Venice 2024 - Part 6 - Burano, Rialto Market, Vegetable Stand, Florist

I can't go to Venice without spending a day in Burano. The colors of the houses just sing!!! It is about a 45 minute vaporetto ride to Burano, but first you have to get to the other side of the island where the Fondamenta Nuovo is located. I was up and out early to take the 25 minute walk to the vaporetto stop.

The colors are so bright and wonderful in Burano. I did one sketch in the morning after arriving and then spent some time walking around and taking photos. It was sad to see that there are so many more houses in disrepair than last year. Many of them look abandoned. I am sure they take a real beating being so open to the water of the lagoon, the alta aqua, and the weather.

After a fairly quick lunch I returned to painting. There was no way I would go there and only do one painting. By the time I finished this painting I just couldn't sit on my stool any more. I needed to get up and stretch my legs and get the blood flowing again. I did some wandering through the shops but bought nothing...even though the lace items are always so tempting.

The next day I headed up to the Rialto Market again. I wanted to do a double-page spread with small scenes and items from the market. It is hard to plan the composition of the page. You need to decide on what to sketch and leave space for a heading. I started with sketches of two different vegetable stands. Most of the produce always looks so good...and I like finding things that I don't see at home.

This vendor had a wonderful assortment of wild mushrooms. He attracted a lot of people.

Then I saw the florist who always sells right by the entrance to where the fish vendors are located. He always has such beautiful flowers. I liked the contrast of the softness of the flowers and the architectural structure of the arches. I showed him the sketch when it was done and he was so pleased to see it. Of course I came back to the apartment with a small bouquet of flowers that helped me add more interest to the page.

When I got home I added the signs, and a few more details like the strawberry, the melons, and some of the flowers from the bouquet. The final additions were the lemon and the clementine at the bottom of the page.

My thanks to Brenda Swenson for the beautiful pages she has done that helped inspire me to do a spread like this. I followed some of her suggestions.

 

Venice 2024 - Part 5 - Rio Frari, Rio San Trovaso, Kiosk in the Square, Saint Mark's Cathedral

One damp morning I headed out and found a small restaurant, Rio Frari. I decided to stop and have a cappuccino and a croissant while I sketched the view. I included the only other patron sitting outside. After he left the waiter noticed I was sketching and came over a few times to check on my progress. When I was finished he took the sketch inside to show the other workers. 

This day I headed over by Rio San Trovaso and sketched there. A young woman came over and asked if I spoke English. She wanted to know where I got my painting stool. She was looking for something to use when she goes plein air painting that is light to carry. We had a big discussion about plein air work and I let her check out my stool. It turned out that she was from Philadelphia. I told her about Urban Sketchers (which was new to her) and that I had sketched with the Philly group once.

This kiosk was in the square by our apartment. I'm always amazed that they have an assortment of things for sale, including clothing. This one had a selection of winter coats. lol

I had to do a sketch of Saint Marks from the square. My plan was to sit in the middle of the square on my stool, but as soon as I set myself up, two police officers came over and very nicely told me that I couldn't sit there. It would be unsafe to sit there with the crowds. So I walked around looking for a place to be out of the way and still have a view. I found a small ledge to sit on near a construction fence. I tucked myself away in the corner. The sketch had to be a close-up since I was practically on top of the cathedral, so I included the top section only. I did get to use some of my antique gold paint on the spires and wings of the angels. This took quite a while to sketch and paint with all the details.

Venice 2024 - Part 4 - Doorways, Cistern, Piazzale Roma Restaurant, Rialto Fish Market

I love the colors of the doorways in Venice. This one I found in a small courtyard. I just followed the street to see what was there and it appeared in front of me. 

By our apartment in Campo San Polo there was what I believe was a water cistern. In present time it is mostly used by people to sit on or in the case of the bambini, to climb on. While I was sketching this there were two boys of school age who had been chasing each other. They came over to look at what I was doing and I got the "bella" approval. They kept coming to check on the sketch.

One morning I headed up near the Piazzale Roma, or bus terminal. I found a spot with a nice view of a cafe. I believe the woman and her son on the right were actually sketching too. They both had either brushes, pens, or markers in their hands and they kept looking up and then down to what they were working on. I was barely balanced with my materials on my stool so I couldn't get up to check. They left before I finished.

Quite a few mornings I headed up to the Rialto Fish Market to buy something for lunch or dinner. It was always fun to watch the customers select their fish and have the men wrap it or cut it. I liked the big fish that was in the bin on the left. I did this in my tiny Stillman & Birn sketchbook. It was hard to stand and sketch holding onto my backpack and my fish purchases.

