Posts Tagged ‘letters’

back on the streets again

Posted: February 16, 2017 in general Toronto, history, memorials, old buildings, people, windows and walls
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Another reason why I haven’t posted recently?  I’ve been sick.  Icky sick; can’t get out of bed sick.  This morning was the first time that I’ve walked Toronto streets in many, many days.

It was a beautiful blue sky morning but I made a mistake and stopped for coffee first.  Clouds rolled in and we were back to greyness by the end of the first mug.  Argh.   Maybe back inside for a secong mug?

In the end I’m glad I got my momentum back.  I walked streets I’ve walked many times before but I walked it with a long lens in hand.  I started searching for details that I’ve missed before as well as shots that are easier (and sneakier!) with a lens zoomed out to the max.

In no particular order….

below:  The front of Betty’s on King street.  These magnets have been here for a while now although their numbers may have magnified.  In hindsight, I should have gone over and written something like, “Hi my name is Joe and I’m the Prime Minister of Canada”.

store front, front of Bettys bar and restaurant, with grey door. Walls are magnetic and they are covered with kid's letters of the alphabet magnets.

below: The bright colours of this exposed wall caught my eye.  It’s been revealed because of the demolition of a building at Victoria and Lombard and I suspect that it will get covered up again in the near future.

a large construction site at Victoria and Lombard, one wall of a neighbouring building has been exposed that is orange and white

below: This is a closer view of the men in the photo above.  I hadn’t purposely taken their picture but I like the portrait look of the picture.  A kind of Mike Rowe’s ‘Dirty Jobs’ image comes to mind.

two men working on a construction site

below: Banner for the Pacific Junction Hotel.

banner made of flags for the Pacific Junction Hotel strung in a tree on the sidewalk

below: Drink Coca-cola

a red and white drink coca cola sign sign hangs in a window of a bar

below: Sitting together in silence.  Black and white.  Alive and not alive.
Both aren’t moving and both don’t see me.

a man sits on a bench in a small park, wintertime, a snowman is at the other end of the bench

below: I have always been intrigued by these vertical windows at St. James Cathedral, especially with the winter trees in front of them.  I’ve taken pictures here before but none have been satisfactory.  This one is certainly not perfect but the sense of scale that the woman provides is a big help.

vertical stained glass windows of St. James cathedral, from the outside in winter, a woman is walking past.

below: These two small ionic-ish columns help support an archway over the door.

a small column with an ionic like capital, embedded in a brick wall. The column looks to be supporting an arch over the doorway

below: A bit of a rant.  At one point did it become acceptable for people to be sleeping on the sidewalks?  How did we learn to walk past?  When someone walks past a person sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk, what thoughts go through their head?  Is there a solution?  Or is so normal now that we don’t consider it a problem?   This man was right in the middle, there was no easy way to avoid him, but avoid him we did.

people walk by on the sidewalk as a homeless man sleeps under blankets on the corner.

below: Trying to cross King Street.

a man in a red jacket is waking two dogs, waiting to cross King Street, with St. James in the background. traffic, and parked cars too.

below: An exposed support beam, two wood planks on end sandwiched between steel I beams.

on an exterior brick wall, the end of a support beam is visible. the beam consists of a wood beam on end between two steel I beams

below:  High on a brick wall he suffers in anguish as the pigeons keep pooping on him.

carved stone piece high on a brickwall, exterior of a building, relief sculpture of a man's face with his hair made to look like long leaves that surround his face

below: A bit of a cliche.  Walking the dogs in the park on a winter day.

a woman walks three dogs on the path through St. James Park on a winter day, snow, no leaves, some buildings in the distance

below: The Christmas lights are still wrapped around the trees in St. James Park.

a string of red LED Christmas lights is wrapped around the trunk of a tree

below: Two mis-matched windows side by side.  Old brick, rusty metal.

an old brick building with two windows.

below: Above 10 Toronto Street is this royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom.   The unicorn represents Scotland and in the royal coat of arms for Scotland, the lion and the unicorn are reversed.  You’ll also noticed that the unicorn is chained.  Apparently this is because in legend, the unicorn is a dangerous beast.   I’m not sure what this says about Scotland!  The words on the banner below the lion and the unicorn say “Dieu et Mon Droit” (= God and My Right).  The words around the middle circle say “Honi soit qui mal y pense”.   This is the motto of the Order of the Garter and it translates to ‘shame upon him who thinks evil of it’.

sculpture of a coat off arms above 10 Toronto Street, a lion and unicorn and a motto in Latin.

below:  This is the building that used to house Starbucks on King Street near George Brown College.  Many months (more than a year) ago there was a fire in the building and Starbucks closed down.  The windows and doors were boarded up and then nothing happened.   That looks like the makings of scaffolding lying on the sidewalk so maybe some renovation work is about to begin.

a man walks past a boarded up doorway

below: A ghost building outline.

The ghost outline of a building, in white, on a black brick wall. Tree branches without leaves hang in front of the wall.

below: An octopus runs up the stairs. Or would it slither?

a blue drawing of an octopus on the second storey exterior wall, beside a metal stair case (fire escape?)

below: Passing by the five faceless naked men who silently and stoically watch over the intersection of Queen and Victoria.  A sculpture “Full Circle” by Peter von Tiesenhausen.

wood sculpture of naked men in a circle with their backs inward, at Queen and Victoria streets, two men walking past the sculpture

below: I also met James Beaty this morning.  He too stands silently but he is tucked away in a dull and quiet corner so he doesn’t get much to look at.   The original James Beaty was born in Ireland 1798 and came to Canada as young man.   He was a leather merchant, he established the newspaper ‘Toronto Leader’ in 1852,  and in 1867 he became a federal politician.

a black bronze statue of James Beaty, standing with a folded newspaper under his arm, about life sized,

below: Any idea what this might be?  Dancing figure?

small black and white stencil

below: It was a puddle jumping, slushy kind of day.  I’m sure that there are lots more of those ahead!

reflections of trees in a puddle on a path that has snow and ice on it was well

below:  There are always more paths to walk and more chances to see what’s around around the next corner and through the gate!

looking down a driveway that passes under a very high square arch to the street beyond. Cars are parked on the street and a pedestrian walks by

 

mademoiselle alley

Posted: September 16, 2016 in graffiti and street art
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On a hydro pole in Graffiti Alley, facing more to the nearest wall than to the alley, I discovered an intriguing collage. It was made of a series of pictures, old-style coloured pictures of women who look like they’d be more comfortable in the 1940’s and 1950’s….they’re straight out of vintage magazines.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman with short brown hair and a red v neck dress, from the waist up, eyes closed, face looking slightly downwards, on paper on a pole in a lane.

below:  A signature on the bottom of the artwork, Mademoiselle Berthelot.  She’s a street artist from Paris who recently left her mark in Toronto.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman, back of head mostly, flowers woven into her hair, signature of the artist, mademoiselle berthelot

Stylish women, like this one with long white gloves, surrounded by circles (bubbles?).  Circles made with splotches of paint and blue striped circles made with rubber stamps.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman in a low cut scoop neck dress, hands on her hips

If you look closely, there are pairs of birds sitting together on top of sealed envelopes.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman's head, mostly only the back showing, some small flowers braided into her hair.

an old fashioned type drawing in colour of a woman in a low cut yellow dress
So far, this is the only piece I’ve seen by Mademoiselle Berthelot.  Are there more in Toronto?

 

along the south wall

Posted: November 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Back in the spring I posted pictures of the murals that were painted on the north side of the railway underpass on Bloor Street just east of Dundas Street. Since then, the walls on the south side have also been painted.  Both walls were Wallnoize projects.

part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - looking along the wall
mural of an eagle with wings spread and talons out. A red rose at the top of the mural too. Painted by moveslow (@moveslow)
part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - a water serpent, or an eel, with big teeth is after a smaller black fish

looking across the street at a mural painted on the side wall of an underpass. Bright, multicoloured, curved lines and shapes. The entrance to the west toronto railpath is also in the picture

part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - a hand in black and white passing a can of pink spray paint to another, similar to Michaelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West as seen from across the street, a man is walking past

part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - also painted on the sides of the stairwell that access the path that crosses over the bridge

part of a larger mural painted on the side of an underpass - an octopus painted beside some stairs, made to look like it's climbing down the stairs.

street art painting on an underpass wall. Large geometrics in dark red and blue, with a gold inverted pyramid shape

orange metal railway bridge over bloor street west, with the words West Toronto Railpath written on it in white lettes. A sidewalk runs under the bridge as well as the street. Along the side of the underpass there is a lot of street art

street art along the side of an underpass as seen from across the road. bridge is visible

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West

part of a larger painting on an underpass wall, eyes looking out, surrounded by many colours and shapes

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West as seen from across the street,

street art on an underpass wall by kizmet32, pink and purple on blue

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West

part of a large collection of street art paintings on a wall of a railway underpass on Bloor St. West as seen from across the street,

street art painting on a wall based around the letter t, lower case

wall of street art beside a sidewalk. Tall chain link fence above the wall and a brick school building behind the fence

What is Victor up to?

Posted: August 25, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Apparently Victor has been painting the alphabet, one letter at a time, on the sidewalk along Danforth Ave.  The letter A is near Eaton Ave (just east of Pape) and the letter Z is in front of De Serres art supply store (just west of Woodbine).   The letter O seems to be bigger than the others; it is in front of The Only Cafe near Donlands.

  Here is a sample:

The letter B is painted on a sidewalk in black, with blue, gree, yellow and swirls like ribbons wrapped loosely around the letter

The letter E is painted on a sidewalk in black, with blue, gree, yellow and swirls like ribbons wrapped loosely around the letter

The letters J and K are painted on a sidewalk in black, with blue, green, yellow and swirls like ribbons wrapped loosely around the letter

The letter O is painted on a sidewalk in black, with blue, green, yellow and swirls like ribbons wrapped loosely around the letter

The letter Z is painted on a sidewalk in black, with blue, green, yellow and swirls like ribbons wrapped loosely around the letter

Shortly after I took the above photos on Danforth Ave., I went downtown where I stumbled upon another of Victor’s creations.  I think it’s on Spadina Ave.

A painting on a sidewalk, A large rectangle has been made into the top part of a face, round nose at the bottom of the long side of the rectangle

below:  (added 28 Aug) I saw this hummingbird on the sidewalk on Queen West in Parkdale yesterday.

A painting on a sidewalk of a hummingbird done in Inuit style in blue and white, also some flowers, all enclosed in a green circle.

If you spent any time around Richmond and Spadina a few years ago, you might remember the yellow tape measure on the northwest corner of that intersection.  That was Victor’s work too.   Also on that corner is a “sculpture” of a thimble and a couple of buttons; the tape measure seem appropriate.  In fact, many of us thought that it was part of the art installation.  We learned otherwise when the paint was removed by the city, leaving only the shorter, unpainted tape measure that is etched into the concrete of the sidewalk.   Here is a link to a Toronto Star article written in November 2014 about the “cleaning up” of the tape measure.

Part of a yellow tape measure that has been painted on a sidewalk in Toronto

#whatisvictorupto

from Portland to Spadina

Posted: July 4, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Another walk down Graffiti Alley between Portland and Spadina.
Some new and some not so new.

uber 5000 birdie in a little space ship with a beam of light eminating from the bottom, on a red brick wall

tags and letter graffiti in blues and purples on an alley wall, with a few people walking down the alley as well

tag in reds, oranges and yellows, on green, with dark blue background

close up of a street art painting that now looks abstract, black lines on green, pink and beige
  below: Catching a glimpse of what goes on in it’s head
double doors painted in a pink, orange and red face (large face), the doors are slightly open so there is now a gap down the middle of the nose and mouth

a black and white poser bunny on a wall at the corner, around the corner is a painted arrow that is part of a graffiti painting

graffiti in an alley - 4 stickers on a metal pole. Knuts on the top, a woman in profile with the word think next, black and white drawing third and on the bottom is a green on white line drawing of a man's face

below: Batman descends on the city

A young man is spray painting part of a batman mural. The figure of batman is completed and is about 4 meters tall. A city scene is being added in the bottom corner

below: This photo was taken about 2 weeks before. The graffiti KURST and the lettering below it have been painted over. Batman has taken its place.

tags in an alley

A large bird head street art painting covers the end of a building in a lane

A white graffiti skull with the words belleding heart written underneath

a wall of a building in an alley, including the door, is cover with a red tag, a small uber 5000 bird and the remains of a greenish coloured tag.

