Posts Tagged ‘Queen St. East’

New Dawn collaboration

Posted: August 16, 2022 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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New Dawn is the name given to the latest laneway street art mural painting project. It is a celebration of the 10th anniversary of StreetARToronto.

The alley runs parallel to Queen Street East just west of Ossington; it crosses Brookfield and Fennings streets.

mural part of new dawn project, painting by Nick Sweetman standing on a ladder as he paints bees on the top part of the mural

Nick Sweetman painting bees at the top of the mural.

part of a mural, section painted by Meagan Kehoe, of a woman's head, in the shadows,

The largest mural of the project is a collaboration between five artists: Meagan Kehoe, Kreecha, Bacon, Sight, and Nick Sweetman.

contributions by bacon, a flower, and kreecha, calligraphy designs in white and gold, on a mural

mural, part of, a large cat's head in silver and gold with long whiskers and a gold coloured eye

mural part of new dawn project, painting by Nick Sweetman

on hoardings, Queen Street East

Posted: May 3, 2022 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The construction hoardings on  the south side of Queen Street East between Broadview and the Don River were painted back in the fall of 2021.

below: At the east end, a dear with a rack of antlers beside a young woman in a bright and cheerful orange head scarf.

mural on construction hoardings, Queen Street East

below:  A face by Philip Saunders.

face by Philip Saunders, painting, hoardings,

below: Elicser people

painting by elicser, part of a large painting on hoardings

below: Yellow tea (or coffee?) pot with citrus fruit,  still life by steam reflected on a shiny metal plate.

painting on hoardings by steam , yellow tea pot on a plate with a line and a cut lemon

below:  Closer up of the pinkish eye of a white rabbit

part of a mural on hoardings, close up of an eye of a white rabbit sitting beside a pink flower

below: A large brown turtle slowly ambles by

mural of large brown turtle on yellow grass, mural on hoardings

below: A pigeon never looked so majestic!

pigeon, painting, mural on hoardings,

below: A moth is attracted by the lights of traffic by the Queen Street East bridge

large orange moth on a dark blue and purple sky, mural on hoardings

below: Luvs almost makes this little raccoon look cute!

face of a small raccoon, trash panda, in a mural on hoardings, painted by luvs

another day, another demolition

Posted: September 21, 2021 in construction, locations
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McDonalds drive-thru with demolition…. yes, I’ll have fries with that.

Mcdonalds drive thru lanes with a black car, in front of two apartment buildings now empty and getting ready to be demolished

The demolition hasn’t really started yet but the buildings are empty and the grounds interiors are being cleared out.

blue construction fence around a pile of rubble outside of an apartment building getting ready to be demolished, old concrete, twisted metal, red bike,

empty apartment building at 1555 Queen East

pile of rubble outside of an apartment building getting ready to be demolished, old concrete, twisted metal,

below: Sidewalk along Eastern Avenue, looking east towards Lower Coxwell

sidewalk along Eastern Avenue, green grassy boulevard, empty apartment buildings behind chainlink fence

below: At Lower Coxwell and Eastern there is a gap in the old fence and overgrown bushes that leads to what once was a parking lot. The building in the background is one the ones being torn down.

path through old rusty fence and overgrown hedge to vacant lot that used to be a parking lot, empty building in the background

below: There are some cool old parking meters still standing

a pair of old coin fed parking meters still standing on their metal pole in an abandoned parking lot

below: The old parking lot is behind a row of businesses on Queen East

beind the buildings on the south side of Queen East, near Coxwell, Subway, Canadian Dry Cleaners,

below: Looking northeast towards Queen East and Coxwell

view from a vacant lot at Lower Coxwell and Eastern, looking northeast towards Coxwell and Queen East intersection

brick apartment building with balconies, empty, some broken windows, some white debris in a pile in front, blue construction fence

yellow arches mcdonalds sign pointing to drive thru, open 24 hours, in the background, 2 brick apartment buildings that are empty. blue construction fence between, buildings are about to be demolished

late in the day, Queen East

Posted: April 28, 2021 in events, graffiti and street art, locations, public art, windows and walls
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street art mural on the side of a building beside a car wash. Car wash has bright turquoise wall with lots of garbage bins lined up along side it.

