Posts Tagged ‘Yorkville’

around Yonge and Bloor

Posted: August 25, 2020 in construction, events, history, old buildings, public art, reflections
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
4

…

and red and white danger due to sign, danger due to covid-19

below:  He may be sitting on the bench but this hockey player is prepared.  He’s practicing social distancing and he’s got his mask on just in case.  He’s also a reminder that the NHL playoffs for the 2019-20 season are being played in a bubble here in Toronto at the moment… but the Maple Leafs didn’t make the cut.  After having to take a few months off because of Covid-19, the NHL scheduled the playoffs in only two cities, Toronto and Edmonton.  Games started at the beginning of August and are scheduled to finish the first week of October.   There is talk that maybe the 2020-21 season can begin after that but like everything else these days, who knows.

a metal statue of a hockey player in Toronto Maple Leaf blue sits on a bench outside a gallery, wearing a covid face mask, as a man walks past

below: ‘Love Negotiation’ on Scollard Street by Gillie and Marc.  Dogman and Rabbitgirl share a few minutes over coffee.   They too are outside are are socially distanced… or perhaps they have been isolating together are have escaped their tiny downtown condo for a bit of fresh air.  ” Rabbitgirl and Dogman invite the world to sit with them symbolically at their Table and take the first step to understanding and loving each other. The sculpture is where we sit, discuss, and solve problems. The world has reached a crisis where our differences are causing hatred and division.”

 

male dog in blue and female rabbit in red sitting face to face at a table with coffee, sculpture on Scollard street

sculpture on Scollard street, a dog in blue, sits at a table with a cup of coffee in his hands

below: The William Sexton houses on the NE corner of Bay & Scollard are being preserved and incorporated into a condo development.  They were built by Sexton in 1890 in a style similar to the Queen Ann Revival style.  Although it looks like one large brick house, it is actually a row of 4 houses.  In 1974 they were added to Toronto’s Heritage Register.  That was also the last year that all four were used as residences.

Bay and Scollard, old building boarded up with new construction behind

below: A slightly fuzzy 1974 photo of William Sexton houses.

photo from 1974 of William Sexton houses at the corner of Bay Street and Scollard in Yorkville, 4 row houses that together look like one large brick house

windows on the west side of William Sexton houses on Bay street, white paint is peeling to reveal brick below, rounded tops of window frames in black trim

below: Another hole in the ground.  I liked the bits of orange and black hanging around.

orange and black shreds of plastic along the edge of construction hole in the ground

below: Reflections of the clock tower on the Yorkville Firehall, the oldest firehall in the city, in one of the newer glass walls across the street.

reflections of Yorkville clock tower in the glass condo across the street

Yorkville fire hall clock tower and flags

below: Looking east on Yorkville Ave towards Yonge Street and the large Toronto Reference Library.

the Toronto Reference Library at Yonge and Asquith as seen from the west along Yorkville Ave

below: The Starbucks on Yonge Street just north of Bloor is now closed.  The sign in the window says “thanks for your loyalty over the past 20 years.”  For those of us who still remember Albert Britnell’s book store at that location it is a bit of a shock to realize that 20 years has past.

people in front of a closed Starbucks on Yonge street

below: Yonge Street at Hayden

some of the stores on Yonge at Hayden

below: looking northwest from Charles Street on the east side of Yonge.  The older black and grey building is the CIBC tower on the NW corner of Yonge & Bloor.  The cranes are working on the SW corner of that intersection.

backs of buildings on Yonge and Hayden, plus construction, looking northwest

below: Condo construction at the southwest corner of Yonge & bloor continues.

a man wearing a covid face mask walks past a construction site at Yonge and Bloor, black and white construction photos on the hoardings, old brick building in the background as well as a newer apartment building

reflections in a store window, legs of mannequins in cut off jeans, white cars traffic on the street

a workman sits outside beside hoardings on Bloor street in front of Holt Renfrew

below: One of the entrances to the Manulife Centre on Bloor Street.   It was decorated in flowers as part of a Fleurs de Villes event.

