The backyard of the artist's studio

We have a thaw. The sun is shining so brightly that sometimes it seems that we have suddenly moved into the spring months, and right into April, bypassing March. However, this feeling disappears as soon as I turn into the narrow streets from the wide avenues and embankments. The winter sun doesn't rise high enough or long enough to melt the ice in the alleys and small gardens hidden between the high walls of the houses.

I was going to walk through the courtyards and alleys on the far side of Petrogradsky Island. This part of the island has quite a variety of buildings: there are old Art Nouveau houses, there are boring mid-20th century buildings, and there are industrial buildings. I was hoping to find some artifacts and street art in these places. But for quite a while I didn't come across any interesting objects, the best find was a painted house number on one of the buildings.

I crossed the bridge over the Karpovka River and proceeded my walk on the neighboring Aptekarsky Island. The name of the island is derived from the word "apotheca"; here in the 18th century there was an "apothecary garden" - a garden with medicinal plants. I was walking along the central street of this island, Professor Popov Street, and on the way I remembered that about a year ago I had already walked in these same places, and in one of the courtyards I saw interesting art objects.

The way to this courtyard is quite confusing: you have to turn into a narrow passage, go under an archway, then walk between an old building of blackened brick and garages, then turn left... I wandered around a bit, but eventually I remembered the right way. At first I thought that the courtyard had changed a lot and all the art objects were gone. But then I took a closer look and realized that most of the installations were hidden under layers of snow: the snow had not yet melted in this yard.

Now

One year ago

At home, I looked in my archive and found photos taken last year, in early spring. That time the snow had already melted almost all of it, and I was able to take photos where the art objects are fully visible. I decided to add the photos taken last year to this story - otherwise you would have to take my word for it that there is an incomprehensible beast made of concrete and rebar hiding under this huge snowdrift!

The artist's studio is located in a small two-story house in the middle of the courtyard. The building once housed a laundry. In the XX century the need for a common laundry disappeared, and the old building was transformed into an artist's studio. Professor of the Academy of Arts Vladimir Vetrogonsky worked here from 1973 to 2002. Now his son painter Andrei Vetrogonsky works in this studio.

A year ago I also took a walk along the neighborhood streets and captured some of the local fauna. A friendly elephant meets passers-by on the porch of the dental polyclinic, and dinosaurs hide in the thickets of the botanical garden - the former "apothecary garden".