lakes as their theme. They were part of Pangeaseed Foundation’s Seawalls for Oceans project. Some artworks have survived better than others. Love letters in paint is a post (off site, in my Toronto blog) from 2016 that show most of them in their original form.

fish mural by shalak attack

below: The Swiss army knife was also a Pangeaseed mural

street art mural with a big red swiss army knife in the center

below: Where possible, Jimmy’s Coffee shops have exterior walls painted with images of famous Jimmys including the one on Ossington. Jimmy Carter, James Dean, the guitar of Jimmy Hendrix and two muppets representing Jim Henson Gonzo and Elmo

images of famous Jimmys on the side of Jimmys coffee shop on Ossington, Jimmy Carter, James Dean, the guitar of Jimmy Hendrix and two muppets representing Jim Henson gonzo and elmo

black and white image of Jimmy Hendrix singing and playing guitar, pink background, mural

below: A Jimmy of a different kind, a fantastic cacaphony of colours and shapes in a mural by Jimmy Chiale

mural of abstract shapes and colours by j. chiale

below: Close up of part of a mural, a young man wearing a black mask over his eyes.

close up of a street art painting, a young man in a black mask over his eyes

photo taken in a snowy parking lot, of the backs of some houses, fences, backyards,

below: Rowell Soller

rowell soller mural on a garage door

below: Two paintings on two different garages that look like they were done by the same artist.  The signature appears to be Soul R. and the top painting is from 2017.

mural of a turtle swimming in the water, in light shades of brown, blue garage

mural of a turtle swimming in the water, in a wall in an alley, with a pile of empty boxes and containers on the ground in front of it

below: 2022 Christina Mazzulla, for the Golden Turtle Restaurant.

mural, pink flowers, a fish, and a sea turtle

on the side wall of a house in an alley, mural, pink flowers, a fish, and a sea turtle

below: “You are stroger than you think”

a house being renovated, plywood over downstairs window with graffiti on it

below: Nick Sweetman has used shades of blue and purple to create this wonderful northern scene with a bear and moose combo.

a large bear and a moose, in a mural on a garage door in an alley, painted by bruno smoky or shalak attack

below: Totally blue.   The other colours have faded?  Or were never there in the first place?

gate in alley, double wide, at the end of a driveway, all in blue

below: More garage doors painted by D.Terra Stencils

alley near Ossington with lots of garage doors covered with murals, street art, urban art

below: On a bright yellow background, an image of Jean Michel Basquiat, one of the original creators present-day street art.

garage door painted yellow, then a portrait of Jean Michel Basquiat often considered the founder of street art

below: .. and beside Basquiat, a levitating woman

mural on an alley garage door by D.TErra stencils, a levitating woman, lying on her back up in the air, long hair hanging down.

below: Written in Portuguese is “Nem às paredes confesso” which translates to “I don’t even confess to the walls”.

mural on red background, musicians, one singer and one instrument player

below: Portuguese words, and nearby a Portuguese flag

street art painting of the Portuguese (Portugal) flag

mural, portrait of a man on a purple background

below: Boxers – Muhammad Ali and an opponent

boxing mural

below: The last D. Terra Stencils is this rendition of Ren and Stimpy

ren and stimpy from Nickelodeon TV in the 1990s, in a mural

trimming trees in an alley, man in lift above the lane, truck, some garages with graffiti and street art

little bits of metal on a wood utility pole

exterior door in an alley, covered with street art

part of a larger painting, a small character peaks its head out from the middle of a puffy orange letter O

below: The next four images are of the same mural in a snowy laneway parking lot…  starting with DAM DOG ketchup bottle

parking lot, in winter, box with street art on it beside a wall with more painting

parrt of a mural, smiling skull with a chain through one eye socket, and slightly yellow bottom teeth,

below: Parking for Animals

from a larger mural, young man in multi colour sunglasses, with a can of spray paint in his hand

close up of part of a mural, finger on the top of a spray paint can

below: These little ceramic animals have been walking in this alley for at least ten years.