one of the glass entrances to the ManuLife center on Bloor street, decorated with flowers

below: Inside the Manulife Centre there were many mannequins decorated with flowers

mannequin in green and pink dress and pink hat, pinks are made of roses and she is holding a bottle of rose wine from the LCBO

a mannequin decorated with flowers stands at the bottom of an escalator at the Manu Life center, as part of Fleurs de Villes project

As the summer winds down but the covid lingers on, stay safe and stay sane

a white wall with an orange stripe on which graffiti words are written, coronavius and lime disease go great together, a play on corona beer and lime

IceFest 2020

Posted: February 13, 2020 in events, people
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

This year’s theme at the Yorkville IceFest was “Awesome 80’s” and the feature ice sculptures were all things 80’s.

title ice sculpture for Ice Fest

below: Fabulous red heart embedded in the ice!  The ice made the red shine.   Needless to say, these two women weren’t the only ones who did this!

two women make a heart symbol with their hands in front of a red heart frozen inside an ice sculpture

below: Leftover red balls from Christmas added to the festivities.

Cumberland Ave decorated for the IceFest, red balls hanging from trees, ice sculptures on display beside the sidewalk, a few people looking at them

below: Posing with the rock ’em sock ’em robots (Cool hat too!)

a woman in a winter hat with the Union Jack on it, pointing at an ice sculpture while a man takes her picture

below: A younger version of Elton John made an appearance at the Ice Fest

ice sculpture portrait of Elton John

below: Posing with Garfield the cat

people looking at and posing beside ice sculptures in Yorkville Ice Fest

below: Walking on air, but so cool with the leg warmers on.

ice sculpture of a pair of legs, upside down, with high platform shoes and leg warmers

below: Driving the De Lorean

a woman posing with a large ice sculpture of a De Lorean car

below: Most of the sculptures came already made and were set up on Saturday morning.   Starting at noon, several artists began carving some sculptures – partially as a demonstration of their craft and partially as a contest for best sculpture.

a man using a chainsaw to cut an ice block, bits of ice and snow flying away from the chainsaw

a man is working on an ice sculpture, he has just used a chainsaw to cut a block in half lengthwise and is now carefully separating the pieces

using an electric drill make a hole in a block of ice, outside, kneeling on the ground, ice fest, people watching the artist at work

a man in a bright red winter jacket and brown hat and orange mitts is using a power drill to cut a picture of bugs bunny and the words looney tunes from a block of ice

a man in a bright red winter jacket and brown hat and orange mitts is using a power drill to cut a picture of bugs bunny and the words looney tunes from a block of ice while two boys in winter toques watch

two men stacks slabs of ice together to make a small tower

below: Because it was a cold day, some time was spent warming up inside the nearby art galleries.  I saw this little ski guy stuck in the snow outside Loch Gallery.  Does it look like he’s shivering too?  (artwork by Patrick Amiot).

a tiny metal sculpture in a pile of snow, a little man in a pink shirt and red hat, skiing

below: Another wonderful creation by Patrick Amiot.  I’m not sure that a hockey player (especially a Leaf?!?) should look frightened?

metal sculpture of a Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player sitting on a bench outside, holding his hockey stick and looking frightened, by Patrick Amiot

the Yorkville-ification of street art

Posted: September 13, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

Over the span of just a few years I have watched as street art went from questionable legality to mainstream; now it’s jumped to very trendy.  From vilified to Yorkvillified?

man working at a table, with reflections of a mural in the window, looking through the window

below: This large mural was created by Kazakhstan born, Montreal-based, Ola Volo.

mural of a woman with long hair, stylized, in red, yellow and black and white

two murals on two different walls of a building

below: Close up of part of the mural by Whatisadam

close up of a mural, a man and a woman are leaning together for a kiss. Woman has bright red lipstick.

below: Mathieu Bories, also known as Mateo, works on the woman’s blue and yellow head scarf.

