at Blvd St Laurent and Ave Mont Royal

Blvd St Laurent is one of the streets in Montreal that has become known for its street art. Some of the past murals have disappeared as redevelopment swallows up older buildings but new murals keep appearing. Two of these recent murals are at Avenue Mont-Royal and were painted during Mural Fest 2026 earlier this summer.

below: This is Greg Mike’s contribution to the 2026 Montreal Mural Festival. It is about 85 feet long and 25 feet high. There is a white hand holding a paintbrush that has been dipped in blue. There are also several eyes and partial faces surrounding the woman with the blue circle around her eye.

mural by Greg Mike on Rue Mont-Royal, large, bright colours

part of mural by Greg Mike on Rue Mont-Royal, large, bright colours
part of mural by Greg Mike on Rue Mont-Royal, large, bright colours, big yellow daisy
part of mural by Greg Mike on Rue Mont-Royal, large, bright colours

below: Two little Waxhead creatures have survived – they were new in 2015. Looking good for their age!

On upper storey of a building, 2 mural figures by Waxhead.

below: This is part of a mural by Vincent Arnold, and is another 2026 addition to the murals along Blvd Saint Laurent. This pink faced man is reaching for ….

part of a mural by Vincent Arnold on Rue Mont-Royal, pink face of a man

below: ….. fruit. The strawberry doesn’t seem too concerned though.

part of a mural by Vincent Arnold on Rue Mont-Royal, fruit with faces, strawberry, pear, apple, watermelon and banana

below: Forgive But Not Forget

text graffiti that says forgive but not forget

Photos taken September 2026

around Ehrenfeld station

The Ehrenfeld neighbourhood of Cologne is a “hotspot” for urban art of all sorts. This blogpost focuses on some of the murals and graffiti that I saw close to the train station. It is one of many posts featuring art in Arheneld.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Erheneld station,by Herakut, a girl and her dog.  dog is wearing blue and white striped t shirt

below: By the German duo, Herakut, a girl and her dog in a blue and white striped shirt with words “Ohne dich würde ich mich nicht trauen” (Without you, I wouldn’t dare)

by Herakut, a girl and her dog.  dog is wearing blue and white striped t shirt.  text on mural says Ohne dich würde ich mich nicht trauen

below: This geometric creation by Zedz is beside the Lidl parking lot.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, geometric abstract by zedz on side of residential building
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, geometric abstract by zedz on side of residential building

below: “Matriarchy” is a mural by Ukrainian street artist AEC Interesni Kazki (aka Aleksei Bordusov). There are two naked women – one black woman riding a tiger and one white-ish woman sitting under a red umbrella. That’s quite the platform that shes sitting on.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, "Matriarchy" by Ukrainian street artist AEC Interesni Kazki  aka Aleksei Bordusov
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, "Matriarchy" by Ukrainian street artist AEC Interesni Kazki  aka Aleksei Bordusov, black woman sitting on tiger's back, grey person with top of head missing

below: SeiLeise (Tim Ossege)’s depiction of Cardinal Woelki’s as a Star Wars emperor wearing a dark habit and standing between two soldiers from the imperial guard of honour wearing red coverings and a fig leaf strategically placed.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, SeiLeise stencil, archbishop in black hooded robe, holding staff, accompanied by men draped in red so heads are hidden but fig leaf over groin

below: This European flag is also by SeiLeise, a flag where the gold stars are being methodically cut off and removed.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, stencil by SeiLeise, older man, seated, wearing suit cutting yellow stars off a European flag

below: “A Chinese Fairy Tale” was painted by Dabtar and A.Signl who are members of the street art crew Captain Borderline. Amnesty International and Colorrevoltion e.V. were also involved. Apparently the mural is a statement (or to raise awareness of?) the human rights situation in China. It dates from 2014.

restaurant patio in front of a wall with urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, A Chinese Fairy Tale" painted by the street art crew Captain Borderline, A.Signl and Dabtar, dragon puppet, panda mask,
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station,  A Chinese Fairy Tale" painted by the street art crew Captain Borderline, A.Signl and Dabtar, dragon puppet, panda mask,

below: This 3D large mosaic head is an earlier work of Captain Borderline (2011).

