as I walk Toronto

nuns and weddings…

Posted: June 15, 2025 in galleries
Tags: bride, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, couples, film, groom, history, images, nuns, photography, portraits, TMU Image Centre, weddings

… and a few things more from TMU Image Centre exhibits.

First, the main gallery of the Image Centre is showing a collection of the work of Clara Gutsche, winner of the 2024 ScotiabankCONTACT Photography award. One of her series features photos of Quebec nuns, “The Convent Series”, taken before 1999. Hence “nuns” in my title – The “weddings” in the title comes from another exhibit here – a collection of portraits of brides and grooms over the years.

There are other series of her work also on view including some taken inside a Catholic high school.

This is only a small sample of Gutsche’s work. You can see more at the Image Centre until 2nd August 2025 – The originals look better than my copies!!

Let’s move on to the happy couples….

“Something Old; Something New – The Wedding Photography Collection of Stephen Bulger and Catherine Lash” is the full title of the exhibit. The title says it all. The exhibit gives a glimpse into the history of photography and the techniques used to produce images. It also takes a look at a sliver of social history… especially with respect to clothing styles. All the photos were donated to the Image Centre by Bulger and Lash in 2023.

below: “Meilleurs Vaux pour votre Bonheur”, 5th of Jan, 1910

Unfortunately the exhibit has ended.

behind Shaw Street

Posted: June 4, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: alley, birdo, Brian Porter, bricks, doll face one, dragon, emily may rose, flowers, garages, graffiti, Jerry Rugg, lane, laneway, murals, paint, raccoons, rainbow, robot, squirrel, street art, sun, unicorns, walls

Like an illustration in a book with no words, the story is in the picture and its interpretation is up to you. Raccoons in masks and red capes performing (dancing?) while other raccoons sit in trash cans watching? A whimsical mural by Emily May Rose – if you follow this blog, or if you are familiar with Toronto street artists, you will recognize this immediately as one of hers. These cute little raccoons appear in many places around the city. How many have you spotted? This particular mural is in an alley behind Shaw Street (east side) and north of Queen.

Some other street art seen in the alley…

below: A legless robot effortlessly glides around although it also looks like he might be aimlessly floating through space. He was painted by Brian Porter

below: Monotone and angular, a very large squirrel is watching you (another Brian Porter piece).

below: A woman entwined with a creature with a bird head (but scaly legs?) lying on the ground? flying in the air? swimming in the water? The mural was painted by Birdo, aka Jerry Rugg.

below: Flowers basking in the rays of sunshine on a summer day

below: Lots of purple flowers!

below; Pikachu seems happy enough, but that cup… I look at that and I think of Mr. Bill. Mr. Bill had dark round eyes and a big round red mouth. For those of you young ones who are wondering what I’m talking about, Mr. Bill was a little figure made of clay who appeared on SNL starting waaaay back in 1976. Oh Nooooo!!

below: Rainbow unicorns, just in time for Pride month.

below: Home is where the heart is. It also seems to be where the sun shines and the flowers grow profusely.

below: Marshmallows with stick arms and army boots!

below: Some dragons breathe fire so I’ve been told. This purple dragon seems to have a different trick!

below: A little blue bear with a happy face balloon, a sticker by doll face one.

below: Graffiti stickers on a TTC No Dumping sign.

below: And last, street art of a slightly different, but very similar, sort…. Someone’s little gallery

Queen West-ish

Posted: June 3, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: #spud1, Alanna Fields, Alex Garant, birdo, Christina Mazzulla, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, Cosmo, Daniel Bombardier, Denial, doktor karayom, electric coffin, faces, Flips, gardens. flowers, graffiti, Jerry Rugg, lovebot, Queen West, slaps, snake, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, stickers, swan, Ted Hamer, urban ninja squadron, visual noise, white squirrel

A Lovebot! What a great way to start a day. These two “live” at Nadege Bakery on Queen West. The one on the left looks a little like mint ice cream with chocolate chips! Or else the poor guy has some wickedly strange skin condition.

below: Washing the window makes for more reflections!

below: The Ordinary

below: And the not so ordinary

This is a “walk with friends” post. Last Wednesday I walked with the Wednesday Walking Gang, most of whom I have known and walked with for years. Our “route” took us around the neighbourhoods to the west and south of Trinity Bellwoods Park. We walked on streets such as Walnut, Stafford, and Shaw.

