Believe it or not, it wasn’t the wild mural that beckoned me into Toronto’s Green Iguana Glassworks, it was the display of art glass in the sunny window. What the heck is that, I wondered.
The Green Iguana (589 Markham Street, 416.536.8655) is one of the most beguiling shops I’ve ever been in. The fanciful paint job is a leftover from the 2001 movie, Serendipity, starring John Cusak and Kate Beckinsdale. Being a former Berkeley hippie, shop owner Darrell Dorsk elected to hold on to the whimsy rather than let the set decorators whitewash the building when filming was done.
Although Dorsk sells art glass and wild Haitian voodoo flags (after the jump), the bulk of his business is in glass framing and the sale of pulp pinups ($12) and other kitschy ephemera from bygone eras. Probably the most cost effective framing option in the city, Dorsk sandwiches images between two pieces of glass then finishes them with soldered copper trim ($10 – $20) ; the treatment is ideal for reversible, two sided works.
My first impression of the retail space was a bit dizzying; the walls are literally covered with framed images and it’s hard to take it all in; it’s like stepping into a darkened room and waiting for your eyes to adjust to the low light level, you need a minute or two to focus. On the main floor, the sunny front room contains consigned art glass from local craftspeople while the walls and stairwell are plastered with framed pulp images for sale. Upstairs is more of the same.
Dorsk is also a “collector” of brightly sequined Haitian voodoo flags which are displayed throughout the space. The one-of-a-kind works are for sale “but they’re expensive ($500 – $1,000) so they’re not really a focus of the business,” says Dorsk.
The shopkeeper is an engaging raconteur who regaled me with stories of his hippie youth and how he came to be in the glass framing business in this particular building in Mirvish Village. It was a browse I won’t soon forget.
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