During the first half of 2023 I was in a pattern of receiving rejection emails after rejection emails and getting a disheartened.

Luckily, a last minute cancellation for this year’s Outside the Box Program created space for another artist and the curators of StreetARToronto sent me a last minute request seeing if I was available to paint during their scheduled painting timeline.

I jumped at the chance and completed my first traffic box mural this year!

My traffic box is at the south east corner of Bremner Blvd & York St, in Toronto.

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As with all new experiences, I learned a lot from a technically and socially. Socially, painting in public was interesting and I had a lot of positive interactions, but I can see how draining or intimidating it can be for introverts.

All in all painting a traffic box mural was a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying way to spend 4 days outdoors!

Thank you to Michael Cavanaugh, Kseniya Tsoy and the curators of StART and a big thank you to my kind and doting Outside the Box Coordinator, Lula Lumaj.

Earlier this year, I created mockups and applied to paint some Bell utility boxes in my nieghbourhood. For both calls for submissions, I was sadly not selected.

So, instead of letting my ideas and designs go to waste, I thought, why not paint my own garage door?

Painting outdoors FOR outdoors was my first time. Luckily my neighbourhood paint shop, The Paint Department and the staff at The Collective  answered all my newbie questions and set me up to be able to do my best work!

‘Vamos ser bons uns para os outro’ (Let’s be good to each other in Portuguese)

I wanted create a mural that was positive and could possibly uplift a viewer. So with the help of my neighbour Aida Jordao and my friend Chelsea and her mum, I was able to translate my initial ‘Let’s be kind to each other’ into a Portuguese phrase that didn’t sound preachy or awkward.

Vamos ser bons uns para os outro: It’s my wish for the world and my homage to my dear neighbours and neighbourhood, of Little Portugal in Toronto.

 

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My mural can be seen in the alley north of Dundas St. West, just east of Sheridan Ave.