Mixed media, including a park

A few days ago, I promised you a walk around Strathcona. I hadn't forgotten.

But where to begin? Gardens? Quirky stuff? Houses? Art? Close my eyes and jab? That works for me; and here are the Paneficio Studios:


I took this photo at midnight, a few weeks ago, with ambient light.


In the little garden spot in front, one of Arnt Arntzen's metal sculptures.


Hawks and Keefer. The street signs are in Chinese and English. We are a short walk from the centre of Chinatown, at Main and Pender.


Keefer Street view of the building, in daylight. Some half a dozen artists live and work here.


Down the alley, up at the roof line, a propeller with the letters A - R -T. Arnt's work, I imagine.


Hawks Avenue side. A view of the park reflected in the window of a long passageway/storage area, with my favourite yellow rocking chair barely visible at the end.


Reflection of a reflection. Pot inside the studio, car outside, bicycle handlebars somewhere in between.


And in the corner windows, under the sign, Valerie Arntzen displays her recent work. She creates Assemblage Art, using found materials, and usually focussing on religious imagery, often mingling Mexican icons and industrial left-overs. This piece is typical: a Mexican Virgin of Guadalupe, in a Chinese dragon frame, on a stained spool pedestal and protected with rusty barbed wire. The little box contains a skull with a thimble cap.

I like the extra layering in Laurie's photo; the green outside world beyond the metal grid.

I don't know what this all means. I think, as with most art, it speaks to something beyond words. Whatever it is, I am always drawn to her window.
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