We saw houses, lots of houses… some new…..

… some old …

…. and many in a row

… and even one with a pirate flag

below: It’s great walking in May when spring gardens are in full bloom. There were lots of front yards with interesting plants to look at.

below: Purple irises

below: White clematis flowers

below: Geraniums in the window.

below: There’s something in the window – and it doesn’t look like flowers!

below: Ready for summer?

below: Utility pole replacement in progress – wow! are those poles tall!

below: Three hoppers (funnels?), remnants of an industrial past.

below: Queen Street, looking east from Shaw.

below: Queen West at Walnut Ave where 7-Eleven gas is on the southeast corner (and gas is 135.9/litre). St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church is the large red brick building on the north side of Queen West.

below: The north end of Toronto’s Stanley Park (not quite as big as the one in Vancouver!)

There were two billboards, back to back, near King and Strachan that were part of the CONTACT Photography Festival. They both had large images from Alanna Field’s “Unveiling” series.

There were other portraits seen along the way….

below: An orange painting on a white garage door, by doktor karayom. Here little people seem to be emerging from this poor person’s head. A little foot in one ear and an exploring hand reaching into the other. Two cheeky little faces too. I can’t imagine that that would be comfortable!

below: A bit more realistic, but still with a touch of macabre – young person with four hazel eyes painted by Alex Garant.

below: Normal eyes, blue eyes, on this woman with the long brown hair. Painted by Spud1

below: There was also the face of a queen, a portrait of Queen Victoria, in a Queen West (no, not Queen Wet!) mural near Trinity Bellwoods Park by Electric Coffin and Denial (aka Daniel Bombardier).

below: Four goofy faces in all the wrong colours – great whimsical silliness

below: There are no human faces here in this Birdo (aka Jerry Rugg) mural but there is an alligator (crocodile?) with red eyes and big teeth as well as a shark lurking at the bottom.

below: Owl in the night sky, a painting by Christina Mazzulla

below: For many years there has been a white albino squirrel that lives in or near Trinity Bellwoods park. Here, Ted Hamer has painted it on a Bell box by the sidewalk on Shaw.

below: Swan

below: A large snake is coiled up and squeezed into the confines of the fence.

below: Rowell Soller’s work covers the front of this garage.

below: Curves by Flips

below: One could argue that this is actually a bench.

below: Urban Ninja Squadron gets together with Cosmo and away they fly!

below: A warning sign – this area is remotely monitored…

below: Do you have any photos sitting around the house just taking up space?

below: Can you see the donuts?

Thanks everyone!

Garden dreaming

Posted: May 30, 2025 in galleries
Tags: art, Emmanuel Osahor, etchings, gardens, paintings, power plant, Power Plant Contemporary Art, To Dream of Other Places

“To Dream of Other Places” is an art installation by Emmanuel Osahor that is now showing at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. All pieces have ties to a garden in one way or another.

The exhibit starts with a seven etchings in a series titled “A Chair Outside”. Using different techniques, Osahor presents his version of different garden scenes that he is familiar with – gardens in which he has found solace.

Etchings are made using metal plates covered with an acid-resistant substance (usually wax). An image is created by removing sections of the wax and then subjecting the plates to acid. The acid will eat away the exposed metal. When the plate is then used to make a print, the exposed areas remain white. That’s a very simplistic description of the process because I know that there are lots of videos on the internet that can explain it much better!

The main part of the exhibit is a large room with walls that have been painted, floor to ceiling, in a fairly abstract garden scene predominantly in blue tones. This sets the scene, a night garden.

Several large paintings of garden scenes hang on the blue walls.

There is a second series of small etchings as well. More gardens, but this time based on visits to National Trust gardens in the UK.

My usual warning – these photos are pictures of pictures in a gallery setting. The real thing is much better. The paintings are bigger – a bigger experience and a bigger visual impact.

Osahor’s paintings and etchings are on display until mid September 2025.

