Canadian
Yves’ Minor Triad
The juxtaposition of two buildings. Interwoven strata of paint and graffiti have coalesced to produce a fanciful patina on the surface of the buildings. Yves’ purple and black bollard guards the gas metre from careless drivers. SIZE: 15” X 11.25” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR...
Sears Street, October
The days of Sears Street’s quirky Leslievillian charm are numbered. Soon much of it will be sacrificed to twenty-first century indifference. SIZE: 14.5 X 11.25" MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330 DIGITAL IMAGE AVAILABLE
China Lily
Lee’s Food Products was located at 1233 Queen Street East in Leslieville from 1947, when they employed 50 people, until 2020. The company sold the building to a developer and has transferred their operation to a facility in Scarborough, taking their sign with them. In...
Grace Street
A young photographer tenderly poses his sylphlike bride in front of her family’s home in Grace Street. She stands on a spotlit, sweeping curve that leads to a dramatic juxtaposition of light and dark perpendicular shapes. SIZE: 19” X 13.25” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE...
The Embassy Pool Hall
The old Embassy Pool Hall in Bellair Street, Yorkville. Many a misspent youthful hour was enjoyed there. SIZE: 10.5” X 8.25” MEDIUM: PEN DRAWING DIGITAL LICENSE AVAILABLE
Dolls In A Bottle
Two dolls face each other in a small dairy bottle. They were unearthed in a garden in Leslieville in 1976. Who buried them there? SIZE: 10.5” X 8.25” MEDIUM: PENCIL DRAWING DIGITAL LICENSE AVAILABLE
Off Shady Lane
A man and a woman beam at something off camera as they stand in front of a summer cottage at Willow Beach. SIZE: 13.5” X 13.5” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $250
Camping
Children play inside a tent made from Muskoka chairs and blankets. SIZE: 11.5” X 17.5” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Annie, Morris, Ben
A man and his son pay a visit to the boy’s aunt. They pose for a photograph, casually leaning on a lamp post. SIZE: 18” X 12.75” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Pony Cart
Three girls take a ride in a pony cart at Jackson’s Point. SIZE: 12” X 16.75” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Mary
A young woman stands amid trees and vegetation. SIZE: 17.5" X 11.5” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Young Couple
Formal engagement portrait of a young couple, circa 1912. SIZE: 17” X 12” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Ben, Mary, Morris
Formal portrait of a woman and man with their first son, circa 1916. SIZE: 13.5” X 13.5” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $250
The Katzman Family
Formal photograph of four children with their parents. Their father is wearing spats. SIZE: 21" X 14” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
The Duck Of Urbino
A planter formed like a duck sits on the windowsill in the garret of the flat at Broadview Avenue, overlooking the Don Valley and Toronto skyline. The “Duck” of Urbino in the title of this painting is a reference to the portrait of the Duke of Urbino, Federico da...
Sam and Dina
A man and woman stand beside a hydrant under the trees on a Toronto street circa 1910. SIZE: 19” X 11.5” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Sherbourne And Dundas
The northeast corner of Sherbourne and Dundas Streets in 1977 when that corner was a car park across the street from George’s Spaghetti House. The blue Valiant and the red Volkswagen Beetle belonged to David Strachan, a member of our household at 248 Sherbourne. SIZE:...
Authorized Parking Only
The funky huddle of vine clad, rusted metal structures around the old coach house at Queen Street and Coxwell Avenue was one of the arcane delights of Leslieville. Recherché and mildly feral, it was bound to be demolished by people who neither recognized or valued its...
Still Life With Fan
The white porcelaine statue of Guan Yin, Goddess of Mercy, stands in front of a fan with a plant on a striped cloth. Outside the window it’s winter. SIZE: 14” X 10” MEDIUM: OIL PAINTING ORIGINAL SOLD DIGITAL LICENSE AVAILABLE
Plant And Bird
The long vines of the houseplant, the telephone wires outside the window and the vertical pattern of the wallpaper below the table define the grid motif in this composition. The plant’s leaves echo the shape of the bird’s beak and tail. SIZE: 17.5” X 12.5” MEDIUM:...
Cello
While the cellist takes a break from practising, her instrument leans on a light blue, chrome legged dinette chair. The chair is draped with a forest green coat and matching pillow. The bow balances there. The studio is in the garret of the house in Sherbourne Street....