little flat ceramic animal shapes, a turtle a small dinosaur, glued to a wall in an alley, beige with green and pink dots,

below: T-bonez stands alone, maybe waiting for the light to turn green?

t bonex sticker on a yellow box (for crossing signal). urban ninja squadron, visual noise,

T bonez sticker from visual noise and urban ninja squadron

close up of an old turquoise section of street art on wood fence, with red spray paint circle and double cross

on a wall painted very deep but bright red, outside in an alley, torn bits of paper remain where posters have been partially torn off

box on a wall, covered with stickers that are mostly in black and white, with red spray paint tag on top of it all.

below: And what’s this? Even more raccoons?! Toronto’s “beloved” trash pandas are everywhere!

raccoons in an alley mural, one sitting on a trash can, drinking, raccoons are trash pandas

part of a mural, painted by Emily May Rose, of a greenish grey raccoon, or trash panda, sitting of the top of a metal garbage can, holding a bottle with an XXX label.

below: Six lit matches ready to go.  This crazy cat is up to something no good…

mural on a fence, a grey cat with matches in his mouth, playing with a bottle

below: An early Birdo piece, although the scroll names or street artists too.  The first street art in this alley directly behind Ossington (on the east side) dates from 2012 when a group of artists painted some of the garages here.

older mural by birdo, two creatures standing together on a rusty garage door in an alley

below: A pink rose between two women.

pink rose sprayed painted on green wood, beside a figure dressed in white paste up

below: Another oldie – this purple guy has been blowing a gust of wind for many years.

old graffiti on a wall

below: Vintage Spud bombs, some cheerful and some menacing.

spud bombs street art, little grey bombs with cheery faces, on a wall in an alley behind ossington avenue

below: A funny looking green creature with big white eyes and lots of skinny legs.

street art mural

below: A couple, together in the stream, in a mural by Elicser Elliott with the title “Swim”

street art mural by elicser elliott of two people, man and woman, in purple stream, title is swim

below: Geometric shapes with a touch of rainbow colour, by Peru

on a garage in an alley, painting by artist called peru,

part of a street art mural, man that looks ancient greek or roman sitting, holding a large pot, wearing a toga and sandals

below: Large pink and white swirls and curls cover a wall. Any time that you see swirls like these, think Flips because that’s sure to be the artist that painted them.

pink and white swirls and curls, mural in alley

below: Only a small portion of this moose painting by Aaron Li-Hill remains.  I don’t usually show the original works but I am going to make an exception here.  See next image.

old street art painting of a moose partially covered with pywood

below: This is what it looked like back in 2012 or 2013.

old street art mural by aaron li-hill of a moose with full antler rack, open mouth,

below: A newer Catchoo sticker.

little daisy sticker by catchoo on a metal pipe in an alley

below: A couple of faces taken from many faces around a garage.

below: Part of a Troy Lovegates mural (as are the next three images)

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington, two merged heads with necks that come out of the same hole in the red and blue sweater that they are wearing. One face is yellow and the other face is half grey and half purple

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto. In the middle is a framed recessed box in the wall with 3 egg shapes in it

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington

below: The closest garage on the right has a mural painted by Spud.

alley, with garages on one side, mural on the wall of a building on the left

below: Durothethird paints peanut butter & (probably) chocolate

street art on a garage door in an alley, peanut butter,

below: Horus, “Well and good”

street art on a garage door in an alley by horus

garages covered with street art and graffiti, in alley on west side of ossington avenue in toronto, just north of queen street west
street art on a garage door in an alley pink polka dots on red

buildings in alley covered with graffiti and street art

small part of a larger painting, street art, on side of garage in an alley, three fuzzy balls, each with one eye. Balls are yellow, and a red, and one blue.
weathered street art and graffiti on a wood garage in an alley

below: A tribute mural celebrating Canadian Black designers.

