Archive for the ‘locations’ Category

LightFest 2019

Posted: February 8, 2019 in events, locations, public art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Once again, the Distillery District is lighting up the cold winter nights with their LightFest featuring a number of lit art installations.

 

blue lights shine against an exterior brick wall of a restaurant, window - looking in the window you can seen people sitting at a table. A large art installation of a woman's face outline in blue light hovers above the window.

below: The LOVE locks have been enhanced with a cursive band of colour.

a band of blue light writes the word love in cursive, laid on top of a LOVE sign that is covered with locks.

below: There is no fire breathing dragon like there was last year, but there is an enormous 35 foot polar bear standing outside Balzacs.  Apparently it gets lit up later in the evening (or any other time except when I was there?).   He is made from the hoods of old cars and is the creation of Don Kennel.

a sculpture of a very large polar bear standing on its hind feet, in white, with black claws and facial features, distillery district, evening

below: Well, duh, of course it is!  LOL.  There is no context to this picture so you can’t tell that it’s like a large hockey puck, about 4 feet (about 1.2 metres) high if my memory is correct (i.e. it could be a bit higher).

a round white light with words written on it in capital letters, black, Centre of the Universe

below: Some of the installations are just for show (like the rods here) but some are more interactive.  For instance, the ring of orange and yellow lights that you can see in the background are large enough for people to walk through.

below: Another interactive installation is this little stained glass and acrylic enclosure by Taylor Dean Harrison.  When you are inside it looks like you are surrounded by stained glass.  Or, as I overheard one boy call it, lizard skin.

light art installation at Distillery District, like a small tent or hut that you can go inside, tiny triangle of colour, by artist Taylor Dean Harrison, looks like stained glass

artwork featuring tiny triangle of colour, by artist Taylor Dean Harrison, looks like stained glass. Close up detail shot

As usual, this is only a taste of what it there.  You can explore the works of 30 different artists at the Distillery District until the 3rd of March.

 

meandering near Bloor and Dundas

Posted: November 9, 2018 in general Toronto, graffiti and street art, intersections, locations, nature, old buildings
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

Presenting an eclectic compilation of images so

Have a seat!

below:  But maybe not here, even if they are two comfy sofas!  Comfy but wet.

two burgundy sofas on the sidewalk

Meandering on a day early in November

while the trees were still showing their last hurrah of colour.

colourful leaves, red and yellow leaves on trees in a residential neighbourhood, Neepawa Street

This mural is on Roncesvalles is partially obscured but is still a welcome splash of colour and vibrance.

a man walks by a mural on a fence, a peacock feather and a pink flower

   I love the raccoons!  Pink raccoons

test graffiti on a garage in an alley, also with a pink raccoon painted above the garage door

and blue raccoons on street art that I haven’t seen before.

street art on a garage door in an alley, large heart shaped face with big eyes and red lips, also raccoons,

Crooked lines,

garage doors and fences in an alley, autumn, trees with gold and yellow leaves, as well as leaves on the ground

tight spaces,

small walkway between two light purple buildings that leads to the entrance to another residence

and old glass.  All kinds of alterations.

sign on an old house, now a commercial property, that says Alteration Fast & Best All Kinds Of

old red brick building on Dundas West, sign that says Downtown Rental

 Peeling paint on diamonds  (once red?)

paint peeling on wood, three layers of wood with upper two layers cut in diamond shapes

and water drops on leaves (definitely red).

red leaves of a plant, wet from the rain, in front of a bright turquoise wall

One very pink car.  Whiskey for Whiskers.

pink car in parking lot

Uber 5000’s yellow birdies and friends are still on the side of Tommy’s Gift & Variety.

Uber5000 mural on the side of Tommys

And next door you Coffee and breakfast at Tina’s while your tax returns are prepared.

restaurant and store, rainy day, wet sidewalk and street in front of it, Tina Coffee and Breakfast restaurant, and Tommys Gift & Variety, pink door between the two, two storeys, lots of windows in the storey above Tina's.

