Category Archives: Ontario

The Original Family

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Sometimes there are silver linings when buildings get demolished.  Until recently, this wonderful mural was difficult to get a good look at.  Now that there is a vacant lot next door I was able to get a much better picture of it.

The Original family, a mural by Philip Cote based on indigenous Anishinaabe creation story, thurnderbird, man, woman, moon, animals,

The title of the mural is “The Original Family” and it is based on an Anishinaabe creation story.  The artist, Philip Cote, has been telling Anishinaabe stories through his mural painting for at least twenty years, including a series of images on the concrete supports of a bridge at Old Mill subway station (see Spirit Stories Under Old Mill in this blog).

scaffolding and hoardings beside a vacant lot where a building has just been demolished, large mural on the other side of the fence, by Philip Cote, Original family,

 Once construction starts on this new building, the mural will become partially obscured again.

scaffolding and hoardings by a construction site, end of mural above hoardings, thunderbird in first nations style painting

Phlegm’s progress.

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British mural artist Phlegm has been painting a large mural on the side of 1 St. Clair West.   The first time I saw it, was on the 14th of July, 2016, when it looked liked this:

below: The white background of the mural was painted first.

a street in Toronto, St. Clair Ave., with an older nine storey building with concrete facing, on the side, above the level of the stores beside it, is the outline of the start of a mural. All painted white, a seated figure.

below:  Photo from 19th July, 2016

a verylarge mural on the side of a building is in the process of being painted. An white outline of a seated person with their knees drawn up, one leg has been painted with a design in black

As it turns out, there is a lot of detail in the mural!  It slowly took shape.

below: 21st July

a very large mural on the side of a building is in the process of being painted. An white outline of a seated person with their knees drawn up, one leg has been painted with a design in black

below: Fast forward to August 2016 when the mural was almost finished. …
but wait!  Isn’t that the CN tower on the shoulder?

large black and white mural by phlegm of a seated person with their knees bent up, made of tiny houses and buildings and other structures

below: Hey!  It is the CN tower.  And isn’t that the Gooderham/flatiron building?  And that building with the little dome, isn’t that on Yonge street?

close up of mural made up of toronto landmarks like the cn tower and the gooderham flatiron building, by British artist phlegm

below: There’s the ROM and its ‘crystal’ too!   This is the ‘bottom’ of the figure and in this photo two things become clearer.  First, the scale of the project and just how big the mural is becomes apparent.  Second, the mural is of a person coming out of the earth, being pulled out by the roots almost.  But is it a person?  Or is it a living city?

the bottom part of a mural, man in scaffolding is still working on it, black on white, pictures of buildings.

below: The head part – play ‘spot the building’!  Is that old city hall?

head part of phlegm mural

below: Scalliwags is on one of the knees along with a lot of trees.

knees part of the mural

below: And last, the feet with more roots at the heels

feet of a person in a mural made of paintings of trees and buildings, roots growing out of the heels. satelite dish in the mural and on the building beside the mural

This project is also a part of the STEPS Initiative program.

Photos taken back in 2016
This post also appears in a blog about Toronto, As I Walk Toronto.

some downtown Barrie murals

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In downtown Barrie there is a narrow alley with a large bright coloured mural by Clandestinos and Shalak Attack

alley in town of Barrie, downtown, mural on one side, by clandestinos and shalak attack, two large birds, a green star, butterfly, and woman's portrait
clandestinos mural in an alley in downtown Barrie, birds at the bottom end of the lane
shalak attack contributions to a mural in barrie ontario, a portrait of a woman
a butterfly in a clandestinos and shalak attack mural

Also downtown is ‘The Container Project’ at Meridian Place.
below: One side is the Barrie skyline filled in with flowers and some animals (there’s at least one raccoon). Painted by Katie Green.

mural in orange and blue, barrie skyline filled in with images of flowers and feathers, and some animals
close up of flowers in barrie skyline mural by katie green

The other side of the same container is another Katie Green mural which looks like a collage of Barrie landmarks.

