The St. James Spire
JULY 2009 | Acrylic on Canvas | 9″ x 12″
This incarnation of the Cathedral Church of St. James has dominated the northeast corner of King and Church Streets since 1853. The building itself is huge: this painting shows only part of the spire, which at 305 feet tall is the second highest in Canada. This church is also notable for its clock, which chimes a tune every hour, and for having Canada’s only set of 12 change-ringing bells which are rung by an impressive sounding “Guild of Change Ringers” on Sundays. Famous past visitors include Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II, and various current and former Prime Ministers.
I like this church because it adds some much-needed green space to the area, and the chiming bells remind me of my past aimless wanders through European cities. The beautiful St. James Park, directly to the east of the church, is maintained by the city of Toronto.
In this painting I focused on only the church spire because the full building is too large to capture in a single frame. The sky was rapidly clouding over when I photographed it, giving the tower a bit of dramatic shadow. I tried not to let myself get too bogged down in the details of this one—mostly because I would have been painting it forever. [map].
Posted July 25th, 2009 at 8:55pm
July 26th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Stunning. I especially like the clouds.
July 26th, 2009 at 9:41 am
gorgeous dude.
August 30th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Very moving for me.My neices were christened there many years ago and my late husband’s ashes are there.Anyway, it’s an awesome painting. I love all your paintings and you’re mom forwarded them to me. Josie’s paintings are fabulous - all that talent in one family already. Take care. Love, Aunt Nancy.
August 30th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Beautiful. So that’s all there is?
December 28th, 2009 at 11:41 am
I enjoyed visiting your virtual gallery and I especially liked the Moss Park Store painting. You definitely have a second career opportunity going for you here.