Tag Archives: lane

Hiding behind the Danforth

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On the south side of Danforth, near Bowden Ave.., there is an alley….

below: Looking west to Bowden Avenue.  There are a few street art pieces that have been painted in the past couple of years.

an alley behind the Danforth, a painted fence, a large pink man's portrait, a painted traffic box at the end of the lane

below: Natasha Dichpan painted this young woman and wolf (dog?).  It’s probably a dog but for some reason I’d like to think that it was a wolf.

close up of part of a mural on a wood fence in an alley painted by Natsha Dichpan, a purple young woman's face beside a pink and purple wolfs face

below: The multicoloured swirls of dots and splotches are by Andre Castro.

street art on a wood fence, two womens faces, and a wolf, in an alley

below:  A young woman with flowing pink hair, pointy elf-like ears, and many eyes, rides on a blue pelican (or at least a bird with a big beak), painted by Katrina Canendo in summer of 2021.  Pink mushrooms in blue foilage on the accompanying door.

two street art paintings on a concrete building, a small painting of pink mushrooms on a door, and a larger mural of a four-eyed woman with pink flowing hair riding on a blue goose (or pelican), a bird with a long beak. she has an eye on the back of her hand too

below: She also seems to have an extra arm as well as an eye on the back of her hand. She ate the mushrooms?

close up of pale green skinned woman in mural of a four-eyed woman with pink flowing hair riding on a blue goose (or pelican), a bird with a long beak. she has an eye on the back of her hand too

below: By Sasha Fonkatz, the only man on the block.  The calligraphy in the black box on the right says: “Sometimes you have to be a lion to be the lamb that you are” (a Dave Chapelle quote).  I am not sure what the whole story is surrounding the pink faced man, but the first two lines start “A true community is not just about …”

mural on side of concrete building, in two sections, on the left a pink faced man with very short dark hair, surrounded by words, on the right is a square of calligraphy white letters on black with a pink flower below it. The words say sometimes you have to be lion to be the lamb that you are
below: by Amani Muhammad, blues…. blue woman, blue pigeon, and blue butterflies among the pink and red flowers

mural by Amani Muhammad, a woman in blue holds a blue pigeon, pink and red flowers around them as well as blue butterflies

close up view of mural by Amani Muhammad, a woman in blue holds a blue pigeon, pink and red flowers around them as well as blue butterflies

below: Another Katrina Canendo piece, this time from April 2022. On the sidewalk on Bowden Street with Danforth Church in the background.   Once called Chester Baptist Church, the building was completed in two stages.  The original building was built in 1911 while a newer addition fronting onto Danforth was added in 1931.

painted metal bell box on a sidewalk in front of a church

below: Bowden Ave.  The street is named after John Wilson Bowden, a builder who purchased land in the area in 1858 and subdivided it in 1871.

2 houses on Bowden Avenue, 3 storeys high, one with a large wood balcony

below: Behind the church

garages in the alley behind Danforth near Bowden including one with a basketball hoop above the door and the squares in the door all painted differently

a small shed behind a house, lane behind Danforth

To the west of Bowden there are a couple of garage doors that have been painted but that was long ago.  Some have been tagged over.

garages in an alley behind Danforth with doors with old paintings on them

below: Long ago as in 2012 which is when this double garage was painted – CHEST on one side with Magical Mystery Tour and RASR on the other with Imagine.  Beatles fans I presume.

double garage doors, one side painted by chest and says magic mystery tour and the side painted by rasr and says imagine, painted in 2012

below: and 2013 (pest, bacon, nozer).

corner of a mural signed pest bacon and nozer, on a garage door in an alley, in reds and purples, in 2013

behind an old 2 storey brick house, a fence and a gate. on one side of the gate the fence is painted teal, on the other side it is red

Photos taken January 2023

in the alleys of Owen Sound

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Owen Sound is a small pleasant Ontario town that is nice to wander around. It has more street art than one might expect from a town its size.

parking lot and alley behind shops in Own Sound, three storey brick buildings with street art murals along the bottom third.