Old Finch and the Finch Meander

Posted: May 29, 2025 in history, nature
Tags: Bailey Bridge, dog strangling vine, ferns, Hillside Church, honeysuckle, leaves, mayapple, nature, Old Finch Ave., plants, rocks, Rouge River, trees, Vincetoxicum rossicum, water

Old Finch Avenue runs immediately north of the zoo way over in the northeast corner of the city. It also crosses the Rouge River close to what is called the Finch Meander. Because of its history and the surrounding geography, the eastern portion of Finch has to curve around the river and as a result, it doesn’t align properly with the western portion.

below: On Finch, traffic crosses a one lane bridge that spans the Rouge River.

below: Hurricane Hazel struck Toronto in October 1954. It damaged or washed away many bridges over the Rouge River including the one here. The replacement bridge is a “Bailey Bridge” built by the 2nd Field Engineer Regiment of the Canadian Military Engineers. Seventy years later it is the last one still in use.

below: Can you see the little orange alien? I think that it’s waving at you…..

And a few photos from walking around the Rouge River park in that area –

below: Down the steps and into the woods….

below: Measuring the water levels

below: Greater Celandine growing in the shadows.

below: Little pink honeysuckle flowers

below: Mayapple among the ferns

below: Keep an eye open for poison ivy!

below: Another silent threat that lurks here (but won’t give you a rash) is an invasive vine. “Dog strangling vine”, or Vincetoxicum rossicum, wraps itself around trees and other plants that it encounters. It is early in the growing season so most of the plants here were still short but there were masses of them. The lighter beige curved objects that run through the middle of this photo are the remains of last year’s vines.

Close by is the old Hillside church built in 1877.

historical society plaque in front of hillside church, white picket fence

Hillside Church – The church opened on Nov 16, 1877 as a branch of the Scarboro circuit of the Methodist Church of Canada to meet the religious needs of this rural community. The property was given by Mr. and Mrs. John Crawford to the “Trustees of the Mount Zion Congregation” – namely John Sewell, Peter Reesor, James Ormerod, George Pearse, James Pearse, Robert Stockdale and Thomas Barnard. Combining to form the Congregation were members of the Bible Christian Church … and the adherents of the former Wesleyan Methodist Church. Known from its opening as Hillside Church, it continued to serve the area until Church Union in 1925 when the congregation became part of Zion United Church, Markham. Both the exterior and the interior of the church remain essentially the same as they were in 1877.

below: Someone with surname Thomas once passed this way. Lived here. Played here. The small stone suggests that it was a child, maybe? Almost 150 years later this little stone, cracked and weathered as it is, still stands in memory of Thomas and the person who cared enough about him to have this stone made and erected in the churchyard. A few of us stop and linger long enough to think about him but at some point the words will become even more unreadable.

old, faded and cracked tombstone in a cemetery, can read the name Thomas and that he died 188?.

Stone possibly says, Leonard, infant son of ?? Thomas, died July 11 1888 (1889?)

With thanks to Wilfred who suggested checking out the Rouge River and Bailey Bridge! It was a few months ago now but I was waiting for a nice spring day.

from Bay to Christie

Posted: May 20, 2025 in construction, locations, old buildings, people, stores, transportation
Tags: AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, Bloor Fruit Market, Bloor Street, concrete, construction, Cumberland Terrace, cyclists, Gold Leaf Fruit Market, Heart Garden, Katherena Vermette, mailbox, Markham St., monkey, OISE, pedestrians, red dress, reflections, renovations, ROM, Royal Ontario Museum, Tartu College

… a walk along Bloor Street on one of the rare warm days in May.

With respect to the weather, it’s been a crazy May – first cold, then warm, then cold again. As I write this, my windows are closed and the furnace is on. These are the coldest days in May since 1967 they say. I was going to make jokes about Hell freezing over but the Leafs didn’t win.

One of the Bay station exits is at Cumberland Terrace.

The lower level of Cumberland Terrace, especially along the north side, sits mostly empty.

From Cumberland Terrace, I headed to the corner of Bay & Bloor Streets and then westward from there. This is some of what I saw (and, for a change, I managed to keep the photos in the order that I took them).

below: Cladding changes at Bay and Bloor. The older concrete window frames are disappearing. Does anyone know if this type of recessed window feature has a name?

below: People watching from behind glass

below: From Avenue Road, looking west, where the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) dominates the south side of Bloor.

below: Renovations now underway on part of the “crystal” structure at the front of the AGO.

below: Red car….

below: … and red maple leaves

below: The OISE building (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) was controversial when it was built in the late 1960s but it has aged into a good example of classic late modern concrete architecture. As an extra note – if you are interested in Toronto’s concrete architecture of this period, check out “Concrete Toronto: A Guidebook to Concrete Architecture from the Fifties to the Seventies”, edited by Michael McClelland and Graeme Stewart (many people contributed chapters to the book).

