ITALIAN DREAMS- VENICE

Detail from an assemblage "shrine"  to Italy by Karen Cole

"I stood in Venice, on the bridge of sighs; a palace and a prison on each hand. I saw from out the wave of her structures rise, as from the stroke of the enchanters wand; a thousand years their cloudy wings expand around me, and a dying glory smiles o'er the far times, when many a subject land, looked to the winged lions marble pines, where Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles." -Lord Byron

Back from a sleepless trip to a magical place.  Above, a "winged messenger" from Susanna, taken from the balcony of our hotel. The Rialto bridge in the background. (duh!)

The key to a great Venetian experience? The key to your room at the fabulous Al Ponte Antico, a Venetian Spritz (Prosecco and Aperol) made by Matteo our host, A CAMERA and a view.

Sharing it all with wonderful friends.

Al Ponte Antico from the other side of the canal.

Even the construction has style.

A "must see". The Fortuny Museum. The current show Un Mondo Di Carta, the work of Isabelle de Borchgrave, clothing and accessories made out of paper. Swoony stuff......oh my!

Do you like mosaics? Don't miss the Orsoni workshop where you can get beautiful smalti.

Food? How about an artichoke fresh from the Rialto market?

Perhaps I'll get to experience carnivale next time.

Venice is a jewel. Detail of another italian shrine by yours truly.

CIAO and A ROUND ROBIN PEEK

This is the latest sneak peek into the world of my altered book round robin, which will be ending at the end of November. It's been wonderful working on these beautifully themed creations. The theme of this months book was "Hidden". I got my inspiration from a Charlotte Bronte quote.

"The human heart has hidden treasures, in secret kept, in silence sealed; the thoughts, the hopes , the dreams, the pleasures, whose charms are broken if revealed."  Charlotte Bronte

I am headed on another journey today. Italy. I will be attending a workshop in Cortona with Michael Demeng. Enjoy your own life's journey while I am gone. Ciao my friends!

BEACH SKETCHES, TOO

Spent the labor day weekend at the beach with some friends. I do not want the summer to end. I think we get a raw deal, with this memorial day to labor day thing. I want to continue to wear my flip flops and bask in the warmth of a summer day.

I also think we all work too hard. This is an observation from watching people on the beach. I  may have said this a few posts ago, with my last sketches. Everyone looks like they needed this break........bad.

This time I used some black Arches paper and a white gel pen. My daughter would like to see me stick to just the white on black sketch.  I can't seem to keep my hands out of the colored pencil and crayon box. Any thoughts??? Plain vs. color?

BLOGSTOCK 2008-A SENSE OF WONDER

"If a child (or adult) is to keep alive her inborn SENSE OF WONDER, she needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with her the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in." - Rachel Carson

I 'm exhausted......but very happy. I just spent a wonderful few days with some amazing women. Artists, writers and yes, even dancers (you know who you are).

We shared our opinions on art, music, history, politics, food, wine and just about everything else. We looked at art, history and scenery. 

We collaborated.  We worked separately creating journal pages and images. We took them apart, shared pieces and put them together to create a mosaic of images and pages that became a beautiful journal that we could each enjoy forever.

We celebrated our coming together.....formally , of course....in a "funky diva", "homage to Woodstock" kind of way and did the "kitchen dance" all night long.

Thank you my blogging friends, for a most memorable experience. 

Time for some rest and reflection.

Blogstock 2008= (in no particular order)

Constance, Leslie, eb, Elizabeth, someburntflowers (oops, I meant somepinkflowers), Isabel, Susanna, Stephanie and me.

A GREAT READ

Yes, I am still here. Just very busy.

You must check out what is happening over at the Altered Page. Seth has created an amazing online artist question and answer series of posts, that will actually have you reading......so pour yourself some coffee, tea or a large cocktail....and get ready to be entertained.

If you don't want to read (you will) ,  just enjoy the photos and artwork.

I shall return.

TREES-SNEAK PEEK

This is a continuation of the sneak peeks I've been providing , from my altered book round robin with team USA and team Australia (just thought I'd throw that in, in honor of the Olympics).

"TREES" - copper flashing that has been "tooled" or drawn into, acrylic paint, liver of sulpher, Arches drawing paper, woodcut, pen and ink and fabric collage.

THE BEACH PART 2-THE BEACH IS A PAINT BOX

A dear friend came to visit us at the beach. She has two young children, adorable little girls.  Did we build sand castles? Did we splash in the surf? Did we bury each other in the sand? YES, just like everyone else. Did anyone else have paints and paper and use sea water to wet the paints? NO. Lucky us. 

As a former art teacher, I still get great pleasure out of seeing children play with a box of paints......and play we did.  After they got bored with the paper, we started body painting.  SWEET!

In the evening, we headed to the boardwalk , lots of people, lots of noise and food that will kill you.  Not my favorite place to hang out, but with little ones, it's a must.  The colors very much reminded me of that paint box.

I prefer the softer side.  Soft evening light.  Softer colors.  Sand like powder between your toes.

An evening breeze. Back to the beach for some sketching.

ANY BEACH WILL DO

"Live in the sunshine, 

swim in the sea,

drink the wild air....

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am currently enjoying a lovely two weeks at the beach. New Jersey, to be exact. Not the

 Riviera or the the Caribbean, but I love it non-the-less. Family and friends, digging in the sand, jumping over the waves, eating lots of any type of seafood, corn, tomato salads and slopping on the sunscreen.  Can you smell the salt air?

I've been an observer on the beach. You can really tell that some of these folks need a vacation.....BAD.  I sit and sketch under my umbrella. 

What did I see at the beach in Italy? People doing similar things. I was too busy sightseeing to lay down and just enjoy the air. 

Behold, Camogli, near sunset. The light was amazing.

For all of my writer and poetry friends, I loved this quote.....

"Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land,  wanting to fly in the air." -Carl Sandburg