 Semi neighbours

two attached houses in the Junction, one painted red brick with dark blue roof and the other light brown with dark red roof and bright red trim, small white picket fence in front of the red house, metal fence in front of the brown house (beige actually)

at the edges of gentrification.

building on the corner of Perth Ave and Bloor West, pale purple paint, a bright yellow happy face graffiti, a sign advertising Drake Commissary

Lights over the train tracks

looking across the train tracks to an old building with street art on the lower level, lights on metal posts over the tracks, tight mesh fence beside the railway as well

and graffiti beside.

graffiti on the concrete bridge supports, Dundas St West over the railway tracks, taken from the West Toronto Railpath

A fine and dandy tractor

a red toy tractor, old fashioned, in the window of fine and dandy on Dundas Street, white back drop behind the tractor, the building is dark grey

and a great idea

words painted on a garage door that say gratitude goes viral

She’s gone green but she’s got the blues.

a paper paste up of woman's face in green and blue (green skin and blue hair) on a very black wall and door

and Ontario’s now orange.

row of stores on Dundas Street, one on the end has a map of Canada painted on the exterior wall, with orange background.

A family outing

an adult bike locked to a ring, two kids bikes and a toddlers push car locked to a second ring, on a sidewalk on Dundas West, cars and buildings in the background.

below: The building with the giraffe pattern on top, at Bloor and Dundas West, is still there.

giraffe building at Bloor and Dundas West, with traffic and pedestrians in front
giraffe pattern brown and gold wall on top and brown below, movie posters and a bike

below: The murals painted by Wallnoize are still there. They were painted in the spring of 2015 and I posted a lot of photos of them shortly after that.

people walking on a sidewalk that passes by a long mural painted by wallnoize, many small murals joined together, apartment buildings with large trees with yellow autumn leaves in the background, Bloor West,

below: The murals run under the Bloor Street underpass (railway tracks overhead), on both sides of the street.

a woman walks along a wet sidewalk under a train bridge, railling on one side, street art on the wall on the other side.

below: The new MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) is now open on Sterling Road. The renovations to the old Tower Automotive building aren’t totally complete; most of the area is a construction site. But the museum opened earlier this year. Access from the West Toronto Railpath is available.

chainlink fence along a path leading from West Toronto Railpath to Sterling Road, with new MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in the background, what used to be the Tower Automotive Building

But hey! Why stop here?…. more about the new MOCA follows ……

Waterlicht at the Bentway

Posted: October 15, 2018 in events, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

Waterlicht is a large-scale light installation by Daan Roosegaarde, a Dutch artist.   It showed at the Bentway, in front of Fort York, for three nights this past weekend.

below: Light, like water flowing under the Gardiner.

blue lights under the Gardiner at the Bentway, in front of Fort York, a light show called Waterlicht by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde

below: The fluid patterns of light and smoke created waves and angles of blue.

blue lights under the Gardiner at the Bentway, in front of Fort York, a light show called Waterlicht by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde

below: One of many selfies

selfies in front of blue lights under the Gardiner at the Bentway, in front of Fort York, a light show called Waterlicht by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde

below: From above

blue lights under the Gardiner at the Bentway, in front of Fort York, a light show called Waterlicht by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde

 

A day of photography, in three parts – Ryerson Image Centre

Posted: October 5, 2018 in galleries, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

One of my stops the other day was the Ryerson Image Centre.

below: Students enjoying the un-autumn-like weather while the pond is almost empty.

the pond outside Ryerson Image Centre is almost dry, there are tables, chairs and yellow umbrellas set up in the pond area, students sitting there.

The main exhibit at the Ryerson Image Centre is based on the work of Gordon Parks, specifically his ‘Flavio’ photo essay.  Gordon Parks was an African-American, born in Kansas in 1912.   He bought his first camera in a pawn shop.  In 1948 he began a 23 year career at LIFE magazine where he created many photo essays including ‘Flavio’.   In the 1960’s Parks  went to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to document the poverty there.  He  centered the project around a boy, Flavio, and his impoverished family, the Da Silvas.  When the photographs and story appeared in ‘LIFE’ magazine in June 1961, it caused quite a stir, especially in Brazil.  In return, a Brazilian photographer, Henri Billot , visited the poorer parts of Manhattan to prove that the poverty in the United States was as bad as the poverty in Brazil.   The family that Billot concentrated on was the Gonzalez family.   There is also some discussion about candid photos vs images that are staged in documentary photography.

