My Italy Sketchbook.Day One...Venice

Hi! I have missed updating my blog! David and I just returned from our 10th Anniversary trip to Italy. It was just fantastic. We had gorgeous weather almost the entire time and visited three wonderful cities - Venice, Florence and Rome. Armed with my camera and my sketchbook, I was determined to learn and see a lot! I am planning on sharing both my sketchbook drawings and my photos - a little bit from each day of our journey (it took a while to narrow down the 634 shots I took! Thank goodness for digital!) Please enjoy!

The first shot is out of the airplane window as we approached Italy - the Alps were gorgeous from the air! Little villages were tucked in valleys thru out.

When you arrive in Venice, you might consider having an escort meet you - from the airport, we had an escort take us to a water taxi and assist in transporting our luggage. (As we walked from the airport to the water taxis, we passed Viggo Mortenson on his way towards the airport! For the next two days I kept saying "You know who that is - that is Viggo!" like the guy from Ghostbuster's 2...

Our first glimpse of Venice in the water taxi!

The Rialto Bridge - one of the most famous bridges over the Grand Canal in Venice. Our hotel was right next to it.

We were very lucky that when we arrived at 9:30 am local time we were permitted to check into our room early...both of us were ready for a power nap after not sleeping at all on the 7 hour plane ride from NYC! Much to our dismay, our room was SO bright! The only window coverings were sheer white curtains! I couldn't sleep at all.

Little did we know...and David did not discover this until 3:am that night when the voices outside woke us up...that there were wooden shutters that you could close! You had to open the windows, reach out, and pull them shut! So, if you ever arrive in Venice early in the morning and need a power nap...close the shutters!

A view from the top of the Rialto Bridge.

And a view from the side steps.

David and I standing atop one of the many other bridges connecting the 118 small islands that make up Venice.
Walking down a narrow alley between the buildings.

One of the narrow canals in between the islands.

A gorgeous reflection of some colorful Venetian buildings.

David standing in the very busy St. Marks' Square. (I have lots more from St. Mark's square...I'll share that in the next entry!)

A view across the water from St. Mark's square - San Giorgio Maggiore

The sun setting on our first day in Italy.....

I *heart* dooce

Ok, if you are familiar with the blogging world or twitterverse at all, you have seen the name dooce once or twice. You may have even read her blog. I am not a daily reader, but I do stop in for a dose of dooce from time to time. Last night I woke up at 3 am and by 4 am gave up trying to get back to sleep and grabbed my laptop (hey, you never know what's going on in Etsy's forums at 4 am!) And in my journeys I came across this post on dooce's blog, which is basically the best thing I have read in a while. Not Cormac MrCarthy's "The Road" or anything like that...but it's got a little bit of everything that makes a story great - laughter, love, a few curse words, a heroine, a villain, and best of all, a happy ending. Oh yeah, and my favorite line ever about sex with a major appliance (it's a short list of lines, but the top spot is highly coveted)

http://www.dooce.com/2009/08/28/containing-capital-letter-or-two

New figure drawings from the male nude model...sharpies, and not so sharpies

I had what I would refer to as a challenging night of figure drawing yesterday! Mike the Model started out with some incredible gesture poses. He recently checked out a book that had a variety of "extreme foreshortening poses" and tried a few out for us last night.



The drawing above was a fifteen minute drawing and I used a thin Sharpie marker on white mat board. I liked the idea that I wouldn't be able to correct my lines by erasing - I'd have to keep going over the lines until I got it right. I like the immediacy of the media and I could get a variety of thickness in the line if I changed the pressure. I'd still like to go back and add more layers and value range.

The second drawing was for an hour and a half (with breaks!) I've done several figure drawings of the same model in the past, and I seem to favor either black and white or grey palettes when drawing. So I forced myself to be more colorful.

I'm particularly fond of this section - I think all of the colors came together very well, and I like the layers of color in the shadows. The background colors may still change...we will see! I shall live with it for a little bit and see what happens!

See more of my figure drawings in my Fine Art on Etsy shop!

BOGO Fine Art Print Sale in my Etsy Shop

This is THE BIG SALE! This only happens ONCE this year!

Buy One $15 Fine Art Print and

Get one FREE!

