as I walk Toronto

curvy metal lines in yellow

Posted: August 24, 2020 in public art
Tags: metal, OCADU, outline. horse, parking lot, Parkway, Parkway Mall, sculpture, Suzanne Simoni, ThreeSidesOneGesture, tubes, tubular, Victoria Park Ave., yellow

ThreeSidesOneGesture by Suzanne Simoni is a large tubular yellow metal sculpture in the shape of a horse. Or at least I think that it’s a horse! Or a person sitting with his/her knees up? Of course, one’s interpretation of the work depends on the angle from which it is viewed so it shouldn’t be judged from this photo alone. More pictures can be found on Simoni’s website

In 2019, it was the winning entry in a competition open to OCAD U students and recent graduates sponsored by First Capital Realty (They sponsor competitions at art schools around the country for public art for their shopping centers.).

It now stands tall near the southeast corner of Victoria Park and Ellesmere, beside Parkway Mall.

The sculpture was made by Lafontaine Iron Werks

exploring stargate

Posted: August 24, 2020 in public art
Tags: aliens, Anna Passakas, Blue Republic, clay, glass, Radoslaw Kudlinski, sculpture, stargate

At Redpath and Roehampton, close to Yonge & Eglinton, there is a new public art installation consisting of seven sculptures and two murals on glass (windows). This group is “Stargate”, designed by Anna Passakas and Radoslaw Kudlinski of the art group Blue Republic; it took three years to make. On one corner are four sculptures with a 15-foot, six-legged, bright yellow alien being the central piece.

This blue figure is the dominant sculpture on the other side of Redpath. He is 12 feet tall. This animal-like creature and the yellow alien were inspired by Eastern and Greek mythology along with a heavy dose of science fiction.

The five smaller pieces are aluminum-based.

Anna Passakas: “Stargate attempts to inspire connection between different worlds,We are not meant to resist the unknown, rather, we are meant to explore and understand it, whatever it may be.”

Radoslaw Kudlinksi: “Our inspiration for this piece came from the unique diversity of this city. For some, moving to a new neighbourhood is like moving from one universe to another. So many people bring various experiences and cultures with them from all over the world.”

Pride, no parade 2020

Posted: June 28, 2020 in events, people
Tags: crowd, dancing, flags, float, flowers, fun, laugh, LGBQT, naked, nude, parade, people super soaker, rainbow, spectators

Instead of pictures of this year’s Pride Parade, I am posting some photos from previous Pride weekends from my archives. I have tried to use pictures that weren’t chosen for prior blog posts. As you know, the fall out from Covid-19 includes cancellation of parades in Toronto this summer. There was a virtual Pride parade online this year (so I hear) but that doesn’t lend itself to photography. We miss the social interactions that normally occur. We miss the atmosphere and the fun. This collection is a poor substitute for the real thing but maybe it will bring back a few memories….. See you in 2021!

in lieu of this year’s Pride parade

Posted: June 22, 2020 in general Toronto

Since the parades associated with Pride are all cancelled in Toronto this year, I have uploaded a video created from photos from past Pride parades.

A Rainbow of Colours is on youtube. https://youtu.be/OY8K5BqVk1w

I do not have permission to use Cyndi Lauper’s song, True Colours, so youtube might not allow the video to remain. If it gets taken down, I’ll re-edit it with different music.

Black Lives Matter in Graffiti Alley

Posted: June 19, 2020 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: #paintthecityblack, Adeyemi Adegbesan, black heart, black lives matter, BLM, Breonna Taylor, bubzart, Bubzlitto Brigante, free the revolution, hands, James Baldwin, Leyland Adams, lovebot heart, mandala, Martin Luther King Jr., o.raang, Opola Karim, paint the city black, Paul Glyn-Williams, Philip Saunders, sumartist

A while ago, a group of street artists took over Graffiti Alley and painted a number of murals and street art pieces dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement. This is a large sample of the work that was completed as part of that project ‘Paint the City Black’.

below: A tribute to Breonna Taylor by elicsereliot

below: Martin Luther King Jr with “Police brutality ends now. RIP Jamal”

below: Free the Revolution

below: A Lovebot heart supported by a black hand a white hand working together.

below: No Justice, No peace, a mandala by Opola Karim

below: A mural by @sumartist (Paul Glyn-Williams) – I can’t breathe, the last words of George Floyd, surrounded by the words “But we can hear you”.

below: A poser bunny

below: RIP Jamal Francique by bubzart (aka Bubzlitto Brigante). Jamal was shot by Peel Region police earlier this year.

below: A portrait of James Baldwin (1924-1987) painted by Phillip Saunders. Baldwin was an American writer and activist.

below: A large paste up by Adeyemi Adegbesan

below: Leyland Adams painted this portrait of Malcolm X.
“You don’t have to be a man to fight for freedom.
All you have to be is an intelligent human.”

faces of Queens Park

Posted: June 10, 2020 in locations, old buildings
Tags: carving, exterior, faces, frieze, horns, Queens Park, sandstone, stone, tongue

Frozen in stone for more than a hundred years these faces are some of those that adorn the exterior of Queens Park. The pinkish stone is sandstone quarried near Orangeville and the Credit River Valley.

below: This one makes me think of an old woman in a frilly bonnet – my apologies to the person it is supposed to be (if there is one!).

below: There are devilish horns on this one.

below: He’s got a long and curly tongue and is that long hair beside his face?

below: Strangely blank eyes looking upward.

below: He watches everyone as they pass by.

on the old Leslie Street Spit

Posted: May 18, 2020 in nature, people, waterfront
Tags: bikes, cyclists, Lake Ontario, people, rocks, spring, Tommy Thompson Park, trees, walking, waterfront

A long weekend in May (Two Four Weekend) + the first sunny warm day in a while + two months of “shelter in place” = people out enjoying Tommy Thompson Park’s trails and waterfront.

below: Flow Like a River

below: Keep ur distance

below: Three people, three positions – up tall and straight, flailing legs middle, and collapsing feet at the end. Also notable are the mounds of tangled rebar that dot the shoreline.

below: She’s sitting on some very rounded rocks that have been shaped by the waves and water. Are they chunks of man-made concrete and not the more solid rocks formed by nature?

