Art is everywhere, if you choose to look.
Lately, as the weather becomes a slightly more pleasurable each day, I am taking the opportunity to get back out on the streets of Toronto to observe what really happens here.
Last Thursday, on the way to an appointment, I was fortunate to notice something I had never seen before.
Just about any day you’ll find Ross Ward hunched over on Yonge Street tending to his art. The ‘Birdman of Toronto’ has been a fixture on these streets in various locations for well over a decade, and during each day he crafts, and sells, palm-sized birds.
Once only a hobby — this is now more than whittling — Ward carves out shapes of common birds from reclaimed wood. There is always a piece in progress, and always a small flock for sale on his concrete workspace.
Perhaps in our day-to-day journeys, we don’t look close enough at all the people. We don’t often observe enough to see art just happening here and there on our landscape. I’ve wandered this street how many times and only last week did I notice the man. I saw him again on the weekend.
Appreciating the beauty of his work, I bought a bird as a gift for someone . . . or maybe a souvenir for myself to one day remember my time in this city.
Couldn’t we all use more memorable hand-made art?
things you possess
Posted on July 29, 2023 by j.g.lewis
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It’s not what you have;
it’s what you have with you.
You may own several umbrellas,
but unless you have one handy
when it rains, none of them are
useful.
Your degree(s), that camera, the
skills you have developed over
the years, are things you possess,
but unless they are put to use
they do not serve your current
purpose.
Some of us travel lightly through
this life, taking only what is
believed to be needed at the time.
Others are better prepared for
whatever they encounter.
Only you can decide to use what
you have, or use what you can.
©2018 j.g. lewis