The side of Dundas Square Hotel

 

 

Many designers and artists will most likely agree, sometimes we can find inspiration in the strangest things.  

What I love best about walking around the streets of Toronto is that it gives me time to look around and see things that I wouldn’t normally see if I was driving or taking the TTC.  Often times I get creative ideas that pop into my head; by looking down alleyways, at billboards, at textures that emerge from every neighbourhood.  Most of the time they are fleeting ideas and if I don’t write them down they will vanish from my memory.  This BIG Inspiration though, this is one that I cannot forget.

Every week I walk north on Church St. to the grocery store and just before approaching Dundas St. I walk past Dundas Square Hotel. On the side of the building is a very interesting wall that looks as though it may have once contained a large advertisement and now has been ripped down.  Or maybe there once was another building here and this is what remains. I have seen this type of beautiful wreckage before, in many areas of Toronto. 

Has anyone else noticed this wall? Does anyone know what it once was? If you have noticed it, please comment below and let me know what used to be there.  

When I walk by this wall, I think to myself; “that would make a really great artist mural.”  If the city wants to beautify areas of Toronto, I think it can be done not just with trees, shrubs and flowers, but also with murals.

I see HUGE potential in this BIG wall of shapes. I think the shapes should definitely be used in the artwork, for example, as a mask over a realistic scene, or as a complimentary pattern of a pop art inspired mural (see my three examples below).

I would assume it would take a lot of paint, large brushes, cooperative weather conditions, a few artists and a forklift.  Oh, and likely a permit or a signed agreement to use this space.  The city could even commission that talented portrait artist who does chalk portraits outside of the Eaton Center! He’s amazing! I am also willing to participate in this mural if ever it were to happen.  I would love to be a part of this BIG inspiration.