Elaborate and more

Posted: November 17, 2024 in galleries
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The previous blog post featured a wall that was covered with ceramic tiles that created an image of a Tree of Life –  It is part of “Elaborate”, a group exhibition, at Harbourfront Centre’ s Gallery 235.   This blog post takes a look at some of the other art in that exhibit as well as a few more ceramic art pieces that can be seen in display in cases in the halls of the Harbourfront building.

First, in the hall, Joon Hee Kim’s wonderful busts of fanciful whimsical characters.

ceramic busts by Joon Hee Kim on display on blue and white checked background, three characters, all female, with orange hair,

ceramic busts by Joon Hee Kim on display on blue and white checked background, female, with orange hair, yeloow flowers in hair, and big rimmed glasses that match hair

ceramic busts by Joon Hee Kim on display on blue and white checked background, three characters, all female, with orange hair,

Also in the hallway, round pieces by Jess Riva Cooper where flowers bloom from mouths, noses, and ears of the central subject(s) swirling to form wreaths around them.  The series is titled “Pullulate”

below: “Helleborus viridis” 2024, 45 cm in diameter

round ceramic art, by jess riva cooper, on wall, white plaster face in center, with tulips growing from her face, the flowers make a wreath around her face

below: Some of pieces have hands in the central position, hands that rip the flowers from the ground and/or tear them apart.

round ceramic art, by jess riva cooper, on wall, white plaster pair of hands on watery blue in center, with with flowers making a wreath around the hands

below: Large droopy flowers in weird colour combinations on a table, sculptures by Julie Moon,

in an art gallery, on a table are some large ceramic droopy looking flowers, in the background is a group of people looking at another table with more ceramics on display

below: On the table in the background in the above photo are little sculptures by Lindsay Montgomery.  This is a close up of one of them.  Maybe someone spilled its cup of tea?

part of a sculpture by Lindsay Montgomery, a male character crawling towards a blue and white teapot sitting on the ground, a matching tea cup is lying on its side

Montgomery’s work is in two sections.  The above figurine is a newer piece from the series “Despairware” “which references books of demonology and iconographies of feral femininity with Staffordshire figurines from the 19th century” (from the words on the wall at the gallery).  She is also showing some of her older work here, a series called “Neo Istoriato” which re-imagines paintings  and pottery from the Renaissance.  Two examples:

double handled vase or urn, pottery, painted with many macabre figures, by Lindsay Montgomery, in an art gallery

All together in a big pot in the fiery mouth of Hell while the demons dance with glee.

close up of a painting on the side of a pottery vessel, many people inside mouth of a red cat-like creature, with frog head on top, many eyes, little demon figures play beside red head

below: Kaley Flowers, cracked and broken glass to mimic water within a frame of ceramic shells, rocks and marine forms.

small ceramic artwork hanging on a wall, center is spiral of broken glass, outer layer is shells and rocks but made of ceramics

below: Marissa Alexander, eight women hanging on the wall.  Hung up, hanging about, hanging out….

small figurine of people in different positions, hanging on a wall

And last, there are a few individual tiles by Marc Egan that are very similar to the flowers and leaves in his Tree of Life.

2 ceramic tiles mounted on a wall, in an art gallery, floral pictures

the tree of life – a ceramic version

Posted: November 16, 2024 in galleries, general Toronto
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The Tree of Life is a symbol that originated in antiquity; it appears in most religions and cultures.  Over the centuries it has been depicted in many different ways.  Here, it is shown with colourful and imaginative flowers and leaves in an image that has been constructed using large ceramic tiles by artist, Marc Egan.  The resulting artwork is 9 feet by 12 feet big.

artwork by Marc Egan, a large image of his version of the tree of life made out of ceramic tiles.

It is on display at Gallery 235 in the Harbourfront Centre,  It is part of an exhibit titled “Elaborate” that continues until 29th December 2024.

two flowers, yellow centers, white petals, on larger pale blue petals, skinny green leaves

part of a ceramic art piece by Marc Egan, imaginative flowers and leaves on a tree, black background

yellow and pink flowers, ceramic artwork

puffy foamy blue flowers in yellow green cup like leaves, ceramic artwork, tree of life, in an art gallery, other flowers that look like chocolate chip cookies,

two pink flowers that look like pink feather dusters, with long droopy skinny pink petals,

There is even a creepy crawly red and white bug!

