This is a closer shot of the mosaics visible in the entranceway of the Concourse building in yesterday's post. They were designed by J. E. H. MacDonald and his son Thoreau with the mosaic above the door meant to represent the concourse of earth, air, fire and water, while the 7 upper mosaics show various commercial activities involved in the Canadian economy of the time. MacDonald is well known in Canada as one of the Group Of Seven artists which was the 1st major Canadian art movement (from 1920 to 1933) - they were modern artists inspired by our landscape. There are huge collections of their work across the country and even in many schools!
I went on a walking tour with Heritage Toronto earlier in the summer which took us around to the Art Deco Towers of Bay Street (the financial district of Toronto). Somehow I never got around to posting any pics. This is the wonderful entrance to the Concourse Building on Adelaide St W - probably my favourite on the tour. It was built in 1928 and designed by architects Baldwin & Greene but its future has been up in the air for more than the last decades since the property was bought by developers who intended to tear it down. The world-wide economic downturn stopped that and the newest plans seem to involve keeping the structure & building a 40 storey tower behind the 16 storey Concourse. We will see what happens! I'll do a close-up of the murals tomorrow.
I've always been a fan of the wonderful carvings to be found on some of the older buildings around town and our Old City Hall is an excellent spot to see many fine ones. Built in 1899 and designed by Toronto architect E. J. Lennox, part of the city hall was to be used as a court house and still is to this day even though city hall functions have been moved across the road to New City Hall since 1966. Everywhere you look on the building there is some incredible carved detail in the sandstone!
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click here for more signs.
This was my view while sitting on the dock on Ward's Island waiting for the ferry to arrive for the trip back to the mainland. The sun had just set so it wasn't totally dark yet - super atmosphere, perfect evening, and a great view across the harbour!
I showed you the right side of this mural with the hand back in May 2011, here, but when I was In Kensington Market for a pedestrian Sunday I discovered that the wonderful diva had been added to the doors of this unopened shop. What a great face. A local artist has taken advantage of the space to display his/her own works to the passing pedestrians!
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click here for more murals.
Not all the creatures on Ward's Island were watching people while I was there a week ago. This orange tabby was sound asleep above a gate leading into one of the cottages and he paid no attention to me at all. I'm not sure what would have happened if I had opened the gate below him!
The theme for September for the City Daily Photo Blog community is 'People Watching' which is just what this little Papillon dog was doing for the whole 30 minutes that I saw him while I waited for someone on Ward's Island. His human companion spent the whole time with his attention centred on whatever he was reading, totally ignoring the dog and the beautiful surroundings!
To see more pics on the theme click here.
