Jerry and I were actually flying on Halloween. We went from Venice to Rome and then Rome to JFK. It was a long day. We were up at 5AM Venice time and arrived at home at 11:00PM NY time, which means we were up for nearly 24 hours. So this sketch is being posted a little late.
Give me some laundry on the line and a few shutters and I am a happy girl.
I worked on this for several days one section at a time. I am slowly getting the hang of some of it. This is the view from the small second bedroom.
I was walking along Rio San Trovaso and came across these three ladies. When I first started they were all enjoying gelato but that was gone quickly. I’m glad they stayed in place.
I’m not sure what this entrance was used for. It didn’t look like that door were tall enough for a normal person to enter. I did like the texture and brickwork.
Near the Accademia Bridge I came across this lovely flower shop. I did a very nice business. I looked fit the name of the shop but didn’t find it.
My apologies to those of you who have been posting comments, but Blogger isn’t letting me respond to comments. That is so annoying!
My thanks to Tina Koyama for noticing that the sketch of La Salute was missing in yesterday’s post. I guess I got too caught up in the story. Here is the image.
We have some nice views out our windows. I sketched this the other day and added color yesterday when it was raining out. Staying in for part of the day gave me time to work on this.
Sometimes I come across something unusual in a location I am visiting. I took the vaporetto down to the La Salute stop and walked a little. I came across il Nuovo Trionto, a 95 year old sailing vessel. It is being restored thru donations and volunteers here in Venice. I felt like I was back at the Maritime Museum at home, but the background was a little different.
Somehow I got distracted and didn’t post yesterday. This was done standing up at the Rialto Fish Market in a small Stillman & Burn sketchbook. When I finished I did my shopping for dinner…gamerones (shrimp) for me and monkfish for Jerry.
I promised myself that I would do a few sketches on Procreate while I had time in the evening here. Both of these were sketched for the current Scavenger Hunt on creativespark.art.
I have passed this Ostaria many, many times while walking to the Rialto Mercado and have wanted to sketch it. There are not as many tourists getting in the way now as during the summer. I was cold and in the shade of a tiny street but was able to do the sketch finally.
Since it was so nice yesterday I took a trip to Burano, one of my favorite islands here. The problem with going there is that is such a long trip. I had to take the #1 vaporetto, switch to the #4.5 vaporetto, and finally the #12 vaporetto to Burano. It took a little over 2 hours each way…but it is such a special place!
The island is know for the lace that is made there and also for the colorful houses. I’ve heard that the owners have to repaint the houses the same colors, but I am not sure if that us true. The houses were painted the unusual colors so that the fishermen could identify their houses as the came toward the port. I hear are all kinds of bright crayola colors. I picked this one to sketch but am adding photos of a few others.
As I was sketching the church bells were ringing. This was a lovely spot along Rio de S. Barnaba.
I found a nice spot with umbrellas, food, a bridge and some people as I walked in the direction of Fondamente Nove yesterday.
When I finally meandered through the streets and reached Fondamente Nove I decided it was too late to take the vaporetto to Burano, so I opted to sit at a table with a Spritz and sketch some of the people waiting at the vaporetto stop.
There are so many doors along the smaller canals. You can really see the effect and erosion of the wood at the bottom of this one. Yes, the water sometimes rises that high in the canals…the times of acqua alta (high water).
Up near the Rialto Mercado is a strip of very old buildings that are presently very popular bars. They area around the other side from this view. They all have wonderful views of the Grand Canal and the gondola station. I was attracted to the back of the bars with all the arches and shadows.
Here in Venice I just wander until I find a spot that calls me. Often it is a small street or Calle across a small canal.
My apologies but I can’t seem to post on comments people have made on my posts. At least I am able to keep posting my work. Ciao!
We are renting an apartment in Campo San Polo. I did a composite sketch of vignettes from the area. Most of the squares or campos have fountains. Perfect to fill water bottle or get a drink. The pigeons love it too.
Below that is a face…part lion and part human over one of the doors.
On the top right is a group of trees that provide welcome shade to those seated underneath.
The sketch on the bottom right is another smaller tree that provides a little shade. Behind it you can see one of the awnings of Trattoria San Polo. We’ve eaten there quite a few times. It is close to our apartment and you don’t have to cross a bridge to get there, and the food is good. That makes it a winner in my eyes.
When we come to Venice we are usually here for several weeks, so sometimes I cook dinner instead of going out. My favorite places for food shopping are the stands at the Rialto Mercado. There are wonderful stands filled with a great assortment of fruits and vegetables, some of which I don’t see at home. There is also a wonderful fish market that gets very crowded and isn’t easy to sketch. But I will sketch it while we are here.
There are so many wonderful views along the canals. All this one is missing is a gondola.
The windows in Venice usually have such character. These are in a small square and above Hostaria Sant’Aponal.
On Tuesday Jerry and I started our adventure back to Venice. He wanted to meet with the musicians he has worked with there for many years. Traveling with a handicapped person isn’t easy. There is a lot to figure out and handle differently. I must say that ITA Airlines (Alitalia) was very helpful in providing wheelchairs to get him back and forth to the gates and bringing us his walker too. I think it ended up being a little easier than I thought but harder than he expected.
We arrived at JFK with lots of time to spare which meant I had sketching time before and after our lunch before the flight. During the first segment of our flight I didn’t have a great view but I made the most of it.
I was sketching for the Scavenger Hunt on creativespark.art and I needed a spot with 3 or more buildings or structures. The area around Blue Island Oyster Company in Sayville fit the bill.
The other day it wasn't nice enough to be outside sketching so I found a table inside Sayville Bean and sketched some of the customers and the decor.
The other day I parked myself on the corner in Sayville. I like the corner store (Rumplestiltskin Yarns) and the iteresting things they have in their window. I'll have to go back sometime and do a sketch of the window and the yarn and fiber items that are displayed. I sketched a bit of the rest of the block too.
The Patchogue Sketch Club is back indoors now at the Pat/Med Library. There isn't enough daylight left after our 6:30 meeting time. On Wednesday we had vegetables as a them. It was fun to see some colorful items like the purple cauliflower and the radishes.
Flo's Luncheonette is a location that the Sketch Club and my plein air group both like to visit. But lately the town of Brookhaven has instituted parking meters along the street and parking fees in the lot...and it isn't inexpensive. The Sketch Club decided that we weren't going there any more and aside from one day that I stopped there with a group for lunch, I haven't been there to sketch. I stopped by recently around lunch time but I guess they aren't getting enough business during the week to make it worth while staying open. I think it is still open on the weekends but I'm sure they will be having their final day soon.
I decided to sketch Flo's even though there weren't any people and the umbrellas weren't open. Since the location was so empty I didn't worry about the parking and just sat next to my car and painted.
