One photo, spot on, would be just right. I usually have no problem choosing one image.
Until almost midnight on Monday night. Blue.
Yes, that is a leather bodice. NYC shop window. I was focusing on the shoes but the blue dress caught my eye when I was looking for a blue photo.
That’s what he told me. And he’s been in business for 25 years! I went over to Panza Gallery in Millvale and owner/artist Mark Panza was busy busy busy. He really didn’t need me there Thursday afternoon but he was gracious. Kept on working. I broke his concentration at first by showing up and wanting to shoot him for the People at Work Series, even though we had talked about it on the phone, when it is actually happening it might not be so convenient.
Let me tell you I have a new understanding of why custom frames are not inexpensive. Lots of steps and precision, measure, measure, measure. Concentration, strength, math, craftsmanship. Thanks Mark for allowing me to capture you working. And remember he’s open Wed-Friday 10-5 and Sat 10-3.
I went to Panza Gallery in Millvale on Wednesday. Took a watercolor to be framed and wanted to shoot Mark Panza the owner as he said he would be happy to be part of the People at Work Series. But something came up and his daughter helped me choose a nice mat and frame for my painting and I asked Jennifer if she would be part of the People at Work series. She graciously agreed after I explained the project. So I photographed her a few times in the gallery and then I asked her if she still made jewelry and she said yes but she said she had some ceramics downstairs. So right then and there I created a new project- I am starting an EMERGING ARTIST series of photographs! If you know any emerging artists who are in the area and would like to be featured on the blog I would be happy to photograph them and some examples of their artwork. Why not? It is hard to get started and I know a ton of people who make, buy and collect art so why not use the blog to show some of their work and them? Jennifer just got her braces off and paid the final payment on them and check out the ceramics with the teeth. Surely her othodontist needs that piece in the office on display!!! If you want to see more of her ceramics or jewelry just call Panza Gallery 412.821.0959.Or leave a comment and she can contact you. Jennifer is still in school AND working at her dad’s gallery, and when I was there she had opened the place, was working on invoices, taking calls and selecting frames and mats. Thanks Jennifer.
Didn’t have to dig too deep for this series of shots.
A town about ten minutes away.
As with collections, decorators say to group
like items together.
Of course, as I look at the finished post I am
thinking of a return trip to capture the dinette store,
the modernize your home sign,
and the storefront with items for pet birds.
Seven images of Millvale, PA from the files. Millvale is happening! I love the Beatles painted on the mural by Attic Records and the laundromat.
Millvale,PA home to my wonderful framer Mark Panza at Panza Gallery and the delicious French bakery of Jean-Marc Chatellier. The beautiful St. Nicholas Croatian Church with the Maxo Vanko Murals and Holy Spirit Parish up on a high hill where Marlene’s Aunt Kitty and Uncle Shrimp married years ago.(J & J more recently, too)
Steve and I go to Grant Bar on Grant Avenue for a fish sandwich and sometimes I order tapioca for dessert. You can order a full dinner special for 9.95! Millvale has had a few floods. Check out the high water mark.
Attic Records Round out your 45’s collection at Attic Records
Two previous blog posts you might remember- If you want to see Panza Gallery and the great linoleum floor, click here
And to see the post of Jean-Marc at work frosting a cake click here.
I think I should be on the Chamber of Commerce for downtown Millvale.
There are delicious pancakes at Pamela’s diner next door to the Lanes. The Time to Eat clock is theirs. The hobby shop is where I bought some H&O miniatures illustrating laundry day.
Just across the river, home of two of my favorite places-Panza Gallery where Mark Panza frames my pictures and makes them shine and Jean-Marc Chatellier’s Bakery, whose excellent brioche melts in your mouth (not to mention the cakes, the shortbread, the tarts, the cookies, the baguettes, the anything
he bakes). Saturday night was the Big Love Art Show at Panza’s and as we left to get into the parked car, I saw this scene outside the Millvale Borough Building. Several of the buildings have water line marks from the years the town has flooded.
Crossed the Allegheny River to go to Millvale. After I went to Panza’s to pick up Joan’s painting I had reframed, I went to get some brioche and a loaf of crusty bread from Jean-Marc Chatellier’s French Bakery. 412.821.8533 Everything in the bakery is beyond delicious. There are samples on the counter of the melt-in-your-mouth butter cookies and a French shortbread called Breton Cake. There are little fruit tarts, apricot tarts and flaky croissants, even Key Lime pie slices. As I was about to pay for my order, I saw him frosting a cake in the back. I asked the young woman waiting on me if it would be all right to take a picture. She said,” Just take it!” So I did. Magnificent artistry in cake making. And delicious. I have eaten memorable wedding cakes made by him. Once I bought a cake there for Laura’s graduation from Marquette and drove it to Milwaukee WI.
