Posts Tagged ‘love’

lazing on a sunny afternoon

Posted: May 19, 2016 in people, public art
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Spring is in the air. 

the word love is written in lights in capital letters in a window of a store. Reflected in the window is a group of older people sitting on benches across from the window

A young man is lying on a bench in the Toronto peace garden, the words of which are written beside him, metal inlay in the stone on the ground.

people sitting and standing in an alley, one man is on his cellphone, tall buildings on either side of the lane as well as at the end of the lane

A woman in black high heel shoes is sitting on a low stone wall outside. You can only see her from the thigh down. He legs are crossed at the ankle.

three people sitting outside, two men who are talking together and a woman who is sitting on her own, they are in a square and are surrounded by tall glass buildings, half in shadow and half in light

a young man is lying in the the O of the Toronto 3D sign. The O is orange, you can't see the man's face but you can see one red shoe and his light coloured pant leg.

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people sitting on benches amongst the tulips and birch trees of the peace garden at Nathan Phillips Square

Two people sitting at the base of Henry Moore's 'Archer' sculpture at Nathan Phillips Square. One man is eating and the other is reading.

I’ll be lazing on a sunny
lazing on a sunny
lazing on a sunny afternoon.
(with apologies to Queen)

Love or Love

Posted: November 21, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art
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I drove the back streets to Yorkdale yesterday.  It’s not something that I normally do; in fact I can’t remember the last time I drove those streets.   But I’m glad I did because I found another mural painted on an underpass.  Four sections of concrete wall,  four words in bright colours – Love, Home, Limitless, Heights.

part of a mural on an underpass. There are four parts to the mural and each part is word painted in large capital letters in many colours - the word love, actually it is love or love

Home – just to the right of the word ‘home’ was a large heart that unfortunately I missed when I took the next photo.  There was also a sign describing the story behind the mural.

This community mural was painted by youth from the neighbourhood, Rocco Ursino, Salim Yislam, Michelle Collin, Jaden Beckford, Tamika Smart, and Hassan Mohamed under the mentorship of Sean Martindale and Joshua Barndt.  Apparently it was inspired by a popular local expression “Love or Love” and tries to convey compassion, hopefulness and determination.  Needed sentiments as this neighbourhood undergoes major changes and revitalization.

part of a mural on an underpass. There are four parts to the mural and each part is word painted in large capital letters in many colours - the word home

This 2012 project was produced by Art Starts in partnership with Toronto Community Housing and office of councillor Josh Colle. Funding was provided by StreetARToronto and TCH.

part of a mural on an underpass. There are four parts to the mural and each part is word painted in large capital letters in many colours - the word limitless

The mural is on Ranee Avenue as it passes under the Allen Expressway.  It is also right by the south entrance to Yorkdale subway station.

part of a mural on an underpass. There are four parts to the mural and each part is word painted in large capital letters in many colours - the word heights, with the south end of Yorkdale subway station in the picture

When I parked my car I saw this telephone pole – Shoot for the stars.  Great advice!

Telephone pole with the bottom metre and a half painted blue with some yellow stars and the words Shoot for the stars.

And because one thing  always leads to another, I was parked on Flemington Road beside this – the remains of Zachary Court.

A small street with some mature trees growing beside it. There are a few rowhouses but the windows and doors are all boarded up.

The street is fenced off and the houses are empty.  Some of the windows are missing but most are boarded up.  This must be the neighbourhood redevelopment referred to in the description of the mural, or at least part of it.

rowhouses boarded up and fenced off in preparation for demolition

An old sign for community notices that is now empty because the area is fenced off for demolition

The end house in a row house complex has been started to be demolished.

There was another telephone pole with a happy picture painted on it but looking a little worn.

A telephone pole that has been painted on the bottom few feet. A bright blue sky with a cloud and a few birds flying, green grass and a couple of yellow flowers standing tall

There are two development proposal signs posted on Ranee Avenue that pertain to this area.  One of them is for a seven unit, three storey townhouse development on Ranee Avenue itself.  The other is for the demolition and replacement of 233 social housing units as well as the construction of 824 market value units serviced by a new public street.  The latter development involves a number of streets besides Zachary Court on both sides of the Allen Expressway (Zachary Court backs onto the west side of the Allen).

 

Rubiks cubes and crayons

Posted: August 6, 2015 in galleries
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The art of CubeWorks
now showing at Art/Exp gallery in the Distillery District

 CubeWorks is a group of artists that use unconventional materials to create images.  They are known for the art that they create using Rubik’s cubes but they also use crayons, lego blocks, records, dice, guitar picks, spools of thread, and other mixed media. The pictures below are just a sample.

below: A copy of ‘The Creation of Adam’ that Michaelangelo painted on the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel ceiling in the early 1500’s.  This image is made with 12,090 hand twisted Rubik’s cubes.

A copy of Michaelangelo's painting on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, The Creation of Adam where God is giving life to man with the meeting of finger tips.

below: On a smaller scale, Space Invaders made with 20 cubes.

Little green space invaders from the old video game made of Rubiks cubes, green space invaders on blue background.

below: Artworks made of crayons, LOVE and a smoking gun.
Each square is 12″ x 12″ and contains just over 1000 crayons.

An image of the famous LOVE red letters in a black and blue square, this one is made of red, black and blue crayons on end.

An image of a smoking revolver that is pointed at the viewer. It is made from 9 squares and each square is filled with crayons on their ends. The background is red crayons, the smoke is yellow crayons.

An image of a smoking revolver that is pointed at the viewer. It is made from 9 squares and each square is filled with crayons on their ends. The background is red crayons, the smoke is yellow crayons. A close up of some of the squares to show the crayons more clearly.

below:  The Joker’s face, made with spools of thread, hangs from the ceiling.

An image of the Joker's face made with spools of thread hangs from the ceiling.

below: Images made with old broken record albums, Amy Winehouse and Jim Morrison

image of Amy Winehouse made from broken records on a background that is a collage of newpaper pieces.

image of Jim Morrison, the guitar player from Doors, his head with facial features painted in black but his hair is made with broken records.

Gallery sign on the exterior of a brick building, square sign with purplish background. Art Exp is the name of the gallery

More information on CubeWorks

 

lovebot, grominator and those in between

Posted: May 24, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Lovebot and Grominator seem to have developed a friendship.
They have begun appearing in public together.

A graffiti painting on a white garage door, a yellow lovebot with red heart and a red face grominator with blue eyes and blue mouth and teeth
Lovebot seems to have had an influence on Grominator.

A grominator figure wheatpaste, black drawing on white, including body, arms and stubby little legs. He has 3 lovebot hearts, 2 1/2 are red

on Queen St. West near Dufferin

But they can still be found on their own, all over town.

A wheatpaste lovebot of hearts playing card way up high on a wall

a yellow grominator graffiti painting, yellow with black and white bulging eyes

on Brock Ave., near Dundas West

 

A large lovebot on a brick wall on Dundas West. Included is a circuit drawing (electrical) around him.

at 1505 Dundas West

 

a very large lovebot painted on a wall. He is close to two storeys tall.

on Brock Ave., near Dundas West

A large lovebot on a concrete support under a bridge by a river

on the Humber River

 

A No parking sign on a very red wall. Sign says "authorized parking only" and someone has put 2 lovebot stickers on it.

 We’ll keep an eye open for other lovebot and grominator sightings!

Parma Court

Posted: December 8, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Amnesty International Toronto Organization is a group that works in the to raise public awareness of human rights issues. One of the projects that it supports is ‘Project: Urban Canvas’.  This project involves 30 murals.   One mural for each of the articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a United Nations

Urban Canvas was begun in 2008 which was the 60th anniversary of the UDHR. Not all of the murals are complete yet.  Two of those that are finished are located on Parma Court near Victoria Park and O’Connor.