red and white caterpillar on a branch of a tree, ceramic art by Marc Egan, tree of life, black background

bottom part of marc egan ceramic tree of life, the trunk, masses of green leaves

 

on a Scarborough pond

Posted: November 14, 2024 in nature
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One of the great things about Toronto is the network of creeks, rivers, and ravines that runs through the city.  I happened upon one of these yesterday.  A small oasis in a Scarborough neighbourhood.

below: I was very surprised to see a heron standing quietly among the trees.  I didn’t have a better lens to catch a decent photo of the bird, so this slightly fuzzy version with have to suffice.  A heron in Scarborough!  Considering how much ravine and park space there is Toronto, there is probably more wildlife living in the city than we realize.

thicket of trees, no leaves, autumn, leaves on the ground, heron standing among the trees

sunny november day in a scarborough park with trees and a bridge

an island in a pond, surrounded by tall grasses and rocks, autumn colours

below: What Toronto park doesn’t have Canada geese?

 

rocks and dirt beside creek that looks dark blue because of reflections of blue sky and tall trees beside the water, dead leaves floating in the water

small creek running through an area covered with dead brown leaves, autumn, November scene

tall grass-like plants growing beside a small creek, with lots of autumn leaves covering the ground

below: A tamarack tree, a unique tree because it is a deciduous conifer in that it has cones and needles like a conifer such as pine and spruce, but its needles turn yellow and fall off in autumn like a deciduous tree (such as oak or maple) does. Tamarack is also known as Larch.

part of a tamarack tree in November, needles turning yellow

bridge over a creek, in a park, in autumn

below: A small oak tree planted in remembrance of a person from the community.

a small oak tree in autumn, in a park, with a small plaque dedicating the tree to the memory of a member of the neighbouring community

autumn trees and dogwood shrub, no leaves, red branches and stems of dogwood

shore, autumn, grasses growing, reflections in water

backyards with large trees, fences, that back onto a park, in autumn

backyards with large trees, fences, that back onto a park, in autumn

below: One end of the park is the concrete fence in the distance – a fence that separates the park and the 401 highway.

path through park, with houses and backyards on the right, grass to the left, concrete fence separating park and 401 highway in the background

transmission tower on hydro corridor, some houses in the background

hydro right of way with tall transmission towers and a yellow no trespassing sign

doors, doors, and more doors

Posted: November 8, 2024 in doors
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Black on black on black doors

small bungalow painted all black including windows and doors, front steps are stone, not painted

red doors,

red door on a building with white trim. door is between two large windows that have been covered with turquoise

faded green doors,

faded green door in grey brick building

and multicoloured, camouflaged doors.

exterior door in a wall that is covered with abstract mural in yellow, red, blue, and green,

School doors,

a student sits on a large rock outside of Harbord Collegiate, by main door

deli doors,

Georges Deli and BBQ

and doors where you wash your clothes.

looking through the glass on a door of a laundromat, pale purple painted exterior, line of washing machines, pale turquoise walls in interior

Old grand stone doors

snowy day, black suv parked in fronto f stone building with grand entranceway, round window above door, arch above the window

new glass doors,

new glass door in a glass and steel building, under construction

and doors that work no more.

glass door in light industrial building that is vacant, glass has been covered with plywood

Doors on neat and tidy porches

yellow door with spring wreath in it, concrete steps to porch, chair on porch, large window, grey house

or behind white picket fences.

white picket fence in beside front yard, house with white trim and front door with oval window

Doors with crooked steps,

house with crooked front steps made of concrete, leading to beige door, small window on each side of door with white curtains inside

or steps overgrown,

front door of house with porch with white pillars, steps down are overgrown with plants and weeds

and, oops-a-daisy, no steps at all!

yellowish beige door in a brown brick building that is a few feet (metres) above the ground but has no steps or porch

a walk around Pape station

Posted: November 6, 2024 in construction, old buildings, stores, transportation
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Have a seat!   It’s a rather warm autumn this year, isn’t it?

a pale orange, faded, fabric covered armchair sits by the curb on a sidewalk in front of a house, fallen autumn leaves on the ground

below: A Hallowe’en spider caught in a rather thick web. It doesn’t have much to do with Pape subway station although you might feel inclined to put “scary” and “TTC” together.

big black fake spider on white, on a red shrub, front yard

Anyhow back to the main story…. Pape station is where the existing Bloor-Danforth line is going to meet the new Ontario line.