As a reaction to the LIFE article, Flavio was brought to the USA for two years to treat his asthma.  Money was also raised to relocate the Da Silva family to a new home.

below: Some of the photos by Gordon Parks.

five black and white photos on a dark grey wall, photos by Gordon Parks of poverty in Rio de Janeiro in the 1960s

below: Flavio and his brother Mario on the promenade in Rio during their first trip outside the favela. 1961.  Favela is Brazilian Portuguese word for slum, or low income area a city (usually on the outskirts).   In the 1960s the favelas were populated mostly by migrants from rural areas who couldn’t afford living in the city.   These areas didn’t have running water, electricity, or sanitation.

two boys in front of a row of apartment buildings, photo by Gorodn Parks

below: Photo by Henri Billot

old photo from the 1960s, 3 children play on the sidewalk by a car that is parked on the street

below:  Neighbourhood of the Gonzalez family, Manhattan, 1961, by Henri Billot (my apologies for the reflections).

Gonzalez building, tenement slums of New York (Manhattan), black and white phot by Brazilian photographer, Henri Billot

below: Flavio and his wife Cleuza da Silva in Rio in 1976 when Gordon Parks returned to see how the Da Silva had fared since his earlier visits.

black and white phot of Flavio and Cleuza da Silva taken in 1976 in Rio by Gordon Parks

In the student gallery was a small exhibit of the work of Alia Youssef.  Her project ‘The Sisters Project’ features portraits of Canadian Muslim women of all ages all with a narrative of their own.   Their portraits were on the wall of the gallery but their portraits and stories are on the website (it’s well worth a visit!)

two photographs by Alia Youssef, each of a muslim woman in a field or park, the one on top is a younger black woman, the bottom is an older whiter woman with a head scarf

In light of the recent earthquake in Indonesia, the third exhibit at the Ryerson Image Centre seems timely.  It is a display of photographs taken in the aftermath of the earthquake in Mexico City on 19th September 1985.  At the time it was the strongest earthquake on record.  Large portions of the city center and the neighbourhoods next to it were leveled.

below: Photo by Barbara Laing.

an old black and white photograph of Mexico city after the 1985 earthquake, a pair of pants and a clock on top of a flattened building, some people in the distance

woman dressed in black in a gallerywith black walls,looking at black and white photos on the wall

below: Photo by Pedro Mayer.

an old black and white photograph from the aftermath of the Mexico City earthquake of 1985, s pile of rubble with people standing on top of it.

the pond outside Ryerson Image Cetnre is almost dry, there are tables, chairs and yellow umbrellas set up in the pond area, students sitting there. aas seen from inside the Image Center

as summer winds down

Posted: September 26, 2018 in general Toronto, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

 

below: The sign over Kensington but I guess that’s obvious.

metal sign above the buildings, says Kensington in capital letters

Kensington pics from a warmer Saturday morning earlier in September.

 

below: Liz says eat more cheese

old framed black and white photo of Queen Elizabeth, on top it someone has given her a word bubble that says eat more queso (Spanish for cheese), in the window of a cheese store

below: A smoke and a phone.  Swiping right or left?

a woman in a white blouse sits on a bench ooutside a restaurant, on a wood bench, smoking a cigarette

below: A homemade sign

a hand made stop sign, red octagon, with the word stop in large white letters and racism written in black letters underneath

below: Well dressed Swiss Misses

3 half mannequins dressed in tops, standing in two old containers that say swiss miss puddings

below: Walls and skin

a young woman with blue hair and many tattoos is looking at her phone as she sits on a kerb

below: Just a part of the van.  If you’ve been to Kensington you may have seen this van – it’s totally covered with stickers.