mural in an ossington alley, black background, text that says Designers of Canada, with three portraits, on the lower level of a three storey red brick building

below: Writing on black and purple

white line drawing on black line drawing of a man with glasses and a beard, mural in an alley

below: Portrait of George Sully, Canadian designer

portrait of a young black man, with a triangle behind his head, in a mural in an alley

below: Love yourself, over and over again, and in many different colours!

on a black wall in an alley, in cursive writing, the words love yourself written in many colours, many times

below: An old stikman in a frame, weathered but still there.

weathered street art paint on wood, with a tiny wood frame, inside frame is an old stikman graffiti piece
alley behind ossington, on the west side, garages covered in street art and graffiti
garage in alley covered with paintings of bright flowers

below: And lastly…  Too extraterrestrial, which someone seems to love

black wall, with graffiti, hand drawn character with words too extra terrestrial,

Locked Down but Still at Work

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Sixteen paintings lined up on a wall in a downtown Buffalo alley….  a series presented by the Albright Knox Gallery.  It is titled “Works, from Home” and it represents the thoughts and feelings of sixteen artists on their experiences with lockdowns during the Covid pandemic of 2020.  Presented here in no particular order (with the artist’s name underneath) –

a row of paintings, part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Ashley Johnson

Ashley Johnson

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Chris Piontkowski

Chris Piontkowski

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Adam Weekley

Adam Weekley

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Obsidian Bellis

Obsidian Bellis

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Rachel Shelton

Rachel Shelton

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Jon Mirro

Jon Mirro

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Julia Bottoms

Julia Bottoms

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by J.P. Hawkins Sr

left: Karle Norman
right: Jay P. Hawkins Sr.

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by tricia Butski

Tricia Butski

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by M.J. Myers

M.J. Myers

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Jason Seeley of a young man with Covid mask on

Jason Seeley

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Jennifer Ryan

Jennifer Ryan

part of a series called Works from Home, Covid themed images by local artists, presented by Albright Knox gallery, painting by Fotini Galanes

Fotini Galanes

Photos taken April 2025

 

down a dark alley

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…. Finlay Lane, a short lane with a dead end, in Melbourne’s CBD (Central Business District).

below: Graffiti on an alley wall
Finlay lane, graffiti on the wall, dark alley because of walkway over the alley

below: Urban Cake Lady, with the red hoodies and blue and white striped pants that she likes to use in her artwork.

graffiti image of two people, both with red hoodies and red and white leggings, standing back to back

below: Human? Devil? An impish blue character with a long red satanic tail.

blue skinned character with long red tail

below: This isn’t the clearest image, but what you looking at here is a character putting on a mask. Its face is black and its two eyes look like lights (and are barely in the photo)

putting on a mask, part of a street art painting

mural in a Melbourne alley, throw up style, red tag on blue background

below: With all the wrong lighting, a large painting by Ling, for Flash Forward Melbourne whose line is “40 Artists, 40 Acts, 40 Laneways”. The image is too dark, but it’s a man in blue shirt, red robe, holding out one hand. A better picture can be found at the Flash Forward Melbourne website.

part of a mural, high up on a wall in a narrow alley, man wearing red and blue robes, with his hand reaching out

below: Very stylized and abstracted but I think I see a motorcycle helmet, and perhaps a black hand reaching upwards.

part of an abstract mural in Finlay lane

street art, or urban art, painting in melbourne australia,

below: “Free Yourself”

a wall in an alley covered with urban art and graffiti
nokier tag in an alley
tags, text, and spray paint, in a melbourne alley or lane

Photos taken in March 2025

weathered & faded

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Older downtown Buffalo murals

Main Street in Buffalo in Theatre District, two older brick buildings with faded murals on them

below: It’s hard to read now, but the word is “Entertainment” that runs across the top of the mural.

