citypainter.ca

AUGUST 2010 | Acrylic on Canvas | 9″ x 12″ | View Larger »

Bright Street is probably my favourite street in Toronto. It’s so small and quiet you can easily miss it. I only discovered it by accident a few years ago while cutting north from King Street to Queen Street in the Corktown neighbourhood. The old Victorian row houses on the west side of the street (a few of which are shown in this painting) are the most interesting, as they lean back from the road at an almost alarming slant. [Map]

My attempts to photograph the street from a wider angle didn’t work out due to the obstructions of parked cars and hydro poles: because of the age of the homes, almost all the wires are strapped to the outside, and you can see some of that old-meets-new effect in this painting as well.

AUGUST 2010 | Acrylic on Canvas | 9″ x 12″ | View Larger »

This painting shows the view along Queen’s Quay East looking westward from Jarvis Street on the Toronto waterfront. The railway tracks are abandoned, fading into gravel alongside the paved street. On the left of the painting is the Redpath Sugar Refinery, painted with an aqua blue dolphin mural (no doubt representing all the dolphins that live in Lake Ontario!) In the distance on the right is the yellow-grey bunker of the Toronto Star building, located at the foot of Yonge Street, which is (depending on who you trust) either the longest street in the city, the region, the province, the country, or the world. [map]

This street is rapidly developing. Just out of view to the south is the shiny new Sugar Beach, a colourful sandy beach that has been welcoming Torontonians since earlier this summer. Just to the west is the newly constructed Corus Entertainment building, and beside that a new George Brown College building is currently under construction. This once dreary and derelict area is suddenly springing to life.

In a few short years the abandoned railroad tracks shown in this painting will be gone, replaced with a wide leafy boulevard, sidewalks, trees, bike lanes, and walking trails. I can’t wait: as much as I enjoy documenting the history of Toronto, I also enjoy seeing progress.

Various prints of this painting are available for purchase on DeviantArt.

JULY 2010 | Acrylic on Canvas | 11″ x 14″ | View Larger »

This painting shows the details of some doorways of an abandoned building on the south side of King Street just east of Parliament Street. This is in the Corktown neighbourhood of Toronto, so named because of the large number of immigrants from Cork, Ireland who immigrated to this area during the 1800s, many to work in the nearby Gooderham & Worts Distillery and other surrounding industries.

This particular building is listed in the City of Toronto heritage archives, originally constructed in 1855 and used as a rowhouse and a shop over the years. It is currently a property of the neighbouring Little Trinity Church and is described as part of their ambitious renewal plans that propose restoring only the facade of this building and constructing a new one behind it. Currently, the windows and doors have been covered in plywood topped with a layer of wire mesh to prevent graffiti (with partial success). The grey-yellow surface colouring on the bricks is crumbling, revealing a patchwork of multicoloured bricks underneath. See this building in Google Streetview.

This painting took me forever: I started it many months ago, then let it sit as I got busy with other things before finally finishing it over the course of a couple evenings this week. I’m not thrilled with the outcome, but I think it captures the feel of the original reasonably well, including the brightness of the sun that was beating down on one of the first hot days this past spring.

MAY 2010 | Acrylic on Canvas | 6″ x 8″ | View Larger »

This is a view from St. James Park, looking south towards King Street East. The man on the bench is being flocked by pigeons as he feeds them while a TTC 504 streetcar passes by in the background. I think St. James Park is one of Toronto’s nicest (and Toronto Life agrees) especially the southernmost “English Garden” portion which is always carefully planted with lush flowers around a fountain. This spring all the tulips are purple.

I’m not sure what inspired me to try to fit so much detail into a tiny canvas. This was meant to be a quick sketch but of course it didn’t happen that way. For the most part I think it works, though there are a few imperfect details. [map]

Various prints of this painting are available for purchase on DeviantArt.

MAY 2010 | Acrylic on Canvas | 11″ x 14″ | View Larger »

The Gardiner Expressway is an elevated highway that crosses the southern edge of Toronto, skirting the shore of Lake Ontario. In recent years the expressway has become controversial for cutting off pedestrian access to the redeveloping waterfront. Various proposals to bury it, tear it down, put a green roof on it, or leave it alone have been floated.

This painting shows the view west under the expressway, from Simcoe Street, as the ramps curve and gradually descend to ground level blocks away. I like the near abstract quality of the composition, as well as the way the lighting makes the concrete pillars vary in colour from plain grey to blue to yellow. The ramps create dramatic lighting with glimpses of bright sunshine between the support pillars contrasting with the shadowy underbelly of the ramps. [map]

Various prints of this painting are available for purchase on DeviantArt.

APRIL 2010 | Acrylic on Canvas | 8″ x 10″ | View Larger »

The Wokker is a little restaurant on Queen St. East just past the Don River, roughly where Riverdale becomes Leslieville (these boundaries are pretty vague, it seems). I’ve never eaten there, but it has the look of a classic Canadian Chinese restaurant, with a cooler sign and clever name. [map]

Josie and I snapped the photo this painting is based on last fall, when we went out to a gallery opening in the area for a friend’s show. I like the way the red and yellow lights of the restaurant light up the surrounding area and reflect on the streetcar tracks in front. Having never attempted a night scene before, I’m pretty happy with the results.

As I was working on this painting I had a sense of deja vu; then I realized the composition is very similar to the George Street Diner painting I completed last year (hydro pole, lights over the sign, wires, bicycles in shadows) though I think this one works much better.

Various prints of this painting are available for purchase on DeviantArt.

APRIL 2010 | Acrylic on Canvas | 9″ x 12″ | View Larger »

It took me a year and a half of painting other locations around the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood before I finally worked up the courage to paint the main market itself. The challenge is that the building is so large and crowded it’s often difficult to find a clear angle to photograph it from, and it tends to throw its own shadows and put itself into darkness. I finally got a decent shot on a reasonably sunny day late last summer. The looming presence of the building (which fills nearly a whole block) is still evident but overall I’m happy with the contrast between the hulking building and the colourful sidewalk details.

The square portion with small windows on the front of the building is Toronto’s original City Hall, built in 1845 on the southwest corner of Front St. East and Jarvis [map]. In 1899, the larger market building was constructed around this original building, essentially creating the structure that stands today. The market was given a major overhaul in the early 1970s after narrowly being saved from demolition, and in 1979 the former city hall council chambers were converted into a gallery museum that showcases various archives and art related to the history of Toronto.

Today the South Market is open 5 days a week with dozens of personable vendors on two floors selling specialty foods and other items. The less photogenic North Building across the street houses the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and an Antique Market on Sundays. A few years ago, Food & Wine magazine included the St. Lawrence Market in its 25 of the World’s Best Food Markets article. You can read more about the St. Lawrence Market on the official website, including more about its long history.

Various prints of this painting are available for purchase on DeviantArt.