part of the side of a white van that is covered with stickers

below: Churro chairs

two metal chairs outside a churros place

below: Morning coffee.  Saturday mornings in Kensington begin quietly.

the patio in front of Moonbean coffee shop, with two men sitting at tables

below: Faded and forgotten

two fake sunflowers, very faded, in a window, between the glass and the bamboo blinds,

below: These poser bunnies are a recent addition to the street art in Kensington

poser bunny mural on a brick wall, a pinkish bunny and a yellow one, the yellow bunny is holding a bottle of alcohol

below: Mona Lisa and her fruit basket still look out over Kensington Ave.  She still hasn’t eaten that banana.  The black and white part of this now iconic mural (with the banana) was painted more than 30 years ago.  The rest of the fruit was added after.

realistic mural of Mona Lisa holding a basket of fruit, high on a wall in Kensington

below: Looking a little frayed around the edges, like some of us at the end of the hot summer!

red and white striped awning above a store, tattered

the side of a building covered with graffiti

below: Not long ago there was only Mary in this window. Jesus is now keeping her company.

the window of Crows Nest Barber with a statue of Mary and a statue of Jesus in the window

Amen

Go Go Gadget

Posted: September 19, 2018 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

There’s a new mural in one of the Kensington alleys!  It was painted recently by Dave Setrakian.  It is also too long, and the alley too narrow, to get a good picture of the whole mural.

 

mural by Dave Setrakian in a Kensing alley

below: A parrot, an airplane and some Italian.

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, some passport stamps

below: An Immigration Canada stamp from the 29th of May 1986 beside an Italian flag just out of reach.

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a hand holding a small flag, a blue passport stamp from Lester Pearson airport with the date 1986.05.29

below: Inspector Gadget appears on TV – a kids’ cartoon produced in the 1980’s.

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a television set showing Ispector Gadget, a cartoon character from a 1990's kids program

below: A little yellow car with an Armenian flag in the back passenger window.

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a large yellow car

below: A large palm tree grows here, along with a Kuwaiti passport stamp and Kuwaiti flag

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a palm tree and a flag

part of a mural in a narrow alley in Kensington by Dave Setrakian, a parrot on a perch and an airplane, a blue and white scooter, motorbike, is parked beside the mural

Dovercourt – from Bloor south

Posted: September 16, 2018 in graffiti and street art, locations, old buildings
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
3

This is another “come along with me as I walk” blog.  Let me share some of the sights from Thursday’s walk which started at Ossington subway station and sort of followed Davenport south to Queen Street with a few diversions down alleys and side streets.

below: Ooops!  Dead end alleys too.  That’s one way to keep people out!

chainlink and barbed wire fence acorss the backyard of a house

below: A starry man (star face?) watches 007 below.   Street art in an alley.

street art in an alley - corner of a concrete block building, metal staircase as well, blue star with a man's face inside it, a racing car near the bottom with licence plate 007

below: More painting, this time Princess Leia and a strange red man with a latch in his ear.

street art in an alley - red man's head, with protruding lower jaw and two large yellow teeth, white eyes, on a door, black and white picture of Star Wars Princess Leia on the wall beside

below: If he’s aiming for the garbage bin, he’s missed.

street art in an alley - word radar on grey metal door, with screaming face below, on the wall beside is a moon shpaed figure, with arm out and seems to be holding something in its fingers but nothing there, garbage bins (real) below

below: ‘Always fresh bread!’ according to the mural on Nova Era bakery… but maybe you see the edge of the blue and white city of Toronto development notice sign peeking into the picture….

an old and fading mural on the side of an old bakery, showing two bakers, male, baking bread, with chef's hats and white aprons on

below:  … because a 12 storey condo may be moving in.  Retail is planned for the lower level but it may the same old same old glass and steel development with excessively high ceilings on the ground floor and zero street appeal.  Please prove me wrong!

blue and white city of toronto development notice sign on the side of a building, under a window, beside a mural of a baker in chefs hat and white apron icing a three layer wedding cake

below: Across the street, is this empty storefront.  Two intriguing blackboards remain – the one on the left says Thank You! and leaves you lines to fill in with things you are thankful for.  On the right, a “Before I Die” board.   What are you thankful for? What would you like to do before you die?  The business once here didn’t die, they just moved around the corner to Bloor Street.