below: Reflections in the windows of the Bata Shoe Museum at Bloor and St. George.

below: Looking west on Bloor at Huron Street where the old church on the northwest corner is being renovated and expanded. Bloor Street United church was built in 1880 and was originally a Presbyterian church. In 1925 it was one of about 70% of the Presbyterian churches that merged with the Methodists to form the United Church of Canada.

below: The Bloor street facade of the church is being retained and updated while maintaining the church itself intact. A new condo tower is being built on the site, set back from the church building.

below: Looking east on Bloor Street. This view also shows the new building to the west of the church that is also part of the same project.

below: Tartu College building – another example of concrete architecture; it was designed by Elmar Tampold. Tartu College is a not for profit student residence and was named after the city Tartu in Estonia.

below: Red dress to symbolize missing and murdered Indigenous women.

below: Heart Garden at Trinity St. Pauls church at Bloor and Major. There are many of these gardens across the country and they are all dedicated to victims of the residential school system.

poetry, on wood, on a wood wall in a garden, heart garden,

Words on the first panel – by Katherena Vermette An other story this country has an other story one that is not mine or yours but ours

below: Colourful Annex mural by Planta Muisca

below: Bloor at Bathurst, southwest corner. This is what replaced Honest Eds – one had character and the other doesn’t and I think you know which one is which.

below: Markham Street is still closed as it is part of the large construction site on the old Mirvish property.

below: Little wavy curled features on the roof

below: From Sammie’s to Jimmy’s, with Real Nails in between. Square buildings, flat rooflines.

below: Gold Leaf Fruit Market at Palmerston and Bloor

below: Northwest corner of Palmerston and Bloor

below: Todays Specials

below: Bloor Fruit Market

below: Table for two

below: Just a little monkey sunbathing in the window!

below: Koreatown, mailbox

below: Waiting for the green light.

below: Christie subway station

And last, a shout out to Alternity Cafe where my smoothie was a fabulous pale bluish turquoise colour, thanks to the addition of “blue magic”.

Dew Lang Lane and area

Posted: May 18, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: #spud1, alley, birdo, Dew Lang Lane, Donlands, garages, graffiti, ivy, Jerry Rugg, lane, laneway, lilacs, mural, omen, omen514, pigeon, portraits, renovations, residential, stickers, subway, Temple Baptist Church, TTC, wales

Back in 2012, the city approved the naming of an alley… Dew Lang Lane. You can find this lane just north of the Danforth near Donlands. Prior to the legal change, “Dew Lang” had been used as the unofficial name by local residents. The name comes from parts of the two streets Dewhurst (Dew) and Langford (Lang) that the lane runs between.

below: Omen514’s fist bump

below: “Turn the lights off and look to the sky” by Jerry Rugg (aka Birdo) & Wales.

below: Spud1 left his mark here along with the advice, “Live, Love, Paint”.

below: Signs of spring that can’t be held back

below: In a very tight spot but bursting out.

below: One of the latest trends in urban living is the laneway house. They are popping up all over the place and this area is no exception.

below: Another trend, this one in home renovations, is building upwards. Adding a third floor or a rooftop deck is now common (and is often more noticeable from the back).

below: The repurposing of church buildings is another trend (albeit a bit older than the above two). In this case, Temple Baptist Church, opened 1925, is now residential. A small plaque in one corner of the building serves as a reminder of its original function. From the application for heritage status for the building: “Temple Baptist Church is a fine example of a revival of the Georgian Classical Style adapted for Post-Reformation churches in 18th century England.” Not many Toronto churches were built in this style.

below: The central window with its leaded coloured glass and Credit Valley stone trim around the windows.

below: A beckoning summer scene, Muskoka chairs on the dock. Have a seat and watch the sunlight play on the water.

below: Old black line drawings on old white garage.

below: The new west entrance to Donlands subway station opens onto Dewhurst.

below: Inside

below: A second pigeon…. this one wear a cheerful bright red cap as he struts around

domes and circles in the park

Posted: May 16, 2025 in events, galleries, locations
Tags: Aga Khan Park, architecture, butterfly, cherry trees, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, crochet, Form and Light, Glenn McArthur, Hope and Healing Canada, park, photography, photos, Tracey_mae Chambers

From now until early September, there are two outdoor art installations at the Aga Khan Museum. First, “Muqarnas, Form and Light” is a photography exhibit in Aga Khan Park that showcases the images of muqarnas taken by Glenn McArthur.

