Monday Mural Part 1

I'm linking up at Monday Mural

September 2019 - Toronto ON


I can't believe I just watched Exit Through the Gift Shop (a Banksy film) yesterday! It tells the story of the beginning of street art. I totally enjoyed it and would watch again. It features Mr. Brainwash who just painted a mural in Yorkville here in Toronto a few weeks ago.

Part 1 - College St at Eulcid St.

In September we took a long walk along College St, 14,000 steps in fact.
More on our day on College St. and many more murals.
This is the first of the murals we found in the lane off Eulcid, a collaborative project in 2018 and 2019.

StreetART Toronto posted all of the amazing work done by KJ Bit Collective Sep 7-8 2019 weekend at The BIT Laneway Project just south of Palmerston & Euclid. They had also painted of some these in 2018.

Source
KJ Bit is an emerging collective who want to brighten the streets of Toronto with artwork! Members Jieun June Kim and Erika James share a common interest in community-engaged arts and we want to invite local residents and emerging artists to paint garages in Euclid laneway to deter graffiti vandalism. Jieun recently moved to Canada from South Korea, and Erika has been working in community-engaged arts for two years. Since meeting at a Mural Arts Career Development program for emerging artists/program managers in April, we’ve worked collaboratively on several projects. Our name uses the Korean word “bit” which means “brightness, gleam, illumination, and radiance” and we want to bring this “beam of light” to our vibrant city!

Meaghan Claire Kehoe (aka MCK) is an emerging full-time artist local to Oshawa, Toronto and Waterloo.
Her murals can be enjoyed in over 50 Starbucks cafés across southern Ontario as well as in other commercial and private spaces like Food Basics and Brickworks Cider House, as well as public areas such as Toronto Underpass Park, London Convention Centre, and Kitchener City Hall.

Greta Thunberg (born January 2003) is a Swedish teenager who is credited with raising global awareness of the risks posed by global warming/climate change, and with holding politicians to account for their lack of action on the climate crisis.

And Drippin Soul painted the one on the left.

Emily May Rose's latest mural. Love it. I showed another new one at Dundas Square.

Too cute, but no name.

New to me.

Wenting Li is an illustrator and inveterate reader working out of Toronto. Her work is preoccupied with colour and movement, the relationship between shapes, and the subtleties of complementing story with picture.

Oriah Scott and Anya Mielniczek o halito means breath. We'll see more of in the coming weeks.

Ren Lonechild is a Plains Cree artist from White Bear Reservation in Saskatchewan. We will see more Lonechild after this in a restaurant.

Jieun June Kim

Marina Nazarova

THE WHITE SQUIRRELS OF TRINITY BELLWOODS by Karen Roberts.

Our white squirrels are immortalized around the city.

Margaret Creswell, Sorry about the ear worm!

Julia Prajza

Pam Lostracco we've seen a lot of her work around town. I still have to post some of it.

Curtia Wright

MCK Studio is also Meaghan Kehoe. The owner kindly closed his garage door so we could see this mural.

Raoul Olou

I love this photo John took.

Muisca

CTR - Christian

inSPIREd Sunday

Sally and Beth host inSPIREd Sunday!  

May 2019 - Lourdes France

Click here for the Underground Basilica located on the same grounds.

Say what I will about Lourdes, this was magnificent.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes or the Domain (as it is most commonly known) is an area of ground surrounding the Catholic shrine (Grotto) to Our Lady of Lourdes. The Sanctuary is a destination for pilgrimage; sick pilgrims are reputed to be miraculously healed by Lourdes water. This ground is owned and administered by the Roman Catholic Church, and has several functions, including devotional activities, offices, and accommodation for sick pilgrims and their helpers. The Domain includes the Grotto itself, the nearby taps which dispense the Lourdes water, and the offices of the Lourdes Medical Bureau, as well as several churches and basilicas. It comprises an area of 51 hectares, and includes 22 separate places of worship. There are six official languages of the Sanctuary: French, English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German.

