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This gallery contains paintings inspired by my 6-week trip to Italy in the summer of 2004. I knew that being away from my studio for such an extended time would make me a bit crazy -- and that sculpting is not particularly easy to do while on the move. So I created a small paintbox out of an old metal box built for storing slides, adding a shoulder strap. Then I bought a set of magnets that would act as a quick-release from one of my lightweight tripods. Besides my painting gear, I also packed two cameras and some sketch pads.

I tried to follow the backpackers creed: lay out all you want to take with you, then pack only half the stuff and twice the cash. Later, while traveling, I met a girl named Anna in the hostel in Perugia. Anna watched me pack that last night and remarked, "You really are carrying more work gear than clothes!" I just laughed: A girl's got her priorities.

I planned to do the kind of artwork that would be fairly new to me. I packed quick-drying acrylic paints (instead of my preferred squishy oils) and thick, strong watercolor paper pads instead of canvases. I researched en plein air painting on the Internet and with my gifted artist friend Jill Carver. In preparation for this trip, I had practiced life drawing with acrylics to get familiar with that medium, but never found time for a trial-run landscape outing to paint with Jill. However, I still intended to try my hand at landscapes while traveling in Italy.

Instead what I discovered is that as much as I love the natural world, I have little desire to paint it. I went to Italy specifically to see Michelangelo's works in person. And I discovered that - without a doubt - the figure is where my passion lies. Instead of creating colorful landscapes, I made sketches of sculptures and people - the latter usually as they slept or read on the trains. One afternoon in Firenze, I had been painting a composition of Giambologna's spiraling figures in "The Rape of the Sabines" sculpture in the Loggia dei Lanzi in front of the Uffizi Gallery. Two Italian boys watched me work and later giggled at me when a policeman asked me to stop painting (too messy; only sketching was permitted). But the boys allowed me to take their photos afterwards, so I did not mind so much. Ah, people . . .

Please explore the other galleries as well. And enjoy yourself!

Thank you for your time.
Kelly

For more information and an image of each painting in its entirety, please select any thumbnail image above that interests you.