empty store front with a bike parked inside, a red wall beside the door way, dirty glass in front, reflections in the glass

below: A bit of local ‘colour’ complete with ‘colourful’ language.

the back of a cyclist stopped at the side of a street by a bus stop, and traffic light, a woman stands on the sidewalk with a large puffy pink scarf around her neck and a lot of belongings with her

below: This building is on the northeast corner of Bloor and Dovercourt.

old square brick building on the north east corner of Dovercourt and Bloor, apartments on top and stores on ground level

below: I haven’t been able to find out anything about Valentinos but I quite like the debonair rider with a rose between his teeth.

old faded mural of a man on horseback, with hat and cape, the word Valentinos is written near the top, most of the mural has been painted over and is now just green

below: Vintage photo of the Bloor and Dovercourt intersection.  No cars!

vintage coloured postcard of the intersection of Bloor and Dovercourt in Toronto, hydro poles, brick buildings, streetcar, woman crossing road, no cars

below: The red and white building in the postcard above is on the southeast corner of the intersection. It is now home to a Pizza Pizza. Most of it’s large windows have been covered over with large pictures.  The streetcar tracks on Bloor are long gone and Davies butcher shop is now a Starbucks.

below: I walked past St. Michael Archangel Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church (on Delaware Ave) and a Portuguese Presbyterian Church (on Dovercourt).  Then I came across the Centennial Methodist Church.  It was built in 1906 and converted into residences in 2010.

front of Centennial Methodist church on Dovercourt, now apartments, red brick building with large round top windows

historical plaque for centennial methodist church on dovercourt road

CENTENNIAL METHODIST CHURCH, 1906, This Neo-Gothic inspired church replaced an earlier Centennial Methodist Church built on this site in 1891. Notable design elements include decorative stone trim, three central Tudor-arch windows, and flanking square towers topped with pyramidal steeples. It was renamed Centennial United Church in , after the creation of the United Church of Canada. In 1986, the Nisei congregation of the Toronto Japanese Church joined Centennial United to form Centennial Japanese Church. A residential redevelopment was completed in 2010.

 

below: A little farther south on Dovercourt I passed this for sale sign.   I stopped and took a photo of it because of the words in pink: “Laneway suite potential”.  Of course I had to check the lane to see if anyone had built suites back there.   Suites, according to the city of Toronto, are rooms built over garages and not stand alone residences.

for sale sign on the grass in front of a house

below: It is a neat and tidy lane but so far with no suites

Bill Cameron Lane

below: But I did see this mural there.

garage door covered with a mural of a boy walking in a birch forest in the snow with his dog following him

below: I also noticed that the backyards on both sides of the alley were very deep, wonderfully deep actually, especially for a city house.  You could probably sever it in two quite easily.

backyard, view from an alley

below: In fact, something like that has happened a bit farther south where someone took one house, renovated it, and added three more residences with additional access from the alley behind.   I notice that there are 4 water meters here as well as a gate that possibly provides access to the houses behind.

part of a modernized and renovated house with new houses built behind it

In case you’re curious, the four houses are all for sale.  The house in front is a semi and the asking price is $2,400,000.  For that you get 2992 square feet and 4 bedrooms.  The others are slightly smaller and slightly less expensive.

below: A rare large vacant lot

the side of a house on the other side of a large vacant lot

below: Norbregas Variety and Grocery.