below: Back in 2013, the Bleeding Carrot Cafe decided that the alley adjacent to the cafe needed some art and thus the Bleeding Carrot Alley Project was born. That summer, the exterior walls of the cafe (in the alley) were painted with street art murals. Most of them still exist. Although the Bleeding Carrot doesn’t seem to be in business any more, it has left behind a colourful legacy. The first part of this blog post is dedicated to those murals.

below: Brilliant red poppies painted by Andree Levie Warrilow

a young woman's face and some bright red poppies, a mural

below: This was the first mural that was painted in the alley, a boy and his toys.

mural of a boy sitting on the floor in Artist's Alley in Owen Sound

below: Another from 2013, painted by Alan Glicksman … where everybody seems to be talking.

below: Keep on rockin’ downtown, bright yellow by Robert Menzies (also 2013).

below: More 2013 – a surreal scene by Marc Matei with a purple octopus (with more than 8 legs!) makes a headpiece for a surly looking man who has a shaggy beard and one big tooth.

street art mural, purple octopus, orange donkey, man with beard,

below: Portrait of Jim, by Jennifer Crawley (2013)

street art black and white portrait of an older balding man with his dog. Small dog is white with black patch covering one side of face

below: Logan Pellerin’s trippy trees and a rocky road that leads infinitely into the distance

grey road curvy, travelling to the horizon, great perspective,

person in yoga position, mural on outside wall in alley

below: Jana Miller painted these wavy rays of sunshine.

small street art painting of a semi circular yellow sun with long rays, symbols underneath

below: In later years (post-2013), the other side of the alley was also painted.

alley behind shops in Owen Sound, three storey brick buildings with street art murals along the bottom third.

below: An orange skull

below: “Vida” is a collaboration between artist Billy Goodkat and local high school students. Vida is the Spanish word for Life.

alley behind shops in Own Sound, three storey brick buildings with street art murals along the bottom third. Purple stripes

part of a mural in Owen Sound, Mexican theme, woman holding a child, by Billy Goodkat and students from local high schools

abstract street art mural
brown turtle partially submerged in water, face is above water street art painting

below: A large section of wall in Carney’s Lane is covered by this Owen Sound mural which is also known as the Koodoo mural.

street art mural with words, Owen Sound, and a pink bunny and a blue fish

abstract street art

below: The south wall of the Grey Gallery is covered by “Transformation” a large mural by Raquell Yang that was painted in the summer of 2020

mural painting along one wall, exterior, outdoors, of the Grey Gallery Garden. Two large blue whales across the top, two male portraits below with a large eye with butterfly wings between the men

below: There is a large mural behind the Roxy Theatre that was painted to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the theatre. It is composed of a number of theatre related vignettes. It is the result of a collaboration between a number of artists under the leadership of Billy Goodkat.

car in parking lot, parked in front of a large theatre themed mural painted on the back of a cinema

stage and theatre theme vignettes in a larger mural

stage and theatre theme vignettes in a larger mural

stage and theatre theme vignettes in a larger mural, spotlight on an actor

below: And last, I found a wall covered with Emily May Rose’s raccoons.

blue raccoon with a microphone, Emily May rose mural in Owen Sound
pink and blue raccoons, one playing a guitar, the others dancing on the stairs.

Part of an Emily May Rose painting of raccoons dancing

part of a street art painting

Photos taken July 2025.

Balmy Alley on a winter afternoon

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A previous post, ‘stencils on a blue fence‘ featured art in San Francisco’s Balmy Alley. This post contains a lot more street art from the same location! Although the alley is only one block long, there is a lot to look at! Most of the art depicts Mexican or Hispanic history and culture; there is a strong reoccurring theme of social justice as well.

small board, on sidewalk between two planters, painted with many red, yellow, and white hearts

below: Street art paintings have been a part of Balmy Alley since the early 1970s. it is now home to numerous brightly colored murals.

below: Part of “Five Sacred Colors of Corn” at the entrance to Balmy Alley. Prior to 2021 these panels were at Mercy Housing.

below: A Day of the Dead image – a holiday to remember and honor those who have died.