theatre theme mural, faded, partially obscured by the adjacent building

below: Older Buffaloes in Buffalo, titled: “Buffalo Roam”

faded mural, solid colour buffaloes

below: Semi-circular, “Shooting Stars”

two trucks parked in front of an older mural with semi circle, shooting stars, musical notes
close up of shooting stars in mural, peeling paint in places, revealing red brick beneath the paint

below: It’s not a street art mural but it’s located on the same building as “Entertainment” and across the parking lot from “Buffalo Roam”. Buffalo is full of old ghost signs like this. Albert’s Interior Decorators and Willett & Draper Furriers are both long gone. “Storage vaults on premises” – a throwback to when fur coats were popular. Fox & Staniland Opticians apparently still exist, but at a different address.

old advertising sign on the side of a brick building, Main street, Buffalo

Photos taken April 2025

Joe’s Deli

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intersection of Hertel and Colvin, in Buffalo New York, Joe's deli is on the corner, covered with a mural by Bunnie Reiss. A Dollar General store is on the other corner and it has a large sign

Joe’s Deli is on the corner of Hertel and Colvin in Buffalo (north of downtown). Two sides of the building are covered with large colourful murals.

below: On the Colvin Street side the mural consists of a lot of stylized flowers mostly in blues and purples.

mural by Bonnie Reiss, stylized floral motifs in blues and purples on a bright turquoise background, on the side of Joe's Deli in Buffalo
part of mural by Bonnie Reiss, stylized floral motifs in blues and purples on a bright turquoise background

a section of mural by Bonnie Reiss, stylized floral motifs in blues and purples on a bright turquoise background

mural by Bonnie Reiss, stylized floral motifs in blues and purples on a bright turquoise background

below: The other side of the building has a second mural. It too has a turquoise background and some of the same floral motifs as the first mural. Both murals were painted by Bunnie Reiss.

large mural on the side of Joe's deli, a brown buffalo decorated with lots of stylized flowers and floral motifs, painted by Bunnie Reiss
the head of a buffalo in a large mural on the side of Joe's deli, a brown buffalo decorated with lots of stylized flowers and floral motifs, painted by Bunnie Reiss
part of a mural, large mural on the side of Joe's deli, a brown buffalo decorated with lots of stylized flowers and floral motifs, painted by Bunnie Reiss

below: The old blue sign on the building says Mastmans Kosher Restaurant. Mastmans deli and restaurant closed in 2005 after 60 years in the business.

Joe's deli on Hertel street in buffalo, has an old sign outside entrance that says Mastmans

Photos taken April 2025

behind Ossington

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Moooo…. Hey there good looking!…  Here’s looking at you!  This was painted by Poser.  Usually he does bunny rabbits but I think that he’s pretty good at painting cows too!

street art mural of a black and white cow looking at you, on a garage

For a number of years now, there has been a lot of street art and graffiti in an alley that runs behind the east side of Ossington starting at Queen Street and ending one block north at Humbert. Some of it is interesting; some is not. A few garages and walls look the same as they did 12 or 13 years ago so some of these photos may look similar to older photos used in this blog.

below: In the background, an untitled piece by Caratoes.  It was one of 5 murals painted in Toronto in 2016 for the “Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans” series.  In total, there were over 500 murals in 20 countries in this series.

graffiti on a wall in many colours, with a large grey tones mural in the background.

below: Six lit matches ready to go.  This crazy cat is up to something no good…

mural on a fence, a grey cat with matches in his mouth, playing with a bottle

below: An early Birdo piece, although the scroll names or street artists too.  The first street art in the alley dates from 2012 when a group of artists painted some of the garages here.

older mural by birdo, two creatures standing together on a rusty garage door in an alley

below: A pink rose between two women.

pink rose sprayed painted on green wood, beside a figure dressed in white paste up

below: Another oldie – this purple guy has been blowing a gust of wind for many years.

old graffiti on a wall

below: Vintage Spud bombs, some cheerful and some menacing.

spud bombs street art, little grey bombs with cheery faces, on a wall in an alley behind ossington avenue

below: A funny looking green creature with big white eyes and lots of skinny legs.