Ashport Avenue
A plant, a watering can, an oval mirror on the floor reflecting the hallway and the top of the stairs, the easel, a knee and the door at the end of the hallway. In the foreground is the Wilton carpet that was a second hand find on Parliament Street. SIZE: 17.5” X...
Rob
A young man plays the guitar in front of a radiator. SIZE: 20" X 21” MEDIUM: OIL PAINTING FINE ART PRINT: $330 DIGITAL LICENSE: AVAILABLE
Ray Gun
A man stands with two of his grandsons in front of some trees. The flaw in the photograph looks like science fiction. SIZE: 18' X 11” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Humpty Dumpty
A wooden Humpty Dumpty with hinged legs sits in the window of an antique shop in Niagara Falls, Ontario. SIZE: 20” X12.75" MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT $330 DIGITAL LICENSE AVAILABLE
Impala
The gigantic beaded cranberry glass lamp is surrounded by smaller lamps, clocks and portraits in oval frames, all dominated by the sensual form of the Impala as it bursts out of the wall. SIZE: 17.75" X 13" MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT $330 DIGITAL LICENSE...
Archives
During the winter of the Polar Vortex of 2015, Laura shivered in the draughty coach house behind Queen Street to paint this amazing room whose existence was known by very few people. All manner of arcane objects were artfully arranged, from taxidermy owl, cat and...
Jazz Bistro
Ed Michael Roth took a photograph of the band at the CD release of 57 Minutes in November, 2013. After extensively manipulating the photograph in Photoshop Laura used the altered image as the basis for this painting. Sitting at the red piano in the foreground is Mark...
Quantum Entanglement
Mystery men merging with shopfronts and glass doors numbered 306 twice, of Mystery Street. Somewhere, sometime in Toronto a very long time ago. SIZE: 18' X 12” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
A Day In The Country
A couple sit on a log with their infant son in a bucolic setting in 1923. SIZE: 13.5” X 19.5” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Jenny, Sylvia, George
In 1923 a woman, her young daughter and the baby are in the yard. SIZE: 18” X 1 2” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Fishermen
Fishermen angling just after dawn on the Pefferlaw River. SIZE: 15.5” X 10.5” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Birthday Party
A child’s birthday party. His mother baked a cake for him. His parents and grandmother look on as he gets ready to blow out the candles. The children in the foreground are distracted by the photographer. SIZE: 13.5” X 19.5” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT:...
She Wades In The Water
On an overcast day a young woman in a black turban carries her shoes as she wades ankle deep in the clear water near the shore. SIZE: 19” X 14” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
2 Kensington Place
At the back of 2 Kensington Place in 1918 a woman holds her infant daughter aloft for a photograph to be taken. A church is in the background, likely the First Baptist Church. This old photograph is disintegrating. SIZE: 19” X 11” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT:...
Papa
A bright day in 1958. A man stares abstractedly at a table, deep in thought. Sunlight streams through the sheer curtains. SIZE: 13” X 17.75” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Snookey
A young child is delighted by his reflection in a bedroom mirror. SIZE: 13” X 17” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Me and Mr. Squawcker
Rempel Manufacturing of Akron Ohio - the rubber Capitol of the world - made a line of latex squeeze toys called “Sunnyslope” from 1946 until 1968. A little girl wears a sombrero and throws a sideways glance as she sits facing her Sunnyslope walking duck, Mr....
Mummy’s Boy
Early winter or late spring: A small child in a white knitted hat holds the strap of a white bag. His mittens dangle from a string threaded through the sleeves of his snowsuit. His mother stands behind him wearing a fur coat and a turban, laughing. He is learning to...
Boy Posing with Baseball Bat
A little boy poses holding a baseball bat. His tiny hands can barely support its weight and it droops. He wears his cap sideways, hoping he’ll be mistaken for Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle. The shadow of a big swing falls on the ground beside him. A storm cloud hovers...
Couturière
A couturière dresses elegantly for a pastoral outing. SIZE: 17.5” X 12” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330
Doc
A gentleman stands in front of a park bench in the west end of Toronto. It’s an overcast day sometime in the 1930s. The glaring interseasonal light just swipes his nose and chin, illuminating his white Eton collar and his shirt. SIZE: 19” X 12.25” MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR...
The Graham House, 1907
The two semi-detached houses at 1327 and 1329 Queen Street East were built by William J. Hewitt in 1906-07 for John Coatsworth Graham, a prominent ice and coal dealer and prize-winning athlete whose son, Emerson sat in City council and whose daughter, Ella Maud...