below: “88 Keys of Light”, a collaboration between Edward Platero and Kristyn Watterworth
upright painted piano sits on the sidewalk, five guitars on top if it

below: Southeast corner, Queen St East and Woodbine Ave

southeast corner of Woodbine and Queen St East, three storey brick building with stores on ground level, people waiting at traffic light,

from across the street, mural of a woman on a sofa reading a book, mural, covers window of an empty store, a woman in a red coat is walking past, the store to the right is for lease, the store to the left is a variety store with a blue and yellow sign,

small white house with blue trim and a yellow awning over the front door, white fence around the front yard, empty lot beside it with white tarp covering chainlink fence around the yard

below: A cheerful dalmatian stands outside Firehall 227

fire hydrant in front of a fire station 227 painted like a dalmation dog, white with black spots, a red hat with number 227 on its head, and a big smile on its face

below: Mural, “Greetings from the Beach” by Elise Goodhoofd

mural, Greetings from the Beaches by Elise Goodhoofd

a person sits on a bench in front of the Sunrise Grill on Queen East

below: A Lovebot sticker

pink lovebot sticker, with a blue heart, on the back of a stop sign, historic woodbine beach street sign for Queen Street East as well

below: Don’t tell her that her head is empty.

in a store window, florist, planter in the shape of a woman's head, also metal round trays of succulents

below: Another Starbucks gone.

empty storefront, with ghost Starbucks coffee sign across the front

below: faded to yellow

in a store window, fake licence plates with Canadian flags that have faded to yellow and white

below: Another Luminosity installation, “Headlights”, by Collective Memory aka Robert McKaye and Stoyan Barakov

Luminosity public art installation of 6 mannequins with lampshades for heads

below: About an hour later….

Luminosity art installation of mannequins with lampshades for heads. night time, so dark outside, lights turned on inside shades

below: Mural by John Kuna painted in 2019. It replaced an earlier mural (2007, by Rudolf Stussi) that had deteriorated.

mural on Queen Street East, side of Foodland grocery store, scenes from the beach - a couple dancing by an outdoor pavillion, an Asian family having a picnic in the park, young adults playing beach volleyball, Leuty lighthouse, fireworks in the distance, by John Kuna and Mural Routes

below: Part of a mural, Scarborough Amusement Park, by Daniel Seagrave, 2008

Mural on a wall beside Subway fast food restaurant, a tree in front of the mural, old fashioned beach activities with people in period bathing costumes, red row boat, boardwalk, boat with orange sails
a lime green vw microbus parked in a driveway

below: Above the entrance to an empty store.
old sign above a store doorway, the word Mara with a woman in a blue dress lying across the last 3 letters, holding a big orange and red flower

below: One of many hearts shining in the windows.

blue LED lights in the shape of a heart in the window of a shoe store on Queen Street East

below: Looking in other windows too.

store window with a yellow LED light heart, a white head and shoulders mannequin with closed eyes and wearing a black covid mask with white maple leafs on it.

store window, wonder woman items, a large purple platform shoe,

looking in the window of a toy store

clothing store window with women's tops and blouses in orange hanging from a bar, a green and orange scarf around the neck of the orange knit top in front

looking in the window of a laundromat with no people in it, but with open sign

window of an art gallery at number 888, an abstract painting in the window predominantly red

looking diagonally across the street at a corner store, Convenience Plus as it gets dark outside

below: “Share the Love”, Thelia Sanders Shelton

Luminosity installation person holding a large red heart, in front of a TTC streetcar

Luminosity installation person holding a large red heart, with R C Harris filtration plant in the background

below: Part of “Beacon Silo” by Chris Foster
strips of mirrors forming a cylinder that rotates as coloured lights shine on it.

