Category Archives: Urban Landscapes
Campo in Venice
Here we are on Mardi Gras- no plans to do anything, but in Venice, Carnavale is in full swing. Here’s one from my trip there I hadn’t posted yet.
The Laundry Scene
Rooftops in Barcelona. This is the view from my apartment balcony in El Born. I just found this picture- it’s about 2 years old- in one of my many piles in the studio. She hung out the clothes in her bikini. I loved that.
Rialto at Night
Venice at night, just as a light autumn rain began to fall. Several monuments were under construction including the Rialto bridge, whose scaffolding was wrapped in a Guess ad.
Canalscape
A secret garden on a quiet canal in Venice.
Street, Ocean Beach
This mid century building and its stumpy date palm really spoke to me about the vernacular here.
San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice
Seen from the Molo across the water. Ah, Venice. This is my last picture from the trip, except two from Rome that I’m iffy about. To celebrate, I’m going to replicate a supper we ate there- pasta alla norma followed by chicken milanese (basically a breaded chicken cutlet.) And plot my next trip!
Piazza del Popolo
Wet, Piazza del Popolo, Rome. There’s an obelisk here- brought from Egypt, and in the famous view paintings of these almost-twin churches, they are usually seen with the obelisk in front. But the obelisk was under construction and had a giant screen in front of it (with a Samsung phone ad on the screen), so that wasn’t an option- or so it seemed at the time. Kind of regret not including it now.
The Piazza del Popolo is also where you can go see this stunning Caravaggio, which is one of my favorites:
You can pay 1 Euro to light up both paintings- This one, The Conversion of St Paul on the Road to Damascus- truly a masterpiece- and the Martyrdom of St Peter next to it. I paid the Euro.
Il Redentore
Palladio’s famous church on La Giudecca. This is one of the views I especially wanted to paint in Venice, because I wanted to feel the connection to art history and the veduta tradition that originated here.
On a Dock, Venice
Piazza San Marco, Venice
I was absolutely fascinated by the acqua alta, or high water in the lower streets in Venice. It laid out for me the engineering feat that building this city was- and the ongoing challenges as well. Not sure how to express this sentiment but I’ll try- even though it’s surpassingly beautiful, the sheer will, determination, and stubbornness of the long ago Venetians to build a city in the water impresses me even more.
Foro Romano
In no particular order will follow the rest of the pictures from my trip to Rome and Venice.
I wanted to visit some of the classic sites that inspired so many 18th century “view” paintings (or vedute in Italian.) That’s where it all comes from, a hundred years before the Impressionists, and those historical pictures got in my head a few years ago and started me painting them here in San Diego.
I didn’t realize it at the time but this isn’t the vantage point I had intended to paint. I think I should have been on the other side of the Capitoline hill, which is the vantage point (I think) from Turner’s famous version of this. That painting was on the cover of copy of The Silmarillion I stole from my sister when I was kid. I loved that picture.
St Mark’s, Venice
There’s a lot of history in St Mark’s, a lot of birds, and a lot of tourists!
In old paintings of Venice, Piazza San Marco is full of promenading aristocrats. Now, of course, there are selfie sticks and Indian men selling light up helicopter things.
Even though Venice is seriously threatened by rising sea levels, it struck me that the crowds of people are a lot more ephemeral. Most of them are just here for a few days- St Mark’s Basilica has been here 1000 years. And still, as you can see, under construction.
Tijuana Street
Hot afternoon, TJ.
Termite Tent, North Park
Before moving to San Diego, I don’t think I’d seen any buildings in fumigation tents. Like trolley and telephone wires crossing the sky, dumpsters in alleys, and trash cans lined up like soldiers for inspection, I think they add a really exciting decorative element to the urban landscape.
This is an older piece, probably from 2013. for sale