part of a mural on Balmy, day of the dead theme, mexican roots

below: Max from “Where the Wild Things Are”

mural based on the character Max from the book Where the Wild things are, boy dressed in white wolf suit

below: This photo, and the following two, are from an older mural by Hector Escarraman. It was painted on a wood fence in the alley back in 1995. The colours have faded and the vines have started to encroach on the top of some of the heads but enough of the image remains that you can get a good idea of what the original painting looked like. All of the people in the mural are icons of Mexican art.

faded mural on wood fence, two people, man and woman, man wearing glasses, woman with long braids

below: A lonely red heart has been added.

mural, faded, portrait of a man, with a small red heart sticker on it,

below: One of the figures in blue is Frida Kahlo.

faded blue mural of people standing together

below: Three generations of women working in Nepal are depicted in this mural by Martin Travers. “Naya Bhinana” (A New Dawn) was painted in 2002.

Three generations of women working in Nepal are depicted in this mural by Martin Travers. "Naya Bhinana" (A New Dawn) was painted in 2002.
part of Three generations of women working in Nepal are depicted in this mural by Martin Travers. "Naya Bhinana" (A New Dawn) was painted in 2002.

below: These stairs were decorated by Precita Eyes Muralists with a mural titled “Dragon Eyes”. It was painted way back in 1998. For more than forty years Precita Eyes has used murals to enrich communities in San Francisco – murals that focus on positive images about such topics as culture, nature, unity, and history

painted staircase in Balmy Lane

below: Zigzags and triangles in bright colours with a couple of hummingbirds flying around.

woman, with zigzag pattern, mural

below: There’s a lot of religious and cultural symbolism in this mural and it shows how much the two are entwined.

mural, Madonna, dragon, butterfly in center, symbols, woman's portrait, bright colours

below: On the left, Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti with a few origami birds added to the scene.

faded murals, on left is Frida Kahlo and Tina Modotti, both of wooden doors in an alley at number 86, small origami birds have been added

below: Mother and child

on a wood fence, large faces of mother and child

below: At 50A

painted buildings in alley
painted buildings and fence in alley. Large brown and white cow in a landscape

below: Women of the Resistance, 38 women’s portraits in a group, painted in 2018 by Lucía González Ippolito aka Cia Lu Art

women of the resistance mural in balmy alley, featuring portraits of many women
left side of women of the resistance mural in balmy alley, featuring portraits of many women
right side of women of the resistance mural in balmy alley, featuring portraits of many women

below: Ruby throated hummingbird resting on a very blue finger.

street art mural, small ruby throated hummingbird sitting on the finger of an outstretched hand, along with some desert vegetation, cacti and succulents, red sky
mural, Cosmogonia by Chilovia, Raiz Peskado, dedicated to Andres Hernandez, on a wood fence in a lane in San Fran, blue woman with a hummingbird on her hand, boy riding a wolf, turtle, frog, and other flora and fauna

part of mural, Cosmogonia by Chilovia, Raiz Peskado, small boy riding on a wolf, boy has container of arrows strapped to his back

below: There is a dragon here too!

half of mural by Carla Wojczuk, a woman in front of a building,

below: The other half of the mural… It as painted by Carla Wojczuk in 2011 and is titled “56 Lu the Wanderer”.

below: “The Mission District is for Everyone” is the text on the sign that the little blue bear is holding. The mural is “Victorion” by Sirron Norris

mural of houses and apartment buildings that have become parts of robot like monster,

below: A tribute to Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who gave his life fighting for social and economic and ecological justice. He was murdered by the CIA (or at least by CIA-backed assassins) on 24th March 1980, the day after he he urged Salvadoran soldiers to disobey their superiors. A few days later, more than 30 people were killed at his funeral. In all, at least 75,000 people lost their lives during the 12 years that the civil war lasted in El Salvador.

