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Ashbridges wallnoize wall

Posted: October 31, 2020 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: 3tr_t, @kizmet32, Adrian Hayles, Andre Castro, Andrea Cataro, Andrea Rodriguez, Ashbridge water treatment plant, Avril Wu, Bareket, big_doz261, blazeworks, Bomi, Branislav Dordevic, broguymanz, bubz, Burner, car, cedar eve, Cesar Ar, clean water, clewin, construction, cranes, crocodile, cruz1, Dakota Brant, Danielle Hyde, dat_dude_stu, David Baron, Desire Betty, dudeman, eels, fish, flip, fongikikid, forge fury, Francis Pratt, getso, Ghazaleh, gosiakomorski, gutter_crew_guru, horus, invader.zima, Jieun June Kim, Julia Antohi, Julii McMillan, Katrina Canendo, Keitha Keeshig Tobias, kerz, Kreecha, Lukas Byra, luvs, mistersoy, monicavcao, Monique Aura, mr. Water, mr_tensoe2, Natalie Very B, nibi manitous, Nick Sweetman, octopus, onerzeus, Oriah Scott, Poonam Sharma, poser, Radliff the raccoon, Red Urban Nation, reflections, Ren Lonechild, rise up, Rowell Soller, Sadar, Shawna Howe, siezswift, silestyle161, SKAM, skulls, spud, spudbomb, spyone, still_hungry, tenneshaskyers, text, throw-up, tongbokes, Trevor Goodwin, Trina Moyan., tuffytats, Victoria Daay, wallnoize, water spirit horse, waves, wildstyle, xyz, Yasaman Mehrsa

There is a large construction project underway adjacent to the Ashbridges Bay water treatment facility between Lakeshore Blvd and Eastern Ave. The whole site is surrounded by plywood hoardings. In mid-September, Wallnoize 2020 took over the area and painted water themed murals on a large portion of the hoardings. More than ninety artists participated in this project, all coordinated by Cruz1.

Let’s take a walk around the site, starting by walking east on Eastern Avenue towards Coxwell, south across the park, and then back along Lakeshore. I suggest that you’re sitting down since I tried to cover all the murals and it might take a while!

below: Painted by Danielle Hyde

below: Trina Moyan‘s horse has a mane like many brightly coloured feathers. “‘Water Spirit Horse’ – Nehiyaw Mistatim (Plains Cree horse).“

below: Portrait of a street artist in pink and white by Keitha Keeshig Tobias

below: by Siezswift

below: ‘Nibi Manitous’ by Cedareve. The water spirits are are shapeshifting between human and animal.

below: “You are Loved” in a heart dripping with water in the center of a mural that is the product of the combined efforts of Shawna Howe and Monique Aura. Rainbows and dancing stars.

below: A head in the water by Shina

below: Bird and flowers by Jennifer, her first solo piece

below: This picture of a bald man snorkeling was painted by still_hungry

below: He looks like he’s made of water and he looks like he’s on a skateboard. Painted by 3tr_t

below: Floating away, floating with the fish in a pink bathing suit. Painted by Ghazaleh

below: by Francis Pratt, the poolboy cares apparently

below: Branislav Dordevic‘s mural suggests keeping an eye on the water and ice, warm and cold.

below: Water being poured into three tall clear glasses because we’re all thirsty for clean water, a mural by Julia Antohi

below: A green god with his trident – either Neptune the Roman god of the sea or Poseidon his Greek counterpart, by tongbokes

below: After the green god, is a more somber toned mural with the words, 1752, Mi’kmaq Nation, Take care of the water.

below: A mermaid in a jar by Yasaman Mehrsa. Has she been captured? Is she in a protective bubble? Do mermaids live in glass houses?

below: Surfer dude by broguymanz and a green throw-up on purple by Lukas Byra

below: “Be Like Water” by Adrian Hayles and what could be blue sea serpent, or a blue Chinese dragon, by Avril Wu

below: A mermaid of another sort, with skulls and burning candles, brought to life by Oriah Scott.

