Toronto Urban Strolls: Neighbourhoods

Beach Studio Tour 2010

The best excuse for an urban walk

(I have updated my post from last October 2013 to reflect the Spring Studio Tour 2014.)

A few years ago, I did the Beach Studio Tour with a couple of girlfriends, armed with a self-guided tour map. We had a wonderful time!

We didn't know what to expect. Would it be awkward to visit artists' private houses without buying anything? Would there be art within our budget? One thing for sure, going with a few girlfriends gave us all the courage to find out.

What's the verdict? The participating artists do everything in their power to make us feel at ease. Many join other fellow artists under a same roof to create more ambiance. Some even offer a little bite to welcome the visitors. All simply love to talk about their art and they understand the value of getting us better acquainted with their work even if we don't buy right away.

Beach Studio Tour 2010

Studio Tour Spring 2014

The Beach Studio Tour is a free cultural tradition currently in its 20th year. The locations change every year, which allows us to discover different streets of The Beach neighbourhood.

For Spring 2014, the tour takes place from May 2 to 4 (Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.). It includes 14 locations where we can admire the artwork from local 24 artists (you may check their map at the bottom of the Studio Guide section on www.beachstudiotour.ca. They're too dispersed to be seen all in a single walk (unless you're a keener!) so many will want to do part of the tour by car.

To those who would like to kill two birds with one stone, combining art and exercice, I present a cool route, based on my research when working on the walking guides (for The Beach Quaint Stroll, Stroll 25 in Toronto Urban Strolls 1, and The Beach Soothing Stroll and Upper Beaches Steep Hill Stroll, respectively Strolls 12 and 24 in Toronto Urban Strolls 2.). It is 5.5 km long (which takes approximately 1 hour 30 to walk).

"On parle français" at #14!

I recommend you start your walk at #14, just north of Kingston Road (395 Scarborough Road). You will easily find street parking in the area and you will get a chance to meet the charming painter Nathalie Vachon whom we met four years ago when we first did the tour (she speaks French). She's teaming with jeweller Caprice Akram.

Coffee before Kingswood Road, #12

A new café that I want to check out just opened not too far: the Madhus Café on 982 Kingston Road. (Walk south on Scarborough and turn left on Kingston.)

Further east on Kingston, turn south, on Kingswood, to #12, where is exhibited the artwork of painter Roderick Mayne (89 Kingswood) and the felted and hand loomed knit artwear of Carolyn Barnett.

Lovely dead-end street

Go southbound on Kingswood to Queen Street, then turn left (eastbound) to reach Neville Park Blvd. (one of the prettiest streets in the neighbourhood). Walk to the end of the dead-end to admire the properties on top of the sloped front yards. No artist on that street this year but while you're in the area, I thought you'd like to see this.

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Back on Queen, turn right (westbound). You might be tempted by the scrumptious cupcakes of Life is Sweet (2328 Queen East). Note that a bit further west, at the corner of Beech and Queen, you will find more to tease you: the savoury salty muffins at Remarkable Bean (2242 Queen E.), artisanal (and affordable) chocolate at Wickerhead (2375 Queen E.) or hand-made gelato at Ed’s (2224 Queen E.).

Beach sight before # 10 and #11

You can access the beach at the foot of Beech Avenue. Walk left on the boardwalks and past the end of the boardwalk, you'll have a chance to see some great beach front houses.

Back to the Studio Tour, turn west on Fir at the corner Beech and Fir Avenues. Looks like a small village, doesn't it? Two painters await on this street: Ruth Hayes with her watercolours at #11 (17 Fernwood Park Avenue), and Dianne Selton, an artist who loves to play with colours, in display with jeweller Lara Bazant at #10 (59 Fernwood Park Avenue).

Ravine sight after #9 and #8

Walk northbound on Fernwood, turn left on Hazel, then right on Balsam Avenue. A bit further west of Balsam, there's the really cute café Tori's Bakeshop (2188 Queen East) where you might want to rest before reaching the two last stops of my walk.

At at #9, you will find the photographer John Dowing, the hand-woven designs of Lucille Crighton and Tod Waring, an artist who works with metal (92 Balsam Ave.). At #8 awaits Heidi Burkhardt, with her landscapes in watercolour and oil (142 Balsam Ave.). Oops! I forgot to put it on the map but it's beyond Pine, no too far from the ravine's entrance.

Glen Stewart Ravine at The Beach

For the big finish, keep going northbound on Balsam. You will be able to access Glen Stewart Ravine from a little path hidden between two private houses (across from the school). It leads to the spectacular staircase recently built to enhance this ravine. It offers the best view in the whole park. At the foot the the stairs, turn right and you'll forget you're in the middle of the big city. At the fork, keep your right. The stairs will lead you to Beech Avenue, which meets Kingston Road further north.

To reach your starting point, turn right on Kingston (eastbound) and go north on Scarborough Road. I suggest you then take your car to continue the tour. There are still 13 artists to see! (Click here to print the Beach Studio Tour's map.)

Beach Studio Tour 2010

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I love Cabbagetown!
Last week, I delivered more copies of my walking guides Toronto Urban Strolls 1 and 2 to Labour of Love on 242 Carlton Street. (They are always well stocked with my walking guides!) So I got a chance to sift through their Christmas merchandise. That was fun!

I'm a big fan of their jewelry selection (read about my shameless story on how I got the Labour of Labour neckless I wanted for Christmas) but they also carry plenty of options for $20 and under.

Here's the list of my TOP-10 cool finds to put in Christmas stockings (or to give as hostess gifts) as seen at Labour of Love:

1) If you're the one who ends doing this sort of chore at home, you'll love this one. The whole store is peppered with such quirky quotes, which adds to the fun of browsing. (Prices vary according to size, this one was $12.)

2) Sooooo cute! Miniature Mason jars as shot glasses ($20 for a set of four)

3) I fell in love with this one. You can get a porcelain Fortune cookie with a hole in the back ($5) and combine it with a little red book filled with Fortunes to fit in the cookie ($15). In A year of Fortunes I read clever quotes such as "That thing you feel guilty about? The other person doesn't even remember."

4) For a personalized gift, in thin colourful boxes, you'll find little porcelain trays marked with any letter of the alphabet, to store jewelry or change ($12).

5) More reading, lots of it, for wine lovers. My favourite: "The secret of enjoying a good wine: 1. Open the bottle to allow it to breath. 2. If it does not look like it's breathing, give it mouth-to-mouth." ($15)

6) I think people will have a blast with this Photo Booth kit of accessories ($20). Once, the graphic artist husband of a friend organized a party and as a souvenir, he wanted to take the photo of every guest. It normally feels awkward to me to purposely stand in front of a camera but not this time. He had drawn all kinds of accessories for us to choose from. The photos were great! (You can see a sample at the end of this post.)

7) A friend of mine has the regular magnetic poetry kit on her fridge and each of her guests always ends up playing with it at one point during the party. This one focuses on cocktail vocabulary ($15).