Venice For Inspiration
Venice/Inspiration - They go together like rain and umbrellas.
JUST in case you aren't planning to ever go to Venice,
and for the record, I wasn't planning to ever go to Venice,
here are some photos you may find inspiring.
As an artist, I get to take the best business trips! First Tokyo, Japan, and now Venice, Italy? Is this even legal??
It really was a working trip. Here are the things I accomplished as an artist in Venice:
1. I went with my WAM - Women.Artists.Mentors. group. As pictured above, Carrie Waller, Helen Beacham, Maria Bennett Hock, Kim Minichiello and I explored Venice and surrounding islands together, like the tourists armed with cameras that we are. Helen hosts workshops there each year, and she showed us around. We even had a business meeting one evening, talking about our upcoming museum shows at WaterWorks Museum in March 2017 and in Customs House Museum July 2018. We also discussed retreats, and we may invite others to participate in those with us in the future. Our WAM group was on Linda Fisler's AMO Art Chat podcast today, and if you listen to the interview, you'll learn more about how to form a mentoring group like this of your own.
2. Obviously, I gathered enough architectural photo references to paint for a lifetime. But I also collected textures. I don't know if I will incorporate them as backgrounds or do a series of photorealistic paintings that are so hyper real as to appear abstracted. That's an idea I've had for awhile now. But the cobblestones, rusty gates, wood with peeling paint, patched brick - All these surfaces beg to be incorporated into my artwork.
Below is a glass baptismal font on the island of Murano, which is known for its 22 operational glass factories.
3. In traveling to a completely foreign environment, thoughts flow so easily. Every day I had ideas for new series of paintings I want to create. The door knockers in Venice are one of those. I've got to paint these critters!
4. There's a sense of calm, of zen even, that fills you when you plein air sketch in Venice. It's a feeling I want to begin to convey in my paintings. It's the sound of a place where no motorized vehicles are allowed and no planes fly overhead. You hear carts rolling on cobblestones, water lapping, children playing, and church bells ringing. I brought a bit of this feeling home with me, and a renewed interest in doing more plein air work.
5. Nocturnals are something I've always wanted to paint. I'm inspired to paint from these Venice references, but I also want to explore the D.C. area I live in. Light, reflections, architecture, objects - These are the things I love to paint and they all come out at night to play.
6. $$$$ That's another good reason to visit someplace new if you are an artist. I have no doubt that the new paintings swimming around in my head, the ones that are going to dribble down my arm and onto my panels, will pay for my plane ticket and expenses in Italy when they sell. I share my experiences in the art I put out into the world. I have to fill up my reservoir regularly, so I have fresh experiences to share. Right now, my reservoir is overflowing. Yay!!!
Please, if you visit inspiring places, leave a comment on this blog. I'd love to hear about your trips as well.