Buy your first print, make a note to the seller of your choice for your FREE print, and that's it! You're all set!

LIMIT: One free print per customer!

*****While supplies last!*****

www.krystyna81.etsy.com
Sale ends Sunday August 30th

Help my Local Gallery win this Shine a Light Contest!

http://shinealight.ivillage.com/sbo-profile/?ProfileID=1452

The local gallery in Woodstock, Ga - Roomscapes Gallery and Heartworks Art Studio - is an amazing Gallery and Studio space that has, despite all odds of the economic downturn has managed to start building an impressive business in an otherwise empty complex. Owners Shawn and Debbie have truly dedicated themselves to making their business work, and have showcased some wonderful local talent.

As suggested in the article, their business does not end at their front door. They truly part of the artistic community, participating in joint shows with fellow galleries, sponsoring neighborhood art events (such as the chalk walk competition, above), and getting involved in community projects.

Should they win this competition, it means $100,000 Grant for their business! I know that in their hands, that money would impact the entire community in an amazing way.

I hope you take a moment to click on the link above, register on the site and VOTE for their story. They did not nominate themselves! A loyal patron and friend got them into the contest.

And, if you are ever in Woodstock, GA - I hope you come in to visit!

http://shinealight.ivillage.com/sbo-profile/?ProfileID=1452

New Poetry inspired by My Art

The human figure - especially the nude female - has been a dominant subject in my art for many years. I can't pinpoint the definitive reason why, although it partly has to do with my history as a dancer, my relationship with my sisters,and even my interactions with the women in my life in general.

As an artist, it's been difficult to answer with all certainty "this is what my art MEANS". In graduate school we had to defend and explain our work in critiques on a regular basis. I was working on large scale paintings of dancers, and had specific goals and ideas in mind.

But that is not always the case with each and every painting. Maybe the creation has come first, and the meaning is not yet clear to me.

One of my greatest joys comes from hearing what other people tell me my work means to them. I remember displaying my undergraduate thesis exhibit, and having numerous people come up to me and tell my why they liked a particular piece - they all had different reasons why, and none of their reasons matched my own! I loved it! It was truly mind blowing to have someone connect with my work and then share with me how it made them feel.

Today, my friend Laura gave me an incredibly high compliment. She has composed a poem inspired by one of my pieces, and I'd like to share it with you.

Contortion

by Laura Mercurio Ebohon

You left a long time ago
Without going anywhere
Still breathing my air,
still sharing my space,
You built up a convenient wall
of hard bricks and cemented lies,
You wrapped me up in a blanket of sorrow!
Lying down on this bed of torment
I followed hopes and dreams
I got nowhere
I rolled myself up
In a contortion of nerves and muscles
I waited for you to come back!
But you had left without going,
You were standing on the other side,
Staring at me from the back of that wall
Empty cavities
Looking at curves and shadows of us
Unbreakable...
I thought we were invincible,
But I lost!
And loosing I gained anxiety,
I felt the failure,
Like a leaf that cannot find the ground
Floating on toxic air,
Belongs to nothing!
Contorted
I stretched my ideas
I reached the visions of my soul
And I saw you there
Unreal and solid...
You had never left without going
You were still holding me
I was your everything
You were my Joy.

Laura has also selected one of my figure paintings for her book cover, which is being published this fall. This means so much to me, Laura...thank you!

New Studio Space - wonderful atmosphere for our figure drawing group!

What a wonderful evening of drawing from the live model last night. It was our first session in the new gallery space (new to us, anyway!) on main Street in Woodstock - the gallery of Ann Litrel. With the high ceilings and open floor, everyone can get a great view of the model A ten minute pose - what a lovely curve in the model's back. Charcoal drawing on white paper.

A one hour pose - Nupastel on Cream mat board (photo is the model from the opposite angle)

A 45 minute pose - I love the drama in this drawing! White and black charcoal drawing on grey mat board.

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We started with a couple of short, 5 and 10 minute poses, then moved into hour long poses for the rest of the evening. Everyone did wonderful work! (you can see mis K's work on the easel in the photo above!)

If you are interested in joining our group, please see the model schedule. All skill levels and media are welcome - this is an open studio, no instruction!

You can see more of my figure drawings in my Fine Art on Etsy shop.