Old vs. New vs. World

When i was on the "gallery walk" with Jason's co-worker's girlfriend, she stopped at this spot and said, "this would be a good picture. it shows the old vs. new in one spot." I took a picture. She did this cropping thing with her hands (the signs of someone who knows :)). In looking at this picture again, it is kind of interesting. The tall buildings in the back loom like mountains behind the buildings of-old in front. This must have been an amazing view before those buildings came along and blocked out part of the sky.



That night i went with jason to part of China town. We were planning on going to Korea town but i think that was a bit more of a walk than what we wanted to do in the evening. We were looking for a place to eat. This is the part where i feel like there is a touch of New York. The open sidewalk markets where grocery stores put what they can't fit in their store out on the sidewalk. Well, i don't think that is the main reason why it's out there on the sidewalk. It's better business. This is would be a version of POS (point of sale or checkout lane endcap) impulse buying.



We walked into one market. It was very crowded. Not just people-crowded but shelving crowded and product-crowded. In the back there was a fish market. This is what fresh fish looks like. Well, it's much fresher than our frozen fish fillets in MN.

Conch! There were lots of other shellfish as well that were in tanks. My pictures were a little too blurry of that though.

These fuzzy things are fruit. I can't remember the name off hand. Jason's co-workers swore by these things. We can only get them dried in MN because they spoil too fast by the time we would get them. This is what they look like fresh! (i'll have to ask jason what these are again....)

We bought a handful and brought them back to eat. You have to wash them first before eating. Well, obviously! But the thing is, you don't eat the fuzzy stuff, you have to cut it open and peel the fruit flesh out. It was a rather interesting taste. I would get them again but they are a bit of work to peel and eat.

Pics and Such

We are still in the church/ gallery/ restaurant/ studio. After we got to the top of the stairs, there was this drinking fountain. The all-too-familiar sign above the drinking fountain (at least in art schools) of not dumping paint down the drain. Ha!



After wandering through the church a bit, we discovered that it was primarily a working studio and that there wasn't anything to look at (well, without interrupting people working). When we got outside the smell of food got the better of us and we decided to stop at a tiny little place. It was very dark but cozy. They had homemade mac n' cheese that was to die for. Perfect for a cold day.



Tom Waits was introduced to me by a co-worker. Lo and behold, Toronto knows Tom Waits. I was surprised to see this poster and had to take a picture of it immediately and post it on FB for my co-worker to see. It's amazing how big, yet how small, this world can be...

As we continued our journey down the street, we saw this very patient dog waiting for someone at this little cafe/ restaurant's door. Of course, when i took the pic. the dog looked away. I felt sort of bad because it was cold out, and this dog looked like he had been waiting for some time.

I know, it's just three bikes. But... they were lined up so neatly and the colors together were so pretty. When i took this pic. i was focused on the books. As i'm writing this, i'm noticing that there is an arrow on the pavement. Almost suggesting that the bikes were meant to "go", so you should give them a try. I wonder if the shopkeeper painted that arrow. Or, i wonder if the shopkeeper even knew it was there and intentionally parked the bikes there and parked the bikes in such a way so as to give an indication that the bikes were ready to go. Who knows.

The Next Day

The previous pictures were all taken on Thursday, the first full day in Toronto. On Friday, i was fortunate enough to walk down the art district part of Queen Street. I say "fortunate" because one of Jason's co-worker's girlfriend went with me.

She is from Quebec and had been living in Toronto for a few months with her boyfriend. I was very excited to meet with her because she has a background in art and shares the same passion i do. She also recently graduated from college with a media arts degree and was feeling the same way as i did; the sense of, "how do i make a living with art?"

Anyways, the first picture you saw above is of a building with a great mural painted on it. Did you notice the giant white insects crawling around the top of it? One reason why i'm glad bugs are smaller than me.



This is just a random picture as we were walking along. It seems like a city can't be a city without squishing buildings together, leaving no room to breath. It's interesting to see just how random each storefront is. This also demonstrates the evolution of outdoor malls.

Back at my home, it's one giant building with minor edits to the storefronts. County commissioners, or what-have-you, scream about making sure that retail stores blend into the background. It's like no one wants to admit that they truly are talking up a ton of space.... i digress. Anyways, the bottom line is, I spend a lot of my time with my head up in the air looking for the sign of the store i want...



This was rather interesting. We weren't sure if this was a "sign" for someones gallery or not. We tried the door and it was locked. The building inside looked to be abandoned but we couldn't really see too much into it.

The above picture, and all of my pictures unless otherwise noted, is taken with my iPhone. It is taken without any filters etc. Just natural light, and a point-and-shoot perspective.

Below is a second picture i took of the same thing, but i used my Toy Camera app. LOVE the toy camera app. You will see a few more examples as we go along.