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, 3D mosaic head by Captain Borderline, big white eyes and nose, red lips, closed mouth, big ears, bald
3D mosaic head by Captain Borderline, close up of nose, red lips, closed mouth

below: Once again, another Captain Borderline painting – this time they collaborated with local artist, Rakaposhii (mural ‘Mystical Wall’, shown in 4 photos)

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, mystical wall mural by Captain Borderline and Rakaposhii,
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, part of mystical wall mural by Captain Borderline and Rakaposhii, two women, in black and white
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, part of mystical wall mural by Captain Borderline and Rakaposhii, building with balcony railing, black and white tiled roof
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, part of mystical wall mural by Captain Borderline and Rakaposhii,

below: This long wall was designed together by two street artists as part of the first City-Leaks Festival in 2011 – Swiss artist Smash137 and Dutch artist Zedz (see above mural). It’s title is “Musikalische Komposition”. Between when this picture was taken (October 2025) and now (September 2026) the building was demolished.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, mural by smash 137 and zedz
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, mural by smash 137 and zedz

below: “Häusliche Gewalt” (Domestic Violence) was created by street artist RIPO (aka Max Rippon) in July 2014

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, Häusliche Gewalt (Domestic Violence) was created by street artist RIPO (aka Max Rippon)

below: Lichtstrasse with RIPO’s mural along with a couple of paintings higher up on the adjacent building.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, street scene, Häusliche Gewalt (Domestic Violence) was created by street artist RIPO (aka Max Rippon)

below: In accessible – murals painted on a wall that is now behind a fence…. one of the pitfalls of art on temporary structures.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station

below: Potted plants, and/or plants in colourful vases surround a person who seems to be removing an animal (leopard?) mask in a mural painted by Gaupo Sapo (composed of YuMu, Krashkid, and Alexander Isakov) in 2017.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, Potted plants, and/or plants in colourful vases surround a person who seems to be removing an animal (leopard?) mask in a mural painted by Gaupo Sapo

below: A very happy spray paint can admires its work?

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, mural behind a fence

below: Posters with messages like “We are all brainwashed” surrounded by winged phones and television emitting concentric waves. Another message from Vanessa Slagter is “Grow Women Power – Grow where you want. Not where they want to see you”.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, three posters by Vanessa Slagter

below: “Any Europeans should see behind the wall” by the artist Benten.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, large monotone mural, Any Europeans should see behind the wall" by the artist Benten, woman holding hands up in front of her face

below: “Believe Israeli women” and “Make street art great again”. The artist’s ‘signature’ looks like biebezvrfarbe.rise

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, green poster with image of woman holding a sign that says make street art great again, also a small sticker says believe israeli women as well as small round sticker saying all we need is peace

below: A man and his hair.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, older painting of a man on a wall where plants have grown over the top of the wall and look like his hair

below: Vincent was painted on his hair even though this is Sid Vicious (of the Sex Pistols). This stencil Sid with a can of Fanta in his hand is by Petit Agite. The pink heart is an add-on.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, black and white stencil, large, of Sid vicious from punk rock band Sex Pistols.  he is holding a can of Fanta pop.  other small slap graffiti around him
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, grey mannequin lying on ground outside door that is covered with graffiti, wall beside door is also covered

below: A guitar player – with legs doing some awkward things!

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, faded painting of a guitar player
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, pink rectangle, face with oval slitty eyes and rectangular mouth, black dots on cheeks and chin

below: Four little bits and pieces – A NanE popsicle with a goofy toothy expression. A black and white Bustr (?) who seems to be gaping wide mouthed at the tiny woman’s portrait. The latter was made by Henry Paulson who seems obsessed with three or four young woman whose very similar portraits can be seen in a LOT of places. Last, top right is Little Vandal Cube by Reth.