street art mural

below: A couple, together in the stream, in a mural by Elicser Elliott with the title “Swim”

street art mural by elicser elliott of two people, man and woman, in purple stream, title is swim

below: Geometric shapes with a touch of rainbow colour, by Peru

on a garage in an alley, painting by artist called peru,

part of a street art mural, man that looks ancient greek or roman sitting, holding a large pot, wearing a toga and sandals

below: Large pink and white swirls and curls cover a wall. Any time that you see swirls like these, think Flips because that’s sure to be the artist that painted them.

pink and white swirls and curls, mural in alley

below: Only a small portion of this moose painting by Aaron Li-Hill remains.  I don’t usually show the original works but I am going to make an exception here.  See next image.

old street art painting of a moose partially covered with pywood

below: This is what it looked like back in 2012 or 2013.

old street art mural by aaron li-hill of a moose with full antler rack, open mouth,

below: A newer Catchoo sticker.

little daisy sticker by catchoo on a metal pipe in an alley

below: A couple of faces taken from many faces around a garage.

below: Part of a Troy Lovegates mural (as are the next three images)

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington, two merged heads with necks that come out of the same hole in the red and blue sweater that they are wearing. One face is yellow and the other face is half grey and half purple

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto. In the middle is a framed recessed box in the wall with 3 egg shapes in it

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington Avenue in Toronto

part of a Troy Lovegates mural in an alley behind Ossington

below: Looking south. The closest garage on the right has a mural painted by Spud.

alley, with garages on one side, mural on the wall of a building on the left

below: Durothethird paints peanut butter & (probably) chocolate

street art on a garage door in an alley, peanut butter,

below: Horus, “Well and good”

street art on a garage door in an alley by horus

garages covered with street art and graffiti, in alley on west side of ossington avenue in toronto, just north of queen street west

street art on a garage door in an alley pink polka dots on red

below: At the north end of the alley

buildings in alley covered with graffiti and street art

small part of a larger painting, street art, on side of garage in an alley, three fuzzy balls, each with one eye. Balls are yellow, and a red, and one blue.

weathered street art and graffiti on a wood garage in an alley

purple line drawing in spray paint of a man, with yellow wings, graffiti added to it, alley

below: Writing on black and purple

white line drawing on black line drawing of a man with glasses and a beard, mural in an alley

below: Portrait of George Sully, Canadian designer

portrait of a young black man, with a triangle behind his head, in a mural in an alley

below: Love yourself, over and over again, and in many different colours!

on a black wall in an alley, in cursive writing, the words love yourself written in many colours, many times

below: An old stikman in a frame, weathered but still there.

weathered street art paint on wood, with a tiny wood frame, inside frame is an old stikman graffiti piece

below: Too extraterrestrial, which someone seems to love

black wall, with graffiti, hand drawn character with words too extra terrestrial,

below: And one last look ….   Looking north

alley behind ossington, on the west side, garages covered in street art and graffiti

garage in alley covered with paintings of bright flowers

between West Lodge and Lansdowne

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In Toronto, running west off of West Lodge Ave., there is an alley behind Queen Street West on the north side.  The upper part of this long, low building was painted blue a number of years ago.  Since then it has been tagged and used as a place to spray, stick, or paste graffiti.

alley, long low building on right hand side, painted blue, with windows,

below: T-bonez from Urban Ninja Squadron practises yoga positions.

below: A bright red door that has unfortunately been scrawled on.  Beside it is a black figure that seems to be diving backwards while holding a bunch of colourful balloons.

below: Once it was a pink cat with green whiskers

below: Holding tight to that red rose.

stencil on a wall in an alley, a fist holding a red rose

Continuing west towards Lansdowne ….

below: Faces in the alley, with a bit too much gold

below: Chubby cheeks and big fat lips…. and how many eyes?

below: Faces, many faces with their eyes closed and their hair swirling around.  Mural painted by Carol Ann Apilado

below: “Tell me its all going to be okay?  Not sure if I can do that buddy…..

graffiti on a black garage, white drawing of a person with fingers in peace sign, with text Tell me it's all going to be okay?

