Florence Street Scene

I was inspired to do this Florence street scene, because Borromini Bear (who went museum sketching with me) told me about this blog where they are painting a different city each month from Google Maps Street View. It seemed like a good idea to draw something different instead of going through my photos again and again as I have done since I started Kate Johnston’s Watercolour Pencil Class.

This street is in the Oltrarno area of Florence. It goes from the Ponte Vecchio down past the Pitti Palace.  Last time I was there was in July and Florence  was packed solid with tourists. To get away from the hordes we crossed the river and went to the Pitti Palace and walked around the small streets where many artisans (printmakers, shoemakers, etc) have their studios. Far more interesting than standing in queues to see the David again.

In the past year I have discovered the books of  Magdalen Nabb . These are detective mysteries. The hero is Marshal Guarnaccia, a member of the carabinieri, whose ‘police station’ is in the Pitti Palace. The Marshal doesn’t seem the brightest, and he’s Sicilian, doesn’t fit in Florence, and looks at it with an outsider’s eye, which I find very interesting. So I took Google’s little yellow man for a walk around those streets, to get the atmosphere.  I looked first at Sdrucciolo de’ Pitti which has the most marvellous name and is mentioned often in the books. I realised that I walked all around there, but I chose another view, because I wanted somewhere that was more open. Of course I was so busy with the course that I missed the end of June for the Virtual Paintout blog, and now it’s Barcelona. That’ll be my next drawing.

Another Urban Landscape (or two)

This urban landscape is also done with the Matisse Dry Mediums, so lots of texture.

The dry mediums are coming into the shops now, and selling like hot cakes. Jerrys Artarama have bought them for all their stores.

In this painting I mostly used the finer grades of sand, and some pumice (love the pumice) and for the sky I used the Wollastonite which is really a medium for drawing, but I wanted to test it for texture for the sky.

I am testing two more new mediums, still secret, so I have a painting on the go for each of those.

I’ve done this study for a large painting I want to do, and even bought the canvas for that one.  I’ve prepped a canvas for another painting for the Pyrmont Art Prize. And I have three canvases with dry mediums on them that I’ve done as demos. And I’m still cross with myself for not drawing enough.

Then I hurt my back so I’m lying flat reading. I read the best book…. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen I told a friend about it last Monday & he keeps texting me telling me how much he’s enjoying it. It’s very funny but also a little sad.

Another book I’m re-reading is Cooking with Fernet Branca It’s hilarious. I love both these books – they’re very different.

I also read Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesiaby Elizabeth Gilbert. The title had put me off, but then I watch this very interesting video of her ideas about genius/creativity. So I read the book – didn’t like it. I found her too self-indulgent, and anyway spirituality isn’t my thing. Interesting from the point of view that she lived in Rome not too far from where I lived in Rome, and in Bali, she at first lived in the Monkey Forest Rd, just down the road from my second home, Ubud Village Hotel.

Oh dear – I’ve been tagged

Ann has tagged me, and I have been thinking I’ve already told you everything – but maybe not.
1. I was born and grew up in the Most Boring Place in the World. It’s true! It’s been documented. You can read about it in The Battle for Room Service: Journeys to All the Safe Places – a very amusing book by English writer, Mark Lawson who went all the way to New Zealand to my small town to start his journey through the safest and most boring places in the world.
2. I was au pair in Italy in 1971. I looked after a four year old boy, who I was supposed to teach English, but instead he taught me Italian. I had a very happy time there. We lived in Piazza Borghese – right in the historic centre, and if I leaned out the lounge window, I could see the Spanish Steps. (Right down the street in the centre of the picture, on the right, just after Via del Corso). Filippo, the boy I looked after, followed his father’s footsteps in becoming a theatre director. However I have recently found via the net, that he lives in London and is involved in fashion, and his company was reviewed in London Fashion Week. But I haven’t emailed him yet.

3.I had a prior career as a hotel receptionist. I worked in hotels in London, Jersey, C.I., New Zealand and Australia. Met quite a few famous people in that way. In about 1977, when the Sex Pistols were at the height of their fame, one Sunday evening, they arrived unexpectedly at our hotel. They had a confirmed booking made by a very reputable company, prepaid, with a voucher. The reservation was in the name of John Lydon, Johnny Rotten’s real name. ALL management disappeared into a huddle into the manager’s office, and we receptionists were left to tough it out with the Sex Pistols. Eventually, the general manager’s girlfriend (the only female) who occasionally worked shifts as a duty manager, came out & talked to the S.Ps. She told them we’d find them other accommodation, that we didn’t have their reservation. We found them rooms at another hotel, and time proved that it had been a good move.

4. Bali is my second home (I may have told you that). I go to Ubud, which is an art village, and I just wander around soaking up the scenery and ambience. I have friends there because I’ve been going for over 20 years. This link will take you to some web pages & links about Ubud that I made when I was learning Fireworks a few years ago. I took this photograph on an early morning walk last time I was there.

5. Last Thursday I went to a stencil workshop at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was fantastic, and I am cutting stencils, multitasking with trying to respond to my ‘tag’. My next post on my blog will be all about that.