The open space in front of the Rosary Basilica is known as Rosary Square.

The entrances to the Crypt and the Upper Basilica, both of which are built on top of Massabielle, are far above ground level. To facilitate access, two enormous ramps were constructed, which curve down either side of Rosary Square. The image of the entrance of the Rosary Basilica, flanked by the two ramps and surmounted by the spires of the Upper Basilica, has become one of the iconic symbols of Lourdes, and a stylised form of this image has been adopted by the Domain itself as its logo.

The Statue of the Crowned Virgin, often known as the "Crowned Statue" (French: La Vierge Couronnée), stands across Rosary Square from the Rosary Basilica and faces the entrance. This prominent statue is a familiar landmark and a traditional meeting point. The statue is 2.5m high and cast in bronze, painted white and blue in the traditional colours. Her rosary is of the Birgittine style and incorporates six decades.

Behind the Crowned Statue is the Esplanade, a large open walkway which is used for the processions.

The Stations of the Cross are amazing. From the photos we obviously walked the wrong way.

Like any good attraction, there is always somewhere to spend your money on the way out, or as Banksy would say "exit through the gift shop".

Luck

One Word Sunday


Sometimes luck is not always good.

Branson Missouri

 Toronto ON

But then...you can be a lucky B...in Mazatlan Mexico

Toronto ON

Then there's the LUCK of the Irish at Blarney Castle Ireland as John kisses the Blarney Stone.

Featured on the host's blog, Travel With Intent.
Thanks to everyone who brought us some luck last week. Special thanks go to Robert who clearly worked hard to get his “lucky shots”; to Dawn who reminded us that luck is what we make of it; and to Jackie for a mix of good and bad luck.

Food Stand

King St West Toronto

Saturday and a splendid later summer day, perfect for the Queen St. West Art Crawl in Trinity Bellwoods.

Absolutely fabulous work!

@CoffeeCoreConfession loved her coffee shop prints.

Another favourite Mandy Forbes embroidery. Image from her website.

Mike Nguyen

Ian Wright

Bought a print from Mario Beaudoin.

So hot out, ice cream was needed at Nadege, a French bakery.

John - Canadian Gourmet - maple, nuts and chocolate brittle
Mine - lemon cheesecake, not very lemony but lots of cheese chunks
Average.

And then, wouldn't you know, on the corner is an ice cream truck, Indian, that a friend was just telling us about. He kindly gave us samples, carrot and cream and sweet potato, both delicious. We're now following him, so we can try more of his flavours.

Dinner - classic lasagna using Catelli gluten free noodles.

Sunday and I was worried that it would rain on the Word On The Street (WOTS) festival but it cleared and was a hot late summer day.
John came with me this year and enjoyed it.
Sunday is the marketplace but it is so much more than that with many other bookish/author events taking place on week. There are readings that you can attend.

Since 1990, The Word On The Street has presented thousands of Canadian authors for readers of all ages and literary appetites. This year's schedule includes over 200 presenters on 14 stages.

View as we had lunch at Boxcar Social, strawberry salad and calamari. Not bad.

Author reading.

Interesting pavement art on Queen at Spadina.

Monday I went on an organization mission. Repotted some plants, cleaned the balcony. Met with a friend to complete our proxies for the condo general meeting.
Hung the new print.

Tuesday John and I headed to Bloor and Bathurst, the heart of Koreatown.

John was hungry so we went to NishDish.

NishDish Marketeria is doing more than just serving traditional Anishnawbe food, they’re reclaiming native food history and First Nations culture.

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What started out as a catering company run by Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette has now blossomed into a cafe and restaurant in Koreatown selling breakfasts and lunches using traditional native ingredients, as well as products by local First Nations artisans.

A thirteen moon calendar is hand painted on the ceiling by Ren Lonechild, the same artist who decorated the exterior with birch trees.

