The Reds, Greens and Golds of Autumn

I've been enjoying my fall meanderings around Victoria. Here are a few images.

The first one is of the "Story Pole" at Beacon Hill Park. Carved in 1956 by a renowned Kwakiutl carver Mungo Martin, the pole has now been in the park for over sixty years! It has been repainted and repaired several times since then, the most recent one being in 2011.

According to the City of Victoria website, the average life of a story pole is 50 years. Traditionally they would be allowed to decay, and to return to the earth, where the stories would reside and be shared into the future. The City indicates on its website that the pole may only stand for another decade.

Detail from Story Pole, Beacon Hill Park.  

Art provided another bright scene in my fall wanderings. The mural below has been newly installed at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Called "How We Fit Together", it was created by a group of young women from Cedar Hill Middle School who have self-named their group "Melanin Magic", as an acknowledgement of their racial affinity with persons of colour. The artists' statement on the wall speaks to the symbolism of the black silhouettes of the young artists against a backdrop of colour, implying their challenges to overcome anonymity in our still-racially slanted society.

"How We Fit Together" , a new mural at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

The next piece of art I feature is not colourful; nonetheless it is intriguing and I loved the bright green mossy rock on which it stands, in front of the Art Gallery. Titled "Figures in Architecture", it was commissioned in 1959 as a result of winning a competition. The artist is John Ritchel, who died in 2008 at the age of 95. There is very limited information about him. A brief reference on the Art Gallery website mentions that he was a "shy and private person, who shunned publicity, and thus his work has not received the exposure it is due".

Art outside Art Gallery of  Greater Victoria, titled "Figures in Architecture", a winning sculpture from a competition held in 1959.

Moving from art to nature - but keeping the theme of grey rock and moss, I found some striking landscapes on a foggy day in the Park. 

Beacon Hill Park on a misty day

Another image from the park on the same misty day

One final misty image

Continuing to explore in nature, I found that the colours of gold, red and green repeated themselves in many different ways.

Detail of stone pathway at Colquitz River Park

Detail of vine growing on stone wall

Another stone wall, detail

And of course, there is always vibrant colour along the streets of James Bay and Fairfield.

James Bay Fence

Fairfield house

James Bay house

I enjoyed the colours and landscape design of this scene from the Park.

Beacon Hill Park

I found this scene with complementary colours of red and green in James Bay.

Complimentary colours of nature

Finally, I close with two more complementary colours, gold - and a bright shot of blue. 

I liked the sentiment on this kindness rock