The park has come a long way since construction of the Leslie Street Spit started in 1959. In the beginning, it was to be an area for “port related activities”. In the early 1970s, it was decided that Toronto didn’t need an expanded port. Since 1973, the focus has been on developing the area as a park but keeping as much “wilderness” as possible. If you are interested in the history of Tommy Thompson Park, they have an excellent website with aerial pictures that show how the park has grown.

below: Nature slowly takes over, and the piles of rubble and construction waste that were used to help build the foundations of the park become grown over and buried.

below: Late afternoon fishermen on their way in.

below: If you look closely, you might see that one of the bikes has a bell in the shape of a skull with red eyes.

below: There were lots of noisy redwing blackbirds as well as many other kinds of birds – orioles, grosbeaks, goldfinches, robins, warblers, swallows, and sparrows. During spring migration, up to 300 different species can be seen here.

below: Construction on the east side of the park. This is the Ashbridges Bay Treatment Plant Landform Project scheduled to be finished in 2025. Three shore connected breakwaters and a headland/beach system are being constructed.

signs of Covid-19

Posted: May 18, 2020 in events, reflections, stores, windows and walls
Tags: 6 feet apart, advice, be well, CEBA, covid-19, fence, homes, hope, houses, keep your rent, life is tough, nurses, posters, rainbow, signs, social distancing, stay safe, stores, sweatshirt, theatre, wash your hands, we're all in this together, windows

Signs, signs, everywhere there are signs

below: Signs for hand sanitizer, masks, and gloves

below: Signs of thanks to essential workers

below: Life is tough but so are you. I wish I could get a better view of the dancing figures in the window!

below: This too shall pass on a rainbow of colours.

below: Rainbow because it doesn’t rain forever.

below: Please Practice Social Distancing – keep those 2 metres apart!

below: Marking those 2m (6 feet) on the sidewalk

below: CEBA (Canada Emergency Business Account) won’t save us sign in the store window.

below: Keep Your Rent poster for The Annex, outside Bathurst subway station

below: Similar signs appeared in Little India (Gerrard St East)

below: But in Little India the signs were multilingual (8 languages? or more?)

below: And then a poster for what happens after you’ve kept your rent. But below that is another small notice to (exclamation marks !!) your mask is weakening your immune system. Reader beware.

below: Two posters on construction hoardings. By mistake I cut off the lowest part of the posters and in doing so, I missed line of text on the poster on the right. It says: “We’re closer now having been through this together – Love.”

below: We’re no longer holding hands, we’re now 6 feet apart. Peace.

below: At Bathurst subway station, wash your hands. It was one of many in a series of “Staying safe on public transit”

below: Eglinton Theatre, stay positive

below: Lower Ossington Theatre

Bathurst to Christie thereabouts

Posted: May 2, 2020 in alleys, construction, doors, graffiti and street art, windows and walls
Tags: alley, backyards, chalk, doors, garages, gnomes, graffiti, houses, lane, laneway, old car, paint, Perly Family Lane, picket fence, renovations, street, words

Yesterday’s meandering walk around a neighbourhood was a loop from Bathurst subway station.

below: So happy to see this pair yesterday! When I was walking down Yonge street a few days ago, they passed me and I didn’t notice until they were out of camera range.

You can’t talk about Bloor and Bathurst without mentioning the redevelopment of Mirvish Village.

below: Purple door

below: Pale blue door

below: Pink, well probably faded red, door – and yes, it became a game of how many different coloured doors could I find. It looks too small doesn’t it?

below: Dobgoblin and drawings on the greenish door.

below: Anchored vs held down?

below: Chalk heart

below: Chalkboard philosophy, I think, I can’t be certain though. Maybe the gnomes know.

below: It’s still Covid-19 time, still line-ups in the grocery store

below: The Green Beanery coffee shop at Bloor and Bathurst is now permanently closed. What I have missed most these past few weeks is discovering little coffee shops to stop at as I walk.

below: A riot of magnolia blossoms just about to be in full bloom

below: The sign has become not a running stop

below: Christie and Garnet

below: Perly Family Lane with its painted garage doors. For more pictures of the garages, see my blog post from 2016.

below: Old and new side by side

below: And nearby, short and tall

below: Small house, large yard

below: A large and impressive sycamore tree reaching up to grab the sky.

below: Basketball in the alley

below: An old Pontiac Parisienne with its rear bumper on the ground. It seems to have its own lot. Parisiennes were produced through the 1960s and 1970s ans then well into the 1980s. Would a car maker today call a car model a Parisienne?

below: A white picket fence. Is there something nostalgic or sentimental about a white picket fence? Or is that only if you’re “of a certain age”? Why did it become a symbol of middle class suburbia?

below: Keeping an eye on the street

I came across the garage belonging to Albino Carreira that I saw, and blogged about, back in 2016. He has added more shells, beads, and small objects.