On the Move (Toronto)

Posted on September 1, 2026 by Mary C

If you walk east on Bloor from Dundas West, you will encounter a railway bridge.

man pulling a suitcase as he walks on the sidewalk on Bloor street, eastbound, with GO train on railway bridge in the distance.

A section of the walls of this underpass have recently been painted by 40+ artists. The south side is now covered in new murals.

cyclists in bike lane on Bloor West, traveling eastbound and about to go under the railway tracks just west of Perth. Street art on the walls of the underpass

This underpass has been painted previously – back in 2015 both the north and south walls were painted in a Wallnoize project (see post from 2015). Some of the same artists appear on this updated version. This time it was StreetARToronto that sponsored the artworks. Let’s take a look at some of the murals (in no particular order)….

below: Stay young! An old man on a bike that he outgrew years ago! by Adrian Hayles

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West painted by Adrian Hayles - an old man in yellow suit and hat, riding a very small yellow, or gold, bicycle

below: Opola Karim painted this Toronto skyline scene, a view that is well known to anyone who has visited the Toronto islands.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West painte by Opola Karim, showing Toronto Harbour and Toronto skyline in a very stylized design, loon in water, beaver on a rock, Canada geese flying overhead

below: Peaceful, loving hands joining together by Phillip Saunders aka Loveishere

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Phillip Saunders, a k a Love is here. Four hands in shades of beige and brown, 2 with peace sign, one holding a round object with a red heart on it,

below: Close to the west end of the underpass is this colourful section. The collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists, Just J. Art (the hummingbird and the hibiscus flower) and Ambsoul Art

two street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West. On the right side is collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists Just J. and Ambsoul. BJR painted the let side, first nations symbols and objects like a bear with a fish in its mouth,

below: The left part (of the above image) BJR aka Bradley J. Reinhardt

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, byBJR, or Bradley J. Reinhart, bear with a blue fish in its mouth and a red heart on its side

below: Ambsoul Art’s feathery bird.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, bird head, part of a larger mural, by Ambsoul

below: From under the bridge, glimpses of colour between the steel girders and concrete barricades.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West as seen from across the street metal girders supporting bridge, traffic on the road,

below: Three of the artworks

three street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West. Artists were Curtia Wright, Phillip Saunders, and Artistic Perception.

below: Curtia Wright – a portrait with yellow flowers

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Curtia Wright, portrait of a brown woman with yellowy brown eyes, yellow flowers on either side of her

below: More women’s faces – some with no mouths? – have they been silenced? By Artistic Perception aka Kanisha

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Artistic Perception. three black women with short curly black hair, clothes in grey shades, with a garland of daisies

below: The Toronto Railpath runs beside these tracks.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West where it joins Wallace street entrance to the Toronto Railpath

below: By Getso – it’s green, it has sharp teeth and a tail, and it can stand on two legs (he’s standing in a boat)….

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Getso, a green crocdile, standing, with tail wrapped around a brown pole, beside water

below: EGR (with the help of some high school students) painted these cool glasses …. and the young woman on the skateboard.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by EGR, woman with sunglasses that reflected Toronto skyline and a person cycling past, red rims and blue glass

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by EGR, a young woman skateboarding

below: Precious cargo in the old milk crate in a mural by Wenting Li aka Wenting Things.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Wenting Li, A cyclist riding a green bicycle past a stylized blue neighborhood skyline, transporting a growing branch with clusters of red fruit in a bright orange milk crate.

below: Another cyclist pedaling along, this time by Isabella Fassler

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West

below: Caitlin Taguibao and Andrea Manica created a mural of people and flowers.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, a mural of people and flowers created by Caitlin Taguibao and Andrea Manica

below: A boy on the water and a blue jay watching him by Bunso, aka Night Owl Drawings

below: Adrian Hayles’ man in yellow again, with a 26 cent stamp by Frannie Potts.

below: A closer look at the bird and flowers on the stamp.

below: Part of the Nick Sweetman mural showcasing fish.

below: Visible Noise, aka Andrew Patterson

below: A pink cat with spots is the result of a collaboration between Muys and Chris Perez. Or is it a leopard?

