Creative Realism

A creative take on realism, which is generally the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding speculative fiction and supernatural elements.

  • Wild Style

    Montreal-based artist Dodo Ose painted this mural on the side of Civic Auto for the 2022 Nelson International Mural Festival.

    “DODO lives his Art as a great adventure, where one feeds the other and vice versa.
    His painting is the reflection of His experience. He is a visual poet whose mission is to break the boundaries between dreams and realities. It remains optimistic and aims to hold the viewer’s attention to direct him to a moment of reflection, like he is living a daydream.It’s also a way to transpose emotions by creating a bridge between conscious and unconscious.”

  • Mother Nature & Friends

    “This mural is inspired by Toronto, Canada and Mother Nature. On the front there is a mountain in the shape of Mother Nature’s face, she is smiling and resting peacefully with flowers and trees all over her. Her hair wraps to the right side, transforming into a flow of lines, swirls and more flowers. Toronto’s famous white squirrel is there as well. She is munching on an acorn and being as cute as she always is. Summer scenario on the front is changing into Autumn, as the mural wraps to the left. There are maple and oak leafs flying through the sky. It moves into a night, where floral design frames a special guest, Racoonie. He is startled to be caught playing with a little yellow duckie, a reference to the World’s largest rubber duck’s appearance in Toronto, 2017. This is a little tribute to it, since it wasn’t able to return to Toronto this year.”

  • Cyclist

    Ghazaleh Rastgar’s ‘Cyclist’ Bell Box depicts a painted side-view of a figure with long black hair, yellow pattern pants and a red shirt cycling on a sunny day. The sun’s dotted rays shine on the cyclist, as well as two bushes that they cycle past.

  • Hug

    Found under the bridge just east of the Lawrence and McCowan intersection Elicser Elliott, a local artist, painted this massive part graffiti, part abstract portrait mural in 2018. The upper half of the mural shows ten figures sitting in a tree-filled area. Some listening, perhaps to nature, or perhaps to the figure in the middle…

  • Chickadee

    Robyn Lightwalker’s ‘Chickadee’ Bell Box displays the fun and liveliness of the chickadee, a bird local to this Bell Box’s location. This Box features a chickadee sitting atop a branch, which covers a neon pink expanding flower. The Bell Box’s background, dark blue with neon green dots, creates an exciting atmosphere for this hedge-backed area. 

  • The Jazz Band

    ‘The Jazz Band’ mural is located on the north-facing side of Grossman’s Tavern in Downtown Toronto, seen best from Cecil Street. Created in partnership with what is now the Cecil Community Centre and StreetARToronto, the mural reflects that Grossman’s is a Jazz hotspot in Toronto. Completed in 1999 and restored in 2010, this mural depicts the outline of four figures on a dark blue background, painted as though they are neon pink and green signs. This band comprises a harmonica player, a double bassist, a vocalist and an acoustic guitarist. 

  • Salmon Run

    ‘Salmon Run’ is a Bell Box located in Sunnylea Park in Etobicoke. Depicting nineteen abstractly-painted salmon that swim toward the top of the Box, the artist captures the annual ‘salmon run,’ where between September to November, adult salmon swim from the ocean to freshwater, against currents and ‘climb’ upstream to begin the salmon lifecycle again.

  • River of Time

    The ‘River of Time’ mural was undertaken by artists Natalie Very B., Bareket Kezwer, Julii McMillan and Julia Prajza, as part of the Neighbourhood Love Collective’s Gateway Mural Project. The mural depicts artistically rendered wildlife, rivers and other nature scenes flowing through the seasons, the observer’s eyes following a series of unbroken rolling hills that pass through the seasons.

  • Flora & Fauna

    This is my most recent community/public mural. I was happy to participate in the @bellboxmurals program in Etobicoke. My theme was local flora and fauna. It was a joy to create. I finished at a tough lighting time of day with this speckled light through the trees but since I don’t know when I’ll be back in Etobicoke these are the best pics I have for now. Pastels for life.

  • Bayside Lane Bell Box

    Up in the bright blue sky, gliding carefree with the warm wind, there they are! Mysterious jellyfish and colourful butterflies, seahorses and stars, elegant frigates sailing the marshmallow clouds, kites shaped like diamonds and other ones arched like the bird wing… Where do they come from, and where are they going to?

