Tag Archives: words

Graffiti Alley – first visit of 2026

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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

hope and trust in Port Philllip

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This structure stands in a park in Port Phillip (St. Kilda) Melbourne.

small square building with no windows, street art on the two sides that meet,

below: An owl on the left and a lion’s head on the right – with a can of spray paint in the middle.
mural with a brown owl on the left and a lion's head on the right top,

below: The interesting part of the artwork is the other wall. Here there is a large image made of ceramic tiles. You can find many familiar St. Kilda landmarks in the picture – the pier, Luna Park, and the beach for instance. The central image is surrounded by squares decorated with various symbols, pictures, and/or words.

central image in a street art mural made of ceramis. the central image has many elements, in general it is a seaside view of St. Kilda with Luna Park, and the St. Kilda marina.

below: “TRUST” as well as “Bad Spellers of the world untie”

hand decorated ceramic tiles arranged in a mosaic as street art on a building in a park in Port Phillip Australia, including words like trust, and bad spellers of the world untie

below: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined.” as well as “Belonging to something, to someone, that’s what health’s about”

hand decorated ceramic tiles arranged in a mosaic as street art on a building in a park in Port Phillip Australia,

below: “Silence never won rights.  They are not handed down from above, they are forced by pressure below.”

hand decorated ceramic tiles arranged in a mosaic as street art on a building in a park in Port Phillip Australia

below: “HOPE” as well as as Thoreau quote: “The world is but canvas to our imagination.”  It also asks a question: “Would it be a problem if you had a peaceful mind?”.

“Welcome to our site of community reflection, respect, recovery, resistance, compassion across difference. This is a place where differences are forgotten and your heart unites with others. This mural was launched on the 4th of Dec 2009 by Frank O’Connor (mayor), Serge Thomann, Mirka Mora, Carolyn Briggs, Aunty Jacks.

words on a pole

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There is a pole, or pipe (downspout?) in Baptist Place, Melbourne, that is covered with many little drawings.  They are all slogans or phrases written using music scores as a paper source.   I am not sure what songs were used (or if that has any relevance?) but the lyrics are written at least two languages.  At the top is  “Eat the Rich” .

on a pole, or pipe, in an alley, covered with pasteups, paper, posters, that are words written artistically on old music scores

below: Next comes “Resist”.  I was curious about what song was in the background, so I checked google translate – “qui quae-runt” is Latin for “those who run”.
paste up with the word resists written in large letters aver music score

below:  …   and then “Riots not Diets”
riots not diets are the words written on this paste up

below:  “Mad Pride”

mad pride, text in artwork, on pasteup

below: “Alt Right Delete”, but now the lyrics are in English and include “the water” and “somersaults”

alt right delete text in artwork on paste up

below: “Fat so?” with more lyrics like “averte mala” and “tu a disperde”

fat so? is the question asked here

below: “Cats Rule” in bright colours.

cats rule, text in many colours, paste up

below: The bottom paste-up has the number 13 written above the number 12. Is this a hint as to who the artist is?

the number 13 above the number 12

Photos taken February 2025

words cover their eyes

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While walking around the old part of Vieste, an Italian town on the Adriatic coast, I spotted three paste-up collages by Demetrio Di Grado, his “Frammenti Sparsi” (Scattered Fragments)

below: In each collage there were old black and white photos of people with words covering their eyes. This one has not survived very well. I am not sure what word obscures the girl’s eyes (my Italian is not good enough) and it appears that she was not alone in the beginning.

below: Put it all together to get “Cambiate le vostre idee ma conservate i vostri principi.” (Change your ideas but keep your principles).

below: Combining spray paint and collage, “odiao amarmi” – They hate to love me. The little girl in the collage has lost her words, once they were “amano odiarmi” – The love to hate me.

Di Grado’s artwork was part of the local Collateral Maris Festival in September 2022.