Norbregas variety and grocery store, the ground floor of a house on a corner in a residential area, Dovercourt

below: And nearby, a cafe with both Coca-Cola and Pepsi signs

a deli, cafe, with old coca cola, coke, signs as well as pepsi signs. chairs and tables out front, large windows, two boys wakling past, on a corner in a residential area, old house

below: The streets around Dovercourt are all very nice with lots of large solid old houses and tall trees – in this case, a chestnut tree.

chestnut tree and large old houses on a street

below: I even spotted some wildlife!

two statues of small deer in the front yard of a house, one is lying down and looking at the other who is standing nearby, both are in the shade of a large tree

below: Northeast corner of College & Dovercourt

three storey red brick building on corner of college and dovercourt, northeast corner, stores on the lower leve, traffic lights, utility poles and streetcar wires

below: Letters embedded in the sidewalk where one of the branches of the Garrison Creek passes underground, just south of College Street.  The creek was buried more than a century ago.  In the early days, the creek was treated more like an open sewer than a river.  As the city developed, the stream was diverted into underground sewers (1880’s) and streets were built above it.   By 1920, almost a century ago, the stream was entirely diverted into the sewer system.

brass letters embedded in the sidewalk that say Garrison Creek, also a round metal medallion with the same words

below: The age of this car seemed to fit well with the buildings around it.

man stands beside on older car in a parking lot surrounded by old brick buildings

below: Some of Dr. Spock still remains.  He hasn’t been beamed up  yet.

once a mural of Dr Spock, now tagged over although Spock's head is still visible

below: Part of a mural by elicser in a lane behind Dundas West

elicser painting of a man in a brown toque

below: Looking east along Dundas, from Dovercourt

view along Dundas to the east, and downtown Toronto, from Dovercourt Rd

below: A larger than life Pink Panther painted by Matt Gondek.  This is on the northeast corner of Dundas and Dovercourt, close to Skey Lane where his other murals are (see recent blog post on Skey Lane)

mural of pink panther sitting in a chair, large

below: She can still be found near Queen and Dovercourt (painted by Jarus)

mural by jarus in an alley, a woman looking over her shoulder

Just before Queen Street West there is an art galley called the David Kaye Gallery.

below: It may be difficult to see, but this cup is displayed in a glass case mounted on the wall. The back part of the cube is a mirror. For $12,500 it can be yours (but my arm is not included!).

a white tea cup on a black block inside a glass cube with a mirror at the back. on the cup, in black letters, are the words a cup is a cup

below: Both this piece, and the cup above, are part of “Camp Fires: The Queer Baroque of Léopold L. Foulem” and are on display until the 23rd of September.

artwork by Leopold Foulem, a porcelain piece with gold figures on the sides like handles

I am going to end this blog post with a few pictures of some of the graffiti that I saw:

below: Red hearts on a yellow door.

a door painted yellow with three large red hearts on it

below: No more need for parliaments

a beige garage door with the words no more need for parliaments written on it

below: She’s a bit frayed at the edges and coming apart at the seams.

a hand drawn picture of a face, on paper, pasted on a fence

sculptures in the garden

Posted: September 13, 2018 in galleries, locations, nature, public art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

Edwards Gardens

lots of flowers and plants in a garden around the base of a tree, a stone sculpture sits among the flowers, a woman is removing weeds from the garden, at Edwards Gardens

ZimSculpt is the name of the exhibit now on at Edwards Gardens.   Placed around the gardens are a large number of stone sculptures by Zimbabwean artists.  There are also small pieces on display inside a tent-like structure near the parking lot.   All items are for sale along with some baskets and jewellery.  Here are some of the sculptures:

below: Giving Advice by Boet Nyariri, carved in springstone

sculpture of two women (mother and daughter?), one slightly behind the other, with hand on other's shoulder,

below: (after the garden was watered!), Mother and Son, by Joe Mutasa, carved in springstone.

black stone sculpture of a mother holding her son, in a garden, with pink, red and orange flowers around the bottom of the sculpture

below:  Nesting Cormorant, by Lucknos Chingwaro, springstone

tall black sculpture at Edwards Gardens

below: Windy Day by David White, opal stone,

sculpture of a woman's head, eyes closed, with lots of rings of lighter stone hair, title is Windy Day

below: Evolving, by Edmore Sango, opal stone.

tall stone sculpture among plants in a garden

below: Shoal, by John Gutsa, springstone

a sculpture titled Shoal, 4 striped fish, one on top of the other, sculpture with flowers in front and greenery behind, Edwards Gardens

below: Free Flow, by Stuart Chapenga, springstone

black stone sculpture called free flow in Edwards Gardens.

head of a bird carved in black and white stone

close up photo of two yellow flowers with dark brown centers, from the side

close up photo of a monarch butterfly on a pink flower

ZimSculpt lasts until the end of September.

