Art and Travel

Today I was looking through some old paintings I have stashed away in a box.  I was actually looking for a mat with which to view a work in progress, and I came upon this little gem.  I call it a gem today, but back when I painted it two years or so ago, I called it a failure and put it away with disappointment.  This particular scene is from a trip to Italy in 2009 with my husband.  I snapped this shot from the car window as we left Loreto on the way to Sirolo, on the Adriatic Sea.  Not a great photograph -- trees in the foreground that were out of focus, telephone wires and the like.  The fact that I don't always get to frame my shots doesn't keep me from pressing the shutter button!

Back in the studio, I had the scene a certain way in my mind's eye and the painting that emerged did not match.  I am so glad that early in my study of painting, it was pounded into my head by more experienced artists to never crumple, cut up or otherwise obliterate a painting.  I was told to find a special place for these "Dogs" and put them away for a while.  So I had wisely put it away, to be pulled out at some later time and viewed without prejudice.  The theory is that in a few weeks, months, or years even, one might pull it out and find a way to fix it, or decide that it was not as bad as all that after all. 

What did I hate about the painting when I did it?  I hated the colors -- they appeared muted and drab to me.  I hated the unfocused feel of the scene -- the lack of a crisp outline on the buildings and trees.  I hated the fact that it was small (about 7X7) and square.  Everyone was telling me to PAINT BIGGER! 

So what do I now love about this painting, some two years later?  I love the colors!  They blend and flow, one marching into the other and out of that one and into another like an analogous dance.  I love the unfocused softness of the scene, the muted light and shadow play on the buildings and trees.  Yes, all those things that made me initially call it a Dog, now grabbed my attention, and I thought, "Wow!  This looks pretty good.  Perhaps I actually did capture this." 

My now unprejudiced eye loves this painting.  When I look at it I see Loreto as it likely was on that day.  Soft greens and blues with hints of red and umber.  I see my husband standing in the piazza in his Hawaiian shirt looking at a vendor's trinkets of the Black Madonna.  I see the chalk artist, diligently at work on the concrete square in the hot sun, all the while knowing the next rain will wash her hard work away.  I see the magnificent blues of the Adriatic from the top of the next hill.  It makes me want to see what else is in this box!

Until next time...