Italy Series
“The real enemies of our life are the ‘oughts’ and the ‘ifs.’ They pull us backward into the unalterable past and forward into the unpredictable future. But real life takes place in the here and now.”
Normally, people study abroad to have a grand adventure, find themselves, and perhaps party a little. I went abroad because a) my family was living overseas at the time and I wanted to visit for Christmas and b) a semester in Orvieto was somehow less expensive than a semester on campus in California. It’s not that I didn’t want to study abroad, but I wondered what it would be like— especially after hearing about how abroad students were seen overseas. I didn’t really feel like fitting that mold, to be honest.
What I didn’t know was just how healing those four months in Italy would be. I was gathering my emotions and healing from an eating disorder, anxiety, and the grief of losing a childhood home. I did not know just how emotionally unwell I was (sometimes we don’t realize these things until we get out of the woods, so to speak) but the semester was one of dramatic positive change in many ways.
I walked in this series while living in Istanbul, Turkey, inspired by architecture from past and present and the mingling of different eras represented in a single scene. Italy was where this exploration began. There is something holy about spaces (particularly religious ones) that have existed from ages past. Italy is deeply religious. The present is very secular, but there is something in the air that feels inexplicably spiritual and sacred.
Corso Cavour, Orvieto
Corso means street. One of my favorite activities during reposa (afternoon rest) was wandering around the alleyways and taking pictures.
I decided to start with Orvieto— the place we were stationed at for nearly four months. I lived with a small community of other students in a refurbished convent from the 13th century. It had internet for 1-2 hours a day, respectively, so if you wanted to check your messages in the middle of the day, you had to walk up the corso (street) to a nearby coffee shop with free wifi and awkwardly stand there trying not to make eye contact with passers-by.
We had classes in the morning and homework all afternoon. Every Friday was off (safe for leftover homework, of course). The extra time allotted was meant to foster interaction with the place, language learning, travel, and individual art-making. I am pleased to say that I took advantage of the time for all those things.
This painting captures a street I wandered up and down countless times. I believe Orvieto deserves a series all of its own— perhaps I will do that someday!
Venice in watercolor
“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.”
—Truman Capote
I had a list of places I wanted to paint in this series, and I confess Venice was not on that list. I hadn’t visited Venice since I had a point-shoot camera, so I did not have any good photo references for this piece. However, one of my friends suggested it and said they’d love to buy prints of it. I naturally hopped onto Unsplash, a wonderfully useful website where one can find high-quality photos and can use them and of course give credit to the photographer. I saw this lovely image by Liubov Ilchuk and immediately fell in love. “I need to paint this,” I said to myself.
And paint it I did— for about eight hours! I hopped back for some finishing touches the next day before calling it as done as it would be, and the original was immediately snatched up when posted on Instagram! I was thrilled. I am so thankful for all this painting taught me, and that it has been sent off to a loving new home!
Firenze (Florence)
With wide streets, plentiful bikes, and more art history than the human mind can contain, this city is bewitchingly lovely.
This piece was inspired by a trip we went on during our semester abroad. I took so many photos— too many perhaps— but the space was so incredibly beautiful. I just couldn’t help it. One of my favorite things about the city was the wideness of the streets.
I chose to paint this piece partially because I had many photos of this bridge that I wanted to paint from. Having photos on hand definitely make a big difference! I am so excited to move onto my next city.
This series is currently in the works— tune in next time for more pieces to come!