mural that is tribute of El Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero who was murdered 24 March 1980, as well as the people killed at his funeral

part of mural that is tribute of El Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero who was murdered 24 March 1980, as well as the people killed at his funeral

part of mural that is tribute of El Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero who was murdered 24 March 1980, as well as the people killed at his funeral

below: Un Pasado Que Aún Vive (A Past That Still Lives Here) by Joel Bergner, from 2004

mural by Joel Bergner, mother holding a child, sitting outside,

below: Standing in a barrel is El Chavo from a Mexican television sitcom from the 1970s and 1980s. He is standing beside a mural from 2001 of a butterfly and a palm tree in “Memorias Primas” by Marta Ayala. The butterfly has been covered up for some reason.

below: Happy singing tree? Scared yelling tree? Enchanted and magical forest? Haunted and creepy forest?

mural of a tree with a human face that seems to be screaming

below: Another tree/human mix. This time there is a contrast to the hot colours of the desert on one side and the cooler colours of the city on the other. It is titled “Love and Compassion” and it is in memory of Father Richard Purcell (1938-2011), a Franciscan friar who ran a homeless shelter nearby for men with AIDS. The mural was painted by Laura Campos, a Precita Eyes member.

man as a tree, orange desert background on one side, blue city background with a house on the other

below: Parrots and toucans and other details, mural by Dallas Hyatt

large mural covering garage front, parrots, macaws, toucan, and other birds, also a Jesus with woman and baby.

2 parrots in a mural by Dallas Hyatt

part of a mural by Dallas Hyatt, religious scene with large bird, water

mural on a garage door in balmy alley, large eyes looking at you

below: “Enrique’s Journey” by Josué Rojas,

mural by Josue Rojas in Balmy Alley San Francisco
mural by Josue Rojas in Balmy Alley San Francisco, man playing guitar
mural by Josue Rojas in Balmy Alley San Francisco, Uncle Sam holding a baby who is crying, ICE immigration depicted as skulls
mural by Josue Rojas in Balmy Alley San Francisco, angel, young boy with arms outstretched as if flying

below: “Tu doy una Cancion como un Disparo como un libro, una Palabra, una Guerrilla, Como Doy el Amor. I give you a Song Like a Tribute, like a Book, a Word, a Freedom fighter, like a I give Love.” Silvio Rodriguez.

man playing guitar, rainbow coming out of guitar and swirling around to form cornucopia of fruits and vegetables being held by a woman.
mural, two people with rifles pointed, three people holding framed photographs of other people

below: Day and night. The man in the moon reflects on the water below. The sun shines in a blue sky.

Photos taken February 2025

close up of a gate in a wood fence, metal hinge, painted in abstract squares, some are red with white dots in them, vines growing on top, small stencil graffiti of a woman's face

AC/DC Lane

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(and Duckboard Place)

AC/DC Lane was named for the Rock band of the same name. It has been a place for street art for many years, one of the first locations in central Melbourne.

below: Dominating the corner of the lane is Mike Makatron’s 3D sculpture of AC/DC band member, Bon Scott bursting through the wall.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne

below: Melbourne in 3D

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, The word Melbourne in gold letters, beside a drawing of a ballerina

below: In the bottom corner, RIP Malcolm Young, another member of AC/DC. The text in the word bubble is “C’mon Saint Peter, how many bloody times you gonna make me play Hell’s Bells before you let me through the gates mate?”

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, portraits of musicians at the end of the alley

below: Fintan Magee’s painting of a man carrying a tree towers over the end of the alley.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, mural by Fintan Magee of a man carrying a tree,

below: Taking selfies with Malcolm Young.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, two men taking selfies in front of musician portrait with devil horns and angel wings

below: Steen Jones painted this tall Melbourne mural with the red roses.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, woman with back to camera, taking picture of tall Melbourne mural with red roses by Steen Jones, also 2 motorcycles in the picture

below: Andy Warhol with paint splatters

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, portrait of Andy Warhol with paint splatters

below: A printed discourse on reality that starts with: “Realities can be controlled through the altered perception of real monocultrial [sic] relationships. This undeniable truth is self-evident through seeing mind’s eye. You will never be real, and in turn, that verifies your existence.” Think of it what you want.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, typed text, with scribbles in black and yellow on top

below: A boy, a girl, and a dog going for a walk, by VKM,

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, stencil of two kids walking a dog,

below: Three more posters, two female and one male, all in vibrant colours. On the left is a purple haired, and very sad, woman by Vasso. Next to her is the green haired smoker by YAYA and on the right is an interesting woman with great red sunglasses but I have no idea who created that picture.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, 3 paste ups, all of heads, two female, one male,

below: Love is love, and many others including a little Robbo-t

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, stickers and paste ups includng a robbo-t, and love is love words,

below: Rock on! Elvis Emu (by John Murray) and the red dino. What you can’t tell from this picture, is that the emu is just over 6 feet tall (i.e. a little taller than the average man). There are now many wonderful emus all over Melbourne!

