Colorful

Pizza crown?

Not sure what this means - but it is good looking!

Soccer!

Soccer is a favored sport amongst the Drive's ethnic shopkeepers and their customers.

Folksy and muted

I love the folksy theme and muted colors of this mural which, judging by the machine at the site, was still in progress when I took these shots.

Underwater

Swimmers on the Drive

Demure

... and very pretty

Welcome to Penelope's

A surreal welcome to Penelope's - a Commercial Drive store that promises the shopper imported treats like alpaca ponchos and sweaters from Peru, and vivid silk/cotton scarves from India, Thailand, and Laos.

 

Mystic moonscene

These two panels make up one moon-struck mural. The front says: "Whose idea was this to have the lover visible and the Beloved invisible?" - Rumi

Commercial Drive's Mardi Gras

The party is definitely Mardi on the mural that runs the length of this Commercial Drive establishment.

WaaZuBee mountain

Not sure about the significance of this snowy mountaintop mural - another one in the Commercial Drive collection.

Style montage

This Commercial Drive storefront mural is a mixed bag of styles - from the First Nations poles and longhouse on the upper left, to grade-school figures in the foreground. Could be a joint effort?

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Beach-bound

This mural above the Pasta Bar & Grill on Commercial Drive is easy to miss. The beach-going bovine quartet look like they're all set for a day at Kits.

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The Drive

This Commercial Drive mural by Ben T. Senetchko shows people enjoying the variety of activities one observes all the time on this funky street.

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Vivid and mouth-watering

Is this gorgeous or what? Love the colors, love the location. It makes me want to get out there and buy potatoes and green onions, for crying out loud!

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Native style

This mural is drawn in the style of Native art. Too bad it's tucked away in a back lane and easy to miss.

Oriental symbols

This dream-inspired mural (on Commercial Drive in Vancouver) is no doubt loaded with significance given the tiger, panda, lion and the palm trees that look a lot like Chinese characters.

Here it is, first stitched together with close-ups below.

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Bold and colorful

I've taken a bit of a break from the mural blog, but am ready to dive in again. This summer hasn't been as good for mural sightings as some others. But I have managed to gather a few goodies.

In the days ahead, I'll be posting my latest finds - mural photos collected along Commercial Drive in Vancouver. (Sorry, no street coordinates, but they were all sighted along Commercial Drive between East 1st Avenue and Venables.)

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Take a look at this beauty, painted on the side of a produce market. The rich colors and energetic figures make you want to move those piles of flats and boxes to get a better look!

(If anyone has more information about this or any mural you find posted here, please let me know and I'll gladly update with titles, artist names etc.)

New murals added Mondays and Thursdays.

Playground whimsy

Nothing deep here - just a couple of playground murals. The first sunflowery one is in Douglas Park in Langley. We pass it on our walk almost every day.

The beach scene is found in Riverfront Park in Kamloops. Doesn't it make you want to just grab a bucket and a shovel and start digging?

Forest fire memories

This mural along Highway 97 between Westbank (now West Kelowna) and Kelowna is a sobering reminder of the devastating Okanagan Mountain Fire of 2003. It shows the burning of the Kettle Valley Railway trestles. Twelve wooden and two steel trestles were destroyed in the fire, but they have since been restored by the Myra Canyon Restoration Society.

Logging memories

A magical dragon scene used to decorate the side of this building on the White Rock Promenade. But in August 2008 it was replaced with this scene from B.C.s logging history. (Gorgeous painting - it should be in a gallery!)

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Orca on display

This decorative orca lives at the Victoria ferry terminal (Tsawwassan departure). It's part of the "Orcas In the City" project which raised over $400,000 for charity in 2004. It's beautiful from every angle.

Totem Town

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This Victoria mural depicts a scene from the past, when aboriginal communities ringed the coast and elaborately carved canoes were the main mode of marine transportation. The settlement in this mural reminds me of what you'd have found in the northern interior of BC, say around Hazelton.

Fish Beware!

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I love the shocked look in the eyes of these fishies in this stylish back alley mural (Victoria BC). I wonder if it has anything to do with the business next door. Worse yet, maybe they watched the videos!