below: Do you remember when Pape station was being renovated? Now the site is a mess again.

pape subway station entrance on pape avenue, with cranes around it, for construction of Ontario Line

Pape station is a short block north of the Greektown section of Danforth.

orange and black traffic cones, and orange construction mesh fencing, outside pape subway station, for ontario line construction

below: Looking south on Pape towards Danforth

looking south on Pape from beside Pape TTC subway station

below: Across the street from the subway station

buildings on Pape across from the TTC subway station

below: See that bright white building in the picture above?  I bet that it’s not white anymore.

truck with red cab is parked beside a white building that is being painted black, person with a paint roller on a very long pole

below: My idea was to walk around the whole site. …

sidewalk in front of A & W, motorcycle parked there, sidewalk ends with orange fence because of construction, utility pole by sidewalk is wrapped in blue with Greektown Danforth written on it, also a blue and white Greektown banner on pole as well as Canadian flag

below: Looking back at the Danforth and Pape intersection, north side.  The white stone Royal Bank building stands on the northwest corner.  Behind it, the steeple and little green dome of Holy Parish church points upward.

Danforth at Pape, north side of the street, bank building on northwest corner, and A & W on the northeast corner

below: Ontario Line construction along the Danforth, northside.  Metrolinx seems to have a lot of property here.

ontario line construction on the danforth near pape

below: Any idea what this is?  What is happening here?

large yellow crane holds up an very large item, ontario line construction

below: I wasn’t the only one taking pictures!

a man on a bicycle has stopped to take a picture of the construction at pape station, on the danforth

below: Eaton Avenue runs parallel to Pape, just to the east.

Eaton Ave at Danforth, looking west, Ontario Line subway construction site

below: Northeast corner of Danforth and Eaton

northeast corner of danforth and eaton avenue, 3 storey brick building, Papa Johns pizza on ground floor, Mr. Pide restaurant (now closed), Black Pot lounge, an empty storefront and an Asian (Korean?) restaurant.

below: Eaton Ave entrance to Pape station lined with plywood hoardings.  This station isn’t that old – the update was completed in 2013.  I think that it is being retained but it is hard to tell from the Metrolinx website.  A brand new entrance is planned for the Danforth as well (and may be very large and very grand, not quite to scale with the present neighbourhood?).

Eaton Ave entrance to Pape subway station, lined by construction hoardings, plywood, Ontario Line subway construction site

below: Houses on Eaton Ave with Metrolinx construction behind them.

single family houses on Eaton Ave with construction cranes behind them, Ontario Line,

2 large orange storage tanks, wires, crane, ontario line construction site

2 large orange storage tanks, wires, crane, ontario line construction site , orange flags on overhead wires

This area has been serviced by the Bloor Danforth line since 1966.  In general, most of the residences are single family houses, often as some form of row housing.  Smaller houses with small yards seems the norm… i.e. a fairly typical East York neighbourhood.

three single family houses on eaton avenue

Muriel Avenue and Selkirk Street, residential neighbourhood near Pape subway station, single family homes and row houses

Exploring on Pape…..

below: Working on Pape, fixing a porch (or just watching)

reconstruction of a front porch

below: Addis Kidan Church, Greek Gospel Church..

Addis Kidan church on Pape Ave., red brick building with small white cross on roof

below: Tzatziki cafe with the painting above the entrance – interior restaurant scene

Tzatziki restaurant cafe on Pape, with painting above entrance

small commercial building on Pape with a TTC bus shelter in front of it

below: Mixed use – once a line of single family homes, now some are businesses.

a line of two storey family houses on Pape Ave., one is now an upholstery business

two storey duplex

Seranos bakery and food store, sign and parking lot,

below: There is also another construction site at Sammon

machinery in a construction site

wires covered with orange plastic, on a pole above a construction site

below: Looking north on Pape Ave from MacPhail.   There is another station under construction at Cosburn, a few more blocks north but that’s for another day. (Updated 22 June 2025 – there is now an Ontario Line – North Pape blog post)

looking northward on Pape

white arrow pointing right and orange pedestrian sign pointing left

I’ll end instead the way I began – with a little bit of Halloween to distract you from the constant noise of construction.

frontyard halloween decorations, zombie on swing with grey teddy bear on her lap

halloween decorations, outdoors, looks like yellow skull and arm bones are rising out of the lawn