Heat Wave
Painted during two very hot spells in July and August, 2013. SIZE: 13" X 19.5" MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT $250 SOLD DIGITAL LICENSE AVAILABLE
Hydro Pole
Since this was painted, the cement hydro pole has been replaced by a wood chip pole and the big elm to the right was chopped down. In summer its canopy of green leaves was very beautiful. In the winter it resembled a dowager dressed in lace. SIZE: 13.5” X 20” MEDIUM:...
The Band
A painting of our band at the Rex based on a photograph taken by Gary Nicholson in May, 2010. SIZE: 9.5” X 20”" MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $250 57 Minutes This painting was used in cover artwork of Laura Marks' CD "57 Minutes". DIGITAL LICENSE:...
The Ashbridge Estate
Sarah Ashbridge travelled from Pennsylvania to Upper Canada with her family in the spring of 1793. They purchased a large block of land east of the present day Greenwood Avenue. Their land ran from the lakeshore to just north of Danforth Avenue. Theirs was the fourth...
Dunbarton
In 1832 William Dunbar laid out a town site near the Kingston Road which was later relocated and called Fairport/Dunbarton. When the Grand Trunk Railway arrived it passed close enough to warrant a station. In time the area around the station developed into the village...
Bowmanville
This house on Wellington Street in Bowmanville was built in the high Victorian style. Over the years additions in various other styles were added. The original house was a simple one-and-a-half storey Georgian structure built by Marshal Porter, who emigrated from...
Hogarth
The main portion of this Riverdale home was built in 1875 by Thomas Hogarth, principal of York Township School. In 1882 he sold it to his daughter Elinora Heys and her husband, who added the north wing and verandah. It remained in the Heys family until 1964 when it...
Gooderham and Worts Flatiron Building
The Gooderham and Worts "Flatiron" Building was constructed in 1892 by George Gooderham in the French Modern Gothic style. The building housed the offices of Gooderham and Worts, which George Gooderham built into a vast financial and commercial empire. Gooderham’s own...
Maple Cottage
Maple Cottage is one of the few intact examples of a traditional Ontario workers’ cottage in Toronto. According to legend, the silver maple that stood in front of it inspired the song by Alexander Muir, ”The Maple Leaf Forever.” In 2013 the tree was blown over in a...
The Blackburn Barn
Polygonal buildings originated with the eccentric American author, Orson Squire Fowler, who wrote on a variety of subjects, including phrenology: the study of bumps on the head. He made a fortune from sales of his sex manual, which he published in the 1840s. In 1849...
Meadowvale
Meadowvale Village became Ontario’s first heritage village in the late 1980s. The buildings were restored through grants and loans available to homeowners at the time. The original settlement started in 1831 with two sawmills and a carding mill. By 1880 the village...
Streetsville Railway Station
The Credit Valley Railway was completed in 1879 with the first train departing from Streetsville junction on September 19th. The building’s overhanging roof provided shelter for the passengers while the turret served as an office, offering a clear view of the tracks...
Rosemont Schoolhouse
Union School, No. 17 Mono Township was constructed in 1890 just west of the village of Rosemont. It was a two room school built on the land of a farmer, William McNabb. In 1968, when the new Mulmur-Mono school opened, Union School No. 17 closed it‘s doors. The...
Unionville Congregational Church
In 1879, the Unionville members of the Congregational Church built a new building to replace and amalgamate the meeting places in Markham and Unionville. The new church was designed by Casa Loma architect, Edward Lennox. The land was donated by the Braithwaite family....
Levellands
While doing research for the Toronto Real Estate Board calendar the heritage officer for Richmond Hill asked Laura to paint a picture of a house in his area that had significant historic value but was still threatened with demolition. The house, Levellands, had been...
Casa Loma
Toronto’s famous castle was designed by Edward Lennox for the wealthy Sir Henry Pellat, who received a knighthood for building the first Canadian generating station at Niagara Falls. The Pellat family lived at Casa Loma from 1914 to 1923. For a time the castle was...
Puddle
Sears Street is a lane that runs parallel to Memory Lane south of Queen Street in Leslieville. During a walk in the area while on a visit to Toronto from England Laura photographed this scene of a puddle, took it home to London and painted this picture while the...