below: Bomi (aka bomitosangrantes) painted the lines and white dots that cover this corner

below: It’s not that easy to see, but the grey letters that look like stones in water along a rocky shore were painted by Getso. In the foreground is what looks like a mountain of flowing water (by bareket)

below: This pink striped octopus with stars in its eyes is the work of Jieun June Kim. Did you know that October 8th was World Octopus Day?

below: Like the words say, Kizmet the original Toronto raccoon, Radcliff is his name. I don’t think he’s going after the cranes even though that’s what it looks like. Swimming away from Radcliff is a Sedna, a curving woman by Angela Aulia.

below: A KERZ throw-up to the left of the BUBZ wildstyle with the tam-wearing duck with a bottle of water on top

below: A “Clew” throw-up by Clewin77

below: Three colourful fish swimming in the waves by Poonam Sharma

below: Blackbird flying along with the moon in different phases is the work of Natalie Very B. On the right, the wildstyle text-based mural was painted by spud1

below: A watery wildstyle by Trevor Goodwin (aka Horus)

below: The white eyes are a bit disconcerting – awake? asleep?- but otherwise she’s colourful. Kizmet32 again.

below: Burner on the left and Poser on the right

below: The happy grinning lobster with a fish on each arm is Gentle Giant aka big_doz261. The other mural is by onerzeus

below: A little fish nears the blue head at the end of the CRUZ tag in this Cruz1 mural.

below: by Rusty (aka gutter_crew_guru), If anyone would like to attempt an interpretation, I’d love to hear from you. There’s a lot of detail in the mural that is fascinating yet creepy. Happy Halloween!

below: A collaborative effort between Rowell Soller and @tenneshaskyers

below: A very realistic looking creature in the water painted by Cesar Ar.

below: Mural by Julie Amlin

below: The work of invader.zima

below: Horizontal stripes of fish and water in a basket, or woven onto fabric, by Dakota Brant beside a Octo-Godess-Sea-Witch Lady by Katrina Canendo

below: A vintage scuba diver among the weeds, by silestyle161

below: Two whales swimming in the ocean, an orca on the left by Ren Lonechild of Red Urban Nation. The whale on the right was painted by Camila Wong and she describes it on instagram as “Inspired from the Great Hokusai artwork, expressive waves with colourful brushstrokes and whale represent overcoming challenges in your life“.

below: Three Nick Sweetman green moray eels looking at SADAR‘s (aka blazeworks) mechanical octopus.

below: Two murals made with text. FATHOM on the left and the creative efforts of RUN (Red Urban Nation) Artist Collective

below: Ashbridges water treatment facility with the wall.

below: Looking in the other direction.

below: Calligraphy by Kreecha (right) and a painting by Art Child (left)

below: Two figures nose to nose with their reflections in the moonlight, by Julii McMillan. The nail polish matches the blues of the water.

below: Victoria Day painted the very pink woman with grey hair who is surrounded by lily pads and little green dinosaurs? eels? To the right is Clean Water text by SKAM

below: A lovely orange octopus by Spyone beside a man partially submerged in the water, Rise Up by James (aka mistersoy)

A white boat with many portholes sails past, while on the right, by Andrea Rodriguez (aka Andrea Cataro) a pink dolphin and a grey walrus swimming underwater.

below: Abstract and sort of geometric, in teal and purple, by David Baron

below: A wonderful woman with turquoise dreadlocks in a turquoise sea under a pink octopus wearing a tophat. This mural was painted by Désiré Betty

below: A blue, purple, and white sea monster by Andre Castro looks towards red and purple text by mr_tensoe2

below: By dat_dude_stu

below: Something other-worldly by fongkikid

below: By mr. Water

below: Swirls by Flip surround a slightly greenish woman with hair that merge into the waves. The woman’s face was painted by @gosiakomorski One Love – Don’t let hate win.