below: Same installation but from across the street
Under an umbrella shape - a series of mirrors making a cylinder that rotates, lights shining on it from the sides so the shapes of lights being reflected changes as the cylinder moves

a couple walk down the sidewalk, late evening as it gets dark

a string of yellow LED lights looped over branches of a large tree beside a row of stores, evening

below: “Out from under the Shadows”, by Bryan Faubert.  Light passes through cutouts in the metal plate to make shadow pictures on the wall.

below: Firehall 227 with it’s clock tower

Evening lights, exterior of Firehall number 227 at Queen East and Woodbine, clock tower shows 8:20,

below: Open doors, Firehall 227

night, exterior of firehall 227, open door showing interior and pepsi vending machine, bench on sidewalk,

back of a small house at night, gate open, light on in back room, tree by sidewalk,

Rambling Leslieville

Posted: March 6, 2020 in alleys, graffiti and street art, intersections, old buildings, public art, stores
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below: Think!  or rather Stop and think.   Above that, tbonez with The Forge Fury in another urban ninja squadron sticker.

2 stickers on a stop sign. one is a picture of a brain with the word think on it. the other is an urban ninja squadron sticker

below: There is a new public art installation nearing completion at the corner of Carlaw and Dundas.  When the project is done, the obelisk shaped sculpture by Pierre Poussin will be in the middle of a small park.  It is made of laser cut rusted metal and will feature internal LED lighting.

a new public art installation at Carlaw and Dundas with construction fence still around it, also a lot of utility poles around it, rusted metal cut with lasers in a design, sculpture is the shape of an obelisk

below: Shadows of the trees along a winding trail.

trees line a sidewalk that has had small curves added to it, shadows of these treees on the fence beside the sidewalk

below:  There really aren’t enough fairies in the world.  The ones that are supposed to clean my home haven’t shown up yet either.

a sign on a wood fence that says the poo fairy doesn't live here scoopy your ppop, aimed at dog owner

below: This looks like it was once an artwork pasted to a wall.  An eagle’s head is still visible at the very top.  Are those its feathers at the bottom by the shoes – one dark blue and one red stiletto.

a ripped picture, very large, of an eagle and a person with wings and high heeled shoes.

below: The northwest corner of Pape and Dundas.  The “This is Toronto” mural by J. Chiale is still there.

an intersection, looking northwest at Dundas and Pape where the house on the corner has a large mural by j. Chiale on the side, newer houses and apartment building in the background.

mural by J. CHiale on the side of a house

below: An old and worn sign

very old no parking sign on a chain link fence

below: A not so old sign with three lovebot stickers on it.

neighbourhood watch sign with 3 lovebot stickers on it

below: Old cars seen in an alley.  Any ideas on what model and year the brown car is?

2 old cars in an alley. one is an old brown car from the 40's, under a cloth. the other is a blue camaro

close up of a wood utilitypole with some paint splashes on it

 

on the side of a house, a wood panel on porch with 2 windows, 2 panels are painted blue and the last one is white

below: Santa Claus hasn’t returned to the North Pole yet!  This front yard looks quite barren

2 plastic Santa Claus figures in a front yard, no snow, in frontof a porch

below:  … compared to this one!  I am happy to report that the “doll house” still exists.   There is at least one Santa Claus in there!

a house with a front yard full of dolls and toys, on the walls, on the fence, decorations

below:  Not quite every inch (centimeter!) is covered.  Christopher Robin and Tigger, Ernie and a Picachu.  Tweety bird in a blue jacket and a white horse, Dora the Explorer is eating an apple.

some of the dolls and toys attached to the front wall of a house

below: These stickers still exist!  A Star Wars family with a dirty back window.

a star wars sticker family on the back window of a black vehicle, 2 kids, an R2D2 and a wokie

below: Usually if a couch is waiting for the garbage man it’s sitting closer to the edge of the street!

an old black vinyl couch on a sidewalk on Eastern Avenue, beside a house

below: Symmetry at the back of Bruce Junior Public School built in 1923.

back of older brick public school, Bruce Public school with pair of chimneys and rows of windows, symmetrical.

below: And then there is the asymmetry created when one side of a semi-divided house explodes upwards.

the back of a house, a semi divided house where one side is the original one storey while the other side has added two storeys and is taller than the surrounding houses, and it is narrow too

below: Leslieville has two murals.  This one covers the side of the building plus the back in pink, red, and orange stripes.   This Guidant Bikeshare mural was painted by Mediah, aka Evond Blake, in 2017.

below: Nearby at the intersection of Queen and Jones is this mural by Elicser Elliot (2016).