below: Patterns and shapes on fence, by Hello Kirsten

murals on a fence in an alley including one by hello kirsten, design patterns, also a woman in purple,

murals in an alley, a garage painted all orange, paintings on fence, face and cacti painted in side a car port under an apartment

motorcycle parked in front of blue fence, beside a garage in a lane, near Queen Street West and Lansdowne

mini cooper car parked in an alley beside a garage with street art and graffiti on it

green spray paint and black drippy paint graffiti on red brick wall

alley views

below: Enough!  Although once upon a time it said more than that…..

close up of painting on a wood fence, abstract shapes and colours, with texture

wrapped buildings

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or, in other words, buildings covered in a mural – three examples seen in Salem Massachusetts

below: The Red House, 2019, a bright and lively painting by Colombian artist, Ledania

The Red House, a house covered with street art mural by Ledania, in Salem Massachusetts, woman's faces, leaves, flowers, bright colours, abstract shapes,

below: “Villa Alegra” by Antonyo Marest for Punto Urban Art Museum

front of a store and office building, painted in street art type colours and design

below: Habernaro Bike Shop, painted with cheerful, whimsical shapes and colours by Annadidathing

one storey building, small pointed arch over entrance, two large windows, front is covered with mural

Photos taken July 2024

Around Fairgounds

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Fairgrounds describes itself as an immersive arts and technology experience. It is located near 28th Street S and the 275 freeway in St. Petersburg. You’ll find the Pinellas Trail nearby. The area around it is home to some interesting street art.

below: Derek Donnelly’s Fairgrounds mural on the outside of their building.

postcard style mural with the word fairgrounds, each letter has an image in it

below: “Girl Power”, is a mural of a girl and her horse among the sunflowers. It is a project that involved both the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida and the The Happy Mural Project.

mural of a girl wearing a cowboy hat, with a horse, with many sunflowers

below: Straight Edge Creative is responsible for the bright and cheerful music themed painting of the front of this building.

mural in bright colours, music theme, microphone, record album, by straight edge creative
mural in bright colours, music theme, microphone, record album, by straight edge creative

below: Einstein, and “Seek knowledge”

mural of portrait of einstein, with words seek knowledge

below: Gibbs Mural Club, “Local Bounty”  A woman with a crown of flowers surrounded by blueberries, mangoes, lemons, watermelons, and other fruits and vegetables.

a tree in front of a mural on the side of a building, of a woman surrounded by fresh fruit, lemon, watermelon, blueberries, mango

below: When two faces merge together, one canine eye and one human eye but two noses and two mouths. An interesting concept painted in blues by Marcus Debie aka GOMAD

mural in shades of blue, a woman's face merges with that of a dog, two eyes, one human, and one canine, two noses, two mouths,

below: Butterflies and bright words, “Go Outside” and hiding behind the palms are more words, “Look Inside”. This mural was painted by Sydney Prusso as part of the 8th SHINE Mural Festival in 2022.

bright colour mural on the side of a building, purple background with words go outside, also butterfles

below: “The Siren” by Sarah Sheppard

below: As part of the 2021 SHINE Mural Fetival, this was painted by Aurailieus

below: Abstract seaside scene in waves of blue and orange gradients.

below: More abstracts – Designs and patterns using triangles and colour variations.”

two storey house painted in design of blue triangle patterns
two storey house painted in design of blue, pink, and purple triangle patterns
bird with curved beak and blue eye, painted on side of house, using triangles and squares in different colours
a fence on a corner lot, painted on two signs with bright colours and different shapes, all abstract, patterns

a little black stencil of 5 rabbits in different positions, on a fence already covered with blue street art

below: Blue headdress on a cute little creature.

on the side of an orange building, a painting of two animal creatures, one is wearing a blue feather head dress

below: “You are beautiful”, “You are amazing”, and other positive messages.