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, Four little bits and pieces - A NanE popsicle with a goofy toothy expression.  A black and white Bustr who seems to be gaping wide mouthed at the tiny woman's portrait.  The latter was made by Henry Paulson who seems obsessed with three or four young woman whose very similar portraits can be seen in a LOT of places.  Last, top right is Little Vandal Cube by Reth.
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, large paste up with blaw, blaw, blaw in a text bubble
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, collection of slaps

below: More Henry Paulson faces… some normal, some with big lips, some with mismatched eyes…

urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, arrangement of stickers with woman's portrait, all byHenry Paulson, all rather similar black hair and blue eyes,
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, street scene
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, train bridge over a street with traffic, the words love and peace painted on the bridge
urban art, street art, in Cologne Germany, near Ehrenfeld station, sticker with a pigeon head, yellow beak, wearing a white shirt with a collar

Photos taken October 2025

checking in to see what’s new

… another walk down Graffiti Alley

group of people, back to camera, walking down graffiti alley

below: Part of a monochrome mural by Nicolas Araneda aka niko.volts that has a lot of very American feet walking all over the faces of other people as lay on the ground….   ‘Trampling’ might be a better verb than ‘walking’

part of a mural in shades of grey, black and white, of feet wearing boots that look like the American flag, walking over the heads and faces of other people lying on the ground

below: Some walk in heavy boots, and others swim with open mouth ….

large fish mural in graffiti alley,

below: Looking crazed and demented, “Lobo” by Horus (aka Trevor Goodwin)

evil villain face with red eye, white wrinkly skin, yellow teeth, graffiti on a wall in graffiti alley, by horus,

below: Not quite so crazy or so demented but certainly not cuddly and warm either.

face, graffiti, white skin, yellow hair, red lips,

below: “Bring your green hat” by FreshPaintDaly aka Billy Creekwater

Donald Duck like character, but older and seedier, with black hat, text balloon that says bring your green hat

below: Two (and a bit) of six panels, drawings by Hartshorn (or posts collective).

street art drawings on the pavement

street art painting in graffiti alley, in alcove that was a window, now boarded up

street art painting in graffiti alley

collection of graffiti slaps covering a door in graffiti alley

below: “Not today Satan”.  There’s a lot going on here – the Silly Sausage Gang being front and center.  33wallflower33 in her white coat with the fuzzy collar and little decorations by catchoo .  There is also a T-bonez (of urban ninja squadron fame) wearing a green shirt and a necklace with a pendant – that’s Sticker Eddie he’s wearing, apparently.   The red-hearted pug’s name is Mopsi. Mopsi has something in his mouth but the donut is in the way (for more Mopsi see the Instagram page of his creator, So schoen immer weider)….   And the other dog is a collaboration between TRP613 (check out the reflections in the sunglasses!) and DivadogLA

part of a door covered with graffiti stickers and other slaps

below: “Get me out of here” and a dose of Instant Karma.

two graffiti paste ups, one is a young woman saying get me out of here, the other is a large hand holding a glass that says instant karma

many paste ups up high on a wall

below: Free Iran

free iran mural in graffiti alley, woman holding a white dove that died because shot with an arrow

below: This painting of a woman with her headphones above and yellow birdie walking a dog below was one of the first murals in Graffiti Alley – the work of Uber5000. Not many originals still exist!

uber5000 mural in graffiti alley, yellow birdie is walking dog, woman with headphones, on brick wall,

below: Elicser Elliott’s contribution to a larger mural that has been painted below the pink Poser bunny, “Don’t watch me cry”

street art painting by elicser elliott, part of a larger collaborative mural, man with burgundy baseball cap, with hands over his eyes. back of hands have tattoo words, Don't watch me cry, written over the two hands

below: Half a face.  He only needs one eye to stare at you.