Good morning, Bloor west from Christie

Posted: November 2, 2024 in general Toronto
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On a warmer than usual late October morning….

hear comes the sun poster in a store window on bloor west

… when the early morning sun played with the autumn leaves in Christie Pits park

trees in autumn foliage, reds, golds, and oranges, in christie pits park

painting on a cement box in christie pits park, black bird head, with text, land back to natives is justice

a man walks by a fruit and vegetable store on bloor street

Of course, late October means Halloween with pumpkins and other spooky things.

display of small pumpkins, outside in sun, at a market, orange with green bumpy bits

below: This guy hasn’t had his coffee yet!

halloween decoration in front of coffee shop, inflatable orange pumpkin with scary face, also two green arms,

As I started putting together this post, I learned that Doug Ford wants to tear up Toronto bike lanes starting with those on Bloor, Yonge, and University Ave   He has named them in his latest wannabe Toronto mayor action, namely Bill 212, Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act, 2024.

stickers and notes on door of bike shop

Ford claims that bike lanes add to the congestion on our streets (and makes his commute to work difficult).  You will note the traffic chaos here this morning! The vans on the far side are (legally) parked.  I suspect that Ford once sat in a traffic jam on Bloor and noticed that cyclists were moving faster than he was.

a female cyclist rides a bike in a bike lane on bloor street, one car is driving past, some other cars are parked across the street

man in plaid shirt riding a bike in bike lane

But I don’t want to get bogged down with politics and the antics of politicians, so I will leave you with a few scenes for Bloor West (approximately) between Christie and Lansdowne.  There is some Halloween, some stores, some construction, some people, some architecture, some of the usual stuff!  Maybe even a few things that will take your mind off politics!

below: Bloorcourt

bloorcourt sidewalk art, heart shapes around the letters, in front of a convenience store, painted by Victor

bloorcourt banner on a utility pole at dovercourt and bloor, with crane in the background, for construction on the northwest corner of that intersection

below: A little bit of history…. small tiles in the doorway of number876

floor, exterior, outside of doorway of store on bloor west, covered with small multi coloured tiles, plus green tiles making the number 876

below: Banjara parking lot payphone with its own Heritage Plaque thanks to the Toronto Sign Reimagination Unit, aka Jode Roberts.

empty small telephone booth with a plaque on top

In the summer of 2015, a coin-operated telephone was installed here, replacing three long-standing Bell payphones.  This payphone served hundreds of residents, offering a vital communication link.  To make a call, users had to insert metal coins through a slot.  However, the phone mysteriously disappeared sometime in the past year. 
The coin-operated payphone was patented by American inventor William Gray in 1891.  Its use peaked around 2005, with nearly half of Canadians reporting regular use and over 150,000 payphones across the country.  By 2015, more than two-thirds of these payphones had been removed. As of 2021, only a few hundred functioning payphones remained in Toronto.   This plaque commemorates the payphones in this parking lot and their gradual disappearance from the urban landscape. 
Heritage Plaque courtesy of the Toronto Sign Reimagination Unit, 2024

 

a woman sitting on a bench, outside, beside a small store, leaning on grey fence with sign on it saying pizza, as well as an arrow pointing right

looking in a store window, mannequin hand in front of a design on a t shirt that is a raccoon popping its head out of a garbage can, trash panda

chairs stacked in corner of patio, outside, some leaves have fallen on the chairs

below: Bloor and Brock

Pizza Pizza on the southwest corner of Bloor and Brock, also stores on the north side of Bloor,

bloor west, north side, at brock, blue collar bakery, bar neon, old laundromat, man walking past on sidewalk,

below: Part of a mural by Jimmy Chiale

part of a mural by Jimmy chiale, many shapes and colours, abstract, mostly blues, some faces,

man standing outside a door of a store

jumble of signs outside of a store

window of a business on bloor street, massage, neck and shoulder etc., red words on the glass that are starting to peel off, plant in window,

bloody no trespassing banner, as halloween decoration, in a store window display, with reflections of the street

hoardings beside construction site, along with scaffolding and protection that covers the sidewalk

below: Amazing!  He’s a cumin being! Good things!

decorations in a window display, store, paper hearts in different colours, each with one or two words like amazing, good things, , also note saying he's a cumin being.

