Buongiorno Florence!

So we made it back from Italy and can I just say this was a GREAT trip. I took 125 pics and probably half are for paintings! so i definitely think I have enough material now to last me till I'm 90. We spent time in the Uffizi Gallery and it was interesting watching art evolve over the centuries- there were actually sculptures dating back to the 2nd century AD. The Birth of Venus was spectacular as always, and I also really enjoyed Botticelli's painting "Primavera" as well.

One thing I really love about Italy is that artists are everywhere. You see them in museums doing sketches and painting landscapes of hillsides in Tuscany. Right in the main center of Florence next to the Duomo there is a whole row of artists selling original watercolors and painting on site. It was interesting because there were maybe 20 people with a stand set up and every painting was of the same subjects in Florence and Tuscany, yet the paintings all looked completely different. This just reaffirmed my thoughts that there is no right or wrong way to paint something, or no wrong shade of green (like i agonize over). Because it's each person's style that will still show through and this is what will make it unique. So I'm changing the rules yet again. I'm just going to paint it the way I feel it should be done. Not the way this artist or that one paints something. I sometimes think that I've been searching for answers to something that I already know the solution to. So was it still worth it? Definitely because now at least I understand better what works and why it works.

I have to say though that I am proud of myself- i hauled my sketchbook and colored pencils everywhere with me and ended up with a good number of sketches! Baby steps.... I suppose it is unreasonable to expect to start out by carrying an easel and oils everywhere you go.

Now it's back to another week of art mixed with regular life and- gasp- work! Until later this week...