half of a purple face, urban art, with other shapes and colours on it, black and grey eye and nose

below: Gold…  With a garland of white and blue flowers.

street art painting, gold male face with light blue highlights, wearing garland of blue and white flowers

below: A very large and very purple bear is at the door.

street art painting covering a door in graffiti alley, a large purple bear's head and face

below: He or she looks rather cramped in there. Signature says Neem?

street art mural, blue face

below: Another flower garland and another Neem head squeezed into a box.

two graffiti paintings, on left is black and white face with fingers in front, on right is an orange face with a garland of daisies on its head

graffiti alley, people taking pictures, people walking past

below: Scowling and smoking with ace in his cap.

mural in graffiti alley

below: Skydome forever and ALCS, as well as Vladdy’s number 27 shirt and World Series 2025…. little blue and white pieces of ceramic that celebrate the Toronto Blue Jays that someone lovingly made.

graffiti or urban art made of a collection of little ceramics, all decorated with toronto blue jays baseball team symbols

below: One Inch?  …  And other stickers crammed together.

man in red shirt is taking a picture, behind him is a sign that is covered with graffiti stickers

graffiti stickers covering a sign, a mural of a face is behind it

below: “We are the colours of corn”

feet on paved alley, where someone has written we are the colour of corn

below: More stickers and pasteups including catchoo’s dumpster fire that t-bonez from urban ninja squadron is using to dry his socks and underwear.

graffiti stickers and slaps on a wall

below: A couple of contributions from Dogmaslaps here (they’re all about dogs in case you haven’t guessed yet).

below:  More pasteups, some of which are quite intricate and detailed … especially the top two (vulture and jaguar?) which are both the creations of Ezpektro.

below: Sharing space with the Ezpektro pieces are a few smaller pasteups, some of which were made by artists that are new to me.  There is a pink bike in the top right, the same bike that is in the Make Art Not War poster in the above image…  BikeDeSuro creates stickers and wheatpaste featuring bikes.  From the left, a woman by Fiigueers and then a young girl with the Spanish words, “que nunca se apague la llama de la autonomia” which translates to “may the flame of autonomy never be extinguished”… The collection is rounded out with a guitar player from Sentient Cookie and a cute little green guy from Catchoo.

 

below: MonkYi cat with a very real looking heart in his claws.  Two carp swimming on the pavement in front.

below: Charmander, a Pokemon character.

orange pokeman character, urban art

below: Alfred E. Neuman makes an appearance in a couple of places – he’s the dude from MAD Magazine.

Alfred E. Neuman graffiti, also a woman on a television screen, as well as a very large painted eye

Alfred E. Neuman as a graffiti sticker, along with a black and white little bird

below: By 50 shades of greatt aka Adam McKnight – It looks a lot like Sponge Bob… maybe it’s his cousin?  But what’s with that tongue?  It looks like a slug is trying to slither out of his mouth.

square cartoon character with skinny arms and legs, and big white hands, purple tongue sticking out, by fifty shades of great

 

below: Verity and a happy face.

graffiti, including a yellow happy face and the word verity

small graffiti on round metal disc, graffiti is image of person with head of a large baseball,

below: Someone is not impressed…. Lame

concrete block at the base of a sign on a metal pole, stencil graffiti on the concrete that says lame

below: Green guy says: “In one year’s time, strike your blow, I shall return.”

stickers and paste ups, graffiti alley

below: “These days will define us”

small sticker graffiti with words these days will define us, with a drawing of the Earth

street art painting of a purple and yellow bear's face and front paws

Photos taken August 2026

Some (more) of Lynn’s people

This is another post showcasing some of the murals in Lynn Massachusetts, most of which are the result of Beyond Walls, an organization that promotes public art including street art murals. There are now more than seventy murals in Lynn many of which have already appeared in this blog (other Lynn murals)

below: Cedric “Vise” Douglas and Julez Roth collaborated to paint this “Black Madonna”

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts, portrait of a black woman titled Black Madonna

below: This portrait of a young person is the work of Andrew Hem

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts, portrait of a young person in a circular medallion, by Andrew Hem

below: Medio Peso painted a large mural on the upper level of a building, over Omar and Oscar Jewelry store.