below: Angel Mary

white statue of angel mary, praying, in a store selling beauty and hair products

below: Very large Italian flag by Vito Vesia Upholstery

large italian flag hanging against exterior wall of a building

envelope sticking out of the top of a rusty mailbox that is mounted on a blue metal gate

below: By Dufferin station

people waiting outside subway station, both women on phones, one standing beside a large suitcase

below: Bloor & Lansdowne

looking west along bloor at Lansdowne, front of TTC bus, people waiting to cross street, discount store on the northwest corner,

below: Scrawl on a TTC bus stop pole.  At first I thought that it was a biblical reference, but when I checked, I found that Daniel 5:5 is “Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote”.  I doubt that has anything to do with gullible Christian hippies, right?

graffiti writing on TTC bus stop pole that says Daniel 5.5 gullible Christian hippie

big orange cartoon face, with white cap, mural on a garage in an alley
an alley in bloorcourt, murals on garage, staircases, brick buildngs,

close up of a painting on exterior of garage in an alley, blue star with a man's face in it, front end of car with licence plate 007

mural of lighthouse on a red brick wall, bottom part has been tagged over with a lot of yellow paint

below: “Remember to Love! Go call your mom, say I love you and thanks!”

sticker graffiti on a Canada Post mailbox

graffiti stickers on the back of street signs

With thanks to Bill, Jeff, Paul, and Barry who walked with me that morning – and a shout out to the woman who said, “That’s so cute” when she learned that we were walking together.  Cute?

pedestrians crossing street, man on bicycle waiting for green light, bus stop pole, lowrise brick apartment in background

walking on sidewalk, west on bloor,

When we tried to walk the Betty Sutherland trail

Posted: October 31, 2024 in general Toronto
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The best laid plans….

Tucked away on a dead end suburban street is a little park with a monument in it.  A monument to a couple, Henry Mulholland and Jane Armstrong.

stone pillar about 6 feet high, with plaque, memorial for Henry Mulholland

Dedicated to the memory of Henry Mulholland and his wife Jane Armstrong. Pioneers of this district who emigrated from Ulster in 1806 and took out the original grant of four hundred acres from the crown. He fought in the War of 1812 and later returned to Ireland to induce further emigration. While returning was drowned in the wreck of the Lady of the Lake in the Straits of Belle Isle in 1833. Erected by the eight branches of their descendents, 1937.

The ‘Lady of the Lake’ sailed from Belfast on 8 April 1833.  She was bound for Quebec with 233 passengers aboard – mostly immigrants. On the morning of 11th May, off the coast of Newfoundland, the ship struck an iceberg.  Only a few people survived.

Jane was not with her husband on that trip, instead she was at home with her 10 surviving children, the youngest of whom, Henry Jr. was born in 1829.  Two more children later died of smallpox.

Jane and Henry were married in Co. Monaghan Ireland in 1806 so they must have emigrated as newlyweds.  Their first child, Mary Ann, was born in 1807.

The 400 acres that the couple were granted were Lots 14 and 15, Con 3 in East York (south of what is now Sheppard and east of what is now Leslie).  They built a log house on an island in the East Don River.   Fast forward a number of years, after a number of changes of ownership and many changes in the neighbourhood, Henry and Jane’s great grandson, George Stewart Henry bought the farmhouse and property at Lot 14 Con 3 (for $14,500) to bring it back into the family.

The name George S. Henry may be more familiar to some of you.  There is a high school named after him, and a whole neighbourhood, Henry Farms.

The reason that I found the Mulholland cairn?  It is located close to one of the entrances to the Betty Sutherland Trail, just north of the 401 highway.  A few years ago I walked the south end of this trail (you can read about it here: Paths to ruin and a course, 2021).  Now I wanted to walk the northern section as well.

below: An ominous sign, construction on the trail!

signs at the beginning of the Betty Sutherland Trail

below: It wasn’t long before the trail ended.  There were six signs to warn us.  The end was at the 401 highway.

Rather than retracing our steps, we went down to the river’s edge.

The East Don River flows under the 401

We headed back north instead of south. …Over a piece of the path that had washed out in the August flooding.

below: stag horn sumac

below: pear tree

below: swamp bush sumac

below: North York General Hospital in the background.

below: The East Don River flows diagonally under the Leslie Sheppard intersection.  The black and white highrise in the distance is farther north up Leslie Street.

below: Looking west along Sheppard towards railway bridge

below: Seen just outside of Leslie subway station (at Sheppard).  We didn’t see any wildlife, just a lot of traffic.

