After attending my first ArtHop in downtown Fresno, I ventured to an ArtHop located in North Fresno. This week’s event took place at Milne Photography, a studio which is run by owner Tom Milne, Sept. 15.

The ArtHop occurred in the main lobby, which happens to be the location of Milne’s gallery, also known as the Giclee Fresno Gallery. This area of the studio is set up to permanently showcase Milne’s photography, but, for the ArtHop, the gallery displayed art by Carol Van Dyne.

While walking around, Milne introduced me to Van Dyne and told me a little bit about how this particular ArtHop got started. Milne told me that, unlike other ArtHops, this event will only be held once or twice a year due to the redesign of the studio and gallery and will focus on environmentalism.

The proceeds of this ArtHop were given to the Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation Service, which is an organization dedicated to taking care of orphaned or injured animals in the Central Valley. Since Van Dyne’s daughter is a volunteer for Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation, there is a link in the sponsorship. Though art is often the main focus at these events, here live animals were much more prevalent.

During the ArtHop, Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation brought animals to demonstrate the concern of how many disabled animals there are residing in the Central Valley. Aside from the disabled animals, there were also a large amount of trained animals in the lobby. To my surprise, when I first arrived, the birds themselves looked fake due to their inactivity.

The problem with this particular ArtHop was how much emphasis was focused on the donations towards wildlife, instead of the different types of art presented by Van Dyne. Van Dyne’s art consists of various subjects, each focusing on water color in medium tones.

Van Dyne’s art pieces told me how often we overlook day-to-day scenes; her art captures these moments. The art piece Figs, is an example of how simple fruit is, but is still considered art. Van Dyne’s art also shows different perspectives such as Fleur Rouge, which captures the inside of a flower and exemplifies its detail.

When I walked around the ArtHop, one piece of art really captured how humans look at animals. The piece, Three Green Tree Frogs, depicts a real-life picture of what frogs looks like in nature. Most people would think of frogs as ugly because of their skin texture and bulging eyes, but Van Dyne shows how art can transform creatures into something beautiful.

Overall, Van Dyne’s pieces were great, and I looked for more on her online gallery, which further enhanced the art we see in everyday life. This ArtHop lacked in what it had to offer, but definitely was worth the trip.

For more information on ArtHop, read the Sept. 9 article, Arthop promotes Fresno Water Tower, philanthropy.

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