a man is on a ladder as he paints a mural of a woman with henna coloured stencils all over her face, and a blue and yellow head scarf,

a man, street artist Mateo, spray paints a mural as he stands on a ladder. He's wearing a respirator, painting with blue paint

shoes on a ladder with the eye of a mural looking at them

below: This OK is coming unstuck, peeling off the wall.  This mural was painted by Ben Johnston whose work often features text that looks 3D

on the side of outdoor steps, a blue mural with the word OK in black and white such that it looks like the letters are curling up at the ends, 3 D effect

below: This staircase, with artwork by Getso, is going to turn into a instagram hotspot.   Her shoes may be famous already!  Actually, I took a quick look through a few possible hastags while writing this post but so far there haven’t been too many images of people posing here.

a young woman sits on the railing of an outdoor staircase that has been painted with street art. A man is taking a pictrure with his phone of her feet against the artwork

below: Across the back wall, above the upper level, is a long mural by Mr. Brainwash that is supposed to look like a wall of graffiti

part of a mural made to look like a wall of graffiti including a mona lisa, a man with a camera in triplicate,

mural made to look like a wall of graffiti including a pink marily munroe, a woman in brown and white dress and bonnet, the word i love you written in red,

below: Up on the scaffolding working on Mickey Mouse and his orange ears, is Xray aka Brian Lanier.

a man in an orange vest is up on scaffolding as he paints a mural, two other men are looking at finished murals

a man sits on scaffolding as he paints a mural, LED spotlights are in the foreground

below: I think that it says love, a mural by Peru143

small mural by street artist peru that says love in very stylized and abstract letters

below: The streaks and splotches of colour are part of the wall that was painted by Risk.  It is also the space surrounding the entrance to the Taglialatella Gallery.  It was this gallery, along with INK Entertainment, that brought together the artists to paint the murals and many of them have pieces for sale in the gallery.   I appreciate that the gallery is supporting street art and that artists can make money from their work but there is a heavy presence of commercialism around this enclave of murals that makes me uncomfortable.

window of gallery with the exterior walls painted in pastel colours

a woman in an art gallery, is standing by two pieces that use neon lights. One is large red heart as part of a painting with an image of Charlie Chaplin meant to look like a wall of graffiti, with a yellow neon light in a heart shape

two pictures on a gallery wall, in red, black and white, on wallpaper that is red and beige intricate floral pattern

mural with a pink marilyn munroe, the words i love you in red, mural, Cumberland private wealth

admit one… and a few more

Posted: February 10, 2019 in events, people
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

ice sculpture that says, in blue, Bloor Yorkville Icefest, and then above it another sculpture that looks like a ticket, says admit one

The theme of this year’s Icefest was ‘Hollywood North’.

Shooting on location at Yorkville Village Park on Cumberland Ave
during the weekend of 9th and 10th February

Featuring: Lots of ice sculptures (over 70,000 pounds of the stuff!)

using a power sander, a man is creating a sculpture out of a block of ice

a man in black jacket and bare hands is feeling the edges of an ice sculpture

In the Director’s chair

a woman in blue sunglasses poses

Starring

a woman with long reddish hair poses behind a cutout of a star in an ice sculpture

and a cast of thousands.

a child ina striped jacket and mouth open wide poses beside an ice sculpture

a woman's face as she looks through a block of ice

a little girl in pink looks out from behind a man an ice sculpture

a young girl in ear muffs has her face close to an ice sculpture as someone takes her picture from the other side

a woman in a white parka with a black handbag poses beside an ice sculpture

Somewhere on instagram there is probably a dog….

a man in short black hair and a black Canada Goose parka holds up a dog in front of an ice sculpture that is an instagram frame.

a pug wearing a sheep skin lined jacket

It says, “Say cheese”, so of course we do!

an ice sculpture of a photographer, a person with a camera to his or her eye

two women pose beside an ice sculpture that says Say Cheese. One woman is wearing a grey toque and scarf and the other woman is wearing a white parka with a fur lined hood

An Oscar winning performance!

ice sculpture of an oscar

ice

Posted: February 27, 2017 in events
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

This past weekend was the 5th annual Bloor Yorkville Icefest.
It’s an event that features ice sculptures in the park at Cumberland and Bellair.