below: Luvs crocodile with crocs floating in the water to the right of a small elfin(?) woman with long pink hair by @monicavcao

below: At the end of the painted section of the hoardings is this old green car, “little deuce coupe” surrounded by skulls, a dudeman ‘trademark’ of sorts.

elicser on the Danforth

Posted: October 28, 2020 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: artist, black lives matter, Breona Taylor, Destination Dandorth, Donlands, East End Arts, Elicser, Elicser Elliott, flip, Flips, head scarf, laptop, Maysr, mural, Nick Sweetman, people, police, reading, sari, Smokestack Lightning, spyone, SrteetARToronto, swirlgod, the Danforth, writing

One of three murals newly painted on the Danforth is one by Elicser Elliott on the southeast corner of Danforth & Donlands (once a 7-Eleven store). Four other artists were involved in this mural which is part of ‘Destination Danforth’, a pilot project that involved a number of infrastructure improvements such as bike lanes and patios as well as creative elements such as these murals.

On the front and sides of the old 7-Eleven is this mural:

below: The swirls were painted by Flips (Swirlgod and BSC – Blurred Sight Clreared)

On the back of the building along the alley, is a mural in black, white, and shades of grey. “Enemy of Justice is Ignorance Allied with Power”

below: “No justice for Breonna Taylor” plays on the TV while a policeman in 2020 vintage riot gear stands by the door.

below: The year 1955 references the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man in Montgomery Alabama, 1 December 1955. It was the year that saw the birth of the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the USA. Police uniforms sure have changed!

This project was also a collaboration with the local BIA’s, StreetARToronto, and East End Arts.

Three other artists contributed to these murals: Spyone, Nick Sweetman, Smokestack Lightning, and Maysr

September downtown

Posted: October 15, 2020 in general Toronto, locations
Tags: banks, buildings, Canada Permanent, construction, covid, Dreaming, graffiti, Jaume Plensa, King Street, masks, people, photoshoot, reflections, Rising, Roy Thomson Hall, Ryerson, sculpture, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, TIFF, uber5000, University Ave., Yonge Street, Zhang Huan

“Social norms has been reset to factory settings”

I’m not sure what the above words mean or imply but I do know that we’ve all been impacted by Covid in one way or another. The city seems to be moving along albeit more slowly than usual. Sections of the city have fared better than others. In fact, it would be very easy to portray segments of Toronto as being in trouble.

Here the road is closed to vehicles for Open Streets (the last Sunday of September).

We are missing events. All those things that I like to take pictures at and blog about – the parades, the street festivals, and even the protests. With more people staying at home, no tourists on the streets, and events going virtual, it’s a much quieter city.

below: This was the last weekend of TIFF and you wouldn’t know anything was happening.

below: In past years, King Street closes for TIFF activities. This year there was none of that – no crowds jostling for a look at a celebrity or two, no booths selling things.

below: These little “patios” have been carved out of some downtown streets to help restaurants stay open during these COVID days. It’s a great idea for the warmer months. Although the city now allows propane heaters on the street, I am not sure how many people are going to want to have dinner outside in December.

below: The Royal Alex Theatre is still set up for “Come From Away”

below: A nearby restaurant still has its St. Patricks Day green on display.

below: Roy Thomson Hall in the foreground with downtown buildings in the background, as seen from Metro Hall.

below: New public art on Adelaide… this is “Dreaming” by Jaume Plensa. She’s three storeys high and I wouldn’t be surprised if she is dreaming of the days when we didn’t need masks. How long until someone gives her a mask?

below: Reflections with security guard

below: The steeple of St. Andrews Presbyterian church

below: Mother and daughter cycling together

below: The cows are still in their pasture, unfazed by the changes around them.

below: The next two photos were taken while I was standing in among the tall black towers of the Toronto Dominion Centre. The first view is to the southwest towards the CN Tower.

below: The second view is to the northeast.

below: The Canada Permanent building on Bay street is getting a cleaning.

