Rankins Lane (Melbourne)

Posted on January 20, 2026 by Mary C

below: Time for coffee, time for shooting. ….

graffiti in Rankins Lane, Melbourne, paste ups of three little men saying hey, it's coffee time, also a very blue shadowy character with a gun in each hand and a long robe and hood that covers his face

below: ET

graffiti in Rankins Lane, Melbourne, paste ups and stencils, globe parachute on an iguana, ET in a black robe and framed with flowers, words that say your dreams will come true if you keep wishing, and last, a big black question mark,

below: King of Clowder’s double headed woman stencil

below: Paper paste-up behind a plant – it’s a large espresso maker repurposed as a planter.

below: Rabbit and Cat, BFF

below: Happy Day

below: Words of advice – “Don’t trade your authenticity for approval.

below: Part of a large tropical mural by Deb with birds – parrots and flamingos – and a big pink royal looking cat.

mural by Deb in Rankins Lane, very pink, women, toucan, and flamingos, tropical plants

below: The other part of the Deb mural.

mural by Deb, a vulture and a plate of cupcakes

below: Recess time with scissors and combs.

below: Crab and beetle.

below: More pink. Mama Cat? With many kittens?

below: Clownish?

below: Gas mask and coveralls

Photos taken March 2025

Graffiti Alley – first visit of 2026

Posted on January 14, 2026 by Mary C

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.

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

below: Daisy, in 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)

below: Portrait by Bunso

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

below: In memory of Andre Campbell

below: Behind the Queen Street stores

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

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!

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

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

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.

below: Not all cats are cute?

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

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

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

below: Ninos Libres, by Kalaruno

below: Another Kalaruno painting

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

below: A green finger on the trigger.

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

below: An introspective dragon

Photos taken January 2026

Vhils and friends in Honolulu

Posted on January 1, 2026 by Mary C

below: Wall of street art on a building in the Kaka’ako district.

three pieces of street art across the back of a long, low building, palm trees in front, cars parked in front

below: This portrait of a man is by Portuguese artist Vhils (aka Alexandre Farto). Vhils is known for his unique “scratching the surface” technique, which involves carving, drilling, and chipping away at layers of plaster, posters, and dirt on walls to create images. The mural was created as part of the annual POW! WOW! street art festival in 2014.

below: Paradise and Beyond is written on the large mural in the middle but I think that the title is actually “A Big Wave”. Also written is Melón which refers to the artist MelonJames & Co. (with a shout out to alohabohs – aka Mike). This was painted in 2020, also as a POW!WOW! piece.

two street art pieces, on right is portrait by Vhils and on leftis abstract in blue, yellow and black, by alohabohs and oldboy melon

below: A tall tree on yellow.

below: In the shadows to the left of the tree, is a door that has been boarded up and covered with Mickey Mouse-ish images. The headline on the poster in the window reads Congrats Hawai’i, Give Yourself a Hi-5. There is then a lot of text that I can’t read.

portion of boarded up glass door covered with mickey mouse and minnie mouse images, some with giant eyeball oozing instead of a head, with pull sign with chinese alphabet characters

Photos taken July 2025

Coral Street concrete

Posted on July 28, 2025 by Mary C

Kaka’ako, Honolulu

below: Along a fence made of concrete blocks there is a series of street art murals… with a big fish at the south end.

below: They are out “fishing” but trying to hook a slice of pizza. Riding along in that fish – is it a real fish? Or a boat called Cheez?. The passenger – more like a shrimp or lobster or something else altogether? Mural by CKaweekS (aka Jahjahjitsu).

below: One fellow doesn’t look that happy to be onboard for this adventure!

lobster with human facial features, big claw hands, riding in back of fish boat, looking unhappyin a mural, by jahjahjitsu,

below: Predominantly in black and white and shades of gray, the next stretch of wall suggests straight lines and graphic designs.

street art paintings on a concrete wall, part is a 3 dimensional looking maze

below: “In loving memory” This part of the wall was painted by DropDead.Grace

below: A portrait and calligraphy. It would be interesting to know if it is supposed to say something. Can it be read? Is this section of the mural in his memory?

below: Bunnies! Lots of rabbits.