As we walked along Queen St. we were looking for specific galleries. Since we had most of the day, we took our time and walked into a few other galleries as we went. We saw an old church across the street that had been converted into what appeared to be a gallery/ restaurant/ art school. It wasn't really clear though what was in the building and so we weren't 100% sure if we should go in or not.

We debated and then decided what the heck. I think we both felt we were on a quest to find that inspiration we had when we were in school. The freedom to just go anywhere art was because we were students and that's what students did. It doesn't make sense i know, but it does.

We walked through the front door of the building and we went up the stairs. As i looked down i snapped a picture of the entrance using my app. There is so much to say yet not so much. This picture is truly a thousand memories. While i'm not religious, i think churches are wonderful places to hang out in. I have fond memories if being in a church basement. Sitting in the girls bathroom with a few girlfriends and yammering away as my brother sat through his boy scouts meetings. What's interesting is, it's the linoleum in this picture that reminds me of this.

AGO

For some reason i was fascinated by the houses. I should have gone inside to look at how well these establishments kept the integrity of the house. Part of me wishes they wouldn't be allowed to make them into businesses...

This is still looking out of the front window of the AGO. The side that contains the front doors that i should have gone into :).



As i left the AGO, i saw these men standing on the front steps. For some reason this scene fascinated me. It seemed like this should have been a scene from another land or perhaps another era. The mercedes seems really out of place.



I made my way back to the apartment. This really isn't a picture of any meaning. All it is, is an intersection. The lines from the street car, the hint of old buildings from long ago, a church (?), and then brought back to present with a car.

Jason's apartment building had a Tim Horton's in the corner of it. I stopped in on the way back from my adventures and had a nice coffee to take back to the apartment. It was my second one.

Up I Go

As i went up the staircase, i was provided with a behind-the-scenes view of the neighborhood.





The pixelated building is the Ontario College of Art & Design. It is supported by what appear to be huge, sharpened crayons. I'm not sure if i would be a little freaked out being in a building supported by those things or not. I will say, the view must be amazing and it must provide an interesting perspective and perhaps endless ideas for subject matter.



I was fascinated with this little park below. The circular pond... Kind of an interesting little spot in the middle of the city. It sort of reminds me of the parks in NY but on a much smaller scale.

I made it to the back of the building and this is what i saw out the windows. Love the houses.

It appears that the majority of the houses are businesses on the bottom and living on the top. This is just a snapshot of the art district that lays below. Remember me telling you about Queen street? Will this is the same street, just further down the road. It has many personalities.

On a side note, we have a similar neighborhood where houses are converted into businesses. Grand Avenue. Well, this is the Toronto version (but with more character and less... well... you know).

AGO Staircase

The gentleman who explained the staircase to me, had me stand at different angles. Hence the reason for all of the "underneath" pictures in the previous post. He also had me stand on each side of the hall to illustrate just how different the staircase looked from each angle and measure of light.

In the picture above, it's kind of odd. This wood structure emerges from this doorway. It sounds gross, but it makes me think of intestines. It seems as though the building is divulging a bit of it's innards.



Frank didn't want to ruin the integrity of the building when he built the staircase and addition to the gallery. In fact, his goal wasn't to build just a staircase and an addition, it was to remodel the building to accommodate more floor space. Rather than tearing the place down, he designed within it.

The staircase goes up 5 floors. The ceiling was not open originally. I believe that is one of the few modifications he made to the building. He tore the ceiling off and let natural light flow in. Bit of a difference natural light makes huh?

You can also see the second level that he added through the windows of the lobby.

I made my way to the second floor and before i entered the spiral staircase, this is what i saw.

On the Way to AGO

Since Thursday i had the whole day pretty much to wander, i decided to take advantage of being blocks away from AGO. The Art Gallery of Ontario. The Ontario College of Art & Design also happened to be on the way. Quite the arty area. On the way, i spotted this mural on the side of a building facing a parking lot. Kind of look like the car is going to get washed. If you look real close, you can see the brick facade of the building.




When i got to the AGO, i went in the completely wrong way... but no one stopped me. Basically i went through a side door where i ended up in the basement cafeteria. I followed an old couple back up to the main floor. Once there i was greeted by one of the volunteers who handed me a map of the gallery. She then introduced me to a gentleman who explained the picture(s) above and below.

Frank Ghery had taken on the job of making some enhancements to the AGO building. The above picture gives you a slight taste of how he incorporated his work into the existing building's structure.

If you haven't guessed already, what you are looking at is a free floating, spiral staircase. Frank laminated wood together and used several other techniques to manipulate the wood not only into a functional use, but is also sculpture in of itself. Perhaps i have true artists and architects screaming that this is simply an architectural wonder. Fine, but you have to admit, it also has a sculptural feel to it. As if this organic shape was simply escaping it's gallery-walled cocoon. Maybe you don't see it in these photos, but the next ones you might see more of what i'm thinking.