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne including an emu dressed like Elvis Presley with rhinestone covered white jacket and big sunglasses

below: Neftnik’s blue woman reading an orange book while smoking her pipe.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, artwork of a woman with blue hands and face, wearing black and white striped stockings, and a black and white jacket, holding an orange book while smoking a pipe

below: A blue girl in a flowery dress and a blue bunny rabbit, more blueness from Neftnik.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, paste ups, blue bunny, and little girl in blue with a floral dress on, by Neftnik

below: Christmas street art! Lots of Santa Clauses and even a reindeer or two.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, Christmas theme street art, Santa Claus, snowflakes, reindeer,

below: … and the festive season continues… with Batman delivering presents down chimneys. This is one of many places in Melbourne that were “decorated” for Christmas, see “A Christmas collection of friends” for more pictures.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, Christmas theme street art, Santa Claus, snowflakes, reindeer, batman, tweet cat with balloons,

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, stickers and paste ups, Christmas theme

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne

below: Salvador Dali looking a little surreal beside another blue person by Neftnik.

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne

below: Carmadymnd’s little diamond shaped mosaic

street art, small piece, diamond shaped made with mosaic tiles and glass beads,

below: by French artist, Vale,

stencil of a blue eyed child in helmet and vest, spray paint cans on vest, peace symbol on sleeve of t shirt,

below: She leap frogs over, by JAH

street art in AC DC Lane< street art in AC DC Lane

below: “You don’t deserve all the bad things you say to yourself” beside a blue eyed woman by Jover. Muttley snickers in the bottom corner.

You don't deserve all the bad things you say to yourself text on a sticker, also a paste up by Jover of woman's face, with blue eyes,

below: Michael Caine looks a little bored by it all.

portrait of Michael Caine, black and white photo, on poster, as a paste up in AC DC lane.

below: Lumpkin definition: A blundering fool; A clumsy and often stupid person.

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, cutout letters form the word lumpkin

below: Alice falls. The Queen of Hearts along with the two of clubs and other cards fall with her.

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, Alice in Wonderland is falling, along with some playing cards like the queen of hearts, 2 of clubs. Alice is wearing blue dress with white apron, red shoes,

below: “I yam what I yam,” I’m Popeye the sailor man. It looks like he’s still eating his spinach.

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, popeye the sailor man cartoon character

below: Asian woman with a fan

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, Asian looking woman with a fan

below: Keep calm and plant a tree.

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, sticker that says keep calm and plant a tree

below: “Lets laugh while we still can” by Loui Jover

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, with text that says Lets laugh while we still can, written on woman's face, by Jover

below: A very strange looking slightly abstract man, also by Jover

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, portrait of a man, in profile, by Jover, attempt at cubism, or abstract of one sort or another

below: More contributions to the alley from Vasso and Jover

street art in ACDC lane, central Melbourne, stickers and paste ups,

below: “Always learn” along with “We don’t need more we need to be more”.

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, paste up by Jover of woman's head but instead of facial features, has text that says we don't need more, we need to be more. another sticker that says always learn

below: Rocket man, literally, on guitar

urban art in AC DC lane in Melbourne, headless (white paint sprayed over head) guitar player with big red boots that are also flaming rockets, stencil on brick wall

Photos taken February 2025

Maiden Lane – Windsor

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Windsor Ontario that is.

green vehicle parked in front of street art murals, with other murals reflected in its windows

Artist Alley and Maiden Lane, between Ouellete and Pellisier Streets, has provided a canvas for many street artists. Free 4 All Walls is an organization that has helped turn the alley into the art gallery that it has become. This blog post is a look at some of the murals that have been painted here.

