Pastel landscape painting of a distant village in the Umbrian hills of Italy.
Pastel painting 27.5 inches x 13.5 inches SOLD
Another pastel painting of Italy where I am exploring the long distance views from the Umbrian hill towns. I’m not sure if this is really a village or a small villa that grew and grew over the years. Some of the family plots became compounds over the years, with each successive generation adding another addition or building to the original villa. Regardless, they create beautiful focal points in the undulating countryside.
Pastel cityscape painting of sunlight cascading across the entrance to a home in Umbria, Italy.
Pastel painting 11 inches x 17 inches $800
I’m always saying that my art is all about light and shadow. It’s what draws me to almost every subject I paint and what I’m constantly exploring. This pastel painting of Italy is a perfect example. I came upon this little alleyway while I was wandering through an Umbrian hill town. Although the scene itself was interesting, it was the way the sunlight cascaded across the wall and steps that really drew me in.
Plein air watercolor landscape of a fountain in the main square of a small Italian hill town.
Plein air watercolor painting 6.5 inches x 10.5 inches $150
Every little town in Italy has a main square with a fountain where the locals gather to relax, play with their children and chat with their neighbors. In the evening, everyone strolls with their family and friends, usually ending up in this central spot. It is such a wonderful, uniting experience which seems to have been lost in our frantic American lives. One day when the rest of our group was enjoying lunch in a nearby trattoria, I sat in the piazza and did a watercolor painting of a fairly simple (by Italian standards) fountain. What’s missing from this painting of Italy is the hundreds of school children I saw, running though the square, excited to get home and relish their big plate of pasta!
Plein air watercolor painting 8 inches x 13 inches
I’ve always liked doing architecture paintings, whether in pastel or watercolor. And I especially love extreme close-ups, where I can play with the idea of realism breaking down into an almost abstract composition. I’m not positive, but I think this storefront was on the main street of Charlevoix, Michigan where we spend time in the spring. But it really doesn’t matter exactly where it was. It could be a scene from any town or city in America.
Watercolor painting of a street in southern Spain lined with stucco houses
Watercolor painting 8.5 inches x 6.5 inches $80
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
This small watercolor was painted plein aire in southern Spain a while ago. The little villages there are filled with white stucco houses topped with red tiled roofs, and the surrounding hills are beautiful. I sat in a bar and sipped the local wine while I painted this watercolor landscape. Hmmm…this drinking and painting seems to be a trend. Well, when in Rome…
Please contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork.
I just finished this watercolor painting of a small side street in one of the little towns we visited when I traveled to Italy a few years ago. I went with 2 artist friends and experienced my lifetime dream of living and painting in a small Tuscan village for 3 weeks. Every morning we would wander til we found a place that interested us. We’d paint Tuscan landscapes til noon, stop for a fantastic lunch, nap for awhile and then go back out and paint til dinner. My idea of pure heaven.
I’m looking back with new eyes at some of my original photos from that time. I have been playing with composition and color in an attempt to capture the “feeling” of the place, not an exact replica of it.