wall covered with words and messages such as you are beautiful, stand for peace and love,
wall covered with words and messages such as you are beautiful, stand for peace and love, you re amazing, believe, you're the best
abstract street art mural on the side of a building, grass in front, all behind chainlink fence
street art mural, abstract shapes and colours

below: A 3-D cube and other shapes on the outside of the Hideaway Cafe

three dimensional cube, mural, exterior wall of cafe

below: The long neck of a flamingo reaches around the corner towards a bit purple crab and an octopus

mural with flamingo head and neck, a big purple crab, and an octopus

below: A pelican taking flight, part of a larger mural for the Florida Wildlife Corridor by Ernesto Maranje.

mural, pelican about to take flight

mural, exterior wall, a fish in the shape of the letter S swims through green long finger like seaweed

below: Words on the wall, “Haleakala, Our patron saint of perpetual street art”. I may have misspelled the first word – it’s actually the name of a volcano on Maui.

words street art, about the patron saint of perpetual street art

below: Skateboarder with one oversized eye, the work of r2romero aka Arturo Romero

street art painting on the end of a metal container, a person in jeans and yellow t shirt skateboarding down an inclined surface

graffiti stickers, a pick up truck, little kitty

graffiti stickers including mean mom mafia, and the white cat, and the hungry howlers

tree in front of a whitewashed concrete block building, with a small black drawing that looks like a face peeking out from the ground

Photos taken March 2024

Vancouver Mural Fest, 2016 edition

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2016 was the first year that the Vancouver Mural Festival was held. This event that ran nine years but apparently will not be held this year, 2025. In the first year there were about 40 murals painted in 20 different locations. A concentration of them can still be seen near Main and Industrial.

below: Wall of murals on Industrial Street in Vancouver

pale blue wall, 4 murals painted on it, cars parked on street by them,

below: “Van City Scape” by Ola Volo

part of a mural by Ola Volo called Van City Scape, stylized elements of a city, some with faces

part of a mural by Ola Volo, Van City, personification of buildings, happy smiling highrises,

below: A frog and a flying insect beside a pond or lake, a mural by Cody Lecoy,

frog in a street art mural by cody lecoy

street art mural in vancouver by cody lecoy, pond scene, frog, flying insect, water, rocks on shore,

below: This mural is a representation of Buddhist figures Yama and Mara, where the 3 heads rep Mara’s daughters, Craving, Aversion, and Desire. It was painted by Paige Bowman

Large street art mural by Paige Bowman, Chinese style, representing Buddhist figures
3 daughters of Mara, Craving, Aversion, and Desire, all from Buddhism
corner of a building with street art murals on two sides, Vancouver city street sign in front for Southern Street

below: Everything Matters; Nothing’s Important, by Katie Maasik

vertical mural, all words in cursive, says Everything Matters, Nothing's Important

below: This dragon is a collaboration between Katie So and Ben Knight, “Knot Yourself”. The title comes from the fact that the mural spells out those words; the portion shown here is the O and T at the end of KNOT and the Y at the beginning of YOURSELF.

below: Nevercrew painted this large red mural – it’s a polar bear stuck inside a plastic bottle and it has the title, “Exhausting Machine”

There was also a wall of murals painted along Southern Street. Most of them are now at least partially obscured by changes in the building, or by items stored in front of the walls.

below: Mural by Julia Iredale,

mural by Julia Iredale
close up of part of a mural by Julia Iredale

below: Shannon Elliott’s mural of large birds with little naked men in their beaks.

mural from 2016 Vancouver Mural Festival, birds, a nest, some flowers and some small scale naked men

below: Conductor with baton and lightning bolts?, the blare of a trumpet and a determined cello player. by Tim Mack

mural from 2016 Vancouver Mural Festival,

below: Only a very small portion of the mural was visible the day that I passed by, kids and little pink fingers or worms, by Peter Ricq,

mural from 2016 Vancouver Mural Festival,

below: Words – the whole mural originally said, “We’re looking for people who like to look for people”. by Bobo

mural from 2016 Vancouver Mural Festival,

Photos taken April 2025