  • Forever and Always

    ‘Forever and Always’ is located in the front boulevard before the parking lot of St. Mark’s Catholic church. It depicts two cardinals, one on either side of the Bell Box, sitting among light blue forget-me-nots that dot the entire background of the work. The Box’s lower left side bears the artist’s dedication: ‘Dedicated to my…

  • Keys of Theatre

    This design captures Broadway, music, the cast of an orchestra, lavish sets and costumes set on a series of piano keys (…) My aim with this work is to create a warm welcome back to Meadowvale Theatre and encourage the community to support the art by attending shows this summer, and beyond.

  • Soul Terrain

    Artist’s Statement: “This multi-wall mural was painted in Nelson, BC for the Nelson International Mural Festival. Entitled ‘Soul Terrain’, this was my ode to the mountains of British Colombia seen through my filter as an artist, exploring a semi-traditional landscape scene with transparency and vivid color work.”

  • Pho Mural

    Painted on the back door of a local Vietnamese restaurant, Michaela Buchanan’s Pho mural depicts a figure with a flower in their hair, eating a bowl of noodles with square chopsticks. Painted in 2021, Buchanan’s work came at the request of DZO Viet Eatery, tasking her to compliment the other mural work in the area, as well as the restaurant. 

  • The River Keepers

    Artist’s statement: “This mural design entitled ‘The River Keepers’ is meant to symbolize the proximity of Ontario and Quebec as these two provinces are connected by way of the Ottawa river. The local community is very much an amalgamation of residents from these provinces and this mural is meant to commemorate that connection.

  • Markham and Greencrest Signal Box

    Located on the southeast corner of Markham Road and Greencrest Circuit, this signal box uses blues and yellows in deep and gorgeous contrast. It displays a sizeable yellow lotus on its face, four rows of dark and light blue triangles, separated by light yellow rectangles. Its rear side shows a figure with dark hair and features, circled by a light yellow halo. 

  • Grimsby Grown

    This Bell Box recalls fruit crates from roadside fruit stands in Grimsby and those that travel to grocery stores throughout Ontario delivering Grimsby fresh produce. It celebrates the history and culture of fruit farming, farming technology and agricultural research that has been such a part of the region for generations and is still alive today.

  • Spring Cardinals

    ‘Spring Cardinals’ depicts three adult northern cardinals, two sitting and one alighting on a pear branch, their bright colours contrasting against a bright blue sky. Pear tree branches span across the surfaces of the box, wrapping and visually connecting all sides. On the branch, flowers are budding while others are bursting forth. Leaves are painted in the bright green of early spring and are in various stages of unfurling in the sunny air.

  • The Glorified

    The Glorified is a beautiful, largely pink mural painted on the side of a signal box for the Outside the Box project funded by StreetARToronto. Two figures in inverse outfits adorn the front and back panels of the signal box, with yellow suns behind them. A candle and a statue sit on individual pedestals on…

  • Musical Healing

    My piece entitled “Musical Healing” [May 2, 2022] is inspired by the undying magic of music and its good vibrations – it heals the soul in so many ways.

    Commissioned to complete a planter mural in Kensington Market, Toronto by the Kensington Market BIA. Thank you for the opportunity to beautify the community and get an early start on the public art season!

  • In Our Nature

    *Please note: this was a temporary mural installation.
    In our Nature is a community-minded multidisciplinary public art project that celebrates Women of Colour in the Scarborough community through five mural panel installations and musical performances. The murals will spotlight BIPOC women in Scarborough, who are active in community work, and feature them in a green space, changing the narrative around this group’s access, perceived safety and sense of belonging in public spaces. The artwork will purposefully degrade over time to reveal the underset images of the featured individuals beneath the greenery – their faces will be seen emerging from the ground. This is a 2021 City of Toronto Cultural Hotspot Signature Project in partnership with Mural Routes, the E.W.O.C. Project, the Community Arts Guild and the Toronto Zoo.

  • Let’s Fly T.O

    This mural is located in the Postcard Restaurant of the Best Western Hotel of the Toronto skyline surrounded by a vibrant sunset. The CN Tower features a light display using RGB strip lights creating a light show for the customers to enjoy.