Store Fronts and Such

As promised, here is the store front with the cats. Not JUST cats, but flying cats. I saw this store in multiple locations throughout Toronto and they all had flying cats. Interesting idea and at least it was consistent throughout all stores. I believe the store front was not only consistent with the cats, but the outfits were the same, are very close to being the same. Talk about carrying the store brand from the sign all the way down to the display. I digress.





I thought this was an interesting little spot. I wasn't brave enough to go into this store, although i kind of wish i had after i saw some of their stuff they had pulled out for display. At that point it wasn't in my agenda to wander through shops.




At the other end of the Black Market "hallway", there was this place. Wanda's waffles is a waffle place that has a small space in the front of the Garden Market (it looked like a grocery store to me). Smelled really good but i heard that there wasn't much more than just good smells. So i didn't feel bad for not getting any.




Now isn't this a curious thing? Not only are there tons of shops within Toronto, but there is art! It was my goal on Thursday to not only just wander the streets, but to go to the AGO (pronounced AHH-go instead of a-GO). The Art Gallery of Ontario. Right before i got to the AGO, i passed this mural. It is on the side of a building facing a parking lot. Looks like the car is going to get a wash. If you look really close, you can see the brick facade of the building. The bricks were actually raised, so whomever painted this mural probably painted each brick to avoid wasting paint in the gaps.

Gah! On My Own!!

Holy hannah! I'm flying! I know. Crazy. Not to mention i was on my own for this trip. A "solo trip" if you will. You would never know this, but beneath those clouds is a very dreary, wintery, Minnesota day happening. I was pleasantly surprised that there was sun! SUN! SUNNNNN above that layer of gray clouds. Of course, my ever-fascinated-self had to snap a photo. I'm such a tourist...

I arrived in the night. I was in a teeny twin-prop plane, that swayed in an effort to land on an island. It landed. I was fine. So was everyone else. My concern was navigating the airport and finding my husband which involved taking a ferry across dark waters.

I made it. I saw my husband patiently waiting in the ferry lobby. The look of, "seriously... what did you do? swim here?" because it took so long to get to him.



In the morning, i woke up in his apartment (excuse me... CONDO i.e. really expensive, teeny tiny apartment located on a busy street with this for a view). I was on my own for the day. I had all thursday and friday to wander the streets by myself until jason got off work. oh what to do?what to DO? WHAT to do?



Wander. That's what i did. Jason's place is not too far from all of the action. There is Queen street for example. Much different than Queen Ave N. where i grew up (ha!). Queen street stretches for miles. on this particular mile there is shopping. Nope. Not mall shopping. This is what we would consider "outdoor" shopping because you have to walk outside to get to each shop. Bet you didn't know that about "outdoor" shopping (well, neither did i until just this moment).



What i noticed about the shops are a:) they have crazy window displays and b:) you can't really see their store signs unless you are across the street which then means; 1. you are busy paying attention to what is across the street and you almost get nailed by a car because you aren't paying attention to the street you are about to cross and 2. the shops need to rely heavily on their store fronts. That my friends was a long-winded explanation for; listen up shops! get creative you shops you! Quit relying on "fancy" signs that no one can see and beef up your window displays. You aren't selling a sign, you are selling a product and telling people your store's philosophy.

Perfect example is shown above. This window is stating, "everyone should wear white including children when you are in a house of white that relies on light for color". The end. Well, not really. It's enough of a story to think, "i wonder what in the hell this shop has for stuffs. lets go in and look! who cares if i seem out of place! i wanna see how much they are charging for this stuff." OR you could be thinking, "interesting display. interesting clothing designs. i wonder if that comes in black... i think i need to go in and see."

I had another picture of a window display. Apparently i uploaded the one below instead. Ah well. below is simply a pub. Interestingly enough, this is a pub that reminds me of exactly how they were in England. Sort of.

Wouldn't it be fun to live on the top floor and have the gorgeous view? Well, yes the view would be of other buildings but i LOVE the windows on the top floor. or are they doors? do you think that people live just below and that the top floor is their private patio? Instead of those being windows are they doors? No. I suppose they aren't doors, but wouldn't that be a fun idea?

More pictures soon! Particularly because i need to show you the picture of the window display with cats in it.

I know...

...it's been awhile. There a came a point in time where life won over for a few months. Getting up at 4:30 am has also been very hard to do. That translates to: i'm getting old and i'm lucky if i'm up by 5 am these days. :)

I took a trip out to Toronto to visit my hubby while he's out working on a project. I took a TON of pictures. Needless to say, i have fuel for the fire.