mural with small scenes
close up of some of the scenes in a mural, a gazebo, rowers on the river, an old bridge over a narrow street, a clock on a pedestal, the East Bayfield community center,

below: On a very pink wall, a mural by Alanah Jewell

very pink wall, with images to make a mural, cedar tree, salmon, bears, sun, water, flowers, moon, clouds, plants, by Alanah Jewell in downtown Barrie
In the words of the artist:
“The sun will teach us about beginning new every day, and the importance of providing light and warmth.
The moon will teach us about the cycles of life and the importance of water. She will teach us that our bodies’ cycles are sacred and will tell us stories of Grandmother Moon
The stars will teach us about navigation and our ancestors’ journeys across this land. They will tell us about a time, thousands of years ago, when each of our ancestors started as someone living in harmony with each other and with the land.
The bears will teach us about rest, protecting our young, and the importance of strength. They will teach us about survival.
The fish will teach us about the depth of the water and the vastness of aquatic life. He will teach us that the water is worth healing and protecting.
The eagles will teach us about wisdom, guidance, and a connection to the spirit world. They will tell us about our Creation stories.
The cedars will teach us about standing tall and strong. They will tell us to give thanks for this life and the medicines that are abundant all around us.”

Photos taken June 2023

small town Ontario murals

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As I find more, I will add them here in alphabetical order by town name.

Burnt River: Two halves of the same mural. Rural life – cows, horses, and the old CN train that no longer runs here. The land where the railway tracks ran has been repurposed into a walking trail in summer and a snow mobile trail in winter.

part of a mural on exterior wall of Burnt River post office, some houses, a cow, and a horse

part of a mural on exterior wall of Burnt River post office, a train stopped at a station, a snow mobile.

Campbellford: Sunrise over the water. Campbellford is on the Trent River.

Goderich: Butterflies and rainbows on the corner of Courthouse Square and Montreal Street, downtown.

butterflies and a rainbow in a large mural on the side of a brick building in downtown Goderich

Lafontaine: Profile of a wolf… Legend of Loup Lafontaine – part legend and part true story, written by Thomas Marchildon, a parish priest, in 1955. Since 2002 the town has held an annual Festival du Loup.

mural, wolf head in profile, leaves, berries, nature scene

Parham: “59th Annual Exhibition of the Parham Agricultural … A glimpse into the past – just some of the people who made the 1950 Parham Fair another memorable event.”

large mural on the side of general store in Parham Ontario, image of a group of people at the 59th annual Exhibition and Parham agricultural fair, early 1900sm

Sharbot Lake: “The Final Journey”, On June 6, 1891, Sir John A. Macdonald died at his residence in Ottawa. After a state funeral, his body was taken by train to Kingston from the mainline to the K&P at Sharbot Lake.

mural on wall in sharbot lake, portrait of Sir John A Macdonald as well as a train, tells story of Macdonald's trip in the train after he died

Sharbot Lake: Kingston and Pembroke Iron Mining Company. Incorporated 1887. The Railway’s Influence: with the arrival of the railway in 1876 came new prosperity. Sawmills and mines now had easy access to markets. Sharbot Lake soon had several stores, hotels and 3 doctors. This building, built in 1901, was originally the Farmers Bank of Canada.

mural about Kingston and Pembroke iron mining company incorporated in 1887, and the railway's influence in the area, saw mills and mines and easy access to markets. On the side of building from 1901, the Farmers Bank of Canada

Tiverton: The Watchman – this was the name of the local newspaper. At the top of the oval, “Incorporated in 1879” and at the bottom, a portrait of John Patterson, one of the first settlers. Also shown, the Masonic Lodge, local church, an old car and pickup truck at the B A gas station, horses pulling a plow, and an old fire wagon on the main street. It was originally painted by Allen Hilgendorf in August 2001 then restored by Ruth Hurdle in 2010, and by the looks of it perhaps it is being restored again (photo taken June 2025). Other notes: Although the town was incorporated in 1879, it took the name Tiverton in 1860 when the post office opened there. “The Watchman” newspaper was founded in 1874.

large mural, outdoors, black watchman plaid background with large interior oval containing many images of pioneer life, horses pulling a plow in a field, men playing hockey outside, a church, a wagon on a street with a couple of stores,

Tiverton: Tiverton Platoon 1917, group picture

large photograph of men in uniform, 1917, group shot, about 50 men, title is Tiverton Platoon 1917, on brick wall, outside

Wallaceburg: The S.S. Superior, a large boat. “1889-1960, Typical of the Great Lake Steamers that visited Canada’s Inland Deep Water Port, this 250 ft package freighter, a familiar sight loading local products, made it’s last call in 1958 thus ending an important chapter in local heritage. “

painting on an exterior wall in Wallaceburg, a large image of the S.S. Supperior, a package freighter built in the 1880s.

