Tuscany

Rocca d' Orcia

It's hard to believe it was just a little over a month ago that we were in this beautiful place. September is a great time to be in Italy. It was not crowded and the weather was perfect. Something about the air is incredibly soft and caressing. It may be the rolling landscape filled with vineyards and olive trees. Whatever the cause, I now fully understand the romance of Tuscany. What beautiful colors and heavenly sky-scapes. Just like you see in the paintings !

We spent our first few nights in the small town of Pienza . The hotel was originally a convent. Pienza is where Zefferelli filmed Romeo and Juliet. (A film I have in my Netflix lineup so I can re-live the charming streets and beautiful vistas. The English Patient was also filmed in this locale)

Here's an early morning view from our window.This is the little chapel for the nuns in the church next to the hotel.
Notice the blue "sky" in the arches.
We spent a day in Sienna.
The wonderful piazza is shaped like a scallop shell.

Here's a view from our lunch table looking out.Oh ..and here's the end of one of my many delicious lunches....The Duomo in Sienna had this wonderful libraria "piccalomini." with beautiful illuminated books and walls covered with frescos. Unfortunately it was a narrow space so you could not get a straight picture. This painting had both a rainbow and a storm.
And there again... beautiful skies.

And here's a picture I got from the web that gives you a better
feeling for the paintings in the space.

Here are two more treasures from the museum in Sienna.

This is a sculpture by Della Robbia.We also went to the 12th century Romanesque Abbey St Antimo. A winding road past many vineyards led us to this pristine and quiet spot. It was so quiet I did not feel I could take pictures. We could hear through a wall, the chanting of the monks. A truly heavenly place.

Bagno Vignoni was recommended to us and we ended up spending several nights at a lovely hotel with a spa and hot baths as part of its accomadations. The art and overall decor of the hotel was lovely. The waters were wonderful. The colors in the room were totally in tune with the area.On the last day we stopped at an agritourismo where you can rent an apartment for a week!
Look at this driveway!And this is my new hat! Looking out from Montepulciano.For more pictures you can see my album on Facebook or go to Flicker... Ciao!

Roman Holiday

This is Santa Maria Maggiore as seen from the roof top garden of our hotel, an appropriate place to start our ten day excursion in Rome and Tuscany.

This basilica is the site of Bernini's tomb which says simply: " He decorated the city."

This was my first trip to Rome and hopefully it won't be my last. I feel we just scratched the surface. Following, is some of the art that I saw that impressed and inspired me.

Our first full day was spent visiting our neighboring Basilica.. so much bigger than it first appeared. Then the Roman Baths. Both sites were relatively uncrowded, so we were able to wander at will .

The Baths' courtyard's atrium had sculpture after sculpture, it's a vast site continually being excavated.

I was especially inspired by the clothed figurines called Tanagra and found a great description and link to an audio visual explanation from the Louvre: go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanagra_figurine

Here's another example

The National Museum of Rome is housed both here, at the Baths, and across the street.
It has beautiful modern exhibits showing frescoes and mosaics from ancient homes.

This fresco, featuring multiple flower, fruit and bird specimens is from the subterranean dining room of Augustus and Livia. It was designed to keep their guests cool during the heat of the summer.

Each display was laid out in rooms reproducing the size of the original and with mosaic floors both in situ or on the walls. Here are examples of my favorites.

The colors, sophistication and intricacy of the mosaics in particular, were astonishing.

I also loved the frescoes that were only partially saved.
This one was especially entrancing, with a mysterious view of horses and dolphins bounding through the waves.

The next day we went to the Vatican City and ran into the Pope. It was a terrific day, with representatives from Costa Rica and Africa dressed up for the occasion and waving their flags.

Also charming were the many brides celebrating their weddings and dragging their trains across the cobblestone square. We spent a lot of time enjoying the crowd before going into the Basilica.

Inside St Peters', besides the magnificent sculpture of the Pieta, were interesting portraits of the Popes.

There was beautiful light that people passed through while touring the space, creating a show of living sculpture.

Bernini did this fantastic sculpture, notice the hour glass.. he really is over the top...

After following the hoards through the museum and being overwhelmed by both the art and the crowds, we came out past a model of the Vatican. Joey asked where exactly the Pope lives and the guard pointed out the upper windows of the building on the right.

The following day we went to the Trevi fountain.

and the Spanish Steps.

