Venice Sketches
Venetian Garden
10 x 7in, pastel
Academia Bridge
10 x 7in, pastel
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The Zucca Restaurant
16 x 20in, Oil on board
£375
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The Venice Bakery
16 x 20in, Oil on board
£375
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Venice from the Apartment Window
9 x 9in, pastel on paper
£200
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View from the Dogana 1
12 x 8.5in, pastel on paper
£200
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The View from the Dogana 2
12.5 x 8.5in, pastel on paper
£275
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A Venetian Doorway
8.5 x 11.5in, pastel on paper
£250
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The Palazzo Dario, Venice
7 x 11in, pastel on paper
£200
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View from the Window, Venice
7 x 8.5in, pastel on paper
£150
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The Square, Behind the Palazzo Dario
Oil on board
NOT FOR SALE
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The square behind the Palazzo Dario, a favourite place to paint. The little dog is always there waiting for a game with his toy…
The square is very special, such a lot of charm and the view of the back with the pink Palazzo Dario. (The front is far more decorative and is on the Grand Canal.) I love the colour of the trees and the buildings. The little dog hangs around near the shops, wanting to play with the ball by the tiny ice cream shop and café. It’s difficult to get it all in and, of course, the missing piece is the canal to the left.
I sketched out the scene while I was there to get a sense of the proportions and carried on working from photos at home. I enjoyed capturing the sunlight bouncing off buildings to the right. I added a figure which is unusual for me.
The blue sky was very, very blue and I decided to use Lapis Lazuli – such a precious paint, but I wanted to get this in.
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The Red House
Oil on board
NOT FOR SALE
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This wonderful red house is just across a small canal from the Church Paolo and Giovanni, and very near the Hospidale. I was taken by the colour and the mystery of the small scene beyond the bridge…
I was immediately struck by the colour of the house as it was just so bright. I was also attracted to the view down into the little passage. It gives you a bit of a journey into the picture, wondering what is through there.
My challenge was layering colour to give richness of red house walls. I like using different colours to get depth but I’m not a fan of impasto. I hope I have done the house justice with several shades of red to give movement within lots of colour. It was also interesting to carry just the right amount of red into the reflections in the canal.
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The Bridge
9 x 12, oil on board
£300
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This bridge with its ornate ironwork is very close to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, and also to the Palazzo Dario…
This location is not far from the little square in my first painting. I like the suggestion of what is around the corner. It is lovely to see it in my mind’s eye and know what is there. You could call it ‘Venetian Backwater’ as so many painters have done before!
I have to say that this scene proved really difficult. It’s a strange set of buildings, at staggered distances from the viewer. The canal actually goes around the corner. With some buildings set back and the bridge in front, it was quite a challenge. It took more skill that the other pictures. The curve of the bridge proved especially testing and adding just the right amount of detail to suggest complicated ironwork took some time. (Just when I thought I had finished I realised that I had left out a section of ironwork.)
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The Madonna on the Grande Canal
9 x 12, oil on board
£300
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I really love this view. The beautiful Madonna against the orange crumbling wall and then beyond, the majestic Grande Canal…
I’m very fond of this spot. I’ve taken photos of this over the years and can see the orange of the plaster has decreased over time. There are always carefully tended little pots of flowers in front of the Madonna and I wonder who puts them there.
It is the perfect place to paint from as it is not a walkway. It’s actually on the Grand Canal, which gives this split view. I was worried the split wouldn’t work.
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The Pensione
Accademia
9 x 12, oil on board
£300
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A memory of the wonderful Pensione Accademia. The iron gate leads to a lovely garden – it’s nice for me to remember and the viewer to wonder!
It was a challenge to get the angles of the two dominant walls correct. I worked from a photo when I returned home. I had to be on a bridge to take the photo, so I couldn’t set up and work there. When you work from a photo it is difficult to get the balance of details but I hope I have done it justice.
Paper Shop, Venice
24 x 18in, Oil on board
NOT FOR SALE
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Venice Backwater
20 x 16in, Oil on board
£300 (£350 framed)
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Venice
24 x 18in, Oil on board
NOT FOR SALE
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White Tree in Venetian Square
14 x 11in, Oil on board
£350
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Dancing Trees Venice
9 x 11in, Oil on board
£300
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Dancing Trees Venice (close up)
8 x 12in, Oil on linen
£300
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Venice from the Balcony
11 x 14in, oil on board
£275
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Venetian Square
8 x 1oin, Oil on linen
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