Sorrento, Italy- Watercolor

Taking a break from my batch of oil paintings- I finished up a watercolor that has been in the "almost finished" pile for a while. This painting was done from a good supply of photos from our trip to Italy. We stayed at a beautiful hotel - Bellevue Syrene overlooking the Gulf of Naples, with a view of Mt. Vesuvius from our balcony. Needless to say, we took lots of pictures! I have painted it several times, and have a 48"X60" canvas on one of my easels that is just begging me to finish my oil painting of the view. It is maybe half way done and has been that way for quite some time! Sometimes for whatever reason, I am distracted before finishing a painting and it seems so difficult to get back to it. Anyway- I am happy to have this watercolor completed so I can frame it and enjoy it.

Thanks for visiting!

Sheryl

Watercolor Postcards from Italy

These are more of my watercolor postcards. In my last post, I included postcards I had painted and mailed from Paris- these are from our trip to Italy 5 years ago. I painted them from reference photos taken on vacation. After I made them into postcards, I had my son (stationed at Aviano Air Base near Venice) mail them for me. I didn't have the watercolor postcard idea before our trip. I had read an article -after returning from Italy- about an artist who did them whenever he went somewhere. I loved the idea, and decided to do it even though it was after the trip this time!

I have been MIA for a week or so having an awesome time with our sons- a rarity since they are both in the Air Force and getting time with them together just doesn't happen often. For my birthday, I got to spend the weekend in Las Vegas with my husband, both boys and their girlfriends- best birthday ever! Now, it is time to get back to my routine- and definitely back to painting.

Thanks for looking!

Sheryl

Tuscan Style Window Mural Painted Over Bar

This is one of the murals in my new house. It is actually the first one I started here since it is in a smaller space and I knew if I didn't like it, the walls would be easier to repaint (no 20 foot ceilings in that area either!). I had to stand on my bar to paint it and that added a few degrees of difficulty. When I was painting up higher I was a bit nervous- couldn't step back at all or I would fall off the bar.

It was a fun mural to paint, and I did use a burnt sienna color of latex to cover the terra cotta "plaster" area to help with the basing-in stage. Then it made it easier to add the multi-colored brick and stone over the latex with acrylic paints. I only have 2 stages to show since I didn't draw it out first- just kind of winged it, which I choose to do sometimes on less difficult compositions. As with all of my paintings, I enjoyed the detail work the most- I even added my husband's sunglasses to the window sill for fun! When I was finished, we had our nephew (who worked with glass) come and add shelves for us.

Thanks for looking!
Sheryl

No Bare Walls Allowed- Painting an Entryway Mural

I don't know if all artists have this problem, but I can't live with empty walls. I have paintings hung on much of my available wall space- but there are those really big spaces where the wall needs more. In our entryway, we have a wall that goes up about 20 feet, and needs more than a few paintings! I started painting murals on our walls on Long Island, and now have a new house with new empty walls to fill.

This mural is painted from a photo I took at our hotel in Sorrento, Italy. The Hotel Bellevue Syrene- what a beautiful place! Right on the Gulf of Naples with a perfect view of Mt. Vesuvius. In one of the hotel's garden areas, I took a few photos of this great mosaic bench and it is perfect for my entry wall. I didn't paint this mural in one sitting- I was literally sitting on the floor most of the time and it can get uncomfortable! I did take pictures of my progress as I went, and they show the process in stages.

Thanks for looking!

Sheryl