One celebrates Article 19 which states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

A large mural on a red brick building, painted to celebrate the United Nations Universal Declaration of HUman Rights. This one includes the words strength, love, respect, unity. It shows a 5 people engaged in various activities. painted by Michael Reyes as well as  Fozi, Humera, and Sabeehah

part of a mural showing a boy and girl holding hands as they run. Also, in the top right corner is a black man with a microphone. The words 'love' and 'freedom' are also written on the mural.

Part of a mural showing a black man's face. The words strength and respect are written there. Also 4 white stars, and the words "hoping after the stress everything is okay."

The words say “hoping after the stress everything is okay.”

 

The other mural celebrates Article 3 of the UDHR. 
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”

mural illustrating article 3, it shows people

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website for Amnesty International Toronto Organization Urban Canvas project

This project is also supported by the Working Women Community Centre,  the United Way, and the city of Toronto.

 Other murals in this project on this blog:

lovebot invasion

Posted: December 4, 2014 in graffiti and street art
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Lovebot, the robot, can be spotted all over the city!

These are just a few of the places that I have seen him.

A very large lovebot on a brick wall. He looks like he is walking away from a restaurant patio with its black round tables and bright orange chairs.

Walking away from the table, on Queen St. West.

 

Lovebot on a red brick wall with his arms out stretched as he releases a box into the air. The box is being lifted upwards by balloons.

Releasing love with balloons, between Brigden Place and Queen St. East.

 

lovebot playing card on a wall. In front of it are some orange and black traffic cones along with an orange construction sign on its side.

Seemingly stuck behind construction on Church St.

 

Lovebot now looks like he's been made into the king of hearts on a playingcard. On a brick wall.

A more evolved king of hearts lovebot. This one is near Bathurst subway station.  There is an identical card on Mill St., just west of Trinity.

 

small concrete lovebot standing in a small patch of garden behind a low black wood fence.

3D lovebot behind a fence on Church St.  Seen just before Hallowe’en, hence the chains and “spider webs”.

 

Lovebot in the shape of an old gameboy, up on a brick wall, with tags below him.

Gameboy lovebot.

 

Wheatpaste lovebot up high on a concrete wall. There are some black and white tags below him.

On a wall seen from Queen St. East, south side, between Ontario and Sherbourne streets.

 

A lovebot on a red brick wall. A small white oval shaped figure is with him.

Near Harbord and Bathurst.  This lovebot looks like he’s ready to take on a construction crew.

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A small concrete lovebot stands in the doorway of a childrens book store called Mabels Fables.

A lovebot lives outside of Mabels Fables on Mt. Pleasant.

for more information – Lovebot website

Tower Automotive building

Posted: November 17, 2014 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The Tower Automotive building is on Sterling Ave. in the Junction.  This ten storey building was built in the 1920s.  Tower Automotive went bankrupt in 2005 and the building has been empty ever since.  A number of years ago there was talk of turning it into studio space but for a temporary art installation or two, nothing has been done with this heritage building.

 

Chainlink fence in front of the building.

A chainlink fence surrounds the north part of the site.

….. but part of the fence was down and nobody was working on the site, so in we went.

Some of the graffiti on the west side of the building: 

graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - looking along the side of the building, the head of the reclining woman is in the foreground. Construction equipment is also in the picture.

graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - the backside of a naked woman who is lying on the ground. Much larger than lifesize, painted by Jarus.

graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - a large light blue face with tags on either side of it.

graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - the words cant hold me back are written in black on top of yellow and turquoise.
graffiti on the back of the Tower Automotive building, a tall brick building - a woman with purple hair wearing a brown and red hat. She is holding a blue watering can. She has an anchor tattoo on her upper arm.

moving around the building

On a concrete telephone pole, a black and white drawing of a man's head. The word Others is coming out of his mouth.

on the east side of the building

wall of a building with a wheatpaste lovebot and a standard city of Toronto development proposal sign. Some tags are also on the building.