Photos taken February 2024

crossing the Williamsburg Bridge

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between Manhattan and Williamsburg, over the East River

crossing the Williamsburg bridge, with pinkish red metal railings and girders, pedestrian walkway is beside and slightly above road and subway lines.

graffiti on the williamsburg bridge pavement

A little yellow dinosaur trying to look fierce as he growls at your feet.

graffiti on pavement, line drawing in yellow of a dinosaur, on hind feet, open mouth,

I’m happy you’re here, keep going!

text graffiti on the williamsburg bridge pavement that says I'm happy you're here keep going

I crave you

text graffiti on the williamsburg bridge pavement that says I crave you, written inside a large white heart

Shy white cat says meow

blog_cat_white_chalk

Homesick and Lucky Star writ large on a grey wall. The American flag image below them is made using painted car doors.

view from williamsburg bridge, buildings, one with graffiti street art on it

It’s just love in a rainbow of colours.

stencil on williamsburg bridge pavement that says its just love in a rainbow of colours

… and love is gold

blog_love_is_gold

Pacman wears a gold crown, king of the streets

large white pacman character from the video game, with open mouth, with a gold three pointed crown on his head

Looking down at Williamsburg streets including a mural with two faces and two flowers.

view from williamsburg bridge in new york city, buildings, including one with a mural on it

Blackface pink walker

graffiti on the pavement, a pink person walking

Reaching out in peace and love

graffiti on the sidewalk, two white people, one with sign reaching out for the other

Stencil by go4tart aka GOAT, rat on a scooter; a rat loves NYC

blog_rat_scooter_stencil

Seek Discomfort

blog_seek_discomfort_pink

Sold out art show yellow face with three pairs of eyes.

blog_sold_out_artshow graffiti on sidewalk, turquoise hair, yellow face, blue eyes, 3 pairs of eyes

I wonder what Jane’s reaction was?

stencil graffiti with text that says Jane will you marry me

….. Maybe this is Jane ?!

graffiti on pavement, white face with large red exclamation marks on it, dots of exclamation marks make the eyes

on the railing – mask? and master?

slaps, sticker graffiti on a pole on railings of a bridge

Kiss me

graffiti on pavement

More words on love

graffiti on pavement

… but in the end, the virus gets you.

graffiti on pavementPhotos taken August 2023

South Avenue scenes

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Murals and graffiti seen along South Ave in Rochester.

South Avenue in Rochester New York, older brick buildings

below: Conor Harrington Untitled (Fight Club Series)

black and white mural by Conor Harrington of two men fighting, a bit of red blood

below: Floating in a pink sky over a sea of imaginary snakes and fish

mural of a person reclining in a cloud in a pink sky hovering over a sea of snakes and fishes

below: “You’re a Shining Star no matter who you are”. A jar full of shiny positivity by local artist Shawn Dunwoody.

street art mural, on yellow brick wall, a large mason jar with words shining star on it, text on mural says you're a shining star no matter who you are

below: A group of flowers with faces as their centers.

mural on wall, flowers with many petals and each flower has a face in the center

below: Maladjusted Mike is stuck on a pole. Apparently he’s from Seriously Disgusting Comics.

two graffiti stickers on a pole, the lower pole has an image of a young man with text maladjusted mike

below: No room for Fascism

graffiti sticker on a pole with text no room for fascists

below: A pink Neptune-like sea creature ruling over his underwater worlds, by Bile, 2013

below: Part of Nova’s shapes and colours.

below: “LIFE in abundance comes only through great LOVE”

below: Whirls and swirls of colour in an abstract painting by Mike Ming, 2013

below: A fox and bunny by Mr. PVRT aka Justin Suarez

below: Adam Francey’s fantastic detailed mural with birds and faces and a couple of words – seek, understand.

below: “Big brother is watching you and he’s bored”.

below: Avocado face, by Stefan Fella

sticker on a pole, a face made from an avocado cut in half, with large brown pit still in place

mural on the side of a wall, a character with round blue head holding a large bowl of food

below: Walking white teddy bear

sticker on a pole, upright walking white bear with a pink frilly collar

below: The old and the new – root beer and birds.

