Monday, January 12, 2015

Artnotes: Doge's Palace

 Gondoliers in the Fog    Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/panel  9.5 x 12   24 x 30 cm
 Venice Waterway   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen 15 x 18"  38 x 46 cm
 From the Accademia Bridge   Blair Pessemier   Acrylic/linen  15 x 21.5"  38 x 55 cm
 Along the Grand Canal   Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/panel  12 x 16"  30 x 40 cm
Santa Maria della Salute  Laurie Fox Pessemier   Acrylic/canvas  9.5 x 12"  24 x 30cm

ARNOTES:  DOGE'S PALACE

With the help of our Italian dictionary, Blair was able to sign us up online for the Italian senior discount on TrenItalia.  One hundred fifty pounds of luggage (paint is heavy) and a twenty five pound dog in a bag raced from track 21 to track 11 in Milan in under ten minutes.  For only 67 euros, Blair, I and Harika made our way from Cervo to Venice in just 6 hours.  

I had a hard time not bursting into tears as we stood on the Vaporetto gazing over Venice.  We had not been in this beautiful city since the 1970s:  it was BETTER than I remembered.  Blair agreed.

We made our way to our cozy rental apartment in the Dorsoduro district, near the Accademia bridge.  An enthusiastic Emma with her cocker spaniel Charlotte met us at the dock and took us to what used to be their apartment.   Heated floors and a grassy back yard – what more could a dog ask for?  A real Dog’s Palace.

We walked to the store to buy food for dinner – each little bridge and byway eliciting a new round of ooohs and aaahs.  And no cars.  NO CARS at all in Venice.  In fact, I noticed the “ambulanza” plying the waters today, with its flashing light.

Sunday morning found us on the banks of the grand canal – my work, a complete failure, already painted over.  As I looked upstream, the gondoliers were just getting underway.  One was singing Santa Lucia.

The gondola shop is very close to our apartment.  Blair checked out the ailing vessels, took pictures.   We rarely take photos, but we’ve seen so many scenes too good to pass up.

With Harika, we’ve walked to St Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace.  We’ve unearthed an art supply store.  I am limiting myself to smaller canvases at the moment.  

The fog has been most intriguing, but today we painted in sun, from the Accademia bridge looking toward St Maria della Salute.  I pinch myself and ask, can it really be this beautiful?

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