part of an urban art mural, a group of rabbits, black line drawing on white concrete block wall

below: IN/LM = In loving memory

murals on a wall including one with IN/LM meaning in loving memory

Photos taken July 2025

WIFF Alley

Posted on July 20, 2025 by Mary C

WIFF = Windsor International Film Festival

sign that says create made to look like a reel of film on old style film projector

below: Silhouettes in the window – Willy, Edgar, Dorothy, Toto, and Edna

on a brick wall, onld windows have been bricked over and in each of the 4 windows is a black silhouette that looks like a famous film character, Edgar Allan Poe, Dorothy and Toto from the Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka, and the little spymaster woman Edna in the "The Incredibles' movies

below: In autumn 2019, Daniel Bombardier a.k.a Denial or Enjoy Denial, painted this movie themed mural

below: Jessica Rabbit from ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ is portrayed on the far left side of the mural. She stands under a “Danger 10,000 volts” sign. Popcorn anyone?

below: Action! Charlie Chaplin and

Charlie Chaplin with black hat and mustache the blue emotion emoji character from Inside Out, in a mural by Denial

below: More moments in cinema including Rosebud from Orson Welles’ ‘Citizen Kane’

Princess Leia from Star Wars, Marilyn Munroe, Rosebud, The End, censored, fist from Superman, Jack Nicholson's head on door, all in movie themed mural by Denial

below: “Life is Cinema” by Derkz

large mural in an alley by Derkz, shades of grey, very realistic, people with movie cameras, one modern, one slightly older, hand held cameras,

below: Complete the sentence….

Rainbow coloured paint covers metal staircase in alley, with text is one place that says Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my

three d sign or sculpture at the start of an alley, windsor theme images on the sculpture,

below: Rose City mural

Rose City mural, red and white roses on purple background, with an open with a palm full of rose petals

below: Mr. Toon hangs around in WIFF Alley too

Mr. Toon, 3D artwork, on wall under sign that says WIFF alley

below: Cheerful and cheering, Chris Haven characters on a pole in the alley.

two graffiti stickers on metal pole, both by Chris Haven, small pyramidal shaped character with stick arms, triangle shaped mouth, both cheering with arms up

Whitehart Lane

Posted on July 3, 2025 by Mary C

… 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.

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.

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

below: The top one is probably a head.

below: Hairy purple creatures lurk in the lane.

below: White birds in flight behind the garbage bins.

below: Looking down Whitehart Lane

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

mural in Whitehart Lane, young girls faces, stars

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

urban art and other posters in Whitehart Lane

Photos taken March 2025

Hosier hearts

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Mary C

Recently? Or at least in early 2025? many of the walls of Hosier Lane in Melbourne were painted with hearts.

below: Frida Kahlo too

below: A note from the Complimentary Nuts as well – “You shine like the sunlight rays on a winter day.”

below: He comes bearing his heart in his hand, a real heart at that.

below: Pink Panther

Photos taken March 2025

First 2025 visit to Graffiti Alley, Toronto

Posted on January 27, 2025 by Mary C

My previous post, skateboard portraits was from a walk down Graffiti Alley in Toronto the other day. This post contains more photos that I took that snowy afternoon… so, let’s take a look!

below: Uber 5000’s yellow bird is still walking his dog and singing a song on this side of this red brick building. It’s at least 10 years old? The black and grey portrait on the right is much newer.

below: Profile portrait by TheHalfDecent

below: “Let them drink beer”, a stencil from D. Terra featuring Ontario Premier Doug Ford whose biggest “win” in the province is bringing alcohol sales to convenience stores and gas stations…. at a massive cost.

below: A 33wallflower33 pasteup in the foreground, with a corner of one of Nick Sweetman’s bird murals in the background.

below: A collaboration between Nick Sweetman and Shanehuss produced this drippy, melting jaw portrait.

below: The top portion of ” RIP King Reign & Son of Soul” remains. This tribute mural was painted by Elicser Elliott and Omen514. I am not sure who is responsible for the newer painting on the bottom, the one in yellows and blues. That’s probably a ‘signature’ in the bottom left but I don’t recognize it.

below: Graffiti Alley in the snow.

below: Sun of Aquarius (aka Andre Mandela Lopez) painted this naked figure with brown wings and bird mask

below: A pole covered with knit squares while T-bonez is shushing you.

below: A pointy nosed, long snouted dog by Mr. Myl, aka Luis Casas, who was originally from Havana Cuba.

below: Another Mr. Myl dog, this one with its blue eyes popping out. I don’t think that it’s because of the woman next to him. “Para mi Tita” is Spanish for “For my aunt”.