Graffiti Alley all over again

Posted: August 10, 2018 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Graffiti Alley keeps drawing me back to see if there are any changes.    What is new and what has disappeared.   To see who is hanging out in the lane today and have a silent chuckle or two at the tourists.

below: Sunny days in Graffiti Alley

a woman carries an open blue umbrella on a sunny day as she walks down Graffiti Alley

below: Let’s Eat Sandwiches Together Forever, by elicser, seems to have been refreshed recently.

let's eat sandwiches together forever, a mural by elicser, with people and sandwiches, people in the middle are hugging

a mother and daughter walk down Graffiti Alley, past a lrge mural of a young man by Janus

below: He’s pointing to the sky because he’s giving us a detailed weather forecast.

a man in a yellow vest is talking in Graffiti Alley

below: The last time that I walked down Graffiti Alley, elicser was in the midst of painting this door.

a mural of a person in an old fashioned aviator's helmet and goggles, and wearing a blue dress, on a door in an lane
a mural of a person in a gas mask (spray paint mask) on a door in an lane with pink on either side

below: Hello!

a woman sits on a window sill on a building iin Graffiti Alley as a man takes her picture

below: Montreal and Toronto and the writing in between.

text street art with the words Montreal and Toronto written in the top corners

below: A lovebot of a different sort.  Almost unrecognizable except for that heart.  Only lovebot has a heart like that.

lovebot street art

below: A large carp painted by Nick Sweetman.  A fish out of water.

a large carp mural by Nick Sweetman in Graffiti Alley

below: Broken window

orange door and street art in Graffiti Alley

below: Pink roses and words of love and encouragement (and a little bit of flattery).  The future is bright and do more of what makes you happy.

pink roses and words about love on a mural

below: A new poser bunny at Portland Place

a poser bunny on a wall

below: Toronto Blue Jays vs. stencils are wack

street art painting of a street artist in grey hoody and mask, hoody has Toronto blue jays logo, but someone has used black marker to write words on hoody say Stencils are wack

below: Walking past the praying mantis which is memorial to Jesse.

people in graffiti alley with a large pink praying mantis mural

below: Rat and a spray paint can can’t keep the eyes in their heads.

below: Unfortunately, part of the uber5000 wintertime Toronto mural has been tagged over.

below: Honk! honk! An uber5000 yellow bunny offers a donut

A man avoids the puddles in the lane as he walks past an uber5000 mural of a yellow birdie with a donut, birdie is driving a little orange car

below: Starbursts (or flowers, or just interesting shapes) in pink and yellow

part of a painting on a metal garage door of two starburst shapes, one in pink and one in yellow

below: The elephant isn’t in the room, it hasn’t made it down the stairs yet.

graffiti above and below a diagonal metal staircase, an elephant above the stairs and a dog below. The dog is saying woof

below:  A collaboration between immortalwales and kyleghostkeeper.   Both are tattoo artists and they both have instagram accounts if you are interested in seeing their work.

woman wearing a white head scarf and large glasses, with red lips

overgrown, for now

Posted: July 4, 2018 in locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

Another story of changes underway;
more documentation of buildings about to disappear.

trees and overgrown yard, two large signs advertising townhouse developments to come

On a leafy stretch of Bayview Avenue, there are some buildings that now sit empty.  The weeds have taken over the yards, as have large signs advertising the townhouse development that will be built there.   Actually the signs are only on one yard, this one:

below:  There are curtains in the window but some shingles are missing and the frontyard is overgrown with weeds – 2716 Bayview Avenue, sitting empty.   If you drive past it on Bayview you’d probably miss it because of the large trees between the house and the street.

small brick house with attached garage, overgrown front yard, tiger lilies growing by the front, piles of mulch on driveway, some ivy on front of house, some shingles missing from the roof

below: Nature takes over very quickly if you let it.  The lilies haven’t lost to the thistles yet though.

