Corktown Doorways
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.