below: This is one of the Bank of Montreal buildings, also on Bay Street.

below: Window washers

below: Pearl Street, looking east. Old brick buildings in the foreground with their modern counterparts shining in the background.

below: The west end of Pearl Street.

below: I found a person!

below: Looking north up University Avenue

below: The Shangri-La hotel and Momofuko restaurant with it’s weird sculpture “Rising” by Zhang Huan at street level (also University Ave). Masses of “peace pigeons” cover the surface.

below: Looking the other way on University Ave, south past Richmond to Adelaide and beyond.

below: Preservation of a large brick facade on Adelaide.

below: Waiting for the lights to change

below: Under the heading of “somethings never change”, there are always photoshoots in front of Osgoode Hall. Presumably this photo or one similar can be found somewhere on instagram?

below: Arranging the veil.

below: With a the pigeon by the Eaton Centre.

below: Mr. Ryerson keeps changing colour. Apparently he was more red not that long ago. Rather than remove the red paint, he was “cleaned up” by painting him this shade of green. He probably doesn’t realize it but he’s become a controversial figure. He may have been one of the first to establish public schools but he also played a role in the creation of residential schools for the indigenous population. Because of the latter, there has been some people advocating for the removal of this statue.

statue of Egerton Ryerson at Ryerson University on Gould Street, painted green, with some red paint graffiti as well as red hands

This statue was unveiled in 1889. It stands in front of an ivy covered building that started its life as Toronto’s first teacher’s college (1847).

below: Queen Street West

below: This yellow birdie, at least in sticker form, may be on the verge of extinction. An Uber5000 creation that can also be found on several of his murals around the city.

As I write this, the number of Covid cases in Toronto (and all of Ontario) have gone back up. Although we were hopeful that we were wrong, was there ever any question that things would get worse before they got better? Are we more complacent? Maybe. But let’s hope that we are also wiser this time around.

resting side by side

Posted: October 4, 2020 in locations, people
Tags: cemtery, Chinese, coyote, decorations, flowers, Greek, monuments, names, Pinehills cemetery, Scarborough, tombstones, trees

I have been looking for places to find autumn colours and one idea I had last week was to visit Pinehills cemetery in Scarborough. I didn’t find many colourful leaves but I did find a few things. The most noticeable was the mix of names on the stones – Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and more, all mixed in together. In Toronto we often live side by side and it seems that we are also buried side by side – as in the three people below: Baffa, Rajamohan, and Gutierrez.

below: Black stones with crosses on the top seem to be the prefered headstone for those in the Greek community who are buried here. Sometimes the name is in English, and sometimes in Greek.

below: Cemeteries are fascinating in that they give us a glimpses into cultures and traditions. The decorating of grave sites with flowers and figurines adds a bit of joy to an otherwise somber setting. You know that these people are remembered and their lives celebrated.

below: A large shamrock. Beneath it, a Miss Kitty doll in purple and a pair of boxing gloves with the Irish flag. Doesn’t it make you wonder why? Was Frank Murphy a boxer? What will my descendants leave by my grave?

below: I assume that the red tape covers an inscription that is already on the headstone for the spouse of the departed? Perhaps a name and birthdate? Written vertically in Mandarin…. and I wish that I could read some of them. Is there something written about the deceased? Is there an epitaph? I’ll have to be content to look at the lotus flower, bamboo, and dragons that decorate the stones.

below: As I was leaving, this coyote came sauntering across the grass. It wasn’t the least bit afraid of me (in my car).

history in pieces of stone

Posted: October 1, 2020 in history, locations, nature, old buildings
Tags: autumn, berries, cliff, colours, columns, crab apple, crabapple, Dr. Healey Willan, flowers, garden, Guild Inn, history, Jacobine Jones, Lake Ontario, leaves, marble, monuments, mountain ash, Musidora, park, peacock, people, plants, sculpture, Sir Ernest MacMillan, statue, stone, Thomas Bowie

Another path through the woods. This time there was a hint of yellow in the leaves because it was late September and even in 2020, some things are the same as ever.

