Home of the Gondolas

My Italian painting partner (Kelly Medford, who lives in Rome) took a short visit up to Venice last week...(Kelly, I'm so jealous that you can just hop on a train and visit Venice!)

While she was there, she had the opportunity to visit a gondola shop (!) where she painted this unique spot.

The Gondola Yard, Squero di San Trovaso

9x12"

oil on paper

©Kelly Medford

Kelly wrote about this experience on her own blog (which you should check out and sign up to receive her great posts).  When Kelly paints a particular spot, you get the added pleasure of reading all about the history and insights that she gleans from the people that live and work wherever she's chosen to paint for the day.  Kelly wrote this about the Gondola Yard:

If you have not seen this place, it's such an odd jewel on the corner of a canal next to the church in San Trovaso. It's odd because it is built entirely of wood and looks like something straight out of the Dolomites.

 That's because it is.

Traditionally the workers came from the Dolomite region of the Alps and the structure is Tyrolean in style.

This gondola shop was built in the 17th century and is the oldest of the 3 shops of its kind left in the city. Mostly they just repair gondolas rather than make them anymore. There are on average just 350 gondolas on the canals of the city today compared with the 10,000 in the past.

Making a new gondola is a feat and requires 8 different kinds of wood: mahogany, cherry, fir, walnut, oak, elm, larch and lime.

And if you are wondering about the color black, that became...read more by clicking HERE.

Come with me (Helen K. Beacham) and Kelly Medford to paint Venice this October...

Click HERE for details!

Read my latest post HERE.

Where am I?

All photos courtesy of http://www.kimwaltonphotography.co.uk

When we think of BURANO (an island in the northern Venetian lagoon), we think of colorful houses, lined up in rows (and we think of pretty lace!).  But from the eyes of a master photographer like KIM WALTON, we see the other Burano.  Fishermen go about their daily lives and chores, giving us painters another reason to linger a bit longer!  Check these out!

This scene very much reminds me of our Lowcountry marsh scenes.

Quiet spot to contemplate the beauty we've just seen in Burano.

All photos courtesy of http://www.kimwaltonphotography.co.uk/burano/

Read my latest post HERE.

Don't leave home w/o your App for Italy's provinces

Photo courtesy of www.technorati.com

To bring Italy into the 21st century, yet keep the traditions of the past has been a problem that savvy tourism entrepreneurs in Umbria (who live there) have embraced by establishing/creating apps which promote the finest aspects of their regional culture: food, wine, museums, antiquities, wineries, restaurants, recipes. Who better than a native to introduce you to the best of the best in the region.

One noted app, Umbria Slow reveals the undiscovered region of central Italy, taking you off the well known city journeys in Venice, Florence and Rome. Other apps of Umbria offer maps and guides.

The best app of Umbria to date is...read more HERE.
(article courtesy of www.technorati.com)

Read my latest post HERE.

Nestled

Tuscany offers a bazillion opportunities for artists to capture in paint.  I remember flying over the ocean, thinking "what if I get there, and it's not as great as I hope it will be?".  Man, oh, man.  Every turn in the road was a picture.  The simplicity of it all is what makes it so great!

"Nestled II" (watercolor by Helen K Beacham)
Framed size:  18 x 21 (Image size:  8 x 11) $595.

Come with Helen K. Beacham and Kelly Medford to paint Venice this October...

click HERE for details!

See my latest post HERE.