St. Enochs Square

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St. Enochs Square, between Massey Hall and the back of the stores facing Yonge St., just south of Shuter St. (Toronto)

This mural was painted back in 2013 as part of a project to rejuvenate this alley. It was a collaboration between EGR and Elicser Elliott.

entrance to laneway, red brick building on the left (Massey Hall), mural painted on the wall on the right. Mural shows a woman & a boy blowing the seeds from white puffy dandelions.

entrance to St. Enochs Sq. on Shuter St.

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A woman is holding an infant and a small child. Another child is clinging to her. A man is to her right and a girl is to her left. The infant is ugly and may not really be an infant but instead be a little roly poly old man... or a hybrid of the two

left side of the mural

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a large black and white cat is looking at the viewer. It is wearing a little crown. Beside the cat is a boy in a blue and white striped shirt who is blowing the seeds off a puffy white dandelion.

blowing dandelions

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panorama view of the whole mural

panorama of the mural

Photos taken July 2014

Paul Estrela Lane – then and now

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Have a seat!
It’s another tour of laneway street art.

two chairs sitting in front of a closed garage door, a wooden chair with teal back and legs, a directors type chair with teal fabric, garage door is painted teal. autumn, leaves on the ground in front of the chairs. Today’s blog features Paul Estrela Lane which runs for one block on the northside of the Danforth ending at Woodbine Avenue.   Some of the garages and fences have been painted with bright and cheerful murals.  There are quite a few paintings considering the fact that the lane is only one block long.   I first visited it in 2017 and most of these photos are from that time.  I went back the other day to see if there were any changes….

below: A mural by mediah and the CBS crew.

abstract geometric mural by mediah on a red backgroundbelow: Another contribution from the CBS crew but this time in collaboration with kanos, a French artist, from Paris.  More of his work can be seen under ikanografik on instagram.

red background mural in black and white below: A warm summer day by the surf.

mural of a brown woman with a two piece bathing suit standing on a beach holding onto a surfboard. There are 4 very big waves behind her. Painted over two garage doors.

below: Toothy grins and googly eyes, coloured monster faces all squished together to completely cover the back of this building.   It is the work of monicaonthemoon.

exterior wall in a laneway with mural by monicaonthemoon with many silly stylized faces in bright colours below: Listening to music as her orange and pink hair blows in the wind, by Kim

garage door painted with a mural of woman with light skin skin and orange and pink hair with eyes closed and wearing blue headphones. music notes around her headbelow: Marine life swimming in the laneway, an octopus with orange eyes looking at you, and what I think is a squid on the left.  Painted by kittzen.

two garage doors with murals of marine life, a squid on the left and an octopus on the right.

below: Wings, another mural by Monica Wickeler

large black and white wings with multicolouredbackground - mural on a garage door in a lane

below: The work of dajenesis aka Jeannie Priscila

head of an animal, front view, wide open mouth with large white teeth by dajenesis

below: More goofy faces

fence in a laneway with mural by monicaonthemoon with many silly stylized faces in bright colours

below: Japanese characters painted by Tokyo.   Hint to street artists – if you want to be found, your moniker should be something that doesn’t bring up millions of unrelated hits on a search engine.  Any ideas about what he might be saying?

mural by Tokyo, red background with black and white boys face, and white word bubble with red Japanese characters written inside

Most of the above murals are still there – looking a little faded, or with small shrubs growing up in front of them.   The remaining photos were taken in March 2024.

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blog_many_faces_trash

below:  A blue eyeless man and his cat with marvelous green eyes – the work of a mystery man, Victorful.  This mural was here in 2017 but the painting to the right was a newer addition to the alley (photo from 2024).

blog_victorful_impressions_feline
below: Children eating ice cream.
in a mural, a row of children eating ice cream cones

below: Another newer mural is this 2018 creation by Caitlin Taguibao

mural by Caitlin Taguibao, a woman with neck encased in green and black striped puffy thing, pupating maybe, surrounded by plants with blue leaves

below: This little blue boy is part of a larger mural that is on two sides of a corner of a building.

