While sipping on an ale, I sat back and rethought the article I was originally working on. I decided to break it down into 2, with slightly different focuses.  The decision was heavily influenced by the utter deliciousness of a cold ale on a hot day, buzzing conversations around me and music reminding me why I love living in a large city so much.  When I walk down a stretch of road exploding in a riot of colour and ideas, I feel like I’m walking through an urban art gallery. As I wrote the previous article, in one short walk you can encounter whimsy, anger, cynicism, hope, and a whole lot of confusion. Today’s post is all about murals rather than the graffiti.

I have no idea where to start with this. I call it Dog-A-Thingy. Let’s just say the Zombie Apocalypse got a whole lot more interesting.

dog reptile hybrid

The art on this next one shuns the usual sharp (and sometimes harsh) lines usually on display. This is a fuzzy, warm mural that stands out because of the striking stylistic difference.

fuzzy animals

And then we have Mr Angry meets plastic bag.

red dragon

Originally I had airbrushed the plastic bag hanging off the horn, but I’ve decided to leave it. When Toronto banned plastic bags (for a brief time) there was a surprising decrease in the number that drifted in the wind. When Ford removed the prohibition, bags once again became the official leaf of Toronto – hanging in trees, blowing by in the wind, filling ditches and stuck on walls. As a species, we really are asses.

Near Dog-A-Thingy, is a wonderful wall filled with vibrant colours, ivy and faux windows. The entire section looks like this.

Hidden window

At the end of the lane, you pop out onto Harbord. Before you leave, look on the west wall for a moving tribute to Toronto both past and present. It’s a beautiful mural.

Harbord St area with large sign for Honest Ed’s

The next couple of photos were taken on Harbord, east of Bathurst. Keep your eyes open as you trot along, for little lanes and alleys that hold some inspiring art. This teapot is part of a larger mural that’s beginning to flake away.

Tea anyone?

It covers a large section of the wall and some of my shots weren’t good enough to post. The angles were all wrong, contrast off and well I wasn’t happy with them. At the time I was more interested in the teapot, so I’ll have to return to grab the rest.

I’m ending with my favourite shot of the day.

Snail on the go

He’s massive! The photo is stitched together from 6 separate shots. I scoured the print trying to spot where the pieces joined, but Photoshop did an excellent job. The perspective correction is spot on too. Very happy with Mr Snail. Or is it Mrs Snail? Is there such a thing as snail sexing? To date, this is my all-time favourite street mural.

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UPDATE:

Look for the 1st Mapping Toronto post late next week. As I was trotting down to the Boxcar, I realised I’d left out a few important things so a re-write is in order.