TDot Batu Samba Reggae closed out the July 30 2023 Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market with a Drumming Parade up beginning at the bottom of Kensington Avenue winding through Kensington Market and north up Augusta Avenue.
Along the way,
TDot Batu paused atop my Re-Painted Labyrinths near the Kensington Garden Car until finally arriving on North Augusta Avenue at my then still-in-progress painting of a Pass-Through Labyrinth.
I too then paused to enjoy their Drumming…
Yeeeeaaahhhh….
This was kinda weird.
I really did not want to have my picture taken like this, yet I didn’t feel I had any choice.
You might be able to tell that by the look on my face.
Reflecting on it,
This was the perhaps the first time I had a Vancouver experience here in my hometown of Toronto.
In Vancouver I kept silently wondering to myself “What Planet Am I On?” as I had one positive experience after another after another with Vancouver Police Officers.
Vancouver Bicycle Cops would stop and thank me for making Chalk Labyrinths all around VanCity, one even wanted to simply shake my hand, that was at the TaiwanFest on Granville.
Other times, Vancouver Police would LOAN ME TRAFFIC PYLONS and even move them into place and direct traffic around my Labyrinths while in progress and then once completed.
Again, that permanent question “What Planet Am I On?” persisted in me as every time that happened, I had to, almost as a necessary “Must”, contrast my Labyrinth Making encounters between Toronto’s Cops and Vancouver’s.
On this Pedestrian Sunday,
I again asked myself, “What Planet Am I On?” but this time, it was IN Toronto, NOT Vancouver.
Me Re-Painting the Square Labyrinth, with the Heart in Middle, I first painted onto Augusta Avenue during the May 2023 Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market.
Me smiling with a Little One while Re-Painting & Expanding my Heart Labyrinth on Augusta Avenue during Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market…
Grateful for this photograph.
That’s me,
The Labyrinth Maker,
Re-painting the one inch wide Yellow painted outline of the Labyrinth
With a three inch wide paint roller making the Labyrinth Green.
Eventually the kids gave up waiting for me to finish,
They began walking/running around me from Entrance to the Centre,
Where they’d find the Heart of the Labyrinth.
Shoe-level view of the Heart Labyrinth I painted on Augusta Avenue on Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market.
You can spot me in the top right of this photograph,
Where I was painting the fourth and final Labyrinth of the day…
That’s me,
Painting the Heart Labyrinth,
This was the second Labyrinth of what would become a total of four different styles and designs,
Done throughout the afternoon and into early evening during this year’s first Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market…
Painting the final lines of the final Labyrinth of this year’s First Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market.
This was my fourth Labyrinth painted today,
Yet it was the first Square/Rectangular shaped one.
I began with a round Labyrinth, followed by a Heart shaped Labyrinth Design, then a Baltic Wheel Design, then this one with Right Angles to complete the set.
That’s me,
Painting the first of the four Labyrinths I made on Augusta Avenue immediately south of the brand new Garden Car.
A fun filled first Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market for 2023.
While [re]painting the Grange Park Labyrinth to remedy its absence from Grange Park over the winter,
I recognized Photojunkie Rannie Turingan as he began his & Cody’s spiralling walk towards the Heart in the Centre.
We hadn’t seen one another in person since before the Pandemic, since before I was living in Vancouver.
Rannie & Cody were officially the first Labyrinth Walkers of the renewed Grange Park Labyrinth.
That’s me.
I was painting in the orange colour Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada logo and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation logo inside an open canvas space within the East/Yellow Quadrant of The Medicine Walk Labyrinth in Hillcrest Park, Toronto.
Our new permanent painted labyrinth is under construction in our south-east parking lot! Please be careful if you are driving in that area. @LabyrinthsDOTca is creating a custom design just for us! #labyrinth #WalkingWith #meditation #journeyoffaith #Advent pic.twitter.com/0dwHflpEso
— HolyNameofMaryCSS (@HNMCSS) November 29, 2021
Currently in progress,
I am painting a Labyrinth commissioned by the Chaplaincy at Holy Name of Mary Catholic Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario.
Parking Lot was agreed as the best candidate location for a Painted Labyrinth.
Available space for painting a Labyrinth was trapezoid/rectangular.
My final design was a Nine Lane Labyrinth plus two wings with spans of four additional lanes on either side.
Keeping the Concentric Circle arc design rather than using true 90 degree hard right angles will make for a funner and more flowing Labyrinth walking experience.
Plan for the day was to at least outline in paint my chalked design.
Retracing in paint a thin outline meant I need not worry about any rain which would wash away my chalk design outlining work.
Rain has been intermittent yet frequent enough this month to delay completion.
InshAllah, will finish painting it before the first snow.
Grateful for your Kind & Generous Acknowledgment.
Thank you.
“This is to HïMY @labyrinthsdotca whom I accidentally met at Budapest Park creating his biggest ground Labyrinth in Canada (!!!).
I had noticed that and many other wading pool Labyrinths in parks around Toronto before that,
and I thought it was so cool cause every time I saw children and adults really enjoying them.
I was sure it was a City of Toronto’s project of some sort,
BUT it is not!
HïMY is doing it all on his own and hasn’t sought payment for his creations.
He spends time to carefully measure and calculate a very elaborated Labyrinth pattern,
and invests his own money in the art materials.
He worked on this one, for example, for about two years.
He puts so much thought into the way he designs his Labyrinths, and so so much passion!
Just look at HïMY’s t-shirt, and undershirt, and notebook – everything is Labyrinth 😍
And he did his research how to write it in different languages 🙂
Dear @start_streetartoronto and @stepspublicart , I think HïMY totally deserves to be on the artists roster and bring even more of his interactive and meaningful creations to animate the public spaces ❤️
P.S. did you know what is the different between a Maze and a Labyrinth?
I didn’t, and I learnt from HïMY that a Maze has dead ends, but a Labyrinth doesn’t, you will always find your way to the centre ✨”
Grateful to see this photograph,
That’s me (re)painting the Grange Park Labyrinth . . .
Labyrinth I painted on the surface of the Wading Pool in Geary Avenue Parkette.
Upon my arrival,
I was surprised at the nuanced gesture of two spirals drawn in the umlaut dots atop the letter ï in my signed name.
The colours, different tints of green, are still visible and viable as Lines of the Labyrinth.
Only the two half circles which extend onto the cement deck surrounding the wading pool were in need of a repaint.
I added a Heart in the centre of the Labyrinth.
Also added the Pi symbol π in the triangle of the Labyrinth connecting the centre and the outer wall.
I was tempted to paint some more art to complement the existing design, yet decided adding an arrow pointing towards the entrance of the Labyrinth was just the right final touch.