Leslieville mural by elicser of a man sitting under o tree in autumn

below: The Coca-Cola Coady Sweets ghost sign is still there but the convenience store under it has been replaced by a Spanish restaurant.

workmen at an intersection, white van parked, in front of building with ghost sign for Coady sweets, new Spanish restaurant on the corner

below: Queen Street East

line of stores on Queen Street East by the B & B fish and chip restaurant

Leslieville mural by iah media on the side of a building,

below: This is on the wall beside a vacant lot on Queen Street East that has been empty for years.

spray paint, large letters, wuns on a wall beside a vacant lot

Queen street east, vacant lot on the north side

below: Another vacant lot but more recently so.

looking through a chainlink fence, across a vacant lot towards Queen Street east and the brick Scotiabank building

below: An alley view, behind Queen Street East

3 storey brick building, from the back in the alley, behind Queen Street East

below: Waiting for spring?

looking through a metal gate with chainlink into a backyard with patio furniture and blue umbrella (closed)

a row of pink window boxes and red planters on a balcony of a yellowish brick apartment building

below: Dundas Street East

houses on a street with the one being an old narrow two storey house in yellowish brick

And how can we end without re-visiting the doll house?!

an old stuffed mouse with black plastic glasses, in front of a blue m & m character throwing a basketball, outside, and slightly weathered

close up of two of the dolls attached to the railing in front of house

the front steps and door to the doll house - a house covered with dollas and toys, also fake plants and flowers in pots on the stairs

Queen Street East, more record keeping

Posted: March 23, 2018 in construction, history, intersections, old buildings
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two women holding cups of coffee walk across Victoria St. on Queen Street East

Just after I wrote the previous blog post about some of the buildings on Yonge Street that are in the middle of an area being redeveloped, I walked across Queen Street East.  I noticed that there were a lot of similar three storey buildings here to those around the corner on Yonge.  Toronto must have been a booming city in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s when these stores and warehouses were built.

below: What I also noticed is how many of the storefronts are empty.   This is the northeast corner of Queen and Mutual.

the northeast corner of Queen street east and Mutual street, with an empty building on the corner.

What I don’t have is a photo of the northwest corner – it is about to be developed, or at least there is a plan to develop it, into a 29 storey glass tower.   Urban Toronto called this location, “a spot that currently feels disconnected from the rest of the City. ”  … maybe because the Moss Park neighbourhood is on the lower part of the socioeconomic spectrum?    Urban Toronto is a website that is, their words, “populated by the tastemakers, condo aficionados, buyers, builders and realtors”.   I try to stay neutral in the pro/con condo development argument but it irks me to read things like, “Redefining the urban experience” and variations thereof over and over and over again to describe mediocrity.

To be fair, this 88 Queen West project is redeveloping a parking lot.  Why is it a parking lot?  Because in the 1950’s a parking lot was more important that the buildings, including Cooke’s Presbyterian Church (1857), that originally stood there.   Perhaps we get what we deserve.

 

below: Richard Bigley (1853-1933) started off as a woodworker but soon switched to selling stoves. He sold the ‘Happy Thought’ line of stoves. He holds two US patents, one for a water heater and one for a sectional water heater. The building was converted into loft apartments, one loft per floor, back in the late 1990’s.

tall brick building, Richard Bigley 1876 written in white at the top (4 storeys), large glass windows in front, once an old store and warehouse, now a 3 loft apartments. 98 Queen Street East

below: Two views at the corner of Queen East and Jarvis.  You can just see the Moss Park Armoury building on the right side of this picture.  This Canadian Forces facility was built in 1960’s and it takes up a large chunk of land.  Development  rising in the north…

