I spotted these cute cut-outs of a chicken & rooster while out for a recent walk. There is a program in the city allowing households to have a few chickens as long as certain provisions are made for their care. These ones will need little care!
This is one of two lions who guard the entrance to a lovely garden at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre but I have the feeling that he is a lot happier in summer than he was last week in the snow!
This is another of the soapstone sculptures from the collection at the Vets Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. It was carved in 1970 by the artist Shorby. Nice isn't it?
I spotted this rooster very high up on the top of a steeple of a church on Bayview Ave, right across the road from yesterday's gatehouse. He doesn't seem to move in the wind so he must be purely decorative rather than a weathervane. I'll try to get a pic of the church one day but it is surrounded by a lot of wiring so will have to search for a good sightline.
I showed you this sculpture back in 2010 but thought I would try for new image with different lighting. You can see the other one if you click on the McElcheron label below. It is one of many from William McElcheran's Businessman series.
This statue is found right in the centre of Queen's Park where our provincial legislature building is located. The subject is Edward VII and the piece was designed by English artist Thomas Brock and was installed in New Delhi, India in 1919. After becoming a republic India was ridding itself of signs of British imperialism and the sculpture was removed and was eventually bought by a wealthy Toronto businessman who felt that our city lacked a good sculpture of a man on a horse. It was installed here in 1969 and is passed daily by hundreds of U of Toronto students as they pass from one side of the campus to the other.
I first posted a pic of this fountain, titled "Salmon Run", back in August of 2011 (here) when it was bone dry as has been the case for much of the time since its installation in 1991. There have been many leakage problems with it but it is finally fixed and was ready to be a feature beside the PanAm Games Cauldron which I showed you on Sunday. It was designed by artist Susan Schelle and features 60 salmon swimming upstream as they do each spring in real life. Let's all hope they keep on running here for a long time now!
This is yet another sculpture that I am sure is by Patrick Amiot & Brigitte Laurent, this one found by the front door of the gallery where I found the bird of a week ago. Wouldn't it be fun to have this wonderful Frog Prince greeting you every day?
You can see yesterday's Yellow-bellied Sapsucker down towards the bottom of this pic with a Pileated Woodpecker working away above him. This sculpture is found in front of the south building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and has been there since 1997. The 30 metre high steel column has many holes presumably as a result of the work of the birds. The artists for this piece are Fastwurms, aka Kim Kozzi & Dai Skuze. There is a lot of construction in this area and I took the pic a while ago so hopefully it is still there!
A very sturdy looking bird, this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was spotted close to Lake Ontario. I'll show you tomorrow exactly where he was.
I came upon this little scene out behind one of the galleries in the Yorkville neighbourhood and was thrilled to find the little bird. I am certain that it is a piece by Patrick Amiot & Brigitte Laurent who were originally from Montreal but have been based in California for quite a while now. It is rather nice that he is seated by the bears exploring one of our native trees!
Just down Bloor St from the Manufacturers Life Insurance building (with the great lawns) is another Insurance headquarters, that of the Crown Life Insurance Co. This building was constructed in 1953 and has 2 wonderful bas relief works by artist Louis Temporale. This one is, not surprisingly, called "Doe With Fawns". I'll show you the other one on another day.
This noble creature is found by the main entrance to the Lillian H Smith Library on College St and does a fine job guarding this place of knowledge. This library is part of the Toronto Public Library system and it is known for containing an extensive collection of children's books as well a collection of science fiction. I think he is a Lion Griffin.
This sculpture of a cat on a globe is found on a pole at the southern entrance, on Dundas St, into the Kensington Market neighbourhood, probably the most eclectic area in the city. The title Jiggity Jig comes from the nursery rhyme "To Market" and the globe represents the fact that Kensington Market is full of people and shops from all over the world while the cat represents the comforts of home that are found there. The artists are David Hlynsky and Shirley Yanover who have done pieces at the other entrances to the market as well.
This noble beast can be found along University Ave at one of several war memorials that are in the landscaped median that runs down the centre of this major street in the city. He as such a regal look about him don't you think?
I'm continuing my tour of the Evergreen Brick Works and showing this wonderful steel crow found atop the direction sign. Once again there was no artist name given but he looked so good against that blue sky, don't you think? If you look on the map, the kiln house is that very long structure to the right giving you an idea of just how long those kilns were!
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click here for more signs.
High up at the top of one of the towers of Casa Loma sits this statue of a lion standing guard over the building and watching all who enter.
As you can see the stainless steel birds on yesterday's sculpture, "Rising", are very stylized and modern but they have all captured the essence of birds quite well. There are hundreds of them on the piece in all manner of poses and position. I really like the idea of some of them appearing scattered about the upper levels of the building's facade. I haven't seen the piece in sunlight but it must sparkle and glow!
I found this tough cat wandering through part of the gardens at Ronald McDonald House - he was one of a few steel creatures to be found in the long grasses. The cat is by local artist J. P. Schoss who uses all recycled steel in his work, much of it from old oil tanks and propane tanks. It's nice that the Ronald McDonald house has used art that the kids can relate to easily!
There are 3 ferry docks on the Toronto Islands and I took the ferry that drops you off at Ward's Island which is the most easterly end of the islands and also the end where the houses (and resulting community) remain. After exiting the ferry and walking towards the Island cafe you suddenly come across a large grouping of metal creatures, some free-standing like this dragon but most of them affixed to the fence of the community tennis courts (visible in the background here). They were created by Bruce Smith, a resident of the islands, and some like this dragon have pipes running up their backs which can be attached to propane tanks and set on fire for special occasions!
