art, collectibles & food creations
There’s another new market in town… This one is more focused on art, collectibles and food creations.
The Queen West Market is held on the second floor of the Spin Gallery building at 1100 Queen Street just west of Dovercourt in a beautiful loft space with fantastic floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s open on both Saturdays and Sundays from 11am -6pm.
By the way, booths are still relatively inexpensive for those artistically inclined… could be fun.
Technorati Tags: Artists, breads, Craft, market, Beaconsfield, Queen St. W, Queen St. W
who ‘dat?
Elicser is one of my favourite local artists.
You can find his works on public walls around Toronto, and in galleries.
Check out some of these images…
His pieces communicate very interesting characters and settings. I’ll let you know when I get the details of his next show.
graffiti spotting
I’ve been meaning to mention this wall for a while.
It’s a classic graffiti wall that has been painted since the early 90s. (And updated since then, obviously.) Located by the Dundas West Subway Station in a parking lot, you can see it from the subway car if you look carefully. I think the businesses that own the building allow artists to paint this wall.
I love the detail of the images and the fantastic portraiture. A truly talented group of artists.
Technorati Tags: Artists, Dundas Street , the junction
Susan Szenes
Susan Szenes is a fantastic Toronto artist that I first discovered on a gallery crawl. For me her art invokes a whimsical feeling of childhood: child-like interpretations, perspectives and memories.
I’m reminded of returning to a familiar place a decade later to find that it’s not at all the way I remembered it. The place has stayed the same, but my point of view has changed.
Many of her paintings create a feeling of vastness. You can see it in these, below: small images of cars crossing large empty swaths of land.
Remember what seemed like long rides in the back seat of your parents car? Eyes below window level. Only the sky and skyline are visible. Everything is oversized. That’s the perspective I’m brought back to when I look at this piece. I always wondered what those crazy towers were.
Szenes uses found materials such as ceiling tiles, radiator covers, keys, shipping crates and painted wood remnants. Not only do these pieces add interesting textures, they also bring about a feeling of nostalgia and reminders of the past.
I think her pieces also comment on the connectedness of people. We are all connected… by roads, powerlines, airplanes, telephone lines, and more and more the internet. It is these connections that allow us to feel closer, no matter how physically far apart we may be.
The images of cars and roads also leave me thinking about our state of perpetual motion and change.
I am surprised how much these pieces have made my head spin in thought.
My photos can’t do her work justice; you should check out Susan’s work live.
Technorati Tags:
Toronto, mixed media, paintings, arts, canadian
norma, where have you been?
Norma W opened up recently in Kensington Market, bringing us all kinds of funky finds. I couldn’t resist the hats.
Or the buttons.
Or the …well… let’s just arbitrarily stop there. I have to say, this place is awesome.
P.S.
Warning: Norma W’s shop is so adorably small that if you wink at someone on the street you may miss it.
Technorati Tags:
Kensington, boutique, handmade, accessories, Toronto, clothing, artist
inspired by pigeons under the pass
I don’t know about you, but I largely subscribe to the theory that pigeons are rats with wings. It turns out these creatures can be inspiration for some, though, such as the artist who produced fantastic graffiti on this Davenport Ave underpass wall.
The vines on the wall add to the imagery.
It looks like this piece may have been an artist collaboration. Does anyone know whether this was painted in different phases? I have a feeling the simpler illustrations have been there for longer and the multi-layer complex graffiti parts are newer.
Underpasses are usually so ugly. This one sure is fun to look at. (The white spots are snowflakes.)
This shot portrays what I previously saw - a blur while driving by.
But this time I stopped to inspect the details… and now I like it even more.
LUBO DESIGN
Another great local designer: Lubo of Lubo Design. He is an architect turned woodworker and furniture designer. The detail and quality of workmanship in his pieces is amazing. He combines some Asian and European elements with clean modern lines, producing intricate, crisp yet warm designs. He uses only beautiful solid wood for his works, some of which is reclaimed wood. Check out the renovation work he has done. I dream of having some of his custom cabinetry.
You may have seen his showroom window on Dundas Street West near Lansdowne, or his van around town. Lubo is a nice guy. If you wave I’m sure he’ll wave back.
Technorati Tags:
artisan, furniture, design, Toronto, renovation
A Beautiful Lens on Identity
Updated: January 16, 2008 (updated *new* gallery dates: January 30th to February 17th)
Meet Margaret Lim, a recent graduate of OCAD’s jewelry design program.
Born and raised in Toronto, Margaret’s parents, Chinese in origin, immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in the 1970s and raised her following the culture and traditions of their home country. Yet Margaret grew up not knowing the Philippines or her relatives there. She felt there was a large piece of herself that was completely unfamiliar. Thus Margaret’s recent works are an exploration of who she is and where she belongs, through an examination of her family history.
The casings that hold the jewelry were hand carved in metal sheets to reflect traditional window lattice patterns from China. The rings were cast in silver, based on Margaret’s own wax models. And the images in Margaret’s jewelry are those of her parents, grandparents and her dad’s youngest brother.
I asked Margaret how her parents felt about having their photos woven into her art. She explained they are shy, modest people. Her mother responded to one piece with, ‘I don’t want people to think that I’m trying to promote myself.’
Margaret’s journey of self-discovery stemmed from curiosity about her relatives and family heritage. She admired her parents’ principles and the way they raised her, and wanted to understand their influences. She had heard little about the three grandparents she had never met, since her parents rarely spoke of their difficult pasts. Both of them grew up as the youngest of nine children in poor families who were part of a small Chinese population situated in the Philippines. They immigrated to Canada without any family, enduring the difficulty of starting in a new country for the promise of a better life for their children.
Margaret did this project for herself, as her OCAD thesis work. She was initially puzzled to find that other people were interested in owning art pieces that, to her, are so personal and nostalgic in nature. To an onlooker like myself it’s obvious that the beauty, elegance and detail of her art is compelling.
Margaret’s work won the OCAD medal for her program. She tells me her parents are not outwardly sentimental people, but it’s clear that they’re proud of her and of how much they mean to her. Her project has brought them much joy. Their hardships in moving to Canada were all to invest in the future of their children. Seeing their kids successful and happy is the biggest reward her parents could have asked for.
Margaret’s latest works will be revealed at *new* gallery from January 30th to February 17th. I can’t wait to check out what she has been up to.
living-in-the-moment graffiti
I stumbled across some more graffiti, this time on a wall close to Dundas West and Bloor. This particular wall made me chuckle. The images look like illustrations from a children’s novel. All these characters are painted in expressive moments. The crazy-haired pianist sitting spread eagled on the stool, rockin’ out with one finger pointing into the air. The poet preaching spoken word to the world wearing funny plaid pants. The lady with long curly hair taking flight from her day job on the back of a ladybug. The bowl-legged cyclist staring up at the sky. The super tall dude messing around with either an accordion or a beehive. Someone flying a flower flag while another person watches intently.
The theme of all of these images is confidence: each character appears confident and happy about what they are doing. There is no grass-is-greener going on in this painting. The way each of the characters is fully living in the moment may be why this collage reminds me of childrens’ books.
It’s a nice break from a usual walk down the street. The artist has a website listed if you are interested in looking at more images.
Technorati Tags: Toronto, graffiti, artist, fun, outdoor, illustration