Venice 2024 - Part 3 - Piazza, Near Home, La Salute, Across the Canal

 One morning I found a piazza that I hadn't been to before. They were having some sort of reunion and by the time I finished this sketch there were a lot of people around, many with small children. When I started it was rather quiet.

I didn't have much time for a sketch this particular morning because I was meeting my brother and sister-in-law. They were leaving on a cruise of the Adriatic the following day. I found a spot near the apartment and did a quick, direct watercolor painting in a small sketchbook.

One of my favorite churches in Venice is La Salute, or actually Santa Maria della Salute. It is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located at the Punta della Dogana in the Dorsoduro sestiere. Both last year and this year the exterior is covered for construction work. However the exterior work doesn't diminish the beautiful interior. It was starting to drizzle so I thought I made a wise selection for sketching. I sat on a bench and sketched a portion of the ornate decorations over one of the altars. 

I seem to have timed things right because as I was finishing up services were starting at that altar, so I enjoyed the choir and the prayers for a while.

Another day I returned to the same area. I walked down along the Punta della Dogana and sketched the view across the Grand Canal. In the background of the sketch is the San Marco Basillica. (This way I didn't have to sketch the whole thing. lol) This spot on the canal is busy with a vaporetto stop with boats coming and going, many gondolas taking people for rides, and a few Alilaguna boats that travel in the Venetian lagoon taking people to their hotels or to some of the other islands. I used artistic license to leave out a lot of the activity going on there.

Venice 2024 - Part 2 - Bridge to Cross, Gondolas, Cafe in Campo San Polo, Trattoria Dona Onesta

Sketching in Venice is always fun. There is a new view every time you turn around...like this one. 

The afternoon I painted this was iffy...it had been sprinkling earlier so I wanted to be in a covered area. I found a spot just at the edge of the Rialto Fish Market. It was empty because the fish market closes by 1:00. I was under the structure so all I had to worry about was putting my materials and backpack on the wet ground. There was this wonderful view of these gondolas that actually were near the stop for the traghetti, the gondolas that go straight from one side of the Grand Canal to the other side for a quick way to get across.

This cafe is located in Campo San Polo where our apartment was located. It is a good place to have capuccino in the morning, but these ladies were there for lunch and were having something a bit stronger than coffee. When they were leaving I showed them the sketch and thanked them for being such good models. They loved the sketch and asked if they could take a photo of it.

Sometimes when I'm walking around I pass something so colorful that I have to stop, like this trattoria with all the signs hanging on the wall. My Daniel Smith transparent pyrrol orange paint came in very handy on this trip.

Venice 2024 - Part 1 - American Airlines Flight, Train Ride, View from Our Apartment, Sketching With a Friend

I think most urban sketchers begin their trips with a sketch either of the view of the airplane through the windows of the terminal or a sketch done on the plane. We arranged for a wheelchair at JFK for Jerry so we never sat at the gate waiting. Instead I sketched on the American Airlines plane. This man was across the aisle. The lights had already been dimmed on the plane after dinner. 

After our plane landed in Milan, we navigated our way from the airport to Milan's Central Station and then the fast train from Milan to Venice. The trip took about 2 1/2 hrs. I captured the couple across from us, the luggage, and a bit of the view out the window.

This is the beautiful view out one of our windows in the living room of our apartment in the San Polo area of Venice. This is the same apartment we stayed in last year. It was perfect for us...lots of room, an elevator, and walk-in shower that Jerry could use easily. We had a very rainy day, so I am glad we had a nice view.

A NYC Urban Sketcher friend was also in Venice for a few days. I met up with Marion for an afternoon of sketching and a nice lunch.

This was the view that I was sketching.

I'm Back!

 Yes, I am finally back from my trip to Venice. I don't know why I couldn't post from there, and I tried a variety of ways but it just wasn't happening.

Although the trip itself was good, I got really sad news when I returned. My brother, Joe, passed away last Friday as he and his wife were flying home from Greece. He was always very healthy and was taken far too soon. I hadn't seen him in 5 years and I regret that. They were taking a cruise that departed from Venice while we were there so we planned a day together before they left. We had a great time together and that is my last memory of him, so it is very special to me. Here are two photos I took while we were together.

Me, my brother, Joe, my sister-in-law, Joan, and Jerry

Joe & Joan enjoying Venice.

Tomorrow I will do a post and start sharing my sketches and stories of the trip.