Tag: oilpainting

The Palmaria, Portovenere. Italy.

Punta Secca, Portovenere. 25cm x 35cm, oil on board.
Punta Secco, Portovenere. 25cm x 35cm, oil on board.

The Palmaria is a small island near the Cinque Terre that lies infront of Portovenere and you can reach it by boat either from La Spezia or from Portovenere. With cool sea breezes and clear, clean blue waters it is by far the best place to be, both for swimming and sunbathing and especially painting. I look forward to going back and walking around the island which you can do in about one hour to search out more painting spots.

The first painting I did is looking toward the Gabbiano beach in the afternoon, the clear sunny colours and the beach stretching out into the sea inspired me to paint this view.

Sunbathers, Porto Venere. Oil on boad, 25cm x 35cm.
Sunbathers, Portovenere. Oil on board, 25cm x 35cm.

The second painting I did while using the same spot and same time of day when I painted the first painting but just turning around 180 degrees. Now the light was coming towards me so the church of San Pietro and the sunbathers were silhouetted against the sky which is an idea I like in this composition probably because the painting process was quicker as I was using a less colourful palette and concentrating mostly on the shapes.

Ciao for now!

Paddling Pool 2015

Paddling Pool 2015. Oil on Board, 30cm x 30cm.
Paddling Pool 2015. Oil on Board, 30cm x 30cm.

Summer + Sun + Children + Water + Paddling pool + a Hosepipe = Happiness!

A little oil painting sketch I did while supervising my children playing in the pool.

Rosa Gianca

White Roses. Oil on board, 25cm x 35cm.
White Roses. Oil on board, 25cm x 35cm.

I have these white roses in my garden grown forty years ago from a single cutting taken from a rose bush by a man in the village nearby. With its dark glossy leaves and pale cream flowers it puts on a show during the spring without weakening to disease like most roses do. I was proudly told by the locals that the rose was an antique variety and a native rose from the area. Here near Genova when speaking in the Genovese dialect it called Rosa Gianca which simply means white rose.
During the spring I noticed the same variety of rose growing in most gardens out and about and I discovered after painting it that it had been created in the early 1900’s in France and was then diffused in most of Europe with the French name of Albèric Barbier!

La Chiesa di San Pietro, Porto Venere.

Chiesa di San Pietro, Porto Venere. Oil on Board, 20cm x 30cm.
Chiesa di San Pietro, Porto Venere. Oil on Board, 20cm x 30cm.

Last week I was lucky enough to go and visit Portovenere which is a small medieval Italian fishing village near the Cinque Terre. The houses are each painted in bright colours, tradition being the fisherman would find their way back home easier from the stormy seas.

The Church of San Pietro was originally a 5th Century Pagan temple dedicated to Venus and was then consecrated in 1198. It is small and simple inside with a great sense of history and an incredible position thanks to the Pagans who chose to build their temple over looking the sea on all three sides. Luckily for me it wasnt stormy weather when I happened to visit and I found the perfect painting spot, not because of the view as I am sure with more time on my hands to look around there would have been many more interesting compositions to choose from, but because I had found an old washed up tree with holes just big enough to hold my brushes in 🙂

A personal brush holder!
A personal brush holder!

Painting out of the sudio can be uncomfortable if you are not well prepared which sometimes I am not so I was glad to come across this spot. Portovenere is a great place to visit if you are visiting the area, you can get a boat from here to the Cinque Terre or if you feel energetic walk along the rocky cliff paths from here as far to Monterosso in 6 hours, just watch out for the sheer drops down to the sea!