The path led me uphill to the newly renovated Guild Inn. It’s been five years since I have wandered around their gardens and surrounding park. In that time, the building has been renovated and expanded. I didn’t take very many pictures the other day because I knew that I had a lot from my previous visit. I was going to link to the blog post from that time but I discovered that I never actually got around to posting anything! So, I have found the old photos and have included some of them here.

below: For instance, this is the front of the inn in July 2015 with its windows covered.

below: And the back, five years ago.

below: Five years later – the back of the Guild Inn with the path leading to the gardens.

below: A statue of Saint Francis Assisi with a wolf, carved by Thomas Bowie (b.1905)

below: A stone wall with statues and carvings provides a backdrop for a garden full of black-eyed susans. Because of the efforts of a few people to salvage some of Toronto’s architectural and creative history, the gardens of the Guild Inn have become the final resting place of a number of pieces of older buildings that have been demolished to make way for modern skyscrapers.

below: Stone wall with features from the Bank of Nova Scotia building (1903)

below: The bird nest is long gone. … but it would have been a nice quiet spot to raise a family.

below: From the Royal Conservatory of Music. There are two bas-relief bronzes of men associated with the Royal Conservatory. On the right is Sir Ernest MacMillan (1893-1973), an organist, composer, and conductor who was knighted in 1935 by King George V. On the left is Dr. Healey Willan (1880-1968) another organist and composer who was associated with the Toronto Conservatory for 30 years (1920-1950).

below: Looking through one stone arch to another, the square arch from the Imperial Bank of Canada Building (1928) and underneath sits Musidora. Many artists have lent their interpretations of this woman (in sculpture and paint), the subject of a poem titled “Summer” by Scottish poet James Thomson written in 1727. The beautiful Musidora strips naked to cool down by bathing in the stream, not knowing that she is being watched by Damon. Damon is torn between watching and turning away but chooses the latter.

In 1887, a Bank of Montreal building was built at the northwest corner of King and Bay; a site now occupied by First Canadian Place. The building featured a series of sculptures representing the Canadian provinces that were created by a number of artists. When the building was demolished in 1968, these panels were brought to the Guild Inn. Not all of them are on view today possibly because some were not in good shape (held together with metal straps). Maybe they are being fixed up?

below: This is the Alberta panel in 2015; the artist was Jacobine Jones (1897-1976)

below: It has since been cleaned up.

below: One of two stone angel panels from the North American Life Assurance Company Building (1932).

below: The brick and stone entranceway from the Granite Club (1926)

below: This cabin was named for William Osterhout, a United Empire Loyalist who in 1805 was given the first Crown land grant from King George III as reward for his service with the Butler’s Rangers. Although Osterhoust briefly owned the property, he never settled in Scarborough Township. The structure was more likely built around 1850 to 1860…. that may be a contentious “fact” as some believe that it is at least 50 years older than that.

The gardens have several different types of trees all in their autumn plummage.

below: Orange berries on a mountain ash tree…

below: … and many little crabapples on a crabapple tree.

below: At the south, the property ends at the Scarborough bluffs and there are many warning signs along the paths that run near the edge.

below: Looking out over Lake Ontario

And then, when driving north on Morningside on my home, I encountered this…. The peacocks have arrived.

For more of the history of the Guild Inn, see their website.

two new murals at Yonge & Sheppard

Posted: September 30, 2020 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: cardinal, construction, duck, Erica James, goldfinch, Ian Gabriel, Jieun June Kim, KJ Bit Collective, murals, Nixo, paint, redevelopment, rowdyradrat, rowellsoller, Sheppard Subway station, Spring Garden, streetARToronto, woodpecker

Today’s post features two new murals near Yonge and Sheppard

below: Looking towards the tall buildings southwest corner of Yonge & Sheppard including the green Emerald condos with their curled tops.

below: Backside of the Sheppard bus station which is where I found….

