Posts Tagged ‘When Math Meets Art’

from Harbord to Dundas via Kensington

Posted: January 18, 2024 in alleys, doors, graffiti and street art, locations, reflections, stores
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…. or thereabouts.

It started with a stop that was earlier than planned.    I was on my way to meet a friend in Kensington but that morning my walk started closer to Harbord because the 510 car wasn’t going anywhere.  An incident on a streetcar involving the police means the whole route gets backed up.

streetcars stopped on Spadina, police car with lights flashing stopped beside the one in front

below: This building on the west side of Spadina (372/374 Spadina) has languished for a few years.  It falls within the Harbord Village HCD (Historic Community District) and there may have been a change of ownership.

large old houses on Spadina near harbord

below:   I tried researching the present status of the property but I came up empty. There is a building permit in the window but there are no signs of work being done.

old large brick house with front porch, building permit in window

below: My fellow TTC travellers and I walked the curve in Spadina.

people walking on the sidewalk, walking past large old brick houses

below: At the south end of the curve is Lord Lansdowne School which was built in 1960/1961 to replace an older school nearby and to accommodate the post-war population growth in the city.  The main part of the school is a nine-sided circular building with 18 tapered steel pylons radiating outward like flying buttresses.  The roof consists of folded concrete plates,

part of exterior of lord lansdowne school

below: A big chunk of anorthosite sits in the schoolyard.   Some of the rocks brought back from the moon are anorthosites.  But this isn’t a moon rock!  This type of rock isn’t found in many places in North America but there is some to the north of the city in the Canadian Shield region.  It is composed predominantly of feldspar.  It is an igneous rock which means that it was formed from the cooling and solidification of molten rock (such as lava).

large grey rock in a schoolyard with a plaque on it describing the rock

Plaque: “This basic igneous rock was found at a depth f 12 feet during the course of excavation for this school.  The composition is a very rare type and is  assumed to have been carried here from Caribou Lake north of Parry Sound by a glacier during the Great Ice Age approximately 12,000 years ago. “

below: Every Child Matters on the schoolyard fence

orange ties on fence to spell words every child matters

below: Also on the fence, parent and child walking hand in hand past the playground.

painted cutouts on a chainlink fence around lord lansdowne school, a mother and child holding hands

below: Intersection of Spadina and College, looking south.

intersection of college and spadina, looking south on spadina

below: A small disc mounted on a concrete pole – a tribute to Saul Gwartzman by Rocky Zenyck.  Gwartzmans Art Supply store is still on Spadina Ave.

circular brass piece, mounted on utility pole, a face in the middle of it, with words marked on it

Engraved in around the face on the disc, “We remember. Saul Gwartzman. Born on Spadina Avenue above the store where he supported artists in Toronto for decades, 1936-2019”

below: Walking on Spadina, south of College.

spadina, south of college, west side of the street, Smoke and Variety store, El Macombo tavern, people on sidewalk winter time, no leaves on trees,

below: Canadian souvenirs are unavailable at the moment!

store front on spadina, closed, with canada flags on door,
stores and buildings on the east side of Spadina, old brick buildings,

below: Dragons on the wall, Oxford Street.

dragon mural on red brick building

below: One of the Kensington poles with a globe at the top.  Another site in limbo – the hoardings are still around the lot on the southwest corner of  Baldwin and Spadina.  I wrote about them in Dec 2020 (post: a long time lingering) and they were old then.

Spadina Ave, pole for entrance to Kensington, with globe on the top

There were not many other people walking around Kensington that morning, we were a bit early for that.  Even without people, it is a neighbourhood that is full of colours and full of life.  Parts of it are run down and grubby but that rarely stops a photographer!  The next photos are a random sample of what we saw that day.

below: Looking west on Baldwin.  The king is on the wall.

looking west on Baldwin, yellow wall with painting of man with crown on head, on the side of one of the buildings

below: Kids for sale!

items in the window of a kensington cheese store, an old picture of queen elizabeth with words eat more queso, a piece of wood shaped like a goat with words kids for sale

below: Mice in the cheese store window.  There’s Mickey Mouse and the little brown mouse, Jerry, from another cartoon series as well as some not so famous rodents.

items in a cheese store window, toy mice, mickey mouse, flags of Greece, Serbia, and Singapore

below: Uncle Vintage at the other end.  The mural on the right is “When Math Meets Art”

looking down an alley in kensington, view of Uncle Vintage clothing at the end, murals on both sides of the alley

below: From a different angle. It was painted by Sasha Q (aka Oleksandra Stepanenko)

mural in blues and greys with title Math Meets Art on old brick building in Kensington