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts, by Medio Peso, on upper level of building, above a store

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts

below: This artist, Bryan Beyung, is of Chinese-Cambodian origin but is now based in Montreal. Part of it is obscured by the neighbouring building but the mural shows people carrying or pulling suitcases.

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts by Bryan Beyung

below: This is a portion of a colourful mural by Anna Dugan aka Annadidathing that covers one side of the Washington Street underpass. It’s title is “Mga Tagapagtanggol / The Guardians” and it represents Dugan’s Filipino heritage.

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts, Mga Tagapagtanggol or The Guardians, by Anna Dugan aka Annadidathing

below: Edwin Sepulveda, aka Don Rimx,is the artist responsible for this mural titled “Cacique Guerrero”. Cacique translates to something like ‘war captain’ and the title refers to Gonzalo Guerrero, a 16th-century Spanish sailor who survived a 1511 shipwreck off the Yucatán Peninsula. He assimilated into the Maya civilization and rose to become a military leader who fought against the Spanish conquistadors

mural in Lynn Massachusetts by Don Rimx, titled Cacique Guerrero
street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts

below: RIP Peter by Hiero Veiga

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts, man's portrait with words, R I P Peter, We are sad,

below: Another portrait by Hiero Veiga (this one needs a good cleaning!).

older and fairly dirty street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts, black woman portrait, Jah Nyah Spencer,

below: The signature on this mural is NS/CB which is the mark of Nicole Salgar and Chuck Berrett. It is painted on the upper levels of a building which makes it more difficult to see from street level but more easily seen from the train.

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts, woman archer, warrior, with bow and arrow raised, on red background

below: Hidden behind another building and a fence, is this man with big ears standing in a small paper boat. Sipros, aka Wellington Naberezny is the artist who painted it.

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts by Sipros, man with big ears standing in a small paper boat.

below: “Equilibrium” – A red devil and a blue angel balance each other. A mural by Golden 305, aka Cristhian Saravia, who is originally from Venezuela. Many of his paintings can be seen in Lynn and other cities in Massachusetts.

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts by Golden 305, a red devil monster and a blue angel monster, title in equilibrium

below: This is what happens when you paint a large sized mural on a building beside a vacant lot… and then a condo goes in next door. She’s a very large woman lying in her bed, but it’s very difficult to get e look at her! Painted by Fonki.

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts by Fonki, woman lying in a bed
street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts by Fonki

below: Offering a daffodil to a drowning person? “Good Intentions” by BK Foxx.

street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts by B K Foxx
street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts by B K Foxx, two hands interacting over water, one hand is giving a daffodil to the other which happens to be in the water

below: Mike P’s Studio has a man hanging around outside, the work of Ivan Salazar

black and white street art mural in Lynn Massachusetts, an older man semi reclining on the ground with his knees up, wearing a hat and running shoes, by Ivan Slazar, on the side of Mike P's Studio

Photos taken July 2024

down by the beach

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

sign on side of brick building that says the St. Kilda beach laundrette,  yellow painted tag below it

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

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

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

calligraphy mural along the bottom of a three storey brick building

abstract, section of a larger graffiti painting,

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!

part of a mural, street art, woman profile, eyes closed, blue black hair, lines on face, painted by bailer and CTO, on the side of Neighbours Cafe

hair part of mural of woman's portrait in profile, black and blue very stylized, with eyes, and angles in it
hair part of mural of woman's portrait in profile, black and blue very stylized, with eyes, and angles in it

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
urban 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,
street art in an alley
street art in an alley

below: Stickers

three stickers on a metal pole, one is a skull, and the bottom on is a gold coloured circle with black line drawing, both are adverts for tattoo studios

bright coloured fragment of a larger mural piece, black raindrop on red background, black and white stripes beside brown

white eyed white creature mostly hidden by blue and green tag painted over it

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

graffiti on rusted metal, sticker, animalface with only one eye showing, rest of face behind a blue sticker

abstract, part of a larger mural, purple semi-circle, blue rectangle, black and blue lines on white background.

