Lake Como ... in Pastel

This is my latest finished pastel. Surprise, surprise ... Italy again! I just can't seem to help myself and with a few thousand photos from 3 trips ... I have a few photos to work from!

The pastel is from a photo taken at the incredible Villa Balbianello on Lake Como in 2008. It really is like something out of a dream. I loved Lake Como but who wouldn't? I keep thinking George Clooney should take me in as an artist in residence. You know, someone who could teach his guests to sketch and paint ... I'm just full of ideas! Ha!

Anyway, thought you might enjoy a little Italy today. I always do!

View from the Villa

pastel and watercolor underpainting on mounted Wallace paper

Villa Balbianello, Lake Como 2008

Villa Balbianello from the lake

Villa Balbianello

Varenna, Lake Como

Varenna, Lake Como

Menaggio, Lake Como

View from Varenna while having a cappuccino ;)

Lake fish ravioli ... mmmm (sorry don't mean to torture you -or me!)

Gate below the beautiful Villa Ciprese, Varenna ...

Bellagio, Lake Como

Varenna, Lake Como

Ahhhh. Now I want to go back! Enjoy your week and I hope you find what takes your breath away and inspires you too!

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy,

if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has the power to move you,

if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand,

rejoice, for your soul is alive.

~Eleonora Duse

Ciao!

Lake Como

My Sister and Brother-in-law take off for Switzerland tomorrow to see my niece at Franklin College in Lugano. They are hoping to make it down to Lake Como for a bit and have never been so I thought I'd make a few suggestions. It is, by the way, one of my favorite places on the planet!

Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the

rest of your life.

~Anna Akhmatova

Varenna

Villa Monestero, Varenna

"Even now I miss Italy dearly,

I dream about it every night."

~Eila Hiltunen

Villa Carlotta, Lake Como

The Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo, Lake Como ... Went twice in one week! It's so lovely on a beautiful day to walk around, sketch in the garden and have a glass of wine in the converted green house...

The converted green house ...

Inside the Villa

"You may have the universe

if I may have Italy."

~Guiseppe Verdi

Lake Como ...

My sister is planning a trip in late September to Lake Como, among other places.  I am going over the various places I visited last September  ... the views, the food, the shopping ... it's without a doubt, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  I fell in love.  I kept thinking, why does anyone ever leave this place?!  I did, of course, because Rome was in my near future.  If you ever get the chance ... GO!  Here are a few pictures from Varenna and the Villa Carlotta across the lake.  Dreamy.  If I were George Clooney, I would have a place there too.

The precise location of heaven on earth has never been established

but it may very well be right here.

~ Herb Caen on Lake Como

Italy and Valentino

Yesterday could be called "I miss Italy day." My good friend Rachel came over to join me in going to the Sunday farmers' market and the conversation eventually went to conspiring to find ways to live in Rome for an extended period of time ... which led to the browsing the internet of Villas outside of Rome...

Then I went to see "Valentino: The Last Emperor" which was mostly shot in, you guessed it... Rome. It was fantastic, by the way, and I highly recommend it! Check out the trailer.

Valentino: The Last Emperor

Milan Last September...

Lake Como ~ The Villa Carlotta

Varenna ~ Lake Como

When I was in Rome I was so busy having a fabulous time I don't have the number of photos I would have expected. At some point I will post more of my Italy pictures including those from Rome and Assisi. I did buy a fabulous souvenir when I was in Rome. I went into a little bookstore near the Spanish Steps and purchased an English/Italian translation of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." ~Translated by Harold Bloom

Doesn't everything sound great in Italian?

Un canto di gioie

Oh cantare il canto piu` esultante!

Pieno di musica - pieno dell'essenza dell'uomo, della

donna, dell'infanzia!

Pieno di comuni mestieri - pieno di frumento e alberi.

Oh, per le voci degli animali - per la velocita` e il senso

dell'equilibrio dei pesci!

Per il cadere di gocce di pioggia in un canto!

Per la luce del sole e il movimento delle onde in un canto!

Oh, la giolia del mio spirito -e` uscito di gabbia sfreccia

come un fulmine!

Non basta avere questo pianeta e un tempo determinato,

avro` migliaia di pianeti e tutto il tempo.

A Song of Joys

O to make the most jubilant song!

Full of music - full of manhood, womanhood, infancy!

Full of common employments - full of grain and trees.

O for the voices animals - O for the swiftness and balance of fishes!

O for the dropping of raindrops in a song!

O for the sunshine and motion of waves in a song!

O the joy of my spirit - it is uncaged - it darts like lightening!

It is not enough to have this globe or a certain time,

I will have thousands of globes and all time.