Back side of a building in an alley, covered with graffiti that is mostly words in different fonts and colors, such as will be, everything, no more yes, fun, no fun,

below: A man in shorts, all in red, by Jarus.

portrait of a man standing, all done in shades of red, with very large red background, by jarus,

below: A PURE Maple Syrup can makes an appearance in this mural. If you see any painting, or other form of graffiti featuring this can, you can assume that it is the work of Canadian artist ‘WhatisAdam’ aka WIA

mural of a man in cowboy hat, leading a horse past pine trees and blue sky, horse is wearing a can of pure maple syrup
horse is wearing a can of pure maple syrup, in a mural in windsor ontario
many large murals in Maiden Lane, in Windsor Ontario, one is titled Blanche and has a large red rose on the head of a person with short white hair and wearing large sunglasses.. Two are portraits of women, one in profile, the other wearing a wide brimmed floppy hat

below: Spy vs Spy, cartoon sharacters wearing wide brimmed hats. Black Spy vs White Spy, both with long pointy noses. These characters originally appeared in Mad magazine as early as 1961.

black spy, white spy, cartoon characters with wide brimmed hats and long pointy noses,

below: Nychos painted this strange cowboy. Weirdly realistic but very anatomical. I’m not sure how his hands stay in place.

cowboy mural by nychos

below: Peace sign with bones

hand, with just bones, making a peace symbol, with two fingers in V shape

below: Now adding a green peace symbol beside the peace sign with bones

large green peace symbol beside a hand made of just bones making the peace symbol

below: Another peace symbol

street art painting of a realistic hand, very large, making peace sign with background of protest signs in black and white, as well as a large red spray paint peace symbol

below: No guns, No war zone, Keep the mayor happy at all costs. More protest signs.

graffiti wall with words Love Street, and No War Zone, image of pistol with red slash through it,

below: More Peace and Love

graffiti wall with black and white images, collage, of anti war protest, words saying peace and love, no war, just peace on, together we win, with red spray paint word no on top,

below: According to an Instagram post by the artist, Jason Garcia, this image was inspired by an aerial view of the Windsor/Detroit area. The cities in pink with the river between them.

part of a mural by jason garcia, geometric patterns in different colours but mostly in pink

part of mural by jason garia around a window with metal grille over it, geometric shapes to the right of the window, lots of red, green, and blue hearts to theleft

below: The pink pyramid guy is by Chris Haven.

graffiti on a wall, red character with round face and bat wings, pyramidal shaped character in pink giving peace sign.

below: Oh my!

orangish yellow character with body like a basketball, long skinny arms and legs, looking angry and wielding a wood bat, on a building in an alley with a door

below: It’s not Spiderman in that red costume… and that skull is rather creepy. The artist for this mural was Matt Gondek.

mural by Matt Gondek in a Wndosr Ontario Alley, large red costume, ripped to show grey skull below,
close up of head of character in mural by Matt Gondek in a Wndosr Ontario Alley, large red costume, ripped to show grey skull below,

below: “.. And then things got better” in a mural by Denial.

large mural by Denial, woman's portrait in profile, long black hair, blue eyes, with text above that says and then things got better

below: “Denial loves you”.

part of a larger street art painting, dabs of color in orange, red, yellow, and blue, in a diagonal pattern, with text at bottom that says Denial loves you

below: Luigi! But he’s behind bars…..

part of a street art painting, Mario Brothers character, Luigi, is behind bars

below: Piccachu makes an appearance too (that’s a lot of cameras on his body!). This image bothers me a bit – the look on her face is not nice. Mind you, with a chipmunk stuffed in there she’s got to be uncomfortable. Ick. There is text on the mural (not in the photo) that says Graffiti Zombie

part of a graffiti zombie mural

Whitehart Lane

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… a small lane in central Melbourne with lots of street art.

below: A very round face, a mysterious face. Is he sticking out his tongue? Where is his other eye? What happened to his neck? And then you could ask why his hand is drawn that way.