Apples on the sidewalk, north side of Sheppard…. Seems to suggest that once upon a time someone lived here and planted apples.

below: Looking east

below: Teasels

below: Chinese Crab Apple tree

Now on the East Don Trail (north of Sheppard) where there is more construction.  Also, a large number of new trees have been planted.

below: Strange artwork outside Canadian Tire, just west of Leslie

Getting back to “Best laid plans”…..   You may have noticed that these aren’t the most recent pictures (wrong season!)….  This post was written back in early September and I thought that I had uploaded it.  Ooops.  Forgot.

the waterfalls of Cottage Lane

Posted: September 2, 2024 in alleys, old buildings, public art
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In downtown Toronto there is a large waterfall mural painted on a brick wall  – because of the bricks, the painting looks a bit more like water pouring over a dam.  Still nice; still nature.

mural by b c johnson, a waterfall

Another waterfall – a longer drop of water, this time on a door.  All the murals here were painted by B. C. Johnson.  There are five or six of them on different buildings, some waterfalls, and some landscapes.

in cottage lane, a mural of a waterfall, with greenery beside it, electrical boxes on the green, with wires, and graffiti on the boxes ,

below: Here a  heron stands on a fallen tree beside the water.  A birch trees is also on the shore.  A waterfall is on the other side of the lake.

mural in cottage lane by b c johnson, a heron stands on a fallen log on a rock on shoreline, birch tree nearby, water, and a waterfall in the background

below: This building is overgrown with ivy which adds a nice touch to the scene. The door becomes a very thick tree trunk perched on a rock above the water.

on a wall by a black door, overgrown with ivy, door looks like tree trunk, also mural in cottage lane by b c johnson, a heron stands on a fallen log on a rock on shoreline, birch tree nearby, water, and a waterfall in the background

below: Surprisingly, there is no puddle at the bottom of the steps (insert big smiling emoji here).

porch at back of building, in alley, on building with lots of ivy growing on it, mural of a waterfall

porch at back of building, in alley, on building with lots of ivy growing on it, with another building across the alley with murals of waterfalls and landscapes

below: A real tree once grew here.  I don’t think that it was a beaver that cut it down.

old hollow tree trunk in lane, in front of a landscape mural and wall overgrown with ivy

boarded up window or door, exterior view, from cottage lane, now covered with part of a mural of a landscape by b c johnson

below: Where do you find Cottage Lane?  South of Bloor, west of Yonge, then follow the signs… and the road less traveled.

St. Marys street, restaurants and signs, canadian flag, street sign of cottage lane

I was not sure why it was named Cottage Lane since, to me, there isn’t much that is cottage-y here.  The answer – there are 10 rowhouses on St. Nicholas Street that were built in 1883 and although the architectural style is ‘bay and gable’, they are referred to as the cottages of St. Nicholas Street.  As you may have guesses, St. Nicholas Street backs onto this lane.

below: Looking north towards Bloor.   Buildings that face Yonge Street are on the right and those on St. Nicholas Street are on the left.

cottage lane, looking north towards bloor and new condos, back of buildings,

back of buildings in cottage lane, balconies, green trash bins, tall condos in the background,

cottage lane

purple bike with white seat cover, parked in an alley beside a small sumac tree and an old window with metal bars on it

back of buildings in cottage lane, balconies, exterior stairs, pink wall, green trash bins, car parked, brick buildings,

back of store, commercial building, alley view, door, heating and air conditioning vents, graffiti on wall, blue trash bins

graffiti on a red brick wall, a bright white ghost with red eyes and smiling mouth, yellow pipes and white plastic exhaust pipes from building

exterior brick wall, painted bright red, with many black wires in a bundle crossing it,, white graffiti happy face, other blue graffiti text lil

graffiti on red brick wall, respect dollar sign, free dollars, 2014

square street sign covered with graffiti ticker, all o them are black with gold lettering

Back in 2021, I posted some pictures from Sandown Lane (Cliffside, near Midland and Kingston Road) where there are many more paintings by B. C. Johnson.

end of summer = Ex time

Posted: August 31, 2024 in events, people
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As summer slowly winds down and August suddenly becomes September…..