Muqarnas are three dimensional details found in Islamic architecture especially in mosques and madrassas (schools). They are usually found incorporated into the top of vaulted structures such as domes and doorways. Often they look like honeycombs. They can be made of many different materials such as stone, stucco, and plaster.

below: From the Abd Al-Aziz Khan Madrassa in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, is this painted plaster muqarna. The blue and gold representing the sky is at the top.

below: And a closer look at the painted details. It was originally built in 1652 and then restored in 1993.

below: A carved stone muqarna covers a portal in the Al Rifa-i Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, built in 1912.

below: Decorated in dark blues and gold, this muqarna is found in the funerary complex commission by Çoban Mustafa Pasa, the vizier and son-in-law of Ottoman Sultan Selim 1 who reigned 1512 to 1520. It is in Gebze Turkey.

below: Stucco muqarnas arches in the Court of the Lions at Alhambra Palace, Grenada Spain, late 14th century.

below: Close up look at part of a wooden muqarna from the Cappella Palantina (Palatine Chapel) in Palermo, Sicily (Italy). Although it was commissioned by a Christian monarch, Roger II of Sicily (reigned 1130-1154), it includes Byzantine and Islamic elements. Roger II was also a Norman but during his reign Sicily was very multicultural. It is a rare example of a muqarna in a non-Islamic building and is the oldest surviving wood muqarna.

More of McArthur’s muqarna images can be seen on his Instagram page – mcmuqarnas

Also outside, but on the other side of the museum is another art installation.

This one is the work of Tracey-May Chambers and it is constructed with red wool, silk, and cotton yarn. It consists of a circle made of connected knit and crocheted circles and within that circle there is a butterfly waiting to emerge.

It is one of 100 installations that Chambers is doing across the country for Hope And Healing Canada. The red yard connects the elements and is a reminder that we are all connected too.

Both the “Light and Form” exhibit and Chambers’ crochet installation will remain until 7 September 2025.

Phase in my Journey

Posted: May 14, 2025 in events, galleries
Tags: art, black and white, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, infrared, Japanese Canadian cultural Center, photography, Vegas, Walter Borchenko

“Phase in my Journey” is the title of an exhibit of the wonderful black and white photography of Walter Borchenko. The photos span 20 years of his craft including his work with filters, with infrared photography, and with minimal digital manipulation.

below: Grassy Brook, Talbot River Road, Kawartha Lakes Ontario

below: Look Left cross walk, Birmingham England

below: Wet tables, Las Ramblas, Barcelona

below: One of the reflecting pools at the Aga Khan Museum.

below: On the left, Leather Jacket, New York City. On the right, an intentionally out of focus city scene – a little disorienting, full of motion and uncertainty.

All of the images are printed on hand-made Awagami Japanese paper.

below: Hong Kong ferry terminal

below: New York New York casino in Las Vegas in the foreground.

below: The larger picture on the left is the Airport Long Distance Train Station in Frankfort Germany. On the right, is an older house in Port Royal, South Carolina.

below: Not a Borchenko photo! The exhibit is being held at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Center. Outside, they have the oldest Sakura tree that I have ever seen. It has large, dense, gorgeous blossoms!

Exhibit closes 30th June

photos at College Park

Posted: May 13, 2025 in events, galleries
Tags: Aden Camera, Aidan Samuels, College Park, Divyani Chandorkar, Nautica Simone, Nim Mendoza, paintings, photography, Sunny Chan, Winson Sun

I went to College Park in search of a CONTACT Photography Festival exhibit. To me, College Park has always been a place where people pass through on their way to somewhere else. If they linger it’s to grab a bite to eat from the food court or from the grocery store.

I’ve never spent much time looking around inside so I wandered around a bit. I couldn’t find any space/place where there might be a photo exhibit.

I found a small group of paintings by Divyani Chandorkar in a small, out of the way corner by an elevator. Interesting, but not what I was after.

After a chat with a security guard and a little more walking around, I discovered that the photos were being displayed outside! They are in a public space immediately south of the College Park building- between the College Park and Aura buildings. Here, they become part of the environment.