below: Timmifuk removing not one mask, but two.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Timmifuk, young man with green face is removing two masks, one is blue and the other is a demon red

below: Rowell Soller

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Rowell Soller

below: StephVonAwesome aka Stephanie Avery

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West cartoon llike characters by StephVonAwesome aka Stephanie Avery<

monsters having a tea party, mural by Stephanie Avery, including three eyed orange guy and purple furry guy

murals on wall of Bloor street railway underpass by , Isabella Fassler, Caitlin Taguibao, Andrea Manica, and Stephanie Avery

below: “Water is Life”, Bubzart

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, water is life, pregnant woman

below: A peace dove in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West A peace dove with an olive branch in its beak, in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio, monotone grey

below: Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.

below: Facing each other, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin’ Soul

two street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin' Soul

below: Using shades of black, teal and magenta, Drippin’ Soul has created a very metallic looking profile

below: That’s one creepy red eye! Or is it two red eyes? Ahhhh…. the red eye and brass (bronze?) pieces are part of a mask and the design was apparently “inspired by the taotie motifs of the Shang dynasty” (Quote is from MonkYi’s instagram page). The Shang dynasty dates back to between 1600 BC and 1050 BC; it marked the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. A taotie was a mythological creature that represented greed and gluttony.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Monk Yi, woman wearing a mask that has one red eye

two men walking past street art murals on the wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West

below: Ghazaraza‘s ladies are sharing a pot of tea.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Ghazaraza, two ladies are sharing a pot of tea, seated on the ground facing each other. Pink flowers in the middle

below: Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere… Oh, I don’t know just why
She simply caught my eye…. Or you can all it by its title, “Wildlife in Bloom” by Lula Lumaj.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Lula Lumaj, woman with long dark hair, flowers in her hair, monarch butterfly, bee, other flowers around her

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, a butterfly and a bee by some small pink flowers

below: A cute little grey cat with green eyes.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, a grey cat with green eyes and a little pink nose

three street art murals on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West. an image of a GO rain engine is in the middle

below: GO train – definitely On the Move!

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, image of a GO train engine

below: “The Lookout aka the Fruit Bandits” not letting a fence get in the way! by Jim Bravo

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Jim Bravo, a group of children is picking fruit from trees that are on the other side of a fence, title is fruit bandits

below: Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea, girl is called Violet

three muralon a railway underpass, bloor street , street art, urban art,

below: Greetings from West Toronto by Rage WIlliams

Greetings from West Toronto is the text in this white, gold, and pink mural by Rage Williams.

below: Reboser’s athlete – a football player sprinting down the field.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, football players by reboser

below: From the The Graffiti Studio ….

below: Jeff Blackburn‘s young person on the move with drink in one hand and backpack in the other.

below: Two dogs and a stack of old tires, a painting by Megan Oldhues

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, two dogs and a stack of old tires, by Megan Oldhues

below: Hummingbird by an orange flower.

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, hummingbird

below: Three animals by a river from Waskwane Designs – beaver, bear and wolf (with a few bees and butterflies too)

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Waskwane Designs, animal, beaver beside a river

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West by Waskwane Designs, bear with a butterfly

street art mural on wall of railway underpass on Bloor street West, by Waskwane Designs, animal, wolf in black and white

below: Not for Sale, letters and flowers in a small square of concrete at one end of the wall.

below: A lone pigeon watches me as I pass by.

below: The wall of the underpass peters out by the time Bloor Street reaches Perth.

Link for more information on StART – StreetARToronto

Photos taken August 2026

hoardings wall in Kaka’ako

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Mary C

A wall of hoardings in Honolulu’s Kaka’ako district that was painted with street art murals during POW! WOW! Honolulu in 2020….. It features a mural by East Three (or East3) at one end, and a painting of a long haired Medusa-like character by Jay Howell at the other.