Canadian National Exhibition, CNE: version 2024

riders, some upside down, midway ride
young couple sitting on a ride at the ex midway waiting for it to start

CNE midway, ride operator in red shirt, Canadian National Exhibition

midway ride, swingers, up high, round and round

a young couple on a ride at the Canadian National Exhibition midway, looking not too happy and one looks like they want to throw up

father and son sitting on a ride at the ex midway waiting for it to start

four happy women at winning a midway game

father and two sons playing miway game with trough of hundreds of yellow duckies

midway rides, upside down, spinning around

ring of fire midway ride, cne

a young woman in black shorts throws a baseball in attempt to get it to land in basket to win game on the midway

view of midway from Nunavut Dr, with CN Tower in the distance

water shooting target game at ex with motor oil theme, pennzoil, castroil, etc, lots of stuffed red lobster prizes on display

bust a balloon game at the ex, a girl is throwing a dart at the wall of balloons

an observant young girl watches an older person getting ready to thrown small orange ball at midway game

man wearing black cowboy hat is buying two cobs of corn to eat

two boys on skyline ride, cne, one is using his phone to check his hair

roller bowler midway game, large one yed monster on the roof

people in ride on midway

reflections of people and midway in a fast food stand at the ex

evening on the midway, cne, the Ex,

window of a fast food stand at the ex,Canadian National Exhibition, cotton candy

at a food stand, lemonade, at the ex, one father is buying food for his son, another father is arguing with his daughter

young couple walking down the midway, she has a cowboy hat on and a sleeveless shirt with american stars and stripes, Canadian National Exhibition

two young girls with black braids standing outside a midway ride, talking to each other, Canadian National Exhibition

people, adults, playing midway game for prizes, throwing wiffle ball onto board filled with holes

riders spinning backwards, midway ride, cne,

riders spinning backwards, midway ride, cne,

water shooting target game at the ex

two people on scrambler ride at Canadian National Exhibition, evening

young man, ride operator, standing at side by exit gate watching the crowds

CNE midway, people and rides

freakk fries food stand at the ex, with a crowd of people in front of it

food stand at the ex, cotton candy, cold drinks, sno cones two people standing outside of it, looking grumpy

people walking past a food stand called cafe, big white sign with capital letters to spell cafe

mother and daughter walking at c ne Canadian National Exhibition, with stroller full of a large stuffie prize, girl has words on t shirt that say wild heart

people playing roller bowler game where you roll a bowling ball to win a prize

people playing roller bowler game where you roll a bowling ball to win a prize

gambling, roulette, at midway, CNE, Canadian National Exhibition

two boys strapped into a ride, wide open mouths as they spin around,

spinning around and upside down on cne midway rides

a man sitting on a bench at cne midway, in front of three women who are fascinated by something that they see in the distance, Canadian National Exhibition

young girl standing up her stroller so that she can more easily see what's happening at a game on the c n e midway

cut out of the Icee Bear, in red shirt and blur pants, a white smiling bear, with people in the background, including a man trying to hug a woman, at the C N E, Canadian National Exhibition

toss a ring around a yellow rubber ducky midway game, with people behind

a man sitting on bench at CNE midway, with a person asleep on the bench beside him, lying down

boy sleeping in stroller as people walk past, at the ex

evening, silhouettes of people on the skyline ride at the ex

Other CNE posts (if you’re not overwhelmed already!)

1. Around and around we go (2022)

2. Into the night (2014)

3. Afternoon at the Ex (2022)

4. CNE (2013)

infinite games, repeating games

Posted: August 26, 2024 in galleries, public art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Infinite games, repeating games – both kinds of games can be seen in Yorkville.  For instance, we can start with the infinite…..

below: Sculpture by German artist Willy Verginer, titled “The Infinite Game”.  It’s a boy all in white kneeling on 4 dark grey teddy bears.  Meaning?

in courtyard at 80 cumberland, a statue by Italian artist Willy Verginer, a boy all dressed in white is kneeling on 4 grey teddy bears

below: The words, “Life is a Repeating Game” are a predominant part of this piece by James Verbicky.  The whole artwork is a large circle.  Circles, we go around in circles don’t we?  Plus, circles make cycles which we repeat over and over again.

artwork in a gallery window, horizontal stripes, painted in abstract, with words life is a repeating game

Yes, this post is about art.  More specifically, it is some of the works that caught my eye as I walked around the Cumberland-Yorkville area.  Some are in galleries or in their windows;  some are on the street.

below: “Hercules”, by Joe Fafard (the same artist who is responsible for the piece where Vincent Van Gogh’s head is inside a square, located on Dundas Street directly across from the Art Gallery of Ontario).  No attempts at being profound here but there is nothing wrong with whimsy.

