sketchbook 14/09/09

Today I had planned to go to a gallery a friend recommended, but they were closed and I found myself in the Yorkville area of the city. At this particular time of year, The Toronto International Film Festival is running, and this area is a known place for celebrity viewing. So why not! I returned to the Yorkville/Cumberland park and perched myself on the mammoth rock and sketched people from above. I did a previous sketch of the rock which you could view here.

As I was sketching a group of "kids" walked by the base of the rock and I heard my name called. It was Nadia. She was a former classmate and now professor of a studio group at the U of T's Faculty of Landscape Architecture. Ohhh, how we all grow up! Unfortunately, the "kids" didn't hold still for me, so they were left out of the final drawing.

Sketchbook 20/07/09

I went to Cumberland Park today, located in the Yorkville area of the city. A very posh neighbourhood that's frequented by the stars when the Toronto film festival is going on.

I've digressed. The Cumberland park was designed in 1993 by Martha Schwartz, an American landscape designer, who's concept for this unusually long and narrow park was chosen from a short list of 4 design proposals, I believe. Her concept was to represent each major geographical region of Canada through narrow strips of land. The image above is the part representing the Canadian Shield. At the time of construction, there was a massive controversy about the rock, specifically the price that it took to purchase it. However, as you could see, with the passage of years, that memory has faded and it's been known to be a great perch for sleeping, eating meals, climbing or just people watching.