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

people on an old wall

Near the Mercato del Capo in the historic center of Palermo Italy there is a warren of small alleys. On a wall in one of these alleys is a small series of faded drawings or painting.

below: Two women’s portraits – a larger classical looking face with a smaller more modern woman in the top corner. The old stones and bricks add a layer of interest to the images that remain.

two women's portraits, faded street art on an old brick and stone wall, textures, alley in Palermo

below: He’s painting a large face on the wall and it looks like he’s been doing it for a long time.

a man, seated, is painting a black face on a stone wall,  faded street art on an old brick and stone wall, textures, alley in Palermo

below: Painting at number1

faded street art on an old brick and stone wall, textures, alley in Palermo

faded street art on an old brick and stone wall, textures, alley in Palermo

below: Blue and red on old brick

faded street art on an old brick and stone wall, textures, alley in Palermo

below: The brickwork suggests there was once a small window here.

faded street art on an old brick and stone wall, textures, alley in Palermo

Photos taken February 2026

Let’s make peace

below: Let’s make peace with this nightmare – “Facciamo pace con glu incubi”. She is one of a few paper paste-ups that appear together on a section of wall in Naples (via Santa Maria di Constantinopoli)

portrait of woman with shoulder length brown hair and green top, with text in italian, facciamo pace con gli incubi which translates to let's make peace with this nightmare

below: This is that wall

collection of paper paste ups and other graffiti on a wall in Naples Italy

below: This purple and black watercolour portrait is also included.

watercolour painting portrait of a woman in purple and back

below: As are these women and their big yellow flower.

paper  paste up graffiti of two young woman in grey tones, with a large yellow daisy flower

below: Immediately beside the above wall is this little Exit Enter figure and its bright red heart.

exit enter, the artist, graffiti of a small white and black feature-less figure with a red heart

below: More red – this time on the other side of the wall.

black line drawing of a face, with minimal lines, with lots of red around the lines

Photos taken February 2026

Collingwood (Melbourne) portraits

A collection of faces that I saw as I walked around Collingwood one summer day.

below: She looks down on the parking lot.

street art painting, portrait, woman's eyes and nose on grey wall, high above cars parked below, lower part of face has been tagged over

below: Artist LING painted this image of Patrick Coyle on the side of the Albion Hotel. Coyle was the original owner of that hotel.

street art painting, portrait by artist LING, of Patrick Coyle, man sitting with a full  glass of beer in his hand, elbow on table, chin in hand, face has mustache and beard

below: mmm

street art painting, portrait, 2 workman with beards and mustaches, yellow and orange high viz vests, black wool hats

street art painting, portrait, one workman with beards and mustaches, yellow and orange high viz vests, black wool hats

below: An older portrait by Adnate graces a small brick wall.

street art painting, portrait, a woman, by adnate, with head scarf and red cloth covering mouth

below: There is another, much larger, Adnate mural nearby. This apartment building on Wellington Street was painted in 2018. I wrote a blog post about it a few years ago – Four Adnate Faces, Dec 2018

tall apartment building in Collingwood, Melbourne, with 4 large portraits by adnate down the side of one wall

tall apartment building in Collingwood, Melbourne, with 4 large portraits by adnate down the side of one wall, close up of the lower two faces

below: On the left, is a portrait by Vince Moloney. Three little yellow characters by dscreet are on the door to the right.

on the left, in grey tones, street art painting, portrait in greys of young man wearing large headphones and on the right, three yellow characters by dscreet, one of which looks like an owl

below: Another portrait by LING, this time it’s Alf Stewart who stars in ‘Home and Away’, an Australian soap opera.

street art painting, portrait by artist LING, of Alf Stewart, under a street sign that says Bedford street, red car parked in front, person on sidewalk beside,

below: Michelangelo on a wood fence.