street art in whitehart Lane, round mosaic face floating on top of a black and white painted body

street art in whitehart Lane, round mosaic face floating on top of a black and white painted body that ends at waist, one hand over chest, one hand hanging downwards

below: A very realistic drawing of a person with black hair, seated, with hands together wrapped around a glass jar. This wheatpaste piece of art has probably been strategically placed behind window bars. Unfortunately, the signature for this piece is also behind the bars.

coloured paper wheatpaste of a youg person seated, wearing sweater with geometric patterns, pasted on old window, behind bars

below: Balloon and frying pan behind bars, by Tweet

graffiti and street art on boarded up window, behind metal bars, white sciblles, a small sticker, and a paper poster wheatpaste of a yellow balloon and a frying pan, drawn on reused paper with chinese characters on it
old brick buildings in whitehart lane in melbourne, with street art on them

below: Spread Love, not the Virus, a message brought to you by Mickey Mouse in a black Covid mask.

spread love not the virus, on a poster with mickey mouse in a black covid mask holding a red rose

street art, urban art, in whitehart lane in melbourne

below: Raccoon by MyCuteCreatures on the top and a little guy with skull head and little black bat wings on his back.

slaps on a pole in an alley, cute little black and white drawing of a raccoon, by my cute creatures. Bottom slap is black skull on top of black caped body with small bat wings

below: The top one is probably a head.

graffiti

below: Hairy purple creatures lurk in the lane.

below: White birds in flight behind the garbage bins.

urban art painted on a brick wall, birds in flight

below: Looking down Whitehart Lane

below: Paintings by Aki Yaguchi (female), floating girls and stars

mural in Whitehart Lane, young girls faces, stars

mural in Whitehart Lane, young girls faces, stars

below: More graffiti (or maybe one is an advert)

slaps on an alley wall, top one is intricate drawing of a monkey like creature but there s more than one pair of eyes

urban art and other posters in Whitehart Lane

Photos taken March 2025

More Osage Lane, but possibly Orange Alley too

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When I walked around the Mission District back in February, I walked Osage Lane and Orange Alley one after the other.  Later that day when I was sorting my photos, I messed up where one set of pictures ended and the next set started.  It’s possible that the photos that I posted a week or so ago were not just Osage Lane either!  (Mission District: Osage Lane) The two laneways run parallel to each other, one on the east side of Bartlett Street and the other on the west side.

below: Someone is a Gladys Knight and the Pips fan with a quote from their song, ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’, “Trying to get back to a more simple place in time….”

fence with street art including text that is a quote from Gladys Knight and the Pips, Trying to get back to a more simple place in time

below: A Cheech and Chong themed mural celebrating the famous comedy pair.  Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong rode the free loving, hippie era to success with stand-up routines, records, and films based largely on drugs/cannabis and other counterculture subjects.

cheech and chong mural

below: “My name is…” a 2022 mural by Precita Eyes Muralists.  Directed by Flavia E. Mora.  Assisted by Teresa Benson. In collaboration with 6th and 7th grade arts electives students at Synergy School.  It’s a mural that touches on most social justice issues of the day – Missing Equity, Land Back, Black and Trans Lives Matter, Equality, and Reproductive Rights.

black lives matter mural

below: Only some heads remain.

pale green mural with people that has been tagged over in blue so that just the heads of the original are visible

red mural with people that has been tagged over in blue and white so that just the heads of the original are visible

street art mural, tag throw up in many parallel lines in mostly purple

mural of a woman with long hair, holding a bouquet of flowers

below: Frija, Goddess of Fertility with her antlers and long white hair.

goddess of fertilty Fija sign over door and under an image of a woman with long white hair, a crown of antlers,

below:  Faded.

large mural

below: Pablo A. Medina, “There is so much love in this city”.

two large murals in an alley, one is text - there is so much love in this city

below: All in green – a large tree….  and a hand on a paint roller… and everything in between.

mural on a garage front mostly in greens,

garage door with street art mural, green and white, people''s faces with text throw up

below: A colourful fellow with whiskers and button-like eyes, in a mural painted by Sune Nesu.  It also has a little glowing halo; is this a memorial to a lost friend?