“Flock Together” by KJ BIT Collective

These colourful birds were painted by Jieun June Kim and Erica James with the support of StreetARToronto and the city.

below: The older two storey storefronts on the west side of Yonge street reflected in the new windows of the updated Yonge Sheppard Centre on the east side.

below: Continuing northwards, there is this large hole in the ground on Yonge at Spring Garden.

below: And here we find another new mural (painted earlier in September I think) also painted by two artists.

below: On the righthand side, the artist was @rowellsoller

below: “Make me smile” with a ‘free flowing water queen’ with pink curls by @rowdyradrat aka Ian Gabriel is the other half of the mural.

Toronto sign renewal

Posted: September 22, 2020 in landmarks, locations
Tags: 3D sign, city hall, couple, Danilo Deluxo McCallum, fountains, people, photographs, selfies, Toronto

The 3D Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square has been replaced by a newer, hardier version. Same same but different.

LEFT:

“The original TORONTO Sign was installed on Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto City Hall in July 2015 for the Toronto Pan American and Parapan American Games. Although it was only intended to last a few weeks, in response to the sign’s popularity, the City of Toronto extended its presence on the Square and it became a Toronto landmark.
The Medicine Wheel was added on June 18, 2018 in honour of Indigenous Peoples and to increase awareness of National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21.
The Medicine Wheel symbol was chosen, in consultation with Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre, as it is an emblem of North American Indigenous cultural values, tradition and spirituality. Its four directions (East, South, West and North) symbolize completeness, wholeness, connectedness and strength.
A maple leaf was added to the TORONTO Sign in 2017 to mark Canada’s 150th birthday.
The TORONTO Sign has become symbolic of Toronto. According to a Destination Toronto visitor survey, the TORONTO sign was one of the top three most visited attractions in the city and it is consistently ranked as one of the most Instagram-worthy spots.
In September 2020, a more durable replica of the original TORONTO Sign was installed”.

RIGHT:

“The artwork design on the TORONTO Sign uses vibrant African fabric patterns as a backdrop to represent the diverse community of people of African descent in Toronto and globally.
Woven into the colourful patterns are African cultural symbols like the Adinkra Sankofa bird, which represents the importance of moving forward through recalling the past.
The inclusion of portraits of Canadians of African descent is an important statement in recognition that people of African descent are here, beautiful, bold and proud, holding Toronto accountable for justice and equity.
The City of Toronto recognizes the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African descent (2015 to 2024).

Danilo Deluxo McCallum is a Toronto based visual artist. He works professionally as a painter, videographer, illustrator, graphic designer, muralist and art mentor. A product of the city, the characters depicted in McCallum’s work reflect a diverse landscape of people.”

President Fear

Posted: September 20, 2020 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: American, American politics, blame, Donald Trump, ego, fear, Graffiti Alley, greed, hate, Mike Salisbury, paper art, political, posters, President trump, street art, Trump, wheatpaste

…. fear and other vices.

Five posters on a wall in Graffiti Alley showing pictures of Donald Trump’s face along with five features of his character and presidency, blame, fear, hate, greed, and ego all on abstract rendition of the American flag. Political street art. Current and relevant. I was going to call them caricatures but they’re not, they are the real thing.

There is a 6th which I seem to have missed.
They are the work of Mike Salisbury. Follow the link for a free download of the posters.

on the rocks, left behind

Posted: September 14, 2020 in locations
Tags: abandoned, bags, boot, coffee cups, crossword, dirt, garbage, Gardiner, naloxone, pearls, plastic, rocks, rubbish, sandal, shoes, slipper, socks, stones, trash, wheels, worn

While walking under the Gardiner Expressway a few days ago, I came across the debris left behind by those who once camped here. Or maybe it was trash that was thrown here.

Whatever the source, I found it rather fascinating to see what there was. Detritus as subject matter whether for photography or sociology or as anthropology in centuries to come.