Michelangelo portrait in many colours, on wood fence in alley,

below: It almost looks like someone is playing “Peek a Boo” although I am sure that the two faces were not painted at the same time, or by the same person.

painting of person in rounded hat, with comic character like tag in front

below: Drew in bright colours

top of head in blue, bright blue nose, pink glasses, yellow and green eyes, red very short hair and red eyebrows, word Drew written across bottom of face, 24

below: One of the uglier faces that you will see today…

ugly mis-shapen face painted on gate, small forehead, large jaw, mouth and teeth, long nose,

below: With visions of palm trees in front of his face – a blue skull by Callum Preston

blue skull wearing red glasses with images of palm trees in the lenses, by Callum Preston

Photos taken February 2025

Uniacke Court

….. another Central Melborne lane with street art

below: A very large woman, painted by Deb, stands at one end of the alley

mural of a woman with long orange hair and a tight fitting dress, on a wall at the end of an alley, large condos and apartment buildings rise up behind her

man on sidewalk beside car, looking back towards entrance to Uniacke Court, a lane in Melbourne, with a large mural on the wall

below: A Joker mural, painted by Heesco (aka Heesco Khosnaran)

entrance to Uniacke Court, a lane in Melbourne, with a large mural on the wall, ugly man with bulging pink eyes and large teeth, big pointy chin, wild green hair

very close up of face of Joker with big teeth muscles, mural by Heesco

below: Harley Quinn

mural of Harley Quinn by Emmabelow: The Corporation and a hungry little black bird.

mural, urban art, small black bird looking upwards, with beak open, stencil on brick wall behind says The Corporation, with marionette string

below: A leopard silently watches from the doorway, another mural by Deb

painting of a leopard by DEB sitting in a doorway

below: Tattoos and golf clubs

man with tattoos in his face, mural, holding a golf club in his hands

below: Be rationally crazy idea

text graffiti that says be rationally crazy idea

below: Some small graffiti too – including Tweet with a several balloons.

paste ups on wall, arm, tweet, balloons, robot head,

below: Small white stencil

white stencil of a person fishing brick wall

Photos taken February 2025

Graffiti Alley – first visit of 2026

This blog post is a quick look some of the “art” that can be seen in Toronto’s Graffiti Alley at the moment. There is lot on display even though I only walked between Spadina and Portland so this post focuses on the murals and larger paintings that I saw. The smaller stickers and paste ups will be in a subsequent post (sooner rather than later I hope!).

below: Blue birds and big ugly black dogs.

two murals, street art painting, graffiti alley, blue bird with open wins, but feet on pine branch, in background is a squat heavy set black and white dog mural

below: A portrait of Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine’s blue and yellow colours.

portrait of zelensky, ukrainian leader president, in blue and yellow, street art mural

below: Daisy, in rabbit ears

word daisy written on arm of girl in street art painting, graffiti alley, she has black rabbit ears

below: On one of the corners, there is a long grey mural with bits of red….

