Italian Colored Glasses

​   Out of all the paintings I have ever done, this one entitled Italian Colored Glasses has inspired the most amount of work. Its creation was one of those things that just happened, through no  intention or decision on my part. It all started during my Italian study abroad class in summer of '17.

Creation of the Piece

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   It was the first rainy day of the trip and I was filled with excitement about painting the overcast landscape. For those who know me, you’re aware that I love a good rainstorm (but that’s pretty much every desert dweller so I know it’s not that special). Anyways, the town where I was staying had a gorgeous bell tower that you could climb and the very top had these hugeee glass windows on every wall so you could get a full 360 view of the surrounding landscape. As soon as I saw the storm clouds roll in, I knew I had to paint them from the tower. I hurriedly grabbed my watercolor paper and cut out small rectangles to paint on. I didn’t have enough though so I took the leftover scraps, some of which were in the shape of an L, and figured I could do something on them. I taped the edges of each paper to a wood board (to keep the paper from warping since I paint with a lot of water and to ensure a white border) then I ran to the tower. I don’t remember how long I stayed up there but the following paintings were the result. Italian Colored Glasses is the last one in the following photos:

Gallery and Frame Building

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   When I got back to the States, I entered Italian Colored Glasses into a city government show and it amazingly enough was accepted! That's when it hit me that I'd have to build a custom frame for it. I went to a craft store and bought foamcore and a few different widths of baltic birch wood (commonly used for model making). I used the foamcore to make a mockup then I experimented with the wood to see which size fit the painting the best. I wanted the painting to have a presence on the wall but wood that was too thick would dwarf the painting. Here is what I ended up with:

This photo was taken at the end of my study abroad semester, when we had our closing gallery. Most of my work on display was made during that rainy day.