flat metal sculpture, outline with small number of lines outlining details, of a cow, with title hercules, by sculptor joe fafard, located in front of mira goddard gallery in yorkville

below: Francisco Valverde’s riot of colours in vertical stripes in an artform that he calls Histograms.    There is an image in the background that is then covered with resin stripes of different colours.  The title of this piece is “Apricity”.

below: “Cosmic Dust” by Chinese artist Zhuang Hong Yi.  He produced this artwork by using acrylic paint on rice paper which has been mounted on canvas.  The paint is added last. .  The rice paper is folded and added to the canvas before the paint is applied.

artwork called cosmic dust, three dimensional, on wall, folded rice paper that is painted and then stuck on board or canvas

below: Three paintings, oil on board, on a gallery wall – painted by Ron Bolt.  They are images of rock formations that have been shaped by the ocean, and they are titled, Sea Carvings 1, 2 and 3.

paintings, oil on board, by Ron Bolt, on display at Loch Gallery, images of stones by the sea, abstract looking, 3 paintings side by side

below: d|azur A blue and white mural by Toronto-based artist Dahae Song on the corner of the Four Seasons Hotel.  It’s title is “d|azur”.

large artwork

below: This is “Raptor” by Nathan Mabry.  Something like ‘Toronto Raptors meet the Toronto Blue Jays’ vibes going on here.

Large blue bird, metal sculpture, title is raptor, by nathan mabry, in yorkville

below: Large black and white photographs by Deana Nastic in the windows of the Izzy Gallery

black and white photo, large, in window of izzy gallery,

black and white photo, large, in window of izzy gallery,

below: Another gallery window, another female image but that is where the similarities end!  Betty Boop and a collage of pop culture references such as The Beatles, Marilyn Munroe by Andy Warhol, bazooka chewing gum,  Pac-Man, the Starbucks logo, and more.

in a gallery window, collage art, featuring very large image of betty boop

below: Art on the streets, specifically on hoardings to hide a construction site.

artwork on hoardings and under scaffolding, beside sidewalk and around a construction site, multicoloured ovals, oriented vertically, on black background, by Peter triantos

below: Big coloured ovals on a black background, by Peter Triantos.

artwork on hoardings and under scaffolding, beside sidewalk, around construction site, multicoloured ovals, oriented vertically, on black background, by Peter triantos

artwork on hoardings and under scaffolding, beside sidewalk, around construction site, people, with lots of purple and orange tones

below: Slightly different from all the other image here, but still art in my opinion.  This image is from inside the Cumberland Terrace, a shopping center that has always struggled and is now facing demoltion (or total makeover, not sure what the plan is).  The interesting tile design on the wall was defaced by a line of Bell telephone booths. I wonder how long it’s been since someone made a call here?

tile mosaic design, interior wall of cumberland terrace, black and white stripes and a yellow and orange circle in the middle. Four phone booth mounted on wall

below: Gallery clutter.  He’s watching you watching him.  What does he see?

bookcase in a niche in a wall in an art gallery, painting above it, many small images in frames on the shelves, and a portrait of a man in front of it

I am going to end this post with three artists (from different eras and different backgrounds) who have portrayed their Canadian experiences in their paintings.

below: First is the oldest, Dutch born and European taught, Cornelius Kreighoff (1815-1872), whose “A Trip to Town” (1865), is one of his many scenes of life in what is now Quebec.   Kreighoff was a fairly prolific artist during his time in what is now Canada.  He first moved to the Montreal area about 1846.  At one point Ken Thomson (the newspaper/magazine publisher) owned about 200 paintings, many of which are now at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

painting by Cornelius Kreighoff in a fancy gold coloured frame, title is A trip to town

below: Lawren Harris (1885-1970), of the Group of Seven, painted  “House in the Ward, Winter City Painting No. 1” (Toronto) in circa 1924.   A snow covered street scene with not a car in sight! Just lovely old trees and red brick houses.

painting of a city street in winter, snow covered leafless trees, a red brick house, painting by Lawren Harris of the Group of Seven

below: And last, William Kurelek (1927-1977) “The School’s Woodpile” 1972, mixed media on board. Kurelek, son of Ukrainian immigrants, grew up on the Prairies during the Depression.

Previous posts about Yorkville Art:

1. The Yorkville-ification of Street Art.
2. A Yorkville meander with Captain Canuck

 

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