Graffiti in a Cabbagetown lane.
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Behind 509 Dance, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre on Parliament Street.
Hendon palms
Posted: March 6, 2015 in locations, public artTags: art in the park, fake, Hendon park, magenta, North York, palm trees, park, public art, snow, Toronto, turquoise, winter
The other day I was driving near Yonge and Finch when I made a wrong turn. I found myself driving on some streets that I don’t think I’ve ever been on before. Getting lost can have its rewards….
I discovered pink and blue palm trees in Hendon Park!
no competition
Posted: March 5, 2015 in galleriesTags: Doug Jeck, Gertrud Mohwald, Mith, museum Gardiner Museum, naked men sculptures, Toronto, torso
Florence has ‘David’ and Toronto has ???
left: ‘Torso of a Young Man’ c1993 by German artist Gertrud Mohwald.
A collage of earthenware, porcelain and broken pieces of glass amongst other things.
center: ‘Mith’ 1994 by American artist Doug Jeck.
A “fractured assemblage”.
Gardiner Museum
sheep, ram or goat
Posted: March 2, 2015 in eventsTags: celebrations, Chinatown, Chinese spring festival, colourful, decorations, goat, gold, lunar new year, new year, ram, red, sheep, the year of the goat, the year of the ram, The year of the sheep
Happy belated Chinese New Year!
19 Feb 2015 was the Lunar New Year, the start of the Year of the Sheep (or Ram or Goat).
Sheep are considered auspicious animals, and the Year of the Sheep, therefore, heralds a year of promise and prosperity. This year will be the year for contemplating and appreciating what has already been accomplished and to think about bringing goodness to others.
Are you a sheep (or a ram or goat if you prefer)?
If you were born in one of the following time frames, then you are a sheep:
17 Feb 1931- 5 Feb 1932
5 Feb 1943- 24 Jan 1944
24 Jan 1955- 11 Feb 1956
9 Feb 1967- 29 Jan 1968
28 Jan 1979- 15 Feb 1980
15 Feb 1991- 3 Feb 1992
1 Feb 2003- 21 Jan 2004
The Sheep is thought to be the most feminine sign of the zodiac, perhaps because this is a very creative sign. The Sheep is artistically talented, and has a great sense of fashion.
Sheep are wise, gentle and compassionate and can cope with business cautiously and circumspectly. In their daily life, they try to be economical. They are willing to take good care of others, but they should avoid pessimism and hesitation.
They are very romantic, sensitive, sweet and darling. Empathy comes natural to sheeps. In relationship, they could be sometimes a little bit bossy and lazy, but with their gentle and caring nature, it will be hard to resist them.
Sheeps avoid confrontation and are not born leaders.
They can be indecisive, timid, vain, pessimistic, moody, and weak-willed.
On the 8th of February 2016 it will be the Year of the Monkey.
In the meantime, enjoy your Year of the Sheep!
Photos taken in the Dragon City shops at Dundas and Spadina.
the house that leather built
Posted: February 28, 2015 in historyTags: architecture, Beardmore, brick, Chudleigh, Front Street, George Beardmore, house, italian consulate, leather, mansard roof, second empire style, slate roof, tanner, tower
A couple of weeks ago I was at the AGO with some friends. As we looked out over Dundas Street, one of them asked me if I knew anything about the building that we could see at the northwest corner of Beverley St. and Dundas. I had to admit that I knew nothing about except that I thought it was the Italian Consulate (it does have an Italian flag flying in the front after all).
Then I thought nothing about it. Flash forward about a week. I was at the St. Lawrence Market, sitting in the lower level eating my lunch when I happened to notice some posters on the wall. The posters were about the history of the area, especially the architecture. Right beside me was a picture of the house at 136 Beverley St., the Italian Consulate. Apparently it was called ‘Chudleigh’ and it was built in 1872.
So back I went to take some pictures.
Apparently the house is a fine example of the Second Empire style of architecture, a style that was popular between 1865 and 1880. Features of this style found in ‘Chudleigh’ are the steep mansard roof, the ‘tower’ portion of the house, and the asymmetry of the design.
This 35 room house was built by George Beardmore, a tanner from Chudleigh Devon England. It remained in the family until 1934. In 1937 it became the Italian Consulate. During World War 2 the Canadian government confiscated the property and used it as local headquarters for the RCMP. In 1961 it was returned to the Italians who used it as a center for Italian immigrants before renovating it and turning it back into the Italian Consulate in 1978.
Chudleigh in 1952
photo credit: torontopubliclibrary.ca
When George Lissant Beardmore first came to Canada in 1844, he set up a tannery in Hamilton Ontario. A few years later, this tannery was destroyed in a fire. Rather than rebuild in Hamilton, Beardmore built a warehouse in Toronto and bought a tannery in Guelph to supply the leather from which he made shoes. The Toronto warehouse, the Beardmore Building, was at 35 – 39 Front Street East and the building is still there today. A Winners store occupies part of the building.
