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We’re off on our family holiday for a couple of weeks. Any guesses where?
Back soon after country line dancing, donuts, dollar beer, seeing the Pittsburgh Pirates, touring Washington DC, RV riding (NOT driving!!) touching base in Milwaukee and Wisconsin and finally the Windy City and much more I hope.
Any recommendations gladly received. Enjoy your summer.
I was determined (especially as we were sans enfants) to do some drawing on site while we were in Venice. It’s ages, probably as long ago as art college, that I’ve drawn out in the field, so as to speak. I always find it a little scary at first because I don’t like to be observed while I’m working, and people are naturally curious and want to peer over your shoulder. But drawing a place really connects you to it more than a photo can. I took photo’s to use for further reference, particularly colour ref. I’ve got lots of ideas buzzing around my head for further work on these…mono printing, fabric collages with stitching, painting with lots of texturising…but while we’re in the middle of the school holidays I think it’s going to have live on in my heart and head a while longer!
Venice was absolutely beautiful, magical, hot, busy and inspiring! I could post all my photos here; I took hundreds of pictures of doors, windows, gondola’s, architecture… I can’t choose between any of them! I should work out how to use Flickr (it’s on my to-do list.) We pounded the pavements in order to see everything we could in the time that we were there and managed to pack a lot of Venetian history and culture in, not to mention eating and drinking on a regular basis!
My favourite place of all was definitely the island of Burano because of the colours. Every corner you turn, there are painted houses and shutters or striped door curtains juxtaposed against each other.
Throw in some beautiful flowering trees, a contrasting piece of garden furniture or some rose bud patterned washing (yes I did photograph that, and yes even though my Italian is not good I did understand the neighbour’s weren’t overly impressed!) everywhere I turned there was a scene crying out to be painted.
When I win a painting grant (!) Burano is top of my list of places to spend painting.
