Viola

After posting my website on facebook I got the request to blog on Viola, the painting which I show below.

The painting was commissioned for a permanent exposition in Casole D'Elsa (near Siena). I was given the size (100 x 50 cm) and free choice of the subject. It is not easy to find an appropriate picture for such a rectangular size. If it had been horizontal it could have been  a good size for a landscape but that was not the case. I thought a portrait would work better for the job so I took some pics of my niece Viola. It was a sunny day in the country house where she lives. The wooden floor lit by the sun made the atmosphere very warm. I told her to pose in many ways and she was just obeying me without really understanding what was going on. In the pose I liked, she was like caught unexpectedly. Looking at it now I realize that the closed book in her hand suggests the book of life that she still has to open because of her young age. Her eyes seems to ask for suggestions or approval (the perspective is clearly from top to bottom so that the watcher is put in a dominant position). Any other interpretation is welcome! By the way the painting was appreciated by my sister (her mother) so that I had to make another one for Casole D'Elsa. I will post about it some other day! I'll have dinner now.
Ciao!

Viareggio, Clouds in the wind

This is definitively the landscape I like the best and it is a bit of a paradox. I think the main feature of my landscapes is the strong light of the sun and still the paintings I like the best is cloudy. I remember the day I went to find good images in Viareggio for a new painting. I wished it would be sunny because I like the strong contrast generated by the strong light. I was very disappointed to see all that clouds coming along and was wishing that around midday the situation would change but it didn't. However near the sea the black clouds were opening to filter a strong  majestic light. The scenery was powerful and deep insight I was thanking for the unexpected grandious panorama I had in front.

At night

This painting was done in a difficult moment of this woman's life. That is why the title of the painting "At night" (A sera) has a double meaning. Her pose demonstrates that she has not lost care for her beauty (her femininity in the pose is apparent) but at the same time she looks tired to fight. This confusion in her mind is represented by her dark face speaking about the uncertainity of the future. On the other hand, the light behing her, caressing her body and shining on the magazine she is distractfully reading, is suggesting that the reality is not so dark as she is figuring it out. In that sense the light can symbolize God's love.