Queen and Jarvis intersection looking north to tall towers being built on Dundas
below: … and development rising in the west.

the intersection of Queen and Jarvis, looking northwest, with a foodora cyclist in pink in the intersection, traffic, street car, and in the distance, development on Yonge and westward, cranes, glass towers

large blue public parking sign, also a large box shaped sign on a tall pole. The sign is wearing out

below: At Ontario Street, the street sign says, Old Town Toronto.  In 1797 the city limits were moved north to Queen Street (then called Lot Street).  Ontario Street was one of the most easterly streets at that time.   And, oh yes, the city was still York.  It officially became Toronto in 1834.

toronto street sign for Ontario Street with the top part that says Old Town Toronto

below: Posters on a boarded up window – once it was a barber shop?  Posters on Queen East for events on Queen West.

posters on an empty building, exterior wall, bottom of wall has barber pole stripes painted on it.

below: A blue and white Development Notice. I still haven’t found out how many of these there are hanging around the city.  My best guess is ‘hundreds’.

blue and white city of toronto development notice sign on a chainlink fence in front of a vacant lot wehre cars and trucks are parked. For 245 to 285 Queen Street East, Bridgen Place and Richond.

At the risk of another anti-development rant, I just want to say a couple of things about the above photo.  The development here involves the closure of two public lanes, McFarrens Lane and Brigden Place.  There will be pedestrian access (public access on private land) between Queen and Richmond, between two large buildings with three towers built above them – 39, 39, and 49 storeys high.

From a City of Toronto report written in April 2016…”City Planning staff is not in support of the proposal in its current form, as the proposal not only represent over development, but also fails to recognize the existing built-form character and scale of the King-Parliament Secondary Plan Area by departing from the existing warehouse and main street typology where the site is located.”

I am not sure what the status of the project is at the moment, but the developer has a website for this project, Queen & Sherbourne, that describes it exactly as the original proposal – Three glass towers on two boring bland base buildings. It’s yet another development that looks flashy from above but is blah ick at street level.

below: The northwest corner of Queen and Sherbourne

northwest corner of Queen and Sherbourne, Moss Park variety store on the corner, three storey brick Victorian buildings, cars, people,
below: Bright and cheerful.

three storey victorian buildings includia Acadia Book Store, established 1931 and Seaton Butcher

below: 310 Queen East at the corner of Queen and Berkeley.

below: Moving slightly east to the corner of Queen and Parliament (NE).  That looks like a solid old bank building on the corner.

northeast corner of queen and parliament, old brick buildings,

flat roofed old brick buildings, with oriel windows on third floor, Ray's Discount Convenience and Supermarket on the ground floor. A bus shelter on the sidewalk, people waiting for the bus, building painted rust red colour,

below: 354 and 356 Queen Street East

two narrow three storey buildings squished in between two slightly larger buildings. On the ground floor of the building on the left is Redline Coffee and Espresso while Ryans Restaurant is on the right.

below: 380, 382, and 384 Queen Street West.

two storey store fronts on queen street east, 380 Queen, 382 Queen and 384 queen.

below:  Wherever you walk there is construction.  Some of it good, some of it poor.  That’s Toronto these days.

a man walks through a covered sidewalk, past a construction site and towards a bus shelter

music and dancing in the street

Posted: July 28, 2017 in events, people
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shoes of a man who is moving as he sings, street and sidewalk in the photo

Beaches Streetfest 2017
Pictures from last evening’s fun.

below: Spock was there too.

a man dressed as Dr. Spock from Star Trek hugs a musician at an outdoor music festival

below: Old Man Flanagan’s Ghost plays their Irish and Scottish music outside The Stone Lion.

the band, old man flanagan's ghost plays on a street corner, a bass player, a guitar player, and two fiddlers,

two musicians with lights on them, from the back, with the crowd standing on the street in front of them, one woman dancing

a singer with his arm up in the air, a woman across from him also pointing upwards

below: A saxophone player from The Achromatics shows off her style.

