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
There was not a lot of street art in this central Melbourne alley but I decided to give it its own blog post anyhow.
below: A cat and a dog… and then someone added “woof” and “meow”. Clever, right? Groan. The cat stencil was created by Melbourne artist King of the Clowder aka Night Krawler.
below: Robobop is Robert Scholten – ink drawing of a mask in two pieces.
below: A royal looking lion painted by Michael Che Romero. This Lion King mural was painted back in 2019 and was sponsored by Vivache Designs (note, Romero is/was their Creative Director).
below: Like most of the black and white stencils on this page, this is the work of King of the Clowder.
below: A closer look at two of the photos by monomelbourne that are seen in the vertical column in the above picture. On the bottom – Looking from Alexandra Gardens, across the river to St. Pauls Cathedral.
below: Joined together under a ring of thorns or barbed wire.
below: Many Melbournes with 3 posters with slightly twisted humour. Top – “What’s yours is mine”, Middle – “Mortgage Stress? Sell your kids (& mum), Bottom: “Last Christmas I gave you my heart, Give it back!”
below: Disease, but upside down
below: Dating from at least 2019, another King of the Clowder artwork that looks very Freddie Mercury-ish
below: The original King of the Clowder piece of the headless hoodie has been added to and now has a scowling face on a big fat head. A can of “squirt black” is still adding to his features.
below: mmm
below: “Anyone can be any gender”… whether or not you agree, the world goes on.
below: Tintin, with something red in his hand, makes an appearance here too.
below: Tweety bird and his More Magikal Alphabets including Persian Hieroglyphics from Tweet (tweet_streetart)
below: Multiples
below: A weird and wacky green creature by Lukas Kasper
below: Am I my own actions and intentions, or others perspectives? An interesting question posed by Current Remains.
below: Skateboard art – Putting an old skateboard to good use!
Here are three more, of the MANY, murals found in Stornara Italy.
below: “Fly with me” by Alessandra Carloni, 2023. With a suitcase all packed and ready to go, heading out for adventures on a turtle.
below: A lazy, comfortable ride through a sea of red and blue in a mural by Nikro, aka Nicola Ciarallo, 2021
below:Erica II Cane (or Ericailcane), A distracted cat! And while the cat’s away, the mice will play. The mice have taken over! Don’t be a distracted cat!
below: A large mural by Dom Laporte featuring a Locomotive 2037 pulling a long freight train. The history of Smiths Falls was always closely tied to the railways. In February 1859 the first train arrived in town – on the B & O (Brockville & Ottawa) railway, pulled by a wood burning locomotive. In the 1880’s B & O was amalgamated into the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway)network. a few years later a second rail line, the Canadian Northern, came to town.
below: Smiths Falls railway station with its distinctive turret – built in 1912 for the Canadian Northern line on their Toronto to Ottawa route. It is now a National Historic site.
below: High above the street on scaffolding, working to “renovate” the lawyer’s office – a twist on the historic mural. Ryan, Knott & Dixon would probably be quite happy with the facelift that Craig Campbell and Chris Addy have given their brick building.
below: An older mural painted on wood and then attached to the wall. A winter scene on a downtown street.
below: An intricate drawing of a moth and the possible mechanics of its wing, by ardif
below: Sitting above a window, the cat eyes the bird. Together they make a story. The bird with the goggles is the creation of nevoul_art (La petite Fée du Street Art) while the grinning cat was drawn and painted by liAXrt
below: Seahorse by Industrie Tarte – hippocampe nageant sur un mur. It’s been divided into sections – bavette, entrecote, collier, filet, faux filet, similar to the way a cow would be divided into cuts by a butcher.
below: And by the same artist, a buffalo. It’s been divided into sections too except this time they are labelled Wyoming, Minnesota, Colorado, and other American states.
below: Nora Simon’s project “Histoires Doubles” involves the merging of two paintings into one. This is number 79, “Force et détermination, Strength and determination” which is apparently a combination of Gustav Klimt and Edvard Munch (although I am not sure which paintings).
In an alley near Dovercourt and Queen West in Toronto are two garage door murals unlike any others.
below: ‘Elephancy’ by Zirco Fish – It’s an elephant but it’s not. Tusks like an elephant and the ears seem to be big a floppy. But the mouth is like a beak and the eyes are certainly not those of an elephant. A crazy fantastical creature, the product of someone’s imagination.
Eyes on the Streets 