Forza Italia
Watching the news coming out of Italy is heart-wrenching and surreal. If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that I’m deeply in love with Italy. I have painted scenes […]
A Little Tuscan Love Moment
Fifteen years ago, I got kissed on this spot in Pienza, Italy. I was lost in the vista from this winding promenade high above a wall. The sunny Tuscan valley […]
Travel WITH Friends, Travel TO Friends
A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles. -Tim Cahill Over the last few weeks, I’ve been curating my miniature paintings for my first solo show, looking for […]
Home Is Often Where The Beauty Is
This past weekend, I took part in a large outdoor art show in downtown Toronto. Thousands of people attended, many of whom were visitors from other parts of the world. […]
2018’s First Experiment
Here I sit this January 1st morning on my computer preparing for a new year – filing, updating, deleting, setting up and backing up. And underlying all this tidying and […]
Knock Knock! Who’s There?
A priest, a barrel-maker, and a lawyer! I can’t come up with a decent “knock-knock” joke to follow, sorry folks! Who are they? These three constructed the buildings where I […]
Going Door-Crazy For The First Time
If you look at my travel photos prior to 2008, there are no photos of doors – hard to believe from an artist that has painted so many! There are […]
How Not To Experience Venice
What were my impressions of Venice from my first visit? Crowded, hot, smelly, wet. On a July morning in 2005, my husband, son and I had taken an early train […]
Dawn By The Lake
Recently, I participated in an arts and crafts show in an area north of Toronto called Muskoka, and for that show I painted this Mini of a lakeside chair at […]
The Doors of Orvieto, Part 2
Did I mention I took dozens of door photos in Orvieto, Italy? Think I did. So you know more door paintings of Orvieto were coming soon! I went on a […]
The Power of Stories
Selecting a subject for a Mini Vacations piece is usually influenced by the story connected to it. Sometimes the story is based on my experience of being in the place […]
A Mini Takes A Mini Vacation
On my recent trip to Italy, I took along a Mini ink and watercolour piece in progress – yes, a Mini Vacation on a Mini Vacation! I have wanted to […]
NYC Floats My Boat
When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with Woody Allen’s movie, “Annie Hall”. I daydreamed about living in New York City. I wore my grandfather’s old ties and vests, […]
The Flowers of War
On first impression, the Tuscan hilltop hamlet of Sommocolonia struck me as charming, placid and “Ital-idyllic”. Restored homes, flowers everywhere, the cleanliness of the stone streets. Even the small piazza that […]
Retro-Spectacles
One last look back at 2016’s “Mini Vacations” Project! I thoroughly enjoyed making these 57 mini pieces (2.5″ x 3.5″), although I expect my next optometrist visit to result in a change […]