part of a mural, a boy painted in blues

alley back fences
a line of garages with graffiti and street art, Paul Estrela Lane in Toronto

Graffiti Alley – spring 2024

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As you might know, every once in a while I walk down Graffiti Alley in Toronto to see if there is anything new that might be of interest.  This blog post is a result of last week’s walk….

below: Orange hair with attitude – “You don’t look smart because you have a beard!” by NYC based City Kitty. In the upper right corner all the way from the UK, a D7606 old style telephone featuring David Bowie… call a friend.

graffiti on a wall, pasteup of man with three eyes and a lot of orange hair and facial hair. Also a paste up by D76060 of a blue old fashioned rotary phone with an image of musician David Bowie in the center.

below: Havana to Toronto and of course, 2 + 2 always = 5.

two images side by side on a wall in graffiti alley

below: A diverse group of faces

below: Many more faces but mostly a frowny face man.  Every time I look at this picture I think of Poilievre but that opinion might get me into trouble!

stickers, graffiti, on a pole, a painting of a scowling frowning man on the wall beside the pole

below: Purple with green wings and a golden halo – horus and tuffytats (aka Trevor Goodwin) be dreaming again?

tuffytats painting on a wall in graffiti alley, female figure in purple with wings and a halo

below: “Tell them louder”

below: Yarn squares crocheted and attached to a pole with Urban Ninja Squadron’s T-bonez looking on.

yarn squares, knit and or crocheted, and attached to a utility pole in alley, a large urban ninja squadron paste up is beside it

below: No Dumping stickers

black and yellow city street sign saying no dumping,with many graffiti stickers on it

below: Playing on his knees.  That’s quite the instrument.  Cuba on his shoulder.

below: And a similar man with curly hair and beard, but this time in pink.

pink portrait of a man with curly hair, curly beard, and a mustache, his eyes are closed

below: A blue legless and armless robot along with a conehead type creature with a big mouth, both at 733.

below: FPmonkey – a young woman with long purple hair tied up with green flowers.   A single red tear drop on her cheek.

below: Uber5000’s marine life is still a colourful fixture in the alley.

below: Nearby, his Toronto/Canada themed mural has not lasted as well.  A couple of yellow birdies are still visible.

defaced uber5000 mural, with tags and graffiti over it, some yellow birdies still visible

below: Spiderman and the Spiderverse – some of the mural remains untouched but much of it has been tagged over

part of a mural about spiderman and the spiderverse but some of it has been tagged over

below: En masse has a number of pieces in the area including three metal boxes on the sidewalk – this is part of one of those boxes.  Almost all of their work is in black and white.

part of a black and white desiden by en masse on a metal box on the sidewalk

below: The tears of a clown when there’s no one around….

part of a mural, a clown with large white collar, white hat with red hearts on it, and a lot of white face make up is crying big tears, flower in his hat, big red mouth,

below: She’s green.

below: Tiny finds on a blue wall.  Princess Lays Chicken (Princess Laya Chicken?)

below: remnants of Black Lives Matter, and a new purple flower on the door.

below: A scrawny cat scribbled on yellow paint.  In case it is difficult to see, the sticker (or paste up) on the pole is an old television set with text near the bottom that says, “HAHA”.  Interpret it as you wish (as usual).

below: Rubbish in the lane (maybe just a spring clean up needed? … not that the alley is usually clean LOL)


Photos taken March 2024
This post also appears in As I Walk Toronto blog

vibes at Coxwell & Gerrard

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This is “Vibe Mantra Scroll”, a collaboration between two Toronto artists SOWL (aka Rowell Sowell) and Flips as a shout out to hip hop culture and its global appeal.  It is on the southwest corner of Coxwell and Gerrard.

mural covering the side of the convenience store building on the southwest corner of coxwell and gerrard, many elements in the mural, mostly abstracr shapes and colours

On the back side of the same building there is another SOWL mural

back wall of building on southwest corner of coxwell and gerrard, beside many electric meters or gas meters, a mural by rowell soderPhotos taken March 2024
This post also appears in As I Walk Toronto blog

Along the Riverbank

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There is a new mural (2022) in Toronto by Nick Sweetman featuring animals and plant life commonly found along Ontario’s rivers, especially the Don River that flows nearby.  It adorns a wall/fence that runs the length of a new park, Riverside Square, which is southeast of Queen and the Don Valley Parkway.

below: The east end of the mural

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: A blue-fronted dancer damselfly (A very long name for a very small creature!)

below: Mink, toad, and a water insect called a water strider.

