This little colored pencil piece is a birthday gift for my mother. I had the pleasure of traveling with her to Italy a couple of years ago, and we stayed in the little town of Montecatini. Our hotel was in Montecatini Terme, which is the "new" town, built around its thermal spas. Montecatini Alto is the "old" town, situated at the top of a hill, and we rode up there in the "funiculare" to explore one day. It was a magical day, all around... gorgeous weather, beautiful sights, lots of little surprises as we rounded corner after corner. We both really enjoy the distinctive doors and entryways that are so typically Italian, and I took quite a few photos of them that day. I hope looking at this brings her back to that lovely day!
This being an art journal, I should add that on that same day, we literally stumbled upon an other wonderful experience. We walked back from the funiculare station a different way, and saw a sign for an art academy. It appeared they were having some sort of exhibit having to do with Leonardo DaVinci, and we were trying to figure out, with our limited understanding of Italian, what exactly it was all about. The gate was closed and locked, and we were about to leave when a man came out and spoke to us. To make a long story short, we were able to come back a few hours later, to a side door where he let us in, even though the place was closed. We had this whole exhibit to ourselves, and it was like a dream! They had a large collection of Leonardo DaVinci's tiny little sketchbooks and journals! Fantastic!
(5"x7", colored pencil on Ampersand pastel board)
4 comments:
This is really beautiful! I read it carefully.
Lucky lady - that's a lovely gift.
I've never been to Montecatini Terme. This is beautiful, Liz. I popped in to your blog to say thank you for your lovely comment on mine. I stayed to admire your beautiful work - all of it. I've now bookmarked you for future visits.
I love this drawing, it looks like pastels more than coloured pencil. Are they special pencils? You have a great attention to detail, especially in the gate. A lovely story too.
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