below: Blue haired woman by April Showers

below: And another blue haired woman…..

below: … and a third. I think that I see a trend. Methinks April Showers likes blue hair.

below: An anti-camera, anti-photographer image, “Gimmy a break, clik, clik, clik” featuring uber 5000’s yellow bird and blue cat, with the Pink Panther is a supporting role. Love the red specs!

below: Poser bunny in red

below: He (she?) seems puzzled by the snow?!

below: Is it a man or is it a chicken? A red headed cigarette smoking, spray painting character by Tuffytats

below: This one looks more like a chicken should look, so fowl.

below: An environmental message – “Got mercury?” from a non-profit group trying to raise awareness of the impact of mercury poisoning on indigenous communities.

below: Good Luck!

below: Another 33wallflower33 vintage woman.

below: Chubby purple cheeks gives a thumbs up

below: Still reaching out and trying to touch someone…..

Photos taken January 2025

skateboard portraits

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Mary C

Toronto’s Graffiti Alley is still an interesting place to explore. Unlike some street art locations that have succumbed to the scrawls and tags of the less well-intentioned, good art and ideas can still be found here. At present, adding to the eclectic nature of the graffiti in Graffiti Alley are a few interesting portraits done on half skateboards (or at least on wood in the shape of a skateboard). All are screwed onto wooden utility poles.

below: One on natural wood colour and the other in vibrant red. The sticker says Positive Creations.

below: A man with a mustache

below: Three on the same pole in Graffiti Alley – A red person with shaggy hair and light blue glasses as well someone with very long orange hair.

below: At the bottom, a quizzical look on a pink face.

Photos taken January 2025

Kent Ave container wall

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Mary C

below: Sometime between 2018 and 2022, a large wall was built using old shipping containers. If you use street view on google maps there is a section that still shows images captured in 2018 where there is no wall at Kent & Clymer. There is now graffiti on the containers.

intersection of kent and clymer in brooklyn, wall constructed of shipping containers

below: Small sticker on an already spray painted area with a sparkly, positive message, “It will all be okay”.

small sticker in pink and glittery gold that says it will all be okay

below: Just a little black bear.

a small round sticker with head of black bear

below: Slightly misshapen but also intriguing.

below: There are a lot of containers!

a pedestrian walks along a sidewalk beside a wall of shipping containers, 3 high, that seems to go on forever.

below: Either it was the word on, or a word that ended with on. Your choice.

below: “Do not remove” and “Jesus saves”

below: Another angle.

containers, 3 high, make a wall at Kent and clymer in Brooklyn, a group of people is jogging past it

below: If you don’t have a sticker, a band-aid will do?

close up of drips of paint and other spray paint graffiti, an old band-aid with pen written words in it is stuck to the wall

below: Sarkarbeats image of the Taj Mahal along with the purple character with the funny head whose name is DPac. He has his own instagram page – DPac explores

Dpac, in yoga position in front of drawing of the taj mahal

below: Simple yet menacing.

below: Face pareidolia is the illusion of seeing faces in objects, or in this case, in the rips and tears of old paper. Quite the fancy red dress that she’s wearing!

graffiti, red 5 point star spray painted on container, with ripped old paper labels under the paint that look a bit like a face

wall made of shipping containers on kent ave in brooklyn

below: Dollar signs on green

below: A lot of the graffiti was colourful but wasn’t more that scrawls or tags. My apologies to the men and women who made them, but I wasn’t very interested in them. If I took photos of every tag, I’d be swamped. Instead, I played with the lines, colours, and textures.

small section of graffiti, curved lines in white, yellow, and red, on blue background, with some rust from the metal container showing through

below: Sold Out Art Show sticker, face with multiple sets of eyes

below: Hydration Guy

below: There is a break in the wall for the exit from Steiner Studios and this is where you realize that there is a studio lot behind the wall.

exit from steiner studios in brooklyn, road with container wall on either side, three containers high

Photos taken August 2023.

You can find more graffiti by Sold Out Art Show on a previous blog past from late August

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: paint

Rankins Lane (Melbourne)

Graffiti Alley – first visit of 2026

Vhils and friends in Honolulu

Coral Street concrete

WIFF Alley

Whitehart Lane

Hosier hearts

First 2025 visit to Graffiti Alley, Toronto

skateboard portraits

Kent Ave container wall