Marina Grande, Caprese © (32"x38" including frame, acrylic on canvas) Two places struck me as particularly pleasing places to paint during our recent trip to the Mediterranean. The first was Villefranche on the French Riviera (three paintings planned in the future), and the second was the island of Capri (Caprese in Italian). Given the fact that I've been experimenting the past year or so with various means of breaking outside the traditional picture frame, this scene of the Marina Grande, the main harbor of Capri, struck me as having possibilities along that line. In the past I've cut the frame and also built up 3-D images ON the frame as means of allowing the image to "break the frame", but this marks the first time I've ever left the frame intact while actually painting the image out onto it. This scene was, quite frankly, photographed with this idea in mind, and the frame, a broad pine with a subtle white stain, was chosen particularly to facilitate such a foreground element.
Broadly framed in pine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$750.

Back Gate, Caprese Villa

Back Gate, Caprese Villa © (24"x24" acrylic on canvas) When you get lost, you find things. For about an hour I was lost on the back "streets" (really just wide, paved paths) on the Mediterranean island of Capri (Caprese in Italian). I found beautiful views, some lovely back gardens, and this especially bright and attractive back gate to one of the hundreds of hillside villas which dot the island. If I'd stuck to the beaten paths, I never would have encountered it. Uncertain whether it would look best horizontally or vertically I shot it digitally both ways only to incorporate both images into a square format. Unlike many of my recent paintings, this one does not "break the frame." I've considered, but not yet decided, whether to attach small gravels (stones) to the frame along the left edge to allow them to flow outside the normal picture plane. Check back in a week or so, and see what I've decided to do.
Framed in white. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$475.

Villefranche Harbor

Villefranche Harbor © (24"x24" acrylic on canvas) This was a very intimidating painting to do. Twice I put it off for simpler, less complex scenes, hoping to gain the confidence to take it on. The drawing was probably the most difficult - probably close to two hours. But once that was done, it became mostly just another seascape, not much more difficult than the earlier painting of Marina Grande, Caprese. The sky came first, then the mountain rocks and trees, then the water, then the boats, the mountain villas, and finally, the buildings. Of course this one pales in comparison the complexity of the next one, the street seen here FROM the street. If the painting seems "busy" that's exactly the feeling one gets in being there - colorful and busy - but oh so exciting.
Framed in white. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$475.

Villefranche Street

Villefranche Street © (18"x24" acrylic on canvas) I saved this, the fourth scene from our recent Mediterranean excursion, until last. With all its traffic and seaside buildings overlooking the water, it perfectly captured the look and feel of the lovely town, but also frightened me a bit. Like the scene of the Villefranche Harbor, only more so, this one is permeated with both the intense color and the intense compactness of the vertical landscape, both natural and manmade. Here I said if one were to fall from the sidewalk, better to fall in the water than into the street. The digital image from which this painting originated was shot from very near the far left edge of the harbor scene. It thus contains some of the same buildings and background.
Framed in white. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$475.