thistles, orange tiger lilies, and ivy, growing in a garden at the front of a house

below: The backyard was very overgrown too. The side door was open but I didn’t go in.  The basement appears to be in good shape.

an open basement door on the side of a house, overgrown yard, pile of debris in the foreground

If you go to their website, only 7 townhouses are shown in the drawings while the properties on either side of it (4 in total) are included in the plans as “future development”.   If you look at the original application on the City of Toronto website, the whole plan called for 20 townhouses facing Bayview Ave and a single family dwelling facing the street behind.  Each townhouse is 4 storeys (including basement level which is half garage and driveway) and 18’9″ wide.  The above ground levels are 47′ deep.   The site drawings and architectural plans were from June 2017.   I am not sure why the discrepancy.  It’s not uncommon for changes to occur between the planning stage and the final product…   So take the measurements that I just gave you with a grain of salt.

below:  One house to the south, 2710 Bayview.  A newer style house than its neighbour with part of its front yard hidden behind a glass block wall.   It too is set back a large distance from the street.  Once upon a time, someone put some love and care into this house.   I hoped that it was well used in its time.

modern style house with glass brick wall in front, around a front porch, large spruce tree, overgrown driveway,

modern style house with glass brick wall in front, around a front porch, large spruce tree, overgrown driveway,

double red doors, front entrance way to an empty modern design house

below:  Moving north, this is 2720 Bayview.  There is evidence that large trees have already been cut down.  At the moment all the evidence is well hidden from passers-by.   A year ago, farther south on Bayview a developer cut down 30+ large trees without permits from the city because they were building townhouses on the site  The outcry was big but the penalty is small.

white stucco bungalow with the remains of a chopped up tree in front

below: But….  if you have permission to build townhouses, there is no way the trees can stay.  Any plan that involves creating 20 new townhouses in less space than four single houses doesn’t leave room for large trees.  Those will be a thing of the past on this stretch of Bayview.  The one below was so big that I couldn’t reach around the trunk of the tree.

a large mature broadleaf tree in summer, green

below: The fourth building, 2722 Bayview, was originally built as a residence, but it has been a medical clinic for decades.  If you peer in the window, there are still posters on the wall (Is It Flu?) and even reading material on the table ([something] Task Force).  There is a sign on the front door that says that 2 June 2017 was the last day the clinic was open.

interior of medical clinic, no longer used, looking in the window, chair, posters on wall,

weeds coing up through the cracks in the pavement of a parking lot in front of an unused medical clinic, front entrance of the clinic, full length windows

Lastly, I took a picture of this house too as it is beside the ones above.   The “Notice” sign on the fence was a bit of a surprise considering how new the house was.  My original assumption was that the house was going to be demolished.  In fact, the planning application says that the house will be moved to the back of the property and three townhouses will be built in front.  One driveway down the north side of the property will access both the new townhouses and the moved house.

Apparently the application was submitted in December 2016 –  However, I noticed that the original application called for three 3 storey townhouses (and is on the City of Toronto website as such).  The sign says three 4 storey townhouses and a three storey single family dwelling.  The house in the photo is only 2 storeys.

a city of Toronto blue and white notice of development sign is on a black wrought iron fence in front of a large stone faced two storey house with a large front yard, grass and shrubs

What I’ve also learned while researching these properties, is that there is an official document called, “Bayview Townhouse Design Guidelines” that covers Bayview Avenue from the 401 south to Lawrence Avenue East.  It was adopted by City Council late in 2015.   In fact, large portions of the city have design guidelines and you can find them online.

I was curious to find out how many ongoing development proposals/applications there are in the city.  There is an interactive searchable map online that I used.  When I searched on ward 25 (where the above sites are), it showed 52 locations.  When I tried searching on the whole city, there were too many results.  If you’re interested in development, you can play with the website too!

thistles, close up of flower part of thistle, one purple flower

weeds growing out of cracks in the pavement of a parking lot, handicapped parking sign still there.

Older Entries
Newer Entries