A stylized greenish brown bull with horns is smoking a cigarette, only the head is shown. It is on a wall and beside it is a door that had a woman's face painted on it. The face has been tagged over. Dis jnt is written across the top of the door. disjoint perhaps.

  below: Dazed and confused

tag in silver and black with pink and orange highlights on a grey metal door

tags on a black wall in an alley. Between them is the word doh

messy tags and scribbles on and around a door in an alley

small graffiti piece of a giraffe standing on the ground, on concrete, in an alley

below: Insane portrait of a woman

woman's face in profile painted on a wall in an alley

  below: Another portrait of a woman, this one by Kairo

Woman's face painted by Kairo in an alley, blue background

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  below: Making lemonade

graffiti picture of a lemon wearing sunglasses and a sun hat and holding a glass of lemonade

below: This takes the place of the mural that had “I love sandwiches” that was there for quite a while (a couple of years?).  The frame with the little figures cut into it remains.

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street art painting of a dog foaming at the mouth, mad dog

Woman taking picture on a smartphone, standing beside a street art piece of a man with earphones plugged into

pieboy graffiti, large green one eyed monster

below: Poser bunnies on a garage door

poser bunny street art on a garage door

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walking the Milky Way

Posted: October 1, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The Milky Way  from Dufferin to Elm Grove.

Once upon a time this alley led to a dairy.  Story has it that milk was often spilt along the way.

graffiti picture on a brick wall of a horse's head, a wagon wheel and spilt milk pouring from a large container.

At the west end of the Milky Way is a mural of two horses (one shown here), a wagon wheel, and an overturned milk can.

 

There is also quite a bit of graffiti in the alley.

a line of graffiti little green guys that look sort of like aliens with stick arms and legs and big black eyes.

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large pink graffiti tag letters on either side of a black door in an alley
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Large orange and yellow graffiti letters that say It's Like A Jungle Sometimes. There is a door on the right side and on the door is a large black and white picture of a woman from the waist up. She is bare chested with little pink hearts covering her nipples.

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Large bright orange and blue tag on a wood fence

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close up of a stencil graffiti of 2 cherries. Beside the cherries is the letter R in blue. Both are on concrete with a crack in it

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Three large pinkish alien like creatures on a corrugated metal fence. Some ivy is hanging over the fence

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Graffiti on a wall with a window in the corner. The picture is of a person singing into a microphone. The words I want your skulls are above the person's head.

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graffiti face between two colourful tags. Part of a window is the picture and there is a small Eiffel Tower on the window sill. .

Graffiti fishes and shark swimming on a wall. Some weeds are growing up in front of them them and it looks like seaweed. Two old Vote Spud signs are on a railing in this picture as well.
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A silly face with big teeth with the word crush under it, graffiti on a wall in the alley. Green garbage bins in front of the wall.

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mural on a wall of a young woman with a large blue scarf handing money to a cartoon rabbit

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pink, brown, and light blue tag on a wall.

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Ghost Dick are the words in the graffiti and they are accompanied by a white drawing of a ghost walking to the left with it's arms in front

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A corrugated metal wall that is partially obscured by vines. Under the vines is a green graffiti tag. There is also a door in the wall with the number 55 on it. It is someone's home. There is also a mailbox.

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An old wood & glass door that has been painted over with graffiti. A green and white sign saying Entrance is above the door. Graffiti is on both sides of the door.

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Part of a street art painting in blues and purples. It looks very geometric in design. Some weeds are growing up in front of it.

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wispy space alien with a blue substance coming from its body and spreading into a purple and red tag

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Bau Xi Gallery

Posted: August 9, 2014 in galleries
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Bau Xi Gallery on Dundas West, across the street from the AGO, is one of my favorite galleries.  The artwork that they exhibit is always eclectic and usually interesting.

Two that caught my eye today were by Bratsa Bonifacho.

a very colourful painting that looks like a mosaic of diffferent coloured letters on different coloured squares and rectangles.

painting entitled “The Green Zone”

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Painting of letters upside down and rightside up in greys and blues.

close up of part of “Ad Rerendum”. The painting is about the size as the one above

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gallery website:  www.bau-xi.com