a woman in a red skirt plays the saxophone on the street, a part of the Achromatics, a music group, a man on keyboards stands in the background

below: Johnny Max Band

singer Johnny Max sings at a street festival, blue fedora, purple check shirt, a man in the background with a 416 Toronto T-shirt on

below: Dancing to the music.

a couple dances on the street, attending a music street festival, some people look on.

below:  Someone wants to play along.

a little girl runs towards a temporary stage set up on the sidewalk, she is pointing to it. The musicians have moved forward and are playing closer to the crowd

below: Jenie Thai

a woman in sunglasses and teal dress plays the keyboards. A man with a small beard is playing the guitar beside her, a red wall with text street art is behind them.

below: Shooting bubbles. These bubble makers were being sold at the festival so there were lots of bubbles all over the place.

kids playing with plastic bubble shooters in a crowd on the street.

below: Guitarist Neil Chapman from the Zedheads in a rare moment when he lifted his while playing the guitar.

guitarist, neil chapman, playing outside.

below: Another Zedhead member

bearded man with sunglasses and black basebell cap sits at a drum set. Hhis baseball cap says Zedhead on it.

below: A window seat behind the stage

a woman is seated in a restaurant by the window that is open, she is looking out and watching a group of musicians perform, there is a man on a drum set as well as another man.

a young boy in a large yellow T-shirt is watching musicians outdoors.

below: Queen Street as the sun went down.

evening, darkening sky, many people on the street at a street festival, most people are facing away from the camera except one woman in front who is looking straight ahead. Musicians playing on the right, standing in front of stores

below: Excitement!

three young girls watch an evening outdoor music performance by a band of 6 musicians on a street corner

below: Under the red lights.

a youngblack man in sunglasses and black hat sits at a keyboard with mircophone in front of him, evening, some red lights are shining on him. outside.

back of a girls head, long hair tied in a ponytail, outside, in the evening, as she watches a music performance with a small crowd of people

people, part of a larger crowd watching a street performance, one woman has a bright orange mohawk hairdo.

The festival continues all weekend (July 28, 29 and 30)

#beachesjazz | #beachesstreetfest

colourful cuteness

Posted: June 9, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations
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a cyclist, a black man in a white t-shirt, rides past a mural of a large orange cat and a smaller blue cat.

Hey!  Stop and take a look.

  There’s a new mural in town that covers most of the south wall of the Toronto Humane Society on Queen Street East (at River Street ).   What could be more appropriate for this wall than cats and dogs and other animals?

a long mural on the south wall of the Toronto Humane Society, brightly coloured cats, dogs, turtles and rabbit, painted by uber5000, larger than life sized animals.

I first saw the mural late in May when just the outlines of the animals had been drawn on the wall.  The artist, Uber5000, been working on it since then….  it’s not quite finished but it’s looking great!  Bright and cheerful; colourful and fun.

below:  The mural has turtles and rabbits – Yes, the Toronto Humane Society has bunnies and turtles too (but I don’t think they have such cool red glasses)!

3 small trees in front of a colourful mural by Uber5000 of animals, a green turtle by a blue creek, a white rabbit with red sunglasses and an orange tigerstriped kitten on the side of the THS building

below: The dog portion at the east end of the mural just needs some finishing touches.

two dogs painted on a mural that isn't quite finished, on the side of a building,

below: Of course there are cats and kittens…  and cute and playful ones at that.

a cat and two kittens painted on a mural, one with a bell around its neck and two with little balls between their paws Uber5000 mural

UPDATED (August 2017):  The mural is now finished.

mural on the side of the Toronto Humane Society by Uber 5000 of bright, large, and colourful cats and dogs. On the corner, both sides of the corner are in the mural, a bus shelter in front of the mural, a woman is sitting in the shelter.

