Pink Saturday - Venus in Venice

Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog How Sweet the Sound hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you.

In 1989, Venice, California artist Rip Cronk painted this mural on the side of an old building on Windward Avenue and Speedway. "Venice Reconstituted" is based on Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus." It depicts Venus as a bare-midriffed, leg-warmer-wearing maiden, wearing a pink tank top.

Primavera, or Spring, swathed in a pink gossamer wrap, strews roses around the roller-skating maiden.

Venus wears old-fashioned four-wheel skates. In her day, the invention of new polyurethane skate wheels started a roller-skating craze, bringing flocks of tourists to the beach. If she wants, Venus could trade in her old skates for roller blades, or perhaps a fat-tired pink bicycle, from one of the many rental vendors that sprang up on Ocean Front Walk in the wake of the fad.

Or she could venture out into the surf, with this hot pink surf board, also for rent.

Venus gets her fortune told by Luann, the pink-haired seer awaiting beneath her flowered umbrella. Luann and other artists, performers, pan-handlers and vendors are granted permits by the City of LA for their space on the beach side of the walkway. Luann tells Venus to keep an eye out for a tall, dark stranger.

As Venus rolls down the sidewalk, she passes a classical pianist, playing an upright piano on wheels, and stops to watch an ensemble of break-dancers. She put a dollar bill in the jar in front of a silver-painted human statue, and watches him come to life and dance.

The murals of Venice are among Los Angeles' art treasures, and Venus likes to skate by them and see her fellow mural-characters. On Westminster, along the little food court, a dark red wall features one by the artist known as Chase. Venus has always liked this cute little pink-faced toddler.

Further north, this 1990 mural, called "Endangered Species" is by Emily Winters.

Venus skates deftly through the throngs of people. Trick bicycle riders. Skateboarders. Hare Krishnas. On Saturdays, there's a body-builder who poses for photos. People promenade with their exotic pets - parrots, iguanas, Italian mastiff dogs. Kids hustle their rap CDs on the boardwalk.

A long-time resident of Venice Beach, Venus knows all the regulars. But there's one person she's looking for. He's tall and good-looking. A bad boy, but irresistible. She wonders what he's doing tonight. As the afternoon wanes, she skates back down towards Windward - and there he is.

"Morning Shot," painted by Rip Cronk in 1991.

Hawt.

Venus skates. She holds her head high like a statue in the sky. Her arms are wicked and her legs are long. When she moves, she hears him sing this song - "Hello, I love you. Won't you tell me your name?"

The sidewalk crouches at her feet. Jim Morrison is the guy that makes Venus sigh, as dusk falls on Venice Beach.