The theme this year was Canada 150, as 2017 is Canada’s 150th birthday.

a group of people sit and stand on a large rock behind an ice sculpture of a maple leaf with the words Canada 150 under it, all carved in ice.

below: Sculptures in an enclosure (i.e. no one gets close enough to touch).  The Parliament building in Ottawa is on the left with a very tall RCMP Mountie standing beside it.  I’m not sure who the sculpture in the middle is supposed to represent.   On the right, a large 1867, the year of Confederation, on top of a large 2017.

people standing on a large rock to look at ice sculptures of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, a tall RCMP mountie and the numbers 1867 2017 .

below: A number of artists worked on their sculptures as part of the festival.  This mountie and beaver had  just been completed before I arrived.

an ice sculpture of a mountie and a beaver has just been finished. The tools used by the artist are lying around on the ground below the sculpture.

below:  A large chunk of ice gets cut into smaller cubes.   Each cube contains a small toy that had been frozen in the ice.  For $2 you could buy an ice cube and smash it to liberate the toy.

a man is using a chainsaw to cut a chunk of ice into smaller cubes. Small toys have been frozen into the ice. Other people are watching, especially two kids.

Don’t miss the sign in the background!

below: Complete with spelling mistake. Charlottetown is spelled wrong.
Also, the term Newfie is included? Apparently it’s no longer an insult to call someone a Newfie.

a young woman in black coat and brown tuque stands beside a block of ice that has the names of some of Canada's cities carved into it.

below: The warm temperatures were making some of the thinner pieces more fragile than usual.   The little ‘knobs’ on this replica of the Taj Mahal were barely hanging on.  Luckily the temperatures dropped enough that most of the sculptures survived.

a woman is standing behind an ice sculpture of the taj mahal.

people at the Bloor Yorkville Icefest

a girl in a bright pink jacket stands behind a podium built of ice and in front of a wall made of ice. Both have curvy lines and swirls carved into them.

an ice sculpture of a face, perhaps a man weraing a hat with a black hat band?, crowd scene in the background, a woman's face on the left side of the photo.

a ice sculpture of a mountie standing at attention and saluting, light by pink and red lights,

a young man stands behind an ice sculpture to pose for a picture, one hand up with peace sign of two fingers, a young woman is looking at him from the other side of the sculpture

a coouple stand on a set of stairs behind an ice sculpture to have their picture taken.

#blooryorkville | #icefest17

6th Annual Yorkville Exotic Car Show

Posted: June 20, 2016 in events
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

The 6th Annual Yorkville Exotic Car Show was on Bloor Street yesterday, Fathers Day.  There were 11 different groups, or corrals, of cars…. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Maserati, and many other car makers were represented.  There was lots of sun and lots of people!

Men looking a black car. All you can see of the car in the picture is the roof.

below: A line of Lamborghinis parked on Bloor Street.
The cars were behind ropes and the spectators had a red carpet to walk on.

Several lamborghinis parked beside each other on Bloor Street as part of the Yorkville exotic car show. Lots of people are looking at them.

a man with grey hair and black glasses is pointing to the front of a black sports car with its hood up. He is pointing out something to the woman beside him who is dressed in black with black hat and holding an umbrella over her head. They are behind a barrier at an outdoor exotic car show

below: A cute little 1959 BMW Isetta 300.
There are no side doors; the front of the car swings open with the steering wheel attached.

a yellow 1959 BMW Isetta 300 with its front door open - the front of the car opens up, parked on Bloor street for the Yorkville exotic car show.

below: A black BMW i8 electric car with its front scissor doors open.

A black BMW i8 electric car with its front scissor doors open.

Four men are looking at a turquoise 1960 Corvette at an outdoor car show. it has its front hood open and a sign by its front bumper says that it belongs to Corvettes of Durham

reflections of a crowd at an exotic car show in the side panel of a bright blue car. The people are standing on a red carpet which comes out a magenta colour in the reflection.

