Sunny September days make good walking in the alleys days. Here are some of the walls I saw and the compositions that they make. The textures of wood and metal, bright colours as well as subdued ones, the effects of light and shadow, as well as shapes and patterns – these are some of the things that catch my eye and make me stop. Throw a little nature into the mix and the following photos are the result.
This blog post is part of my continuing fascination with walls and the other things that you see on walls such as windows, shadows, pipes, bars, and other architectural details. I like to look at how the elements interact visually and how they come together to form compositions. Sometimes they tell a story and other times they are just an abstract picture. Here are a few that I have collected over the past few months. The first one in the group is a photo that I took this morning; it was the prompt that led to this post.
below: the contrast of red, black, and right angled yellow
below: blue from the inside, shadows on the outside
below: yellow pipe, orange concrete
below: a window seat
below: frosted reflections
below: from a different angle, still a wall
below: nailed links where the hinge once was
below: aging shingles and plywood
below: yellow people and books above and dandelion specks of yellow below
below: dollar signs in the winter
below: cracked and peeling
below: vertical reflections, horizontal grooves
below: open days a week and empty frames
below: painted square shining in the sun
below: At 972 and 972A, a hidden doorway and a trophy in the window.
below: rectangles, diamonds, and trapezoids
below: a deep red curtain and a few exposed bricks
below: The last few pictures are of this wall and the ghost remains of a house that once stood beside it.
below: (16″) 2 steps from landing
Previous blog posts about walls:
1. wall compositions (Nov 2015)
2. walls in the abstract (Oct 2014)
“There’s more than one way” describes the above picture quite nicely but it’s probably a stretch to say that it’s relevant to this blog post at all. Not that that’s ever stopped me! The other day I stood at this intersection (Lakeshore and Sherbourne I think) trying to decide which way to go. I went straight ahead because that’s what the traffic signal told me to do. I obeyed. “When in doubt, go with the green light”, is one of my ‘rules’ when I’m walking.
below: The artistry of hydro towers and wires framed by the Lakeshore and the Gardiner.
below: Shattered glass
below: Part of “Site Specific” by Scott Eunson & Marianne Lovink, on Sumach Street at Eastern Ave.
below: The view inside the streetcar. A new 514 Cherry car was wrapped in a light blue ad.
I have no idea what it was advertising.
below: There are a number of this “eye” balls in the playground part of Sherbourne Common.
below: Changing the billboard. The image is printed on a large piece of vinyl (plastic? something similar?) and held to the frame by ropes. Or at least that’s what it looked like. It was quite a distance up so it was difficult to see exactly what they were doing.
below: Graffiti. Two words. In yellow.
below: Chairs. Blue chairs. Three blue chairs plus one reflection.
below: A drab door on a drab wall.
below: An entrance to a different parking lot.
below: Numbers on the concrete.
below: More numbers. Another code that I can’t crack.
below: Stonework details on an old bank building.
below: Another old building – now that the north building of the St. Lawrence market has been demolished, the rear of the St. Lawrence Hall has been exposed. It’s quite a pretty building.
below: Interior, St. Lawrence market
below: And when you’re in front of the St. Lawrence market, isn’t it obligatory to take a picture of the Gooderham building? A Toronto iconic view.
below: Another icon, the CN Tower, as seen through the Distillery District from Cherry Street.
That’s a fabulous orange door!
below: Postage stamp art at 234 Adelaide East by Joanne Tod and Jon Reed. The whole installation includes 12 images including a 1930 painting by Lawren Harris (2nd on the left) which was issued in 1967. To the right of it is a stamp honouring the Alouette 2 research satellite. In between those stamps is Queen Elizabeth, a fixture on Canadian stamps for so many years. The old post office which was built in 1834 is nearby.
below: Walls. Shored up walls of the construction hole in front of a wall of glass.
below: Last, symmetrical? steps in the buildings.
May all your lights be green!
Early Saturday morning was cold but beautiful –
brilliant blue overhead with the sun still low in the sky.
below: Striped grass
below: This is the Bell building from the Simcoe Street side. The blue glass, vertical lines in the concrete, blue sky and strong tree shapes made for an interesting few minutes while I experimented with different angles and views.
below: The ghostly look of reflected light
below: A single pole and its shadow, alone on a wall.
below: Three reflected windows reserved for the president.
below: A half house, a fun find. Once this was a semi-divided house where the shared wall created the peak at the front of the house. With its partner gone, the remaining house looks incomplete.
below: A tree in silhouette seems to dance in front of the other buildings.
below: Phantom balconies, mirages on the concrete.
Well, this May 2 4 weekend has been splendidly sunny and fabulously warm! I hope you’ve had the chance to take advantage of it, whether sitting on a patio with a cold drink and friends, or out enjoying the the greenness that has bloomed all around us. It’s been a great few days to get up close and take a good look at nature.
below: Old moss covered metal seems to reach out of Lake Ontario like claws.
below: Reflections in the Yellow Creek, Beltline trail.
below: Wet pebbles with the beginnings of green moss growing on them shine in the morning sun.
below: Greater celandine, a yellow flowering plant, blooms along the railing of Milkmans Lane.
below: New growth unfolds in the sunshine.
below: The dark pink blossoms were at their peak this week.
below: Green and brown mosses sway with the water currents along the shore of Lake Ontario.
below: The snow fences have been bundled up and put away for the summer.
Behold, I give you the Tim Hortons cup. Empty.
Always fresh. Toujours frais.
They even come in a number of handy sizes, usually small, medium, large, and extra large.
They are found all over town, compositional elements splashed onto the urban canvas.
Some are carefully placed little art installations. They certainly didn’t get there on their own!
And others are willfully abandoned. Often left on their own. Alone. Empty. Lidless.
Sometimes they are found in groups. Carried away and then forgotten.
Sigh. The Tims cup. The omnipresent Tims cup.
One day I got tired of trying to decide whether or not to photoshop out a coffee cup that had been discarded on a sidewalk. Maybe it would be better to take on a “if you can beat them, join them” attitude. Instead of avoiding or removing cups, I should focus on them. Make them part of the picture. The redness of the coffee cups that Tim Hortons has been using recently adds to the appeal of making them the subject matter and not the subject of scorn and cause of exasperation.
Walls are fascinating. They are made of different materials each with its own texture. Some walls have windows or doors of varying sizes and shapes. People put things on walls. Walls have colour, shape, texture, line, tone and sometimes text. In other words, all the visual elements of design are there to be discovered. The following are just a few that I have seen this summer.
