Porta Maggiore

Two versions

More Portraits

Elinor, age 15

Michael and Emily, for their wedding

latest group of sketches

likely to be finishing up this series soon.

Robert Beaser Portrait

A fellow from 1978.

More Frascati and the Casa Rustica

Ponte Sant'Angelo

Quick water color at the Bernini bridge.

Saint Giovanni in Laterno

Aquaduct park second day

Shepherds, sheep, poppies, pines, and Roman ruins for a second day. Sheep and shepherds didn't make the cut but for the rest this is what we got.

Perfect morning at parco di aquaducti

I was working on a tight, block by block rendering of the aquaduct in the park that is at the farther end of Rome when I got up to stretch and smoke a cigar, from the edges of the meadow a couple of shepherds with their dog walked a flock of sheep into the scene. I quickly threw together a composition and roughed it in an an hour. not the best painting but far and away the best scene. this is the Rome of my dreams. a beautiful continuation of the world of Augustus.

Karl Kirchweg

Poet and Arts Professor at the Academy

Cleaning up

tried to tighten up some older sketches and toss those that didn't make the grade.

Also have a couple of nudes from a figure session I attended. Trying to get everything together for the open studios in a couple of weeks

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Napoli Capri and Rome

Took a couple day trip to Napoli and Capri. Napoli is awful. I kept trying to find something to like in it but, it wasn't there. the Archeological museum had amazing things, but treated with an off hand and somewhat despairing quality. It would have been better to have left them underground. Perhaps the fact that they haven't picked up the trash in, I don't know, years? may have contributed to the experience but there was nothing to recommend the city. sorry.

here is the best I could find, the Palazzo Capodimonte in very pleasant weather. at least no trash.

Capri was much better. small winding paths with astonishing views of the blue-blue sea. it had the same character as other islands for the wealthy, attractive, closed and too precious. I liked it though, particularly after Napoli.

Back in Rome, which felt sweet. Beautiful organized, full of tourists of course but worthy. Did a sketch of a tempietto in the Gardini Borghese and this wonderful little pony cart with kids on other ponies in tow came around a few times. tried to catch them all. Sunday in the Park with Ponies.

Piazza Navona

spending much more time on each drawing. this one was about 5 hours over the course of 2 mornings. I got dispossessed the first day when the Peruvian band claimed my bench for their daily performance. Are there any more people in Peru or has the entire country emptied out to play on street corners... not that there is anything wrong with that.

Fellow Portraits

A tradition at the American Academy is portraits of the Fellows. I have finished a few, which I now have to frame to stay on the wall. a few others in the works but not done yet.

Long time no post

busy times. finished my shop talk and have been focusing on visiting sites and painting.
pictures attached.

mild day in Rome

Weather turning milder and more beautiful each day. Constable skies with constantly changing clouds that threaten rain but don't much deliver it.

Spring is starting

Spend a couple of days in Florence, half in the library researching my stone deterioration topic and half wandering the beautiful but artificial city. I was struck by the agressive, juvenile nastiness of Florentine art. Every was a guy with a club busting somebody's head or raping some girl. Beautifully done, but nasty. All art was proclaiming, "I am going to fuck you up" but beautifully. it was in character with the narrow medieval streets and somber stone.

I have been working on another portrait of a fellow.

New Paintings

Most of last week spend with poor Laurie who has been suffering from Roman Fever and sick as anything but, hopefully now, and only today, she seems to be getting a bit better.

did some water colors and oil still lifes Finished the fellow portrait and have a few others lined up.

After too long a pause

First son and then lover having come to visit, I have not been focused on keeping up to date on the blog. Please excuse the gap.

Dmitri was here for a week, we went all over Rome including the Vatican museums and a day trip to Florence.

Then Laurie showed up and we have been to Borghese Gardens, Villa Farnisina, Villa Gulia (both with wonderful frescos, Capitoline museum, and a day trip to Tivoli for the Villa Adriana and Villa d'Esta.

More sketches

Still trying to figure out oils, water colors starting to work a bit.

Fascists

Visited EUR with Matteo today. Beautiful severe yet oddly accessible art and architecture from the Mussolini period. In the failing light of a cold February day there was a odd warmth to the stone.

did another water color of a Tiber bridge

water color

bridge

weekend slowdown

Trying and failing to keep up with the day to day activities. I feel at home here now, enjoy the rituals of lunch and dinner with funny and bright folks. the short term visitors as well as the longer inmates.

toured the churches that face the forum yesterday (was it only yesterday) and then had an amazing permisso to view the temple of Augustus and his forum. Intimate contact with the grand scale of this extraordinarily intimate contact with a long gone but increasingly familiar feeling time. I think we are still living in Rome, not just now but the Roman past. Some photos and a water color.