Queen & Sherbourne
TD Centre Plaza
APRIL 2009 | Acrylic on Canvas | 12″ x 16″
The intersection of Queen St. East and Sherbourne St. is not a part of Toronto most of us visit intentionally, and if we do find ourselves there we usually tend to walk through quickly. It’s not dangerous neighbourhood like some you’ll find in other cities, but it still remains an area of shabbiness and despair even as gentrification closes in from several directions. This intersection is very close to my home, as close as many places I walk to all the time like the St. Lawrence Market and the Distillery. But because I’ve so successfully built my routines around not walking through here, I sometimes forget it exists.
I like this painting quite a bit because I think it has a bit more character than some of my others. There is a looser feel and a bit more griminess comes through, even if some of the specifics like the sign lettering and the window bars are not ruler-perfect. I also enjoyed painting the many little details that are specific to Toronto, or at least to Ontario: things like the numerous OLG lotto signs, the Green P parking sign, and the TTC streetcar sign and tracks [map].
Since this painting is big, a lot of detail was lost in the scan above. If you’re curious, click here for a bigger version that shows everything, flaws and all.
Posted April 28th, 2009 at 2:17pm
May 21st, 2009 at 12:38 am
Beautiful website my friend, I love your cityscapes and especialy the compositions…this corner of streets is very well done.
I’m flattered to see my name in you favorite painters…and always alive haha :-) My name is less known, if you can and if you want to change it, Duytter is better than Daniel Uytterhaeghe. Duytter is my artist name in the galleries…easier to remember
Thanks a lot my friend