There, I went into the little museum devoted to Keats and the Romantic Poets. They have a re-creation of what his room was like and multiple pictures of Byron, Shelly, Keats and his letters. His poetry was cut up and given in line segments to various friends and followers after his death. Keats had a third floor view out onto this wonderful scene.
If one were to suffer from TB and die at an early age.. this would be the place to go.

Our last day before Tuscany, we took a quick trip to see the basilica at Piaizza del Popolo. Another beautiful public space. The basilica had two Caravaggio's in an awkward niche.
The Conversion of St Paul

The Crucifixtion of St Peter

Truely stirring and wonderful pieces of art. You have to push a button to light them, the space is so dark.
Somehow it seemed appropriate to the power of the pieces and the lighting Caravaggio is so known for.

Next Blog: Tuscany

Kingston Gallery Show

Here's a peek at the Kingston Gallery show that occurred last Friday night. It was a lot of fun; a beautiful summer night with many friends and walk-ins taking advantage of our treats as well as enjoying the display. I've had a lot of fun working with the other associates.

We got along well and did a good job considering our work runs the gamut of styles and techniques. For a look at all the participants you can go to the gallery website at www.KingstonGallery.com.

Here are some installation views :

In this one my work Tomato is on the back wall and another is first on the left. It's called Money Plant, which is the actual name of the plant. The other painting is by Chantal Hardy, who if you were there was wearing a terrific pink polka dot dress. I'm sorry there's no picture!

In this one, the painting on the left is mine: Flag, and Joan Benotti's work is on the right.

Also for the opening, my daughter Jay and I collaborated on making a dress. It was modeled from my painter's smock; an old dress from the 70's

Here also is a view of Jay working on the fabric and a detail of the results. Great Stuff!

Thanks to all who came out. It was great to see you! The show will be up until the end of August and I will be gallery sitting on the 19th and 20th. Check it out!

Kingston Gallery

I have a show coming up the beginning of August, opening on the 6th at the Kingston Gallery (www.kingstongallery.com) and I am fussing with my picks. One of my paintings, Tomato, was also chosen to be part of the Blanche Ames Foundation Exhibition. That will be in September at Borderland in North Easton, Mass. I have visited the site and it's a beautiful park with a large house where the gallery is. Not having visited previous shows, it will be a surprise... but the location overall seems just right.

Here's another shot from my last visit to the garden.

It harkens back to the first painting I did that started me on the Garden Series of paintings.

This is called Flower for Manet.


There's a beautiful picture at the MFA of his favorite model with a brown background.

That painting along with the big Eakins show in the 80's pushed me toward doing portraits. I love the high contrast of the brown and subtle pinks and the sense of distance you get from the model.

I also love Manet's small flower paintings.

Which, by the way, he did as gifts for his friends. They would bring him flowers when he was ill, he would paint them, and give them back. So my painting is an homage as well as my attempt to start on a quest to "meet the master."

I am also going back to the beaches; Cranes, in Ipswich in particular, to take photos for new paintings of bathers. The winds were up again so I couldn't help but take more towel shots. A few here which could be reinterpreted in a painting and hopefully call to mind other references.

A shout out to friends and readers:
Enjoy the rest of this beautiful summer!

Painting, Not Blogging

I have been busy painting, not blogging. So the garden is two months into its growing season. A lot has gone on and even though I have missed the peonies for the most part, there are still a few left. I often think I won't find new stuff to be curious or excited about but somehow I always do. Needless to say it is continually beautiful.. (too bad you can't smell it too.)




I focused this time on some more of the human additions to the garden's abundance. Some interesting possibilities, which I am posting here, may get painted, now that I am into gold and silver leaf. The latest painting image in Garden on my web site, has an example of my struggles with the material. It's so delicate that it blows away at the slightest breath. It suits the transience of the subject.

Meanwhile, I'm finding the connection here between the "tinker petals" and the flowers and myself. Some child painted that petal and had a great time. Wish I could do the same. It's so spontaneous! No struggle there! And I enjoy the gaudiness of the "flags" which are used to scare away the birds.

Here are some human additions as well as flowers to enjoy.

And lastly..two other images from totally different aesthetic places.

A beautiful painting by Fitz Hugh Lane from a visit to the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester.

And a photo from the Shell Shack at Islamorada, the Keys, Florida. If you enlarge, you'll see all the stuff better. The place was jam packed and what colors!