The sign says “Draft of Subdivision Proposal, 158 Sterling Rd. – Castlepoint Studio Partners Limited has made an application to subdivide the property at 158 Sterling Road into 7 blocks in order to create a mixed use development that will have building heights ranging between 2 – 17 storeys.

a large gameboy lovebot on the side of a concrete wall.
lovebot and an anser black, white and grey face on a conrete wall.
a tag over old graffiti
blue construction fence is in focus in the foreground with a construction site behind it. A tall brick building stands in the construction site.

summer days

Posted: September 2, 2014 in general Toronto
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The day after Labour Day, the official end of summer get back to school day.

So here are a few photos of the lazy hazy days of this summer past…..

two sisters are hugging while having their picture taken in front of a large wire mesh heart. The word LOVE is spelled in large wire mesh letters. People have locked padlocks onto the wires.

summer love, in the Distillery District

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Looking down at a man who is sitting on his balcony and reading a book. Across the street is an open hole where a new condo is being constructed

‘On a Toronto balcony’… or, ‘Looking out my window’

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A boy dress in shorts and holding a plastic bucket is watching a group of men and women practise a performance that includes long bamboo poles.

Watching performers practise at Kultura, the Filipino Arts Festival, Wychwood Barns.

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A path leads through a garden, there is a group of people sitting in the park. The CN Tower is in the distance.

Hanging out at the Music Garden, on the waterfront.

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yogathon

Posted: August 17, 2014 in events
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Yogathon, Dundas Square, 16 August

 

Group of people at 2014 yogathon, Dundas Square

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The first yogathon was held in Toronto a few years ago.
Today’s was the 3rd annual yogathon and it has spread to 46 cities in 12 countries.

Group of people at 2014 yogathon, Dundas Square

During one of the short breaks between sun salutations.

The goal?  108 Sun Salutations.  Variations were introduced to keep it interesting. 

Group of people at 2014 yogathon, Dundas Square

Try yoga while holding hands!

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 Money raised goes to Care for Children who work with youth in rural India.

A woman talks the group at the yogathon through their yoga postures, positions and sun salutations.

Instructors took turns leading the group through their salutations.

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Happiness, Hope, Peace, Trust, Love and Balance.

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Family time too....

Family time too….

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Group of people at 2014 yogathon, Dundas Square

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Group of people at 2014 yogathon, Dundas Square

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Group of people at Dundas Square doing yoga postures as part of a yogathon. A young girl sits in a stroller with a Starbucks cup in her hand. She is watching the yoga (but smiling at the camera)

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Two women are sitting on the ground and talking to each other. Their backs are to the camera. On the back of their Tshirts are the words 'no one ever drowned in their own sweat'.

No one ever drowned in their own sweat – great T-shirts!

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I was curious as to the meaning of JAIGURUDEV as written in chalk in the above picture. So I looked it up and this is one explanation that I found.  It may not be the only interpretation but I liked it……

 “You know there is a Big Mind and a small mind. Sometimes the Big Mind wins over the small mind and sometimes it is the other way around.

 When the small mind wins over, it is misery and when the Big Mind wins, it is joy.

 Small mind promises joy and leaves your hand empty. Big Mind may bring resistance in the beginning but fills you with joy.

 The word Guru means great. Jaya means victory. Deva means one who is fun-loving, playful, light. One who is playful is often not dignified and when one is dignified, he is often not playful.

Jai Guru Dev is victory to the Big Mind in you that is both dignified and playful. That is what Jai Guru Dev means: “Victory to the Greatness in you.”

You do not say victory or hail to the Master as he has won over already. You say victory to your own Self, your own Mind, which is being veiled by the small mind.”

from: Guru Vaani at guruvaani.wordpress.com

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