 

below: Mural of a blue crab by Nick Sweetman,

blue crab mural by nick sweetman

below: Look Mom Paint!

large words painted on the side of a building that say look mom paint

below: Three old black and white photos of Kensington scenes in the window of the Peruvian food store,

three old black and white photos of Kensington area in the window of a Peruvian store,

below: A bright and cheerful red daisy keeping an eye on things.

street art in a small corner on Baldwin Ave in kensington

below: “And then the streets became my notepad – GOD”

written in large black letters on a pinkish salmon coloured brick wall, and then the streets became my notepad, god

below: More hoardings and the consequent graffiti covering them.

below: It’s difficult to see, but some of the words written on the hoardings are “It’s hard but ur strong”.

below: Mark has left his mark.

a man with a walker walks past a white wall with a large purple painting of the name Mark in capital letters

below: The backside of Moonbean Coffee as seen from the alley behind.  Little faces in Paradise.

graffiti and street art on upper back part of moonbean coffee as seen from the alley behind

below: Yummy!  Mini Boston Cream Bombs on display in the window.

boston cream bomb donuts in the window of a donut store

below: Not so yummy?!

looking in the window of a fruit and vegetable store, large green squash and a pile of oranges beside the window

below: Pigeon fanciers, this one’s for you. It seems there were some takers.  Sorry, but I didn’t follow up with the research on this one so I am not sure what happens if you call!

poster on a wall with a street art face painted on it, poster is looking for pigeon fanciers to interview

below: Union Jack either faded to pink, or in trans colours?

hand painted union jack on a fence but the red has faded to pink

below: Super Serve on Dundas, across the street from People Hair Salon.

below:  It looks like Rowell Soder mural although he rarely paints the eyes – the mushroom top should give you a hint as to what this store sells.

below: I like yellow rubber duckies but I doubt that I would wear this many at once!

below: You grow girl!

below: She leans left.

below: Little yellow bald guys as well as some words written on a wall; they are Leonard Cohen lyrics.

“From Leonard Cohen Book of Mercy, …I heard my soul singing behind a leaf, plucked the leaf, but then I heard it singing behind a veil. I tore the veil, but then I heard it singing behind a wall. I broke the wall, and I heard my soul singing against me. I built up the wall, mended the curtain, but I could not put back the leaf. I held it in my hand and I heard my soul singing mightily against me. This is what it’s like to study without a friend.”

below: Mirror, mirror, on the wall..  A Sigil is a sign in magic or witchcraft or similar.

below: Mannequins in feathers….

below: … and mannequins in hats

a Kensington laneway

rusty white metal gate at the end of a walk in front of a blue house painted with white gingerbread trim

below: The mural on the left features a white egg with a large open mouth.  The text above it says, “Feed Eggs”.   Any ideas?

alley in Kensington, looking towards turquoise building, Courage my Love vintage clothing store

below: It’s Dick Dastardly and his dog Muttley

mural in alley, Dastardly and his dog muttley, cartoon characters

below: A mandolin player by SashaQ and a Phillip Saunders portrait in blue.

murals in a kensington alley, in the front is a mandolin olayer, then a portrait in blue.

 

below: Leftovers from both Halloween and Christmas

outside a house in Kensington, both halloween and christmas decorations, snowman

below: An eclectic collection of posters and notices cover a restaurant window… pictures of food as well as posters for  young Asian musicians.

signs and posters in the window of a chinese restaurant on spadina

below: Fight Your Demons

written on a wall in black paint, fight your demons

below: South on Spadina

spadina, looking south,

below: Spadina and Dundas

With many thanks to Merle for walking with me on that grey day!  We enjoyed wandering around the street and alleys and discovering what Kensington has to offer.  It was fun to have someone helping to find all the little bits and pieces that often get overlooked.   Here we found a party, or at least the remains of one.   All those little coloured blobs are actually shiny words that say “party”.   I hope that it was a good party!

woman wearing pink hat taking a picture with her phone of confetti on the sidewalk that is bits of shiny paper spelling the word party

Merle has a blog too where she meets and interviews interesting seniors (or seniors who are doing interesting things), Super Bubbies!  I forgot to ask her how old one needs to be a Bubbie and am I old enough?!!!  If you are interested in the photos that she took on this walk or you’re curious as to what makes aa Super Bubbie, check out Super Bubbies!  I find it fascinating how different people can walk the same route and come away with quite a different recollection of the walk.

Keep exploring!  Keep being super!