In between there are contributions by a couple of other artists including farpys_arts

below: Ghetto blasters, robots and fish

parts of two different murals, on the right a young man with a ghetto blaster on his shoulder beside a little robot and on the left, two fish

murals on hoardings in Kaka'ako honolulu, 4 humanoid characters by East3

below: Stop! In the name of love…. or something like that…..

part of a larger mural by Eastthree in Honolulu, creature singing or speaking into a microphone held close to its mouth, with one hand up in a 'stop' gesture

small figure, 3 D, standing at the bottom of a utility pole in front of a mural by East Three

part of a larger mural by Eastthree in the foreground, with other mural in the background,

wall of street art by different artists, in Honolulu

two street art pieces side by side, a blobby creature by far_pys on the right and a blue wave of water with a face on the left

below: She’s got a goofy grin as well as very long hair that seems to be home for quite a few snakes. Any ideas what she has in her hands?

street art by Jay Howell in Honolulu, female figure with long dark brown hair with at least three snakes in it. An orange snake, a blue snake and a green one.

Photos taken July 2025

Sanko trading company

Posted on May 30, 2026 by Mary C

below: People walking on Queen Street West in Toronto. Do you think that they realize that a large yellow eye is watching them from behind? This is the eye of a very large painting of a cat, probably a Japanese cat.

The mural, the JapanTown mural on the side of the Sanko Trading Company, has been re-painted. The previous mural dates from 2013/4. A blog post with photos of what that looked like in 2015 is at: Sanko Wall. This blog post should give you an idea what it looks like now.

The group of artists (‘The Summit’) who painted the mural also made a video for youtube: The JapanTown Project No. 5

Photos taken May 2026

Funky Fish and fisheries

Posted on August 26, 2025 by Mary C

There is an aquatic (and fisheries) themed mural that can be seen from the Pinellas Loop Trail in St. Petersburg. It was painted by PlasticBirdie (Jeremy Nichols) and BlaineFontana during the SHINE Mural Festival in 2019 in partnership with PangeaSeed Foundation’s Sea Walls. Funding was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). It is over 120 feet long and took eight days to paint. It’s title is “The 8th Funky Fish Town”.

mural, by Jeremy Nichols and Blaine Fontana, about fish especially groupers, and fisheries of Florida, in St. Petersburg, title is The eighth funky fish town

below: Each of the 7 pegs describes one of Florida’s local fisheries. Number 1 is Madeira Beach and number 2 is Panama City …. followed by 3. Cortez, 4. Apalachicola (for oysters), 5.Steinhatchee (for scallops) 6. Matlacha and 7. Key West

details about the 7 fisheries in Florida including Panama City, Madeira Beach, and Key West , in a street art mural

below: A coral reef with a dark red grouper fish poking its head out. A gray manta ray is also pictured.

part of a street art mural, a gray manta ray, a coral reef, and two grouper fish

below: And last, a giant green eel with many arrows.

Photos taken March 2024

another Hertel Alley building

Posted on May 27, 2025 by Mary C

with walls covered with street art murals

below: Bugs and balls – Ladybugs and spiders, billiard balls and eye balls, all on a bright green background, mural by Markenzy Cesar

below: A sweet mural with donuts and cupcakes, by Sakygrinu, aka Teouria Morris

below: The next three go together, a long mural by Jordan Weaver (aka Coconut Curry) with red dots, faces, a dragon, and many pink flowers

part of a large mural by coconut curry, pink flowers on grey background

below: Jumping for joy and leaping towards the sun on a bright blue sky day, in a mural by Courtney Haeick

below: These walls are bananas!

below: Keshanta Cleveland painted these colourful fish with the wonderful fins and tails.

mural in an alley, on brick building, two fish with fluffy long flowing fins and tail, a bit like angel fish, one is peach coloured and the othr is pink and maroon

Photos taken April 2025

Link to prior Hertel Alley post – the answer is love

For more information on all things Hertel Walls, check out their website!

Langs Lane

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Mary C

Visitors to Langs Lane (at Little Bourke) are greeted by a very large blue insect thanks to artist Louis Moore.

street art painting of a very large blue insect or beetle in Langs Lane, Melbourne

Langs Lane is a short alley that ends in a very narrow passage as it approaches Bourke Street.

people walking through a narrow alley from Langs Lane, red brick buildings beside, with graffiti on the walls

At the narrowing of the alley there is a pink angel with curly black hair and red wings.

street art painting on a brick wall in an alley, a pink angel with black curly hair and red wings

There is another blue painting here by Louis Moore – an image of a fish. Or more correctly, part of a fish as the fleshy part of its middle is missing. Just the spine and bones of the center section are still intact.

street art by Louis Moore, a blue and white fish, or at least a fish head, on spine and vertebrae, with intact tail.