below: “A lone samurai known as Ghost stands on watch”.   A story and a mural by Dewucme

below: Portraits painted on skateboards – there has been a collection of such portraits hanging here for at least a year.  I am not sure if these three are newer, or if I just forgot them last time.  (Link to blog post of skateboards from 2025)

graffiti alley, portraits on broken skateboard,

below:  Portrait by Bunso

black and white portrait, street art mural, graffiti alley, man in white t shirt and black cap, smiling,

below:  Other part of the above mural, but painted by a different artist (I think)

black and white portrait of a man

below: In memory of Andre Campbell

blue trash bins and black garbage bags piled in front of street art mural, black and white portrait of a man with short dark hair and glasses, with text that says in memory of Andre Campbell

below:  Behind the Queen Street stores

parking areas and back yards of stores on Queen street, graffiti alley view, three storeys, with balconies across the back street art and graffiti on fences

below: Painting on hoardings as downtown redevelopment (and subway construction) slowly encroaches on the Queen and Spadina neighbourhood.

tiger and dragon street art mural on hoardings in an alley in Toronto

below: “Find peace in your chaos” Plus, it seems to be wearing shirt and tie but it’s also drooling and looking just a little unhinged!

words on sidewalk that say find peace in your chaos, below a painting of a pink monster head with white eyes and big white teeth

squished face, monstrous, big eyes with orange pupils, big white teeth with gums bleeding above one tooth

monster faces, graffiti alley, street art, with snowman underneath

below: Monstrous television screen head with bloody gums and matching tie.

monster faces, graffiti alley, street art, big teeth, with a head shaped like a television screen

tree in front, looking across alley to side of building, completely covered in street art painting, graffiti alley

street art painting, graffiti alley, purple face, blue hands with thumbs up

street art painting, graffiti alley

below: “Who you gonna call?”  Ghostbusters green slimey thing!

street art mural in graffiti alley with green slime creature from Ghostbusters movie in center

below: He’s got one big eye and a scowl on his face.  There’s a burning cigarette in his mouth and the Ace of hearts is tucked into his hat band.  Quite the character.

two garage door murals in graffiti alley

below:  Not all cats are cute?

ugly cat, yellow, with bulging green eyes, street art mural, with two monkey faces, graffiti alley

below:  A woman with her purple hair tied up with little glowing (but ghostly) lanterns in a mural by MonkYi

street art painting by Monk Yi, woman holding a blue fan, with her hair tied up and two little lanterns in her hair, big gold ear rings.

street art painting, graffiti alley, large red and yellow daisy by catchoo, wad of money bills with arms and legs and a face too

street art painting, graffiti alley, on a door, woman with black hair, red lips, and red clothing that looks a lit like flames, red hot

street art painting, graffiti alley, pink tiger, with pink hearts

below: Climbing green onions (scallions?)?  An upside down blue goose?  … And in the middle, yellow siu mai (Chinese open-topped steamed dumplings, a dim sum favorite), all images from the imagination of Mixt Paints aka Kelcy Timmins Chan

purple naked person climbing a bunch of green onions a light blue duck with yellow beak that is diving downwards, street art painting by mixt paintz

below: There’s that snowman again, but on a different wall and surrounded by graffiti

a little white snowman with carrot nose and black buttons, street art painting on a wall covered with graffiti, graffiti alley

below: Ninos Libres, by Kalaruno

street art portrait of a child by Kalaruno, ninos libres

below:  Another Kalaruno painting

lumber and trash in front of a mural in graffiti alley, grey squarish character with human face by Kalaruno

below: At least it’s a step up from tagging…..

red, black, and white mural in graffiti alley

below: A green finger on the trigger.

side by side, two smaller street art painting, graffiti alley, on left is green hand and pink spray paint can while on right is a stupid round face with big oval teeth

behind store, graffiti alley view, pile of empty boxes and trash at bottom of stairs, with doors with street art in orange and blue

graffiti and street art under stairs, green turtle, mushrooms

below: Blue.  And strange looking.  He’s hanging out in the doorway.

street art painting, graffiti alley, in doorway, blue faced weird looking man

below: An introspective dragon

a street art painting of a greenish grey dragon with the word introspection in orange across its body

street art in graffiti alley

people walking down a wet alley, puddles and reflections on the pavement, of the street art and graffiti on the surrounding walls

Photos taken January 2026