Travel Series: Venice

I paint to express my thoughts, beliefs and life experiences. Although I am primarily a studio artist, once a year I leave the comfort of my space and travel. I love to explore new places and have adventures. I am inspired by exotic flavors, foreign sounds and antiquity. Painting outside is a very different experience from my studio life and the work I produce on the road reflects a unique sensibility. I feel more awake and attuned to light and color, and I need to work faster so there is liveliness and joy in my brushstrokes.  I like to think that in my paintings I am able to encapsulate the pleasure I experience when I am creating them, and that it is not a picture but an experience I am able to share with others.

Venice has mystery, ambiguity and contrast – all the elements of a good painting. There is something magical about the light and colored reflections on the water of the canals. It is the patterns of golden light that play against the soft violet shadows, the dramatic archways that lead to tiny doors, the gondolas that disappear beyond corners and canals that envelop you like a maze. I have been to Venice many times and am always.