A man in a cap seems to survey the alley

mural of a man in a cap, in profile, in black and grey on a white background, street art mural of a brown dog, side view, he seems to be barking

This poor flower was trying to say something but someone had the audacity to rip her face.

flower painted on paper, then pasted on brick wall in an alley, Petals of the flower are alternating purple and white, center is yellow with a green face

There are a few other remnants of artwork on paper that had been on display here. From what I can tell, there was a series of photographic works titled “Phobias”. It was presented by the Stills Co-op back in 2018 and featured works depicting some of our deepest fears. Unfortunately, very little remains but of course that is what happens when art is left to the elements. It takes on a life of its own, beyond our control. Until someone comes along and paints or papers over the old – you may have noticed some of the Phobia papers behind Louis Moore’s blue fish.

Sometimes the resulting fragments that are still visible can catch our attention.

bits of paper, remnants of a photograph on disply in an alley, outdoors, weathered and old

It was an interesting, and quite extensive, exhibit. Like many art exhibits, the originals live on the internet. See the video at Gavin John Photoography

torn paper, remnants of a photograph mounted on a wall in an alley

Some of the other graffiti in Lang Lane is cartoonish. Some with known cartoon, or animated, characters such as Marge Simpson

Marge Simpson in an mural on a wall in Langs Lane, with red hearts

… or Odie the dog from ‘Garfield’ (with more paper fragments behind).

a mural of Odie, the dog from the Garfield cartoon series, bright yellow with blue floppy ears and a big red tongue that sticks out a long way

2 cartoon characters on an alley wall, one yellow and the other green

Langs Lane with highroses above it, Melbourne CBD

Utopia and smiling faces

Posted on January 5, 2025 by Mary C

trees on sidewalk beside mural on a wall, by Toni Espinar titled the big lie, triptych of consciousness

On Via Regina Margherit in Stornara there is a large mural by Toni Espinar. It’s title is: “La gran mentira” (Triptico de la Consciencia) which translates to “The Big Lie (Triptych of Consciousness). Triptych refers to the fact that the mural is in three sections/scenes, each under its own arch. The arches resemble stonework found in church architecture.

The first frame is dominated by large purple creatures with big white teeth and shiny red eyes. Green biohazard symbols are in their mouths. A gargoyle-like human head with eyes closed is at the top of the arch.

Under the word “Utopia” is a very pregnant man with a tattoo that says “Respect” on his tummy. On his shoulder is another tattoo that combines the symbols for male and female. He is looking skyward, or perhaps heavenward. Is there a comparison to Christ that can be made here? Is there a resemblance to how the face of Jesus is often portrayed?

hairy gremlins with big ears and impish grins, and happy faces, in a mural

Tiger mom seems to push little tiger son into the boxing ring. The white words above the gremlins say “La grande bugia” which can also translate to “the big lie”. Across the top of the arch it says “cambiare mondo, non follia ma giustizia”, or “change the world, not madness but justice”

part of mural, La gran mentira (Triptico de la Consciencia)

The chest tattoo is a winged red heart with the equation e=mc2, Einstein’s theory of relativity. There is also a series of keyholes on his chest.

On the far right of the mural, a school of green fish swim together.

Photos taken February 2024

mountain villages, mural village

Posted on November 26, 2024 by Mary C

Ihwa-dong is a neighbourhood, built on a hill (Mount Naksan) in Seoul. Some of the houses are literally built into the city walls. Because of its hilly nature, it is often referred to as a mountain village. In 2006 as a cultural project there was an effort to transform this relatively poor section of the city into an artistic landmark by adding public art – especially murals. Seventy artists were involved. The area became a tourist destination. It was also saved from demolition and redevelopment.