John had their Three Sisters stew, delicious and spicy.
It is said that by the time the Europeans arrived in America in the late 1400s, Native Americans had been growing what they call the “Three Sisters” for centuries. These sisters were companion plants of corn, beans, and squash, and were the dietary staple for many of the tribes across the New World.

Then I had a surprise for John. His first comment was "hey, I'm not eating in a place called poop"!

Be ready for a lot of potty talk/images and humour.

Seat yourself on a toilet.

MMMM....water glasses.

Mango for me.

Peanut butter for John.

All this diversity makes me happy to live in such a vibrant city.

Animal Rights Toronto held a chalktivism at Christie Pits in August. They met to chalk up the side walk with vegan messages.

Long was a professional trumpet player who, in 1956, thought he could sell instruments to some of his friends in the music community. With the small store he set up on the second floor of the old house on Carlton Street in Toronto, he became a dealer for King Band Instruments. The store's floor was later divided up into music studios so that Long could teach trumpet lessons on the side. About 6 months later, Long rented out a room to a local drummer named Jack McQuade, which the latter used for drum lessons.
Last year this mural was on this wall.

One of the most Instagrammable murals in town. Studio 835's Make Good mural by 416Gallery owner and artist Jimmy Chiale.

More to come on these fabulous murals at

This was just unveiled on September 13. It is on the side of PAT, a large Korean grocery store full of interesting and exotic items.

A few blocks east is this mural, it is impossible to avoid the garbage cans.
It is on the side of Yi Fang Korean Fruit Tea.
Blinc Studios also did amazing murals in Chinatown. The dragon is wreaking havoc on a Toronto 1900 street scene.

Malts and cigarettes at the cut rate drugstore. Are they running from the dragon?

Probably more 1930s as this appears to be a lineup for a soup kitchen.

My purchase at PAT's.

Wednesday - golf and I waited for our new carpet to be delivered. Once it came around 2 PM I returned a library book.

Quebec strawberries bought on Bloor St. yesterday.

Two cookbooks, $5 each, that I bought at WOTS.

Returning my library book at City Hall branch.

Thursday we headed out at 9:30 to meet our friends at Union Station and took the bus to the Museum of Illusions.

This was a blast!

King St. streetcar to Liberty Village where we wander, have lunch, shop and visit the Zoomer Museum.

Lunch at the Barcelona Tavern, where we ate last year.

John and I shared the patatas fritas and veal bomba meatballs.

We had visited the MZTV Museum last year and it was fun to do again.

Back home and I stop by a friend's to drop off the stamps I ordered for her.

We ended up ordering Swiss Chalet chicken for dinner since I was so late coming back and John was busy setting up his new laptop!

Friday John went golfing with a friend, and it was a glorious day.

Before he left he put down the new carpet and I love it.

I made the mistake of going to Bay and Bloor by way of College Park, during the Climate Change protest but power to the people!!!!!

I didn't even attempt to take the subway east to Bay, but walked there instead.

SUMMER OF ICE CREAM

Bang Bang 2018 Ossington Ave

Cool N2 Nitrogen Queen St. W
Ice Cream Floats Stratford ON

Taiyaki NYC Japanese Dundas W

Desi-licious Kulfi Indian  Taste of India Kulfi recipe no churn 

Dainties Macaron ice cream macaron sandwich Spadina

Arctic Bites Thai stir fried ice cream rolls Baldwin St.
The Dessert Kitchen chocolate fondue Harbord St.
iHalo Krunch Queen St. W
Cafe Bora Yorkville 
Not Your Mother's Vegan Queen St. W
LeTAO College St. W
Bloom Cafe Yonge St.

Nadege Bakery Queen St. W at Trinity Bellwoods
Poop Cafe Bloor St. W

BOOKS

2019 WOTS Harbourfront Toronto

Reading The News Where You Are and really enjoying it.

LINKING UP WITH

Beth hosts Weekend Cooking where you can post anything food related.

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by A Web of Stories.
Sunday Salon

Seasons

Say Cheese

Monday Walks

Monday Morning Blog Club