The Dufferin Gate

Arts and Crafts building -Dufferin Gate.  Field sketchbook, Gouache

 This was once a lovely place, especially in spring and summer when planting was done and life returned to the outdoors. Dufferin St ends here, and the Canadian National Exhibition grounds begin (kind of a giant fairgrounds, if Toronto was a small town). Walking and biking was a pleasure here once. Sometimes I look around me and am shocked by the chaos and inhospitable nature of our pedestrian environment. We are not known for city planning here, and change is occurring at a furious pace now. Even here though, my eyes and mind seek out something beautiful in how the sun strikes it. I came to take a photo of the glass dome in the late afternoon because the eccentric shape of the former Arts and Crafts Building (you can tell my age, now) against the sky helps get my compositions away from the squares and rectangles. We wonder if the grand old fair will commence  next summer, after economic pressures, public health uncertainties and the rough urgency of new urban development deals come to bear. 

This is nearly finished. There are some aspects of "see-through" in the glass I wish I had paid more attention to. I'm gradually using these awful paints up and am ordering some from a supply store up north in Ontario. I've found some of those hard to get things there at good prices, and will once again avoid AMAZINGAMAZON.

What’s so different about gouache is the mistakes are adjustable, which flies in the face of my college colour theory experiments where streaks were avoided and flat level swatches were demanded. We all complained bitterly about the paint without ever trying a better quality product or working with texture, detail and layered colour!

DufferinGate_Arts and Crafts Building, Gouache