mural that is an abstract animal shape with big ears and button-like eyes, whiskers, in geometric shapes, many colours, artist is sune nesu

1984.yo mural of a young man with a hat on

below: San Francisco under the window with the Golden Gate bridge in the background.

on a wood building, drawing of cityscape, window above the art

street art, throw up looks like rock or cracking concrete, with a skull

older faded stickers on a metal pole, one is a hello my name is sticker, and the other shows the upper body of a football player in blue uniform, number 98, with helmet on

poles and walls in alley covered with graffiti and street art

below: Cheer up!

cheer up graffiti sticker on metal pole, sad clown with a red nose

below: Forever in our hearts.

memorial mural, forever in our hearts, thux,

graffiti and street art on a door and surrounding walls in an alley, mission district

below: Oranges!

orange tree with lots of ripe fruit behind a fence covered with abstract street art

magnolia tree full of pink blossoms and a large prickly pear cactus plant sidewalk,with word orange stamped into it

Photos taken February 2025

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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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).

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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

Durazzo 2014

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green vine grows in front of a blue painting, outside, of boats on the water, grape vines or ivy

All of the paintings in this blog post were seen in a lane in Durres Albania, in the “old town” part of the city near the Roman amphitheatre.

paintings in a laneway, on the left is a painting of a partially open wood doorway with a girl stepping out and smiling at the two boys on the front step. A black and white cat is also there. Some words are written in the corner, then on the right is a pale pastel coloured painting of flowers and leaves

Faleminderit Shqiperi = Thank you Albania!

They were all painted in 2014 (8 years ago) so most of them are looking a little weathered.

painting of kids, 2 boys and a girl, playing in a doorway

Written beside the painting below: “Ass. Cult. Ecletica 1st Bienale di Durazzo 2014”. 

painting on exterior concrete wall, a green shape with a face seems to be in water, beside a tree
paiting on outdoors wall, in black silhouette, a couple kiss under an open umbrella
a painting on a wall on a narrow street in Durres, a fisherman holding his net watches a woman dive into the water
a man walks past a mural on a concrete wall of a pair of pink lovebirds on a grey tree with grey and pink leaves

painting of a door on an exterior wall with a semi circular window above the door

mural on a wall in a lane, a woman looking out of a window, children playing on the beach

mural on a wall in an alley, seaside, old urn or jug, a helmet, other treasures washed up on the shore or hidden away

street art painting of a mans tie with colours and shapes on it as well as a black Albanian crest symbol
painting of fish swimming away from fish hooks, outdoor mural street art
painting on an outside wall
abstract mural around a window with a musical theme - a guitar, some music notes, treble clef

With thanks to the Mulliri Vjeter coffee shop on Rruga Myslym Shyri in Tirana where I hung out trying to stay cool while editing photos for this post. June 2022

Baptist Lane, Melbourne

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Graffiti and street art seen in Baptist Lane, CBD

below: looking down the lane.  On the immediate right is an old mural of the Last Supper which has been scrawled over almost to the point of making the mural indecipherable.

graffiti and street art in an alley, pale yellow walls

once it was a sepia toned painting of the last supper (religious) but it has had a lot of graffiti written on top of it

below: A blank eyed bride with her flowers

black and white pasteup of a bride in veil, with 5 black stars encircling her head, holding a large bouquet of flowers

below: Two faced and holding up a jacket.

two black and white pasteups on a wall. on the right is a pair of white hands holding up an open jacket and on the left is a woman's head with two pairs of eyes, and a pair of hands below the head

below: Red brick wall and a window box

two windows in a small building in a lane, surrounding the windows is street art like a window box, awning, and then the wall space between the windows is decorated too

street art beside a window

below: I’m against all authority except my mother (close enough translation anyhow).

words on top and below a headless figure holding the head of a woman in its hands, words say contro toda autoridad excepto mi mama which is Spanish for I defy all authority except my mother below: Studying the hole in the fence

black and white pasteup of a person in a hoodie standing behind a chain link fence with a hole in it.

below: Two little catstwo black and white cats on a pasteup in a lane