Revived by this...

Just returned from 5 days in and around Venice... We've been a few times now and it still inspires me. I lost count of the 'wow's... And ended up just trying to capture it on camera or in my little watercolour pad.

The sun shone nearly all the time apart from a crazy half hour in Venice when a storm broke over our heads. But we got a rainbow as a reward.

One of the loveliest places we saw was a 16th century villa built by Palladio... And entirely covered inside by frescoes. So worth the effort of finding it. And a lovely old town called Asolo is just great as an antidote to the busyness of Venice.

Having said that, we avoided all the tourist traps in Venice and managed to spend most of the time on our own, getting lost... The best approach! We did bump into Lord Norman Foster though, who had just arrived for the opening of the Venice Architecture Biennale.

And so, back to work today, refreshed and with ideas bubbling away.

Big sigh.

 

So near...

When you move in very close all becomes indistinct...hazy...like being under water. But the colours merge and create new shades...shades that I couldn't make up if I tried.

Life's like that sometimes and it's a good thing.

Im off to Italy tomorrow. All that accidental beauty to discover.

A new thing...

A quick peek at a new thing... these are painted with glass onto white glass and mounted on blocks... They have a little frame that give them a sense of being a block or tile. Sketches in glass...

The big R comes from a lovely shop in Padstow, via Denmark... And the shell and sand comes from Indian Rocks Beach in Florida, thanks to Clare.

Turning Wave...

Middle shelf on the left.... 'turning wave' on its way to a hopefully happy customer!

Infact this is a 'happy corner' of my studio... With collected and saved precious memories... A leaf, a pebble, a button, a poem...a piece of pottery from the path of La Ceretta.... And photos of course... Italy in 87 with clare...Outside my grandparents house when I was about 6... The boys when they were little...some unknown relatives on a day out in the 40s...And a silver hair clip from my friend Lou. Precious happy moments.

Water...

"Where the waters do agree, it is quite wonderful the relief they give."

Jane Austen, Emma

 

Summer day....

Their tiny lungs

Filled with cow parsley

The larks

And yellowhammers

Of the hill

 

A poem by John Barlow

wingbeats.co.uk

 

Tea break

This is the lovely space I can take my tea break in.... A bit too much of a distraction on lovely days like today. When we moved in to this house 5 years ago exactly, we just had roses in the front garden. It's exciting to think that we have made this garden...from scratch. Tea breaks are truly restorative....

To Velodrome or not?

 

 

 

I don't think so. I was free for the day. And this is a bit of what I saw.