In 2016 the residents petitioned to have the art removed as they did not like the increase in tourist traffic. The local government didn’t do anything so some of the residents painted over a few of the more popular murals. There are also reports of murals being painted over in 2023 … or residents adding their own art

painting on a wall, I love seoul where the love is a red heart

below: A woman walks down (very down!) a street in Ihwa-dong

below: A small neighbourhood behind a fence. Bright red shutters.

a small street art mural on the front of a house, image is a collection of houses, streets, and fences

below: Girl with a red balloon at number 69.

street art painting, a girl in black stencil, holds the string of a red balloon

below: Little puppy dogs and a friendly kitten by the hedge

street art mural, green background like grass or a leafy hedge, 3 little dogs and a cat. one of the dogs has a long stem rose between its teeth

below: Toucan and monkeys. The black car is blocking the shiny green car but he doesn’t seem to mind.

mural on a wall, three black and white monkeys, and a large toucan with a bright beak. a car is parked in front of the mural and is blocking part of it. Also in mural, a man is getting out of a car

below: Watching time, but it’s always ten past two; watching each other but seeing nothing.

two street art paintings in black and white, on the right is an analogue clock with hands pointing to time that is 2:10. on the left are two men with binoculars, looking at each other up closely so that the ends of the binoculars touch

below: Motorcycle parcel delivery (although on closer inspection, it might be a trailer load of cardboard for recycling)

street art mural, a man in a low back motorcycle that is pulling a trailer loaded with parcels

below: A great place to see views of Seoul…. but there are a lot of stairs!

below: Up a narrow street (no not street, just stairs), more paintings on the walls

below: Doorway conversation

below: Square head sitting with a woman with very, very long red hair

below: Fish by the door of the shop

… fish on the wall

orange and white carp painted on blue wall

… and fish kissing teapots.

a real teapot hangs beside a painting of a fish that looks like the fish is going to kiss the teapot

below: A tired old faded bear sits by the road

a very large stuffed teddy bear is sitting in a rocking chair on the sidewalk beside a house. bear is weathered and faded.

below: Looking down to the layer below where people are sitting outside Espresso Bar Odeoksae Coffee. They are joined by a few silent people on the walls. To the left, two camels have wandered into the scene.

people sitting outside coffee shop, street art on walls of odeoksae coffee shop

below: Rainbow stripes and some silhouette figures that look they belong in Alice in Wonderland – a trumpet blowing rabbit and the queen of hearts.

wall is painted in rainbow stripes in the front, and in pale blue in the back. on the back are three figures in black silhouette with red hearts

below: Slouching past with his mind on other things far away….

mural of a young man walking past a brick building

below: Yellow shirts and flowers

mural on a wall of a man in yellow shirt and black pants, and sandals, standing there

below: This is Son Heung-min who is the captain of the Tottenham Hotspurs as well the South Korea national team.

street art painting of a soccer, football, player, with words super son number 7, white jersey,

below: Off to the shops with her bright red purse and blue shopping bag

street art painting on a wall, woman in blue skirt, carrying red purse, and pulling blue shopping cart

below: People on the boat, fish swimming under it.

Photos taken September 2024

Along the Riverbank

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Mary C

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.

below: Catfish

below: A raccoon eyes the fish swimming past

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.

below: Red fox, coyote

below: In the middle

below: Egret diving for fish

below: White-tailed Deer

below: North American beaver

below: Painted turtle

below: Northern Leopard Frog

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

Photos taken January 2024

under a Heerlen bridge

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Mary C

There are two murals, bright eye catching red helping to hold up a bridge in Heerlen. They were both painted by Brazillian artist Finok, aka Raphael Sagarra, in 2014. The first mural is painted in mostly white, red, and green… three masks, a fish, and a chicken-like creature.

mural by finok, bright red background, 3 faces, one fish pointing upwards

On the same bridge, across the street, is another Finok mural. It too is on a red background. Is the fish about to eat the white headed guy? Or like a genie, has he just been conjured from the fish’s mouth? Whatever the backstory is, the white headed guy looks rather frightened.

mural on bright red background, on bridge overpass

photos taken October 2023

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

Tag Archives: fish