Small Sketchbook from Italy Trip

View of Vineyards at Spannocchia in Tuscany

Now that I am home from my month of painting in Italy, I am madly painting and getting organized for my upcoming show at the Art League of Hilton Head from August 9 - September 10. The opening reception is on Tuesday August 10 from 5-7 pm.

Since I was not able to really document my trip via the blog as I had hoped due to the slow internet in Tuscany, I am back-tracking a bit now. I want to start with my small sketchbook that I bought at my favorite art supply store Ditta G. Poggi in Rome. The sketchbook is made of Khadi paper and is 5 by 6 in. I wrote Italy on the cover in a font I thought was appropriate and this little sketchbook turned out to be one of the most satisfying forms of painting and sketching that I did the entire trip. I also bought this small Winsor Newton travel watercolor set there that came in a black enamel box and was no bigger than my camera. The lid on the left holds the water that is kept in a flask like compartment that runs the body of the the set. I changed out a few of the colors and was good to go. I just love it! I am just obsessed with small things like this. It is so portable but functional and I used it constantly while there. I guess it is in keeping with my passion for small paintings.

I also found some skinny tape to tape off the borders. I kind of like the tah-dah moment when you peel off the tape to see what your painting really looks like with a nice clean edge. I developed this habit from Joseph Zbukvic after taking a workshop with him last year. I like the way it looks in the sketchbook.

I have some other thoughts about working small. I do not consider my work to be miniatures. I just do not think that that is what they are. Not a value judgement. I think it is because my work is not detailed. I am think of them more as a visual response to a compelling view - more like a poem than a paragraph so to speak. I try to be essential without a lot of detail. I could and I can work that way. I do botanical illustration too but my landscapes are about something different. Being on location is being in the moment and very present in my life. Painting is a way of capturing and savoring that experience.

I will be posting more sketches from this sketchbook over the next two weeks.When I have documented all the paintings for my show I will post them as well. I just got a new Espon scanner and I am loving it.

Finally, the painting above was done during one of the last days at Spannocchia. It was a view that I had not noticed before. I took a new found friend Liz Cellucci out to paint with me. We had a stellar day painting around Tuscany.