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: Catfish

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: A raccoon eyes the fish swimming past

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: A happy dog among friends, a raccoon and a cotton tail rabbit. If you look closely, there is a bridge in the background by the fox – Torontonians might recognize this bridge as one of the many that cross the Don River.

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: Red fox, coyote

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: In the middle

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: Egret diving for fish

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: White-tailed Deer

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: North American beaver

below: Painted turtle

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

below: Northern Leopard Frog

part of mural by Nick Sweetman, Along the Riverbank

Tensoe2 and Moises (Luvs) also contributed to ‘Along the Riverbank’

Photos taken January 2024

In the alley after dark

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A walk down Graffiti Alley on a rainy night.

below: Unfortunately, one of Uber5000’s large Toronto/Canada themed murals has been defaced (the one on the north side of the alley).

Graffiti Alley night time, light from headlights of car, walls covered with street art and graffiti

below: Doug Ford running away with the money, stencil graffiti by D. Terra. Our Premier seems rather happy with his haul. Accurate?

black and white stencil art by d terra, of doug ford in a ablack suit, white shirt, black tie, holding bags of money and smiling

below: A dope piece that bears some resemblance to Homer Simpson.

graffiti alley, homer simpson with word dope

below: A  yellow one-eyed daisy standing tall.

yellow one eyed daisy on green stem

below: This portrait has hair!

black and white portrait of a young man with glasses and headphones,

night time, graffiti alley, street art and graffiti on walls

below: For some reason, a section of one of the side lanes (McDougall Lane? or Rush Lane?) was lit by a red light.   Here there was a collection of pasteups and stickers including one with an abundance of flowers in her hair, a skater figure by drecks. She is joined by a bare breasted woman with even more flowers on her head as well as a Snoopy look alike and a cat on the telly.

slaps on a wall, graffiti alley, night time, red light

below: On the same wall as the above – Tweetie bird, from Australia, along with some friends.  Because of the red light, this photo is very low contrast and difficult to see.  Best to see this wall in the daytime!  Second best, would be to check out the instagram page of tweet_streetart

pasteups in an alley, red light, nighttime

with red lights, at night, slaps, paste ups and other graffiti

below: Another selection of slaps, mostly birds this time.

slaps on a wall, mostly birds, plus a fish

slaps on a wall, mostly birds

below: A little raccoon

raccoon graffiti in black and white, also a bird and a fish sticker

below: Mortus figure – his hands are almost big enough to hold all those skulls.

blob like figure with bald head and big hands, holding a lot of skulls, mural in graffiti alley by mortus

below: On the pavement

text graffiti on the pavement that says get off the internet

below: FP Monkey (aka Julia H), Skamoney, Monster Fan Club, and PP Spray

mural in graffiti alley, collaboration of three artists, FP monkey, aka Julia H.

below: Poser bunny

poser bunny on a column, door beside is covered with scrawls

below:  Making a rap music video

people making a hip hop or rap music video in graffiti alley

graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

below: The east end of Graffiti Alley, the part closest to Spadina, was very dark.

view down graffiti alley at night, rainy, wet pavement, reflecting light

below: As it turns out, the buildings at this end (north side) are now behind a metal construction fence. Darkness equals empty I suspect.

back of buildings on Queen West, now dark, with construction fence, view from graffiti alley, large orek tag on building, dark, no lights,

below: Yes they matter but was there no where else to paint this?  There’s so much junk in the alley that no one would miss.

graffiti alley uber 5000 mural with a painting with the text every child matters covering the bottom part of it

below: I am going to end this post with a bit of a rant.  Yes, to some extent the art in this alley has come somewhat commercialized especially with the newer buildings on Richmond that back onto the alley.  Uber5000 has benefited from some of this as he has painted a few large (and very good) murals here.  Also, I understand that street art by its nature is prone to “disappearing” behind the work of others but I reject the notion that one person’s tag is as good as another person’s mural.  Anyone can destroy.  Anyone can paint their “name” but if you are proud of writing it over someone else’s more talented work then you haven’t progressed beyond the preschooler phase of life.

street art and graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley

Photos taken October 2023

This post also appears in mcfcrandall.blog