Today, we visited two old friends, painters Stan Repar and Peter Dunn. I’ve known them for many years. I shared a studio with Stan for a while and later, lived in the studio next to Peter the Painter for several years. We share a lot of stories. The building is at 89 -109 Niagara St. Once upon a time, it was a casket factory, but it has housed artists for many years since.

Billy's

I remember when I first started sharing a studio with Stan, we were on the west side, the 109 side of the building with a view of the Quality Meats abattoir, and the restaurant just across the street we called Billy’s because it was run by a really nice guy named Billy. At lunchtime, you could see the workers from the abattoir on the picnic benches out front enjoying chow mein and chicken wings. They were dressed in their blood-stained work clothes and had bright blue hearing protection, usually around their neck, since they were on lunch. It was quite a sight to see. The sign is still there for the restaurant, but Stan tells me it’s been closed for years.

We enjoyed a visit with Stan in his studio and saw his new paintings. The studio is smaller now than it once was. Back in the day, before it was divided up, it was a big space. Stan would always have three others to share it with. When I was there, we had four artists working in the studio, but only two of us were there with any regularity. It was a good situation. I enjoyed working there, and I enjoyed working with Stan. I enjoy his unique perspective and inventive, beautifully crafted paintings.

Peter Dunn with a painting by Anthony Stagg

Our second visit of the day was over to the 101 side of the building to the studio of Peter Dunn. We hadn’t seen one another in way too long, so this was a welcome reunion. While we were over there, Peter mentioned that just that day he had been looking at a painting given to him by our pal from Chicago, Anthony Stagg. I couldn’t recall which painting he was referring to until he reached into a dark corner and pulled out a large rolled up canvas.

It’s been many years since I was Peter’s next door neighbour, but in no time the stories were flying as if it were yesterday. We laughed about the time Peter was making wall-mounted sculptures out of plywood that was ripped in layered chunks and reassembled in various configurations with other materials. Peter would stay up all night delaminating plywood, ripping layer after layer off. The ripping sounds woke me up one night. I couldn’t figure out what was going on over there. He made a fabulous series of wall pieces out of that wood. We have one here at Anchovy World Headquarters. It’s hanging in my music room.

It was fun visiting the old building on Niagara today, and we had a great time visiting Stan and Peter, and seeing that old Stagg painting too.

I’m sending this post out to old friends….