A great addition to Queen Street East!

peace and love

Posted: February 17, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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We looked out side and saw that it was a beautiful sunny day!
These gals may be all dressed up with nowhere to go but I decided to hit the streets again.

looking out a store window, 3 headless mannequins are in the window, dresses in women's clothing, one has a red tam on her shoulders, one has a dress with a repeating pattern of typewriters, one has a red skirt with with white hearts all over it.

window mannequins, Doll Factory by Damzels, Queen St East

below: It seems I’m in a neighbourhood that lovebot watches over and protects!

a neighbourhood watch sign posted on a hydro pole, a lovebot sticker is on each of the three houses on the sign

below: A ghost sign that has been revealed by demolition of a building on Queen Street East .
“Relieves fatigue, sold everywhere” is part of an old coca-cola ad. I wonder if 5 cents was a bargain at that time.

an old wall has been exposed after a building has been demolished. The sign is part of an old coca cola advertisement and says relieves fatigue 5 cents.

below: Another ghost sign.  Mr. Frankfurt “Toronto’s hot dog king” opened their restaurant in July of 1984.  It is long gone but the large yellow sign remains.

a large yellow sign for Mr. Frankfurt restaurant showing a red headed girl trying to eat a hot dog that is larger than she is. yellow sign attached to building.

below:  Peace and love encounter number two!

spray paint large red lips, outline drawing, on an old wood garage door in an alley

below: Love and concern of a different kind.   Part of COUNTERfit memorial where people have scratched words and drawings into the metal.   An angel, a heart, a dove, a coffin.  “The war on drugs is a war on us”.   “For every prohibition, you create an underground”.  “Each death is an end of the world Cada muerie es un fin del mundo.”   There is more to this memorial including a list of names as well as flowers and candles that have been left at the base of the metal sculpture.

part of a metal memorial for people who died of drugs and AIDS, Counter fit (a harm reduction organization). people have scratched words and drawings into the metal, a dove, a heart, words like The war on drugs is a war on us

below: Eddie’s Convenience with it’s bit of history.  The mural on the wall is from an old photograph of Queen Street East circa 1926.   The old “drink Canada Dry” sign that hangs over the doorway is a piece of history too.  The faded words on the top of the sign say “Eddie’s Confectionery”.    Does anyone know how old the sign might be?

looking diagonally across the steet to Eddie's convenience store with it's old Canada Dry ad sign hanging over the doorway and the black and white mural taken from a view of Queen St. East long ago.

below: More peace and love!

painting on a garage door, black line drawing of a face on blue with peace written above and love written below the face

 below: It seems like everywhere I go I encounter a building being demolished and today was no exception.  The Church of Our Lady and St. Basil near Queen and Logan is in the process of coming down.  It was not an old building.

vertical windows on a birck church, behind a chain link fence. Two of the windows have panes missing and are covered with orange cloth

below: Alley access is blocked beside the church.
You can see into the church where part of the exterior wall has been broken.

orange cones and a construction fence block entrance to an alley beside a church that is being demolished

below: Dust drifts past the stained glass windows.

dust from demolition drifts up and past church stained glass windows that are now seen more clearly because one of the exterior walls has been partially removed

below: Valentine love (and Christmas bells) for all those who pass through the gate.
How can you resist smiling as you pass by?

a small archway over a gate at the entrance to a front yard, the arch is the shape of a heart and it has been decorated with flowers.

below: A different house, a different arch over a gate – this time little balloon shaped objects made of fabric with tassles at the bottom.  Do they have any significance?

hanging lantern shapes made of fabric, with tassles at the bottoms, hanging over a gate, yellow, green, orange and white

below: A large plant grows inside.

a metal grille that was painted green covers a window with a rusty metal frame and one pane cracked. A plant grows inside the window.

below: A sunny day makes for interesting shadows.

shadows on a sunny day, a metal fire escape is diagonal across the back of a light teal coloured house, it passes the bottom corner of a window

below: A little bit of whimsy.  Someone has hung three little decorative bird houses from the branch of a tree, not in someone’s front yard but by the sidewalk on Queen Street East.

three little decorative bird houses hang from a tree branch by the sidewalk

below: And whimsy is good.   This isn’t exactly cupid but it’s naked and has wings.  Cupid as a grown-up?

