The Doors Of Venice

It's no wonder the band, The Doors, came up with their name in Venice. They were talking about The Doors Of Perception (by Aldous Huxley), but they could just as easily have been talking about the actual Doors in Venice. Just about every block has a house with some kind of a cool door, and that's one of the things that I've always loved about our little beach community - its creativity!

This one is tucked away on a dead end street near the beach, and I just love its little painted plants and sense of whimsy ... by someone called Luis P. Door. Adorable.

One of the few new homes following this fun precedent is on Rialto, and has a kind of desert oasis vibe ...

Then there's the one that looks like a gateway to a Balinese paradise ...

This little entryway in the Oakwood neighborhood made my day one day ...

And you have to have the Mosaic House in any conversation about doors ...

Though just a random sample of the cool doors around Venice, there are probably enough to make a cool book - just another of my million ideas that I hope to make happen one day. I hope that more homeowners will join in, as it's such an easy way to welcome people in a fun way! I also recently learned about embroidery on screens, so let's hope soon every door and window in Venice is a good time to look at.

 I love the famous quote from Joseph Campbell ...

Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors where there were only walls. 

Feel free to send me shots of the doors you love - or your own when you follow your bliss and finish it!

Homage To A Starry Night Restored!

Rip Cronk is a legend in Venice, with his famous murals adorning many walls around town. It was with great delight that I saw his newly restored Homage To A Starry Night gleaming and fresh on my morning walk at the Boardwalk. It had been marred by some very low-level tagging, wrecking what has been a popular photo op tribute to Van Gogh in Venice since 1990.

I was also pleased to see Mr. Cronk there on the other side of the building doing touch-ups to his 2004 work Venice Beach Chorus Line, which always reminds me of the old Aardvark store on Pacific for some reason.

See, the thing is, I'm all for paint on every wall in Venice - but GOOD paint. The Graffiti Walls are there for people to learn and hone their craft. Once you get good enough, you might be offered big walls to adorn. People pay for those big pieces to be done, and artists have earned the right to be paid and display their work for all to see. They become landmarks. They become history. No one has the right to paint over any bit of it ... imagine going into a museum and spray painting over a big painting! Same thing. It's respect. Earn yours, and show it to others until you get there yourself.

Seriously.

Thank you to Mr. Cronk for re-beautifying our neighborhood!