Greenwood

Well this lonely little house is long gone. When the street was widened on Greenwood it was one of the casualties. That area of Greenwood had a lot of changes. It was once a brickyard and is now both a ttc stockyard and a park.

Feeling better about my progress now. I intend to do more images than I need and then sort them out.

Monarch Park

Okay, so I didn't get this posted yesterday. Maybe because I only finished the painting today (when I say finished I know I will be making some changes later). Here's another painting for the Art of the Danforth. What will I do next? Hmmm...

I have fond memories of going to Monarch Park with my mom. Again, it seemed far away to me when I was little but then my legs were shorter and everything seemed far. It was the closest park with a full swimming pool but it was always freezing. I always tried to just jump in instead of trying to slowly go in little by little. My brother tried several times to teach me to dive. I still can't.

Checking in

What? No photo? I'm just checking in. I was away for a couple of days to Montreal. Fantastic little break. But right back at it first thing tomorrow. I really need to get work done for the next show and frame a work for another one.

Thought I would let people know about a fantastic giveaway of a cute apron on a blog that I follow. Great stuff there regularly but now you get a chance for a free apron. How great is that? Check out It's a PrettyModern Life

Hopefully back here tomorrow with some work!

Coxwell Streetcar

Yes, another Coxwell subject but this streetcar would have travelled, obviously. I'm more pleased with this in the end than I thought I would be. Still more to do...

Still happy from yesterday's art opening. Met some new people and possibly have an art exchange going with one of them. My mom and dad came, which was wonderful. All of my friends who said they would come (except one who was poorly) did even though the weather was terrible. And then we celebrated with some of them with pie. What better way to end a day. Now will any of the photographs sell? We'll see.

Coxwell houses

Yes, yes, I know, I've been neglecting the blog again. And yes, another Coxwell image. I have been doing other things. Seriously. Let's see, I've been trying to make contacts for work, I've been doing photography, I got work ready for a show, getting cards made up, I've been sorting things out at home etc.

I do have to ramp up things when it comes to this show. I'm almost regretting choosing watercolours based on archival photos. First, I'm guessing at colours. But this doesn't mean I can use whatever colour I want. For the most part, things were not painted bright colours. It just wasn't done even if people had access to fuschia and the money to paint their house that colour. Mostly, as with these three houses, I would assume that the people didn't have much money at all and probably left their houses as they were or preserved the wood with a quite serviceable colour.

I did pick up some fantastic paper (Somerset) which I plan to use if I decide to just do prints of the original watercolours for the show. We'll see.

Coxwell waiting room

I wish this was still there. It just seems so much more charming than the graffitti'd bus shelters we have now. And this one had a lunch counter. I think the woman in the doorway is the hostess. The brick would also keep out the cold winds.

Apparently this was at Coxwell and Danforth but I'm not sure which corner it would have been on. I want to say the south-east but I'm not sure.

What to tackle next. I seem to be rather Coxwell-centric but I seem to have the most workable archival photos for this area or street.

Linsmore hotel

I feel like it was only recently that the old Linsmore Hotel sign was taken down. Or maybe I'm dreaming. I was by there recently and it looks totally different (even more seedy than I remember).

Again this one was started and then reworked. Will the same happen for the next one? Probably, not. That's up next.

Danforth revisted

Here's the update of the Danforth Radio store image that I've done for the Art of the Danforth fest in April. It's less washed out. I may revist all of these at some point.

Forgot

I also had to make cake! I've been enjoying the company of a great group of women on Monday nights and I just had to make cake for last night (devil's food). There was baked brie from another girl and punch and sparkling wine from two others. What a feast!

Cake counts to the creative spirit of this blog. Okay, I'm reaching.

Big apology

Okay, if anyone is checking in on this blog then I have to offer a big apology for not posting anything for ages. Here come the excuses. First I've been working on other things like creating a website and doing work for two shows (more on that later). Second, I've been under the weather but I think that's getting sorted out. I took a good portion of last week off to rest and see if that would help. It also timed nicely with the Olympics so that was good. Yay Canada!

The above photos are works I just produced and framed for a group show at a local gallery, Cobalt. The show features a number of artists. The only restriction was that the works be no bigger than 10 x 10 so I went to the max.

I will post the reworked Danforth Radio later and, if I finish it today, the Linsmore Hotel image I've been working on for the Art of the Danforth festival.

Soldiering on but first I have to cheer someone I know up and myself with some flowers. It's beautiful outside so I'm looking forward to the walk.