a wood cut out in pale pink, mounted high on an exterior green wall, naked person with wings and a funny shaped face

below: Full circle, back to Doll Factory by Damzels – have a happy day!

mannequin head, bright yellow short hair, blue eyes, red lips, pink ears, big smile on her face, wearing a beige tam

intersections – Queen and Sherbourne

Posted: December 1, 2016 in intersections, landmarks, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Queen and Sherbourne – It’s a grubby corner.

below: Built in 1897 on the southwest corner and a major part of the intersection since then, is the Kormann House Hotel named for its hotel keeper in 1898, Franz J. Kormann.  The Torontoist described the building in 2008 as “Though vacant for the past few years, this old watering hole will open its doors once again as part of an upcoming condo development.”  That was 8 1/2 years ago.  It is still vacant.   The projected renovations and mid-rise condo development never got off the ground.

old brick 3 storey building on the corner of an intersection. Top part is white, bottom part is grey. Boarded up and vacant.

below: Diagonally opposite is now the Moss Park Discount Store.

building on the corner of an intersection, Moss Park Discount Store on the corner of Queen East and Sherbourne. People on the sidewalk outside the building. 3 storey brick,

below: The same corner as above but from a slightly different angle as it looked about a hundred years ago.  Note the cobbled streets, streetcar tracks on both Queen and Sherbourne, and the lack of traffic lights.   Photo found on Lost Toronto blog

old black and white photo of the northeast corner of Queen East and Sherbourne

Adding a bit of colour to the intersection is the new mural on Sherbourne Street, on the side of building that houses the Moss Park Discount Store.   It features a young man in a baseball cap adorned with the Brazilian flag.  Three parrots are also in the mural.

mural on the side of a red brick building, a young man in a baseball cap and three parrots. on the exterior wall of the Moss Park Discount Store.

Close ups of parts of the mural:

part of a larger mural, a green hand is reaching out and the forefinger is rubbing the top of a parrot's head.

part of a larger mural of a parrot like bird upright, wearing a sleeveless T-shirt with the number 16 on it.

part of a large mural, a parrot head, and the signatures of the street artists who created the mural - Smoky, Cens and Vemo

Just north of Queen, there is a small dead end alley that runs east off Sherbourne.  At the end of the alley is a mural by Vorteks….  she’s come to save someone (the world?) from an orange creature.

two murals in an alley. At the end, on a fence is a mural by vorteks, text with his signature using an eyeball for the letter O. An orange creature with an eye, most of which is behind the text, as well as a scantily clad woman who looks like a superhero.

This birdo is still looking good.  It’s just east of Sherbourne.

mural by birdo, bright green background with abstract colourful animals painted on it, tall large animals

below: On the north side of Queen Street East, looking towards Sherbourne Street from Kim’s Convenience (with the birdo mural on the wall).  I was going to write something about it ha ha having the same name as the CBC TV series “Kim’s Convenience”.  Luckily I looked it up before writing because lo and behold it is the same store!  The store was up until recently called Mimi Variety.  The new name and new signs are leftovers from filming the TV shows.   Most of the buildings in this block are heritage listed sites, especially those towards Sherbourne Street.

blog_kims_convenience_queen_east

A few more little details to end the post with:

below: A triptych with the center panel missing or a diptych with a mystery middle.

a painting in three panels of a vase of pink and red flowers, on a wooded fence outside, but the middle panel is missing.

below: On a pole, a grominator lovebot hybrid with its long red tongue.  The other little guy’s tongue just can’t compare.

two stickers on a pole. The top one is a lovebot grominator joint venture hybrid character with a very long red tongue. The other is a little round faced guy with his tongue sticking out.

below: A dying breed, three Saabs in a row.  It’s not just old buildings that catch my eye.
Perhaps the one on the right has been cannibalized?

three saabs parked side by side. The one on the right is missing a large portion of its front bumper, headlights and other front end pieces.

below: And last, hearts seen on a Queen St. East building.

pink hearts on a cyan coloured window beside a heart on a brick wall graffiti

 

 

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