Toronto City Hall

                               

This is the new Toronto City Hall built in 1965.  There are two towers sitting in a raised platform.  This platform has a green roof which you can see in the foreground.  This City hall replaced the former one built in 1899 and is  just across the street.  

                                   

I sketched the Old Toronto City Hall  from the raised platform and green roof of the new one so you can just see the top half of the building.

I met with the Urban sketchers Toronto group at this site.  It was great to meet them and have a meal afterwards. 

Casa Loma

       

While in Toronto I visited the Gothic Revival style house called Casa Loma.  This was built between 1911 and 1914 as the residence of financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt.

It now a popular location for use in film and movies.  There were quite a few people milling about on the day I was there and you could tour inside if you wished.

Kensington Markets, Toronto

  

                                       

I am currently in Toronto and after a wonderful morning at the Art Gallery of Ontario, I walked to Kensington markets.  This is an area of diverse culture, lots of cafes, food of all sorts and interesting shops. It was very hot and humid and there were few places in the shade to sketch.  I found a spot opposite the above scene and thought the half house was interesting. The Uhaul van was unloading lumber the entire time I was there.

                               

There were buskers playing wonderful, fun music and this is one, Shane.  The guys loved having me sketch.  Too much fun.

                             

Juniper Hall

Juniper Hall is a large Georgian House on Oxford St in Paddington.  It was originally the home of Robert Cooper who was a wealthy man and  a gin distiller.  He promised his third wife and fourteen children the finest house in the colony.  Juniper Hall was the result which Cooper designed himself and had built in 1825.

Cooper named his home Juniper Hall after the juniper berries used in gin distillation.

This sketch was done from the side of the building.  The beautiful frontage has trees obstructing the complete view thus, side view sketch.

A lady came up to say developers were trying to get approval from council to build shops underneath the front lawn of the building.  The lady was not happy about the idea, understandably.

Iron cove and Rodd Point

      

Some sketchy friends and I got together on a cold and windy winter day to sketch on one of Sydney's water ways.  

Above is a boat club at Rodd Point.  One of the people involved with this club had a look at our sketches and told a bit of the history.  The club was originally built in the 1960's but burned down by arson about ten years ago.  They rebuilt it as it was originally.  I love it's shape.

The point was named after Mr Rodd and he and his wife are buried on the knoll behind the boat club, you can see the cross marking the site.

                                      

This scene is at Iron Cove. There are recreational areas around the water and there were quite a few people around.  There are aboriginal carvings on the rocks and a strong history of this people in the area.  A great spot!

David Hockney in the Art Gallery of NSW

      

I've had a couple of days off this week and spent one rainy day at the Art Gallery of NSW.  I love the large David Hockney paintings we have and have sketched the scene in the gallery at the time I was there.  The above painting is an iconic Hockney, painted in 1972 , acrylic.

      

This Hockney painting is six individual works all together making one piece.  This is a plein air painting done in the English countryside in recent years. I have a DVD of Hockney painting this type of work, working in all seasons and conditions. 

I'm a big fan of Hockney, love his stuff.

Gore Hill Memorial Cemetery

  

                             

Sketch club went to Gore Hill Memorial cemetery this weekend, in St Leonards.  This  is one of the oldest and largest remaining cemetery in the city of Sydney. It was established in 1868 and closed in 1974 but most of the burials were between 1900 and 1930. It is 12.5 acres in size.

It was fallen in disrepair but a lot of work has happened in the past few years to restore it.

                       

This is one my fellow sketchers and her lab sketching the scene.

                                              

Dyno Service station

      

I sketched this service station in the early days of the series, located on the Princes Hwy, St Peters.  The first time it was a scorching hot day and I had to sit in a doorway where there was a sliver of shade.  On the weekend I returned with a mate and it was very cool, a winters day with a wind from Tasmania blowing up the highway. I wanted to return as this lovely building as it  is slated for demolition.  They have taken the lettering off it for some reason. The light was strong and it made for great shadows.

This is a purpose built petro station, Spanish Mission style, 1930's. The past 50 years it has had the same owner.  Terrible shame it is being pulled down.

Redfern Technology Park

   

                                

                                            

                                           

    Urban sketchers met at a Technology park where the trains were originally serviced and repaired.  There were old locomotives and various bits of equipment around the place and inside some of the buildings there are more. Kind of a living museum. The buildings were 19th century industrial style.

                                  

                                        

The sketch above is a water tower on the site.  I liked the shadows coming toward me.

                                        

Sketch above is maybe  a couple of boilers.

A sunny winters day, very pleasant sitting in the sun.