Italian Lemon with Leaves (Italy 2012 painting #5)

4 x 5 in., oil on linen on panel
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This is my final still life from my Italy trip last month. In the afternoon on one of our last days there, I walked to the market around the corner and found these beautiful freshly-picked lemons with long, glorious leaves. Back at the hotel, I set up the lemon in a spot by a window and painted the fleeting afternoon light. When I was finishing up the painting, it was dusk and I could barely see anything. :)

I have to say -- I don't mind when that happens because it always reminds me of my time studying with David Leffel and the almost smoky late-afternoon north light in the studios of the Art Students League of NY. (I should post about that sometime....)

If you missed my last email, I posted my photos from Italy (click here to view them). I've really been enjoying all of your comments!

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Here's what this painting would look like framed:

View from the Boboli Gardens, Florence (Italy 2012 painting #4)

5 x 6 in., oil on linen on panel
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This is a painting from my Italy trip last month. If you want to read more about my travels and experiences abroad, sign up for my email list HERE, or just email me and I can add you.

Visit my Current Painting Auctions and All Available Paintings.

Here's what this painting would look like framed:

Clementine from a Bologna Market (Italy 2012 painting #3)

4 x 3.5 in., oil on linen on panel
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This is my third painting from my trip to Italy last month. I made this painting shortly before going to the Accademia and Uffizi in Florence for the day, and I got this particular clementine a couple of days earlier while in Bologna to visit the Morandi Museum (which I will post about soon). At the time, I posted about the wonderful market owner in Bologna (click here to view us). So fun, and such beautiful produce!

First, at the Accademia, I spent time drawing from Michelangelo's David. I had not planned on doing this, but in the moment felt compelled to do more than look at the figure. (my sketch is pictured right) Next, at the Uffizi, I just tried to absorb as much as I could: a female portrait by Piero de Pollaiolo had a lapis lazuli background that rivaled the sky I saw above the Duomo; Albrect Durer's portrait of his father; Vasari's masterful painting of a velvety patterned dress in Portrait of Eleanora di Toledo; a Titian-influenced Self Portrait by Velasquez; the feathers in Goya's portrait of the Countess of Chinchion; and the Frans Van Mieris il Vecchio's interior and still life paintings that just made my jaw drop. Then, I turned a corner in the gallery, and three Rembrandt self portraits literally made me gasp. Finally, it was the still life paintings by Dutch painters Rachel Ruysch, Caspar Netscher, and Abraham Mignon that filled me with the most energy. I may need to devote a whole post just to those paintings.

During my trip, I posted about all of this very briefly on Facebook, and my mom commented, "It's your heritage." :) I am proud to be part Dutch, and would really like to go to Holland someday soon.

Visit my Current Painting Auctions and All Available Paintings.

Here's what this painting would look like framed:

Afternoon View from Perugia, Italy (Italy 2012 painting #2)

6 x 4 in., oil on linen on panel
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This is my second painting from my trip to Italy last month. One morning, we took a bus from Florence to Perugia. Perugia is incredible, and it has an amazing panoramic view of deep space, the likes of which I've only seen in Italy. In this painting, I tried to capture a glimpse of the space and fleeting early afternoon light -- a most humbling experience. :)

The day before this painting, I spent the day at the Accademia and Uffizi, looking at (and drawing from) the David, as well as life-changing paintings by Piero, Durer, Bellini, Holbein, Titian, del Sarto, Vasari, Tintoretto, Velasquez, Goya, Chardin, Rembrandt, Rubens... and a whole bunch of Dutch painters that just blew me away. I'll share more about the Accademia and Uffizi in my next post. SIGN UP HERE to receive it.

Visit my Current Painting Auctions and All Available Paintings.

Here's what this painting would look like framed:

Red Grapes with Tuscan Parmesan (Italy 2012 painting #1)

5 x 6 in., oil on linen on panel
Click to view auction

This is my first painting from my trip to Italy last month. I'll be posting more about Italy in the next few posts.

Visit my Current Painting Auctions and All Available Paintings.

Here's what this painting would look like framed: