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.
The other day I walked a number of lanes and alleys, Max Hartstone Lane, Ken Lai Lane, and Oscar Ryan Lane, to name a few.
I’m not sure if it was the greyness of the day or the preponderance of ugly tags but I was feeling rather uninspired as I walked. An interesting green wall caught my eye so I started searching more out green things. This is the result of that search.
Just a collection of walls that caught my interest as I walked in the past few weeks.
diamond blues
patches, cracks, and drips under a bridge
vibrant orange with drain pipe
Pattern of arches at George and Adelaide
black and white under grey
wood on brick, browns and greys
umbrella, parapluie, paraguas
red, rouge, rojo,
Grey, damp days always need a touch of colour.
Yesterday, as I walked from Dupont subway station to Kensington I made use of my red umbrella. It kept me dry. It brightened up a few photos!
.
Every rainy day needs a splash of colour.
.
caught in the alley
.
When this mural was first painted, there was a downspout for the eavestrough running down the side of the wall. Her hand was painted to look like it was reaching for, or holding onto, the downspout. Because that downspout is no longer there, I decided that she needed something else to hold on to.
.
left in a puddle
.
‘Whatsoever you do’, a sculpture by Timothy Schmalz. It is also referred to as ‘Homeless Jesus’. This installation is outside of St. Stephen-in-the Fields church on College Street. It was installed on 14 September and was originally scheduled to remain there until 6 October. According to the description of the sculpture, it is a fiberglass cast of a silent, huddled panhandler. A person that people walk by and ignore. But if you look at the outstretched hand, you will see the stigmata (the wounds of Christ).
When we first placed the umbrella over her, we worried about the appropriateness of such an action but as I took the photo, a passerby commented on how people have been known to place cheeseburgers and other food in her hand.
The statue was stolen at the end of November. More information
.
car roof reflections
.
red and yellow
.
top hat, umbrella…. where are my dancing shoes?
.
Toronto siesta
.
.
something old, something new
.
The End
Special thanks to Sasha and David who played along and made the day even better!
Also to Michael for crouching against a purple wall!
.
Today was a beautiful, sunny and warm October day. The warmer than usual weather that we’ve been having continued today, the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. The nice thing about walking in downtown on a Saturday, especially the Saturday of a long weekend, is that there aren’t many people around. Nobody to give me strange looks as I take pictures of things that most people just walk past.
Today I walked Adelaide Street between Spadina and University and back again. I also took a detour along Pearl Street which runs parallel to Adelaide, but one street south.
fire hydrant in the middle
reflections in the windows of the Hyatt Hotel
in the washroom, Ravi Soup restaurant, 322 Adelaide West. If you have never eaten here, the food is fabulous, the restaurant smells wonderful and the staff are very friendly. I highly recommend it.
reflections
criss crossed window
green and white divided
,
.
as I walk Toronto 