Toronto Skyline
Laura’s brother, Paul took the photograph upon which this painting was based and sent it to her by post to London. While she painted the watercolour in London and in Cowes, she happened to be reading the Mordecai Richler novel, Barney’s Version, which also takes place...
Eugene’s Pickle Patch
Eugene, the landlord of the flat on Broadview Avenue grew cucumbers in the back garden, which he called his pickles. It’s likely they were dill cucumbers and ended up being pickled. SIZE: 19" X 24.5" MEDIUM: carbon PENCIL DRAWING FINE ART PRINT $330 DIGITAL LICENSE...
Living Room, Broadview
The apartment on Broadview Avenue, which had a turret facing the street was a bit like stepping into an earlier age since it was furnished with grandparents' belongings, but the telephone on the bookcase was actually contemporary at the time of this drawing. SIZE:...
Sanctuary
The artist’s garden in Toronto in 2009 as it looked near the end of the summer with morning glories and sedum in bloom. SIZE: 22" X 20" MEDIUM: OIL PAINTING FINE ART PRINT $450 DIGITAL LICENSE AVAILABLE
2 Wellesley Place
In 1899 Rupert and Frances Simpson commissioned architect Charles Gibson to design this Richardsonian Romanesque style house at 2 Wellesley Place in Toronto. Having recently inherited the Toronto Knitting and Yarn Factory, they built what one historian has dubbed “The...
Triple House
When the owners of this unique house bought the original log cabin in Shelburne, Ontario and moved it to Caledon they were told that zoning reqirements demanded structures with more square footage. They decided to buy two additional buildings and join them all...
Metcalfe Street
A row of Late nineteenth century traditional Toronto Bay and Gable houses with decorative wood and masonry details in Cabbagetown. SIZE: 12" X 8" MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT $250 DIGITAL LICENSE AVAILABLE
East End Garden Centre
The East End Garden Centre opened its doors for business in 1981 on Queen Street East in an old two bedroomed cottage that had been moved from the nearby Ashbridge Estate. In 1992 the recently widowed owner, Theresa Tate, affectionately called “Mother Tate” by the...
Dolls
The five dolls were an intrinsic part of Laura’s early life. Her older brother Danny invented stories using the dolls as characters. One of the dolls was placed in the linen closet, supposedly on its way to Boston by train. Strangely, it stayed in Boston. SIZE: 18" X...
Still Life with Delft and Mirror
A Delft shoe and trinket box that always stood on the artist’s mother’s dresser holding bits of jewelery, safety pins and buttons. The desk belonged to Laura's father. The exaggerated perspective of the window reflected in the mirror gives the image a sense of other...
Sackville Street
Painting of a green Volkswagen Beetle parked in Sackville Street, Cabbagetown, Toronto. The painting was purchased by the Agent General of Ontario House, England. Ontario House ceased to exist in 1993. Last heard of, the painting was hanging in the Royal Institute of...
Ragnar
The car, a bright red Volkswagen convertible was named after Ragnar, one of the most popular Viking heroes among the Norse themselves. He was a ninth century pirate and raider who was the scourge of England and France. By the time of this painting, Ragnar, the...
205 Yonge Street
Designed by EJ Lennox and built in 1905, it was originally a Bank of Toronto building and for a time was the home of the Toronto Historical Board. Next to it at 197 Yonge Street is another historic building. The Colonial Tavern stood between them before it was...
Amelia Street
A house in Amelia Street in Toronto’s Cabbagetown. The original photograph that this painting was based on was taken with Laura’s mother’s camera whose lens happily warped every subject and did wonderfully strange things with colours. SIZE: 18 X 11" MEDIUM:...
In Memoriam
In memory of a friend lost to cancer. The garden is a place of innocence where the vulnerable and fleeting beauty of the flowers is nurtured, a restorative place for contemplation. SIZE: 18.5" X 12" MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330 DIGITAL LICENSE...
Volvo
The volvo was a spare parts car parked in a field of a farm and riding stables near Newmarket, Ontario. SIZE: 7.75" X 11" MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR ORIGINAL SOLD FINE ART PRINT $250 DIGITAL LICENSE AVAILABLE
Summer in Leslieville
The garden in Toronto in early summer at the time of the first flush of roses, irises and the flowering of the peony. SIZE: 16" X 12" MEDIUM: WATERCOLOUR FINE ART PRINT: $330 DIGITAL LICENSE AVAILABLE