sketching Porto Cathedral

sketching Porto Houses (opposite view of Porto Cathedral)

sketching Church of São Francisco in Porto, Portugal

I met some Portuguese architecture students who were sketching the different churches around Porto for their final exams.  They invited me to join them and we sketched in front of the Church of São Francisco.

sketching an alley in Porto, Portugal

 This is the beginning of the Portuguese way to Santiago.  I was fortunate enough to spend a few days in Porto before I started my pilgimage!

sketching Igreja da Misericórdia in Porto Cathedral

After roaming around Porto, Portugal and finding inspiration in almost every street, I finally decided to sit down and sketch this church.  The church is called Igreja da Misericórdia.  While sketching, a lot of the locals would stop by and watch me.  I met this really nice Portuguese Family who started to talk to me.  They were so interested in what I was doing, they even asked me if I needed a place to stay.  I was so tempted, but I needed to stay focused because my plan was to do the El Camino De Santiago pilgrimage.  So I told them that I would have to come back to Porto and stay with them!

thumbnail sketches in Les Plans, Switzerland

Here were a few thumbnail sketches I did in Les Plans, Switzerland last June. 

painting 74: Painting in Florence (Fiesole Firenze)

 It was way too hot to be painting! It was early July in Florence.  I probably got bitten at least 20 times and I was sweating like a crazy woman!  I was fortunate that the guy who was hosting the airbnb I was staying at gave me a ride to the bus stop that brought me to Fiesole!  Unfortunately I forgot to give him back his helmet, so along with my huge backpack of paint supplies I was lugging around a helmet!  I also had to walk up a hill to get to the best viewpoints.  Oh yeah, and I decided to pick the hottest time of the day to paint.  So all in all, I learned what not to do for my next painting trip.  Next time I will paint super early and take a nice siesta, then I'll do a nocturnal painting!
Besides all the uncomfortable aspects of this painting day, the views of Fiesole were absolutely beautiful.  I'll have to come back and do it justice!

painting 73: Painting in Rome (Fontana delle Tartarughe)

painting 72: painting in Rome (Jewish Ghetto)

painting 71: painting in Rome (Roman Forum)

This was one of those moments that I will remember for the rest of my life.  This was a last minute spontaneous decision to paint again after a museum visit. Fortunately I had my painting supplies with me and I happen to be walking next to Daniel Sprick when he decided that he wanted to paint the Roman Forum during the sunset.  It wasn't part of the class, we were just artists wanting to paint the beautiful scene.  While this painting was a super quick study, I felt an openness in my heart.  I felt like a real artist, something that I've had a hard time convincing myself because of my inner ego.  It didn't matter if the painting wasn't successful, I was just happy being in the moment. 

painting 70: Painting in Rome (Villa Borghese Gardens)

painting 69: Painting underneath a bridge in Rome

painting 68: Painting in Rome (Trastevere Alley)

Here was an alley way in Trastevere close by where I was staying.  My friend Amanda and I randomly passed by this alley and noticed the yellow robe that was hanging on a clothesline.  We thought that the little pop of yellow in this beautiful alley would be an awesome painting.  We agreed, "when in Rome!"  So just like that we ran and got our art supplies and started to paint!  I came back the next day to finish my painting and the yellow robe wasn't hanging on the clothesline anymore. 

painting 67: Painting in Rome (Borghese Gardens)

Here is a painting I did at the Borghese Gardens in Rome.  I took a workshop with the artist, Daniel Sprick hosted by the wonderful Rome Art Workshops. It rained on and off throughout the duration of this painting.  That being said, I still had a good time painting in the rain!