Whimsical

Whimsical art is a vibrant and playful style of art that is childlike and carefree. It is characteristically (but not necessarily) bright, colorful, and fun.

  • Lansdowne Underpass Art Project

    These artworks share first person perspective stories that speak to the rich ongoing history of the site as home to many diverse plant and animal species and cultural communities, beginning with the Indigenous peoples of Tkaronto and Turtle Island. The Lansdowne Underpass Art Project creates a collaborative artwork that honours this site by telling stories of those who have and continue to live on, play on, build community on, struggle on, learn from, grow in, paint, immigrate to, contribute to, and tend to this land.

  • Freak Lunchbox

    This mural is no longer visible, due to a new building next door. Jason choose this design as it loosely reflects some environmental concerns with the ocean. He states “We kind of have this battle royal in a playful, fantastic, surreal way.”

  • Pollinator Playground

    Marvelling at plants and small creatures is a childhood fascination that continues to inspire my artwork today. My mural Pollinator Playground is meant to convey this sense of joy and wonder: giant plants dominate the horizon in a storybook landscape and the air is filled with enlarged pollinating species; life-sized people cohabitate this fantasy garden, inviting visitors to see their place amongst the plants and pollinators. If they so choose, guests can pose with a pollinator or giant mural plant, mimicking the poses or just standing alongside the silhouettes.

  • Strange Adventures

    This is a heartfelt tribute to growing up in the small city of St. Thomas, complete with Joe Thornton & Rachel McAdams, Thomas the Tank Engine with a Jumbo trunk, the City of St. Thomas Police badge & some fun pop culture references that make the whole thing a celebration of all the ‘Strange Adventures’ only possible in the Railway City!

  • Dance With Me

    This boxcar mural is based on the continuous line drawing style Grayden Laing developed after moving back to St. Thomas from Toronto. The reference material he used for the artwork was from a photoshoot he did with dancers from Step Above Dance in St. Thomas, as well as from a video filmed to be used for the next RotoJam.

  • Solar Cycles

    Jessica Semenoff was selected for the Sunnyside Murals Project, a new initiative to curate public murals on Sunnyside walls, in Calgary, AB. The mural is approximately 109 sq ft and is titled Solar Cycles. The main idea behind this work are the Calgary sunsets and sunrises. The colours lead into a night sky galaxy, with sunset below and sunrise above, creating a cycle.

  • Journey to the East

    The Journey to the West tells stories of the exploits of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King born from a stone nourished by the Five Elements, who learns the art of the Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat, and secrets of immortality, and through guile and force makes a name for himself, Qitian Dasheng (simplified Chinese: 齐天大圣; traditional Chinese: 齊天大聖).

    Commissioned by Toronto Chinatown B.I.A. Completed Aug 2014

  • Chinatown Milky Way Mural, The Herd-Boy and the Weaver-Girl

    A very long time ago, when the King of the Sky created the heavens, he decorated it with stars and asked his beautiful daughter to help him by weaving the clouds and mists. It was a long task and when the king noticed his daughter looking tired and drawn, he ordered her to take a break and go out to play among the stars. The princess headed down towards the Milky Way to bathe, whereupon she came across a handsome herd-boy grazing his water buffalo by the banks of the stream. To this day, on the seventh day of the seventh month of every year a great King sends a flock of magpies over the Milky Way to form a bridge to ensure the return of his daughter. The weather must be clear on this evening or the lovers cannot cross the celestial river to meet each other. If it rains the pair must wait another year. On a clear night you can see their two bright stars together in the sky. If it rains it is said that the drops falling to earth are the tears of the Weaver-Girl Princess.

    Designed and painted by Allan Bender John Nobrega Stacey Kinder

  • The Imoogi Dragon of Bloor Street

    Mythological Mural narrative is that in 1919 Bathurst and Bloor was visited by the great Korean Imoogi.
    The Imoogi is a hornless ocean dragon, sometimes equated with a sea serpent. Literally means, “Great Lizard”. The legend of the Imoogi says that the sun god gave the Imoogi their power through a human girl, which would be transformed into the Imoogi on her 17th birthday.

    Designed and painted by: Allan Bender John Nobrega Stacey Kinder

  • Little Free Library

    The Little Free Library was created as a community effort to strengthen and support the neighbourhood during the pandemic. The intention is to give everyone access to free books, especially for young minds to keep growing and learning.
    The guideline is to take a book, share a book, so there’s a steady flow of different books throughout the seasons.

    Artist: Elena Martoglio