below: A large egret? (or shorebird of one kind or another) and frog.  Do egrets eat frogs?

on the side of a store, a large mural of a stork and a green frog

 

on the side of a store, a large mural of a stork and a green frog

sculptures on te sidewalk on south ave in rochester

Photos taken May 2023

Trastevere slaps

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On Christmas morning, while walking around Rome, we discovered a wall in the Trastevere neighbourhood that was covered with paste-ups, stickers, and other small graffiti.  Some of it was made by well known street artists, others by those who remain anonymous.  If you know the name of the artist who created any of these, I’d love to hear from you.  This is what we saw:

many slaps, stickers, etc, on a wall

below: Red nose boxer with black eyes by MIMI the clowN as well as hands vainly reaching for green dollars by levodopa_046_.  A very small pair of very high heeled shoes sneak into the left side.

red nose graffiti by Mimi the clown

below: Fishes Invasion stickers and paste ups can be seen in many places around Rome. They all feature Invader Fish, a two legged walking fish with big lips. The fish actually started in New York City in 2015 and has spread around the world since then.

fishes invasion graffiti

a wall covered with stickers and pasteups

slaps on a wall including a red and white poster of two people kissing

below: ‘Volti spenti’ translates to ‘dull faces’ which is a comment on the poor guy taking a selfie with his phone. The cat is probably the work of Guaro and there is a yellow chick that wants you to know that it’s not a nugget.

volti spenti graffiti as well as a babushka doll and a dinosaur

black and white slaps and stencils

below: The woman on top is by C-ska

slaps on a wall, poster

many slaps

below: To Live and Let Live – Street art against hate.

black and white paste ups

below: Bottom right is an elaborate black and white drawing by Lus57 of a woman who  appears to be wearing a long dress but on closer look it’s actually a man’s torso and a tiger skin.   She is holding a rifle in her hand.  In contrast, there is a woman with bright copper hair and wild sunglasses – the work of stickermaidberlin.

posters and stencils on a wall

below: The bottom half of a Smilin’ Croc above a black and white portrait of a woman by Y-Tong and a big-nosed K2M man with an orange heart.

smilin croc graffiti as well as a big nose by K 2 M, also a black and white pasteup of a woman

 

below: Even Santa Claus helps spread the word about the Fishes Invasion although the pink and blue tiger seems to have an opinion about that.

fishes invasion graffiti with Santa Claus

below: The Fonz says plant a tree because it’s cool.

thauma red stencil graffiti

below: A purplish blue snake-like fish bites itself.  There is also a small C-ska sticker of a woman with a heart in the place of one eye.

long purple fish biting itself

below: My Dog Sighs, a crying eye on page 120 of an old book – with the photographer (selfie?) reflected in the eye.  Also, another C-ska piece – a woman with a bird cage for a head… meaning?

eye and red streak painted on a page of a book, now is graffiti, beside a pasteup of a woman with a birdcage for a head

little things in Amman

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As I walked around Amman, I saw a few small pieces of graffiti and street art.

below: A metal box with half a face on the left and Arabic writing on the right side.

metal box on street painted, dark blue background, left half is half a face while right side is Arabic letters in yellow

below: We claim the sea

stencil on a wall, black letters that say we claim the sea

below: Keeping an eye on the stairs.

realistic painting of an eye on a wall between two windows on a set of stairs

below: A very small fellow walking with his hat

a little black stick figure person painted on a stone wall

below: A beetle climbing a wall

a black beetle graffiti on a yellow wall graffiti on a wall on a wall beside a driveway, a blue and white graffiti

below: She flies by her own wings. she flies by her own wings, written words painted on a wall, graffiti

below: My wishness marshamello (marshmallow?)

my wishness love marshmallow, words wirtten on a wall, graffiti

below: Blue beard and long hair.

a blue graffiti painting on a wall, down low near the ground, of a man with beard and long hair.