A young man holding his bike stands behind a metal fence while looking at a grey sports car at an outdoor car show in Yorkville

below: Porsche, with German plates

A dark grey Porsche with German licence plates is parked on Bloor Street, beside an older white Porsche, for the 6th annual Yorkville exotic car show.

people looking at, and taking pictures of, a black and orange Lamborghini at a car show, outdoors, Yorkville

parts of two cars parked beside each other in a car show, one is blue and the other is silver. The front wheel of the blue car is reflected in the side panel of the silver car which has G Reddy painted by the rear window.

below: Mercedes GTS

silver mercedes gts car, viewed from behind the back passenger side wheel, parked on Bloor St. for a car show. Some people in the background.

below: Chevrolet Belair convertible, with matching fuzzy dice

an old convertible car, Chevrolet Belair, with top down, turquoise car with matching white and turquoise interior

below: A Porsche from the 1960’s with its engine in the back.
Not much trunk room in this car!

two older classic Porsches, both white, parked in a car show, the one in the foreground has its trunk open to show the engine in the back of the car. Lots of people looking at the cars

below: Another Porsche, a 1961 Roadster

front end of a white 1961 Porsche Roadster

close up of the front grille of a Lexus car showing the L Lexus symbol and the diamond pattern of the metal work.

below: Pink and pink.  Standing in front of a pink Bousoughini from BGarage Ltd.

A little girl in white skirt, pink T-shirt, blue hat and big sunglasses stands in front of a fancy pink car at an outdoor car show

the side of a pink lambourghini, bousoughini, with a reddish car behind it.

below:  Morgan in two shades of blue, from the front.

front end of a two toned blue Morgan car in a car show outside on Bloor Stree, with a rally car in different colours beside it.

below: Same Morgan, but from the back.

back view of a Morgan car, California plates, shiny metallic blue colour, people looking at the cars in the background, car show

below: Shelby, from the 1960’s

man sitting in a folding chair beside a classic grey sports car at a car show

a man in a black short sleeve shirt and a yellow baseball cap is cleaning and polishing the rear window of a yellow Corvette at a car show, lots of onlookers in the background.

below: Tuscan Speed Six by TVR (British)

a purplish green shiny sports car, a Tuscan, by TVR motors, parked on Bloor St. for the Yorkville exotic car show.

below: Pininfarina is an Italian car design company.

close up shot of the front side panel of a white Maserati Pininfarina car, reflections of a red carpet make the bottom part of the car look pink

a boy walks past an orange lamborghini

dark green convertible in the foreground, people looking at in the background

A father is taking a selfie of himself with his son in front of a yellowish green sports car at a car show.

below: Photos of reflections in the front of a Rolls Royce.
It seems I’m not the only one who takes reflection shots.

a person using a GoPro to take a picture of reflections in the chrome on the front of a Rolls Royce

Icefest

Posted: February 23, 2015 in events, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Bloor Yorkville Icefest, Frozen in Time
Cumberland Ave., February 21 & 22

 Ice sculpture beside a sidewalk. The top part has the words Bloor Yorkville icefest and the bottom part has the words Frozen in time, icefest 15. The middle section looks like a large face made of Egyptian motifs.

The 10th annual Icefest featured the carving of blocks of ice into Ancient Egypt themed sculptures.

Four ice sculptures with Ancient Egyptian themes - King Tut, and a pyramid amongst them. Also a wall of hieroglypics with two guards beside it.

Both Saturday and Sunday were snowy days but the weather didn’t deter the crowds, or their picture taking.  I’m sure that there are thousands of photographs of the sculptures!
Here are a few of mine.

A man in a white parka is standing beside a sculpture with his elbow resting on it. A woman in white coat and hat is taking his picture.

A woman is facing a sculpture of a dinosaur. Both of them have their mouths wide open.

A boy is standing beside a sculpture

A mother with two little kids is posing with an ice sculpture.

A little girl in a pink snow suit it peaking throw a whole in an ice sculpture

A father is taking a photograph of his son beside an ice sculpture

A group of four people are standing around an ice sculpture. They all have puzzled looks on their faces as though they can't figure out what the sculpture is supposed to be.

An ice sculpture of a bear with it's front paws raised, looms over the interesection of Yonge and Bloor.

This bear loomed over the NE corner of Yonge and Bloor.

Most of the sculptures along Cumberland Ave (west of Bellair) are still there and will remain as long as the temperatures remain low and no one vandalizes them.