In 1967 Beardmore & Co. are the largest tanners of leather in Canada. Their buildings and properties cover an area of over 500 acres, including a tannery in Acton that Beardmore purchased in 1865. They employed about 600 people.
Chinatown mural
Posted: February 27, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locationsTags: Aaron Li-Hill, Alexa Hatanaka, alley, bike, child, Chinatown, Chinatown BIA, Chinese, city, downtown, Dundas St. West, lane, man, mural, people, street art, Toronto
Chinatown Mural
2011 by Alexa Hatanaka and Aaron Li-Hill
Commissioned by the Chinatown BIA & located in an alley near Dundas & Spadina.
The mural is based on scenes from everyday life in Toronto’s Chinatown.
over the boards
Posted: February 25, 2015 in history, public artTags: ACC, Air Canada Center, captain, Darryl Sittler, goalie, historical, Johnny Bower, Legends Row, Maple Leaf Square, Maple Leafs, statues, Ted Kennedy, the Leafs, TML, Toronto Maple Leafs
Legends Row, Maple Leaf Square
in front of the Air Canada Centre
statues of former Toronto Maple Leaf players,
Ted Kennedy, Johnny Bower and Darryl Sittler
below: Ted Kennedy played hockey for 14 seasons (1942-1957), all of which as a Toronto Maple Leaf. In those 14 years, the Leafs won five Stanley Cups.
below: Sittler – One of Darryl Sittler’s claims to fame was in 1976 when he scored ten points in a singlemgame. On 7 Feb 1976 the Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 11-4. Sittler scored six of those goals and assisted on four others.
below: Johnny Bower was a Maple Leaf goalie from 1959 to 1978. Often he was the oldest man on the team and at the end of his career he was the oldest player in the NHL.
still looking for spring
Posted: February 25, 2015 in galleries, locationsTags: basin, Derby, European, ewer, flowers, Gardiner museum, mullein, old, pink, plate, porcelain, Sevres, yellow
Flowers, a sign of spring. No real flowers outside yet and probably not for quite a while!
Instead we’ll have to settle for European pottery florals from the Gardiner Museum today.
below: Ewer and basin, Sèvres France, 1757, porcelain, attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis. Pink ground with foilage-like edges.
below: Purple flowered mullein plate, from Derby botanicals, pattern 216, England, c1800.
gumhead revisited
Posted: February 24, 2015 in locations, public artTags: Bloor St., chewing gum, Douglas Coupland, gum head, gumhead, Holts for Men, Toronto, wads
On the 4th of February I posted some photos and information on Douglas Coupland’s ‘Gumhead’. This is the installation where people are meant to interact with a large head by sticking chewed gum to it. The plain black head gets transformed into something new (a sticky mess?). At that point, the head been inside Holts for Men for about two weeks. One of the photos from early in February is this one:
Yesterday, almost three weeks later, I revisited it and this is the photo that I took:
I was expecting to see more gum on the head. After all, a similar piece in Vancouver was totally covered by the time the exhibit finished. As I stood there in my winter walking clothes, i.e. not dressed for shopping at Holts, I thought of a few things.
The Vancouver ‘Gumhead’ was outside with easy access to all.
Although this ‘Gumhead’ is visible from the street, it doesn’t invite people to come inside and interact with it. Unless they have heard about the exhibit, passersby may not realize that they have the option of sticking their own wad of chewed gum on some guy’s big face. In addition, inside a store is not really a public place. It would be interesting to know how many people came in off the street to take a closer look at it. By ‘people’ I mean non-customers with no prior knowledge of ‘Gumhead’.
And anyway, it’s ugly. That’s my two cents worth.
You have until March 9th if you want to get yourself to Bloor and Bellair (near Bloor & Yonge) to participate. Gum is provided.
Icefest
Posted: February 23, 2015 in events, locationsTags: carvings, cold, crowds, Cumberland Ave., February, Frozen in time, ice, interactive, people, people posing for pictures, posing, sculptures, snow, Toronto, winter, Yorkville
Bloor Yorkville Icefest, Frozen in Time
Cumberland Ave., February 21 & 22
The 10th annual Icefest featured the carving of blocks of ice into Ancient Egypt themed sculptures.
Both Saturday and Sunday were snowy days but the weather didn’t deter the crowds, or their picture taking. I’m sure that there are thousands of photographs of the sculptures!
Here are a few of mine.
This bear loomed over the NE corner of Yonge and Bloor.
Most of the sculptures along Cumberland Ave (west of Bellair) are still there and will remain as long as the temperatures remain low and no one vandalizes them.
as I walk Toronto 