i've spent the past 3 days meandering through the streets and bridges of possibly the most gorgeous city i have ever had the pleasure to be in. venice! ah. we arrived wednesday and as we stepped out of the train station into the hot venitian sun, we were greeted by a winding green canal with motor boats bustling through. we took a water taxi to our hotel and went to the accademia and the guggenheim! which was so exciting. i've gained an entirely new appreciation for religious art. but it's nearly all you see here, because you know, italy's got some crazy history or something. ha. but the guggenheim was almost a breath of fresh air. peggy guggenheim's collection was astounding. we saw some jackson pollacks, some picasso, a duchamp. so many others too.
thursday, we had drawing in the piazza di san marco. i drew some gondolas along the shore. venice was so incredibly touristy, especially san marco. florence is pretty touristy too, but i couldn't believe how many native english speakers i would hear just in passing. silly. i love how, in venice, there are stairs that lead directly into canals in front of people's homes and businesses. i also like how there are no noisy cars and scooters like there are in firenze. i think venice was definately my favorite city here thus far. firenze is wonderful too, but venice was just absolutely incredible.
we painted in the most beautiful location after lunch. it was along this canal in this neighborhood. and the reflections of the buildings in the water was breathtaking. in one of our lectures at CAPA, we learned about how venetians drew a lot of their inspiration for their architecture from the reflections in the canals. lots of organically shaped mosaic marble. i thought that was really interesting. i'll post pictures of my work on facebook or here when i get back maybe. i'm pretty happy with most of it. which is a really nice feeling. during our painting critique, this little cute old italian couple came out of their apartment and stepped right into our crit. and they asked where we are from and just talk to us for a minute. we all giggled a little uncomfortably, but it was pretty funny. the wife was a painter too apparently! i thought that was neat. i wonder if i'd be able to find any of her work. hmm. she lives in the most perfect place to be a painter. wow.
yesterday, we didn't have to catch our train until 4:45 so we had some time to walk around and shop finally. venice is famous for their glass and they sell incredible glass jewelry and art everywhere. but we found this huge market that had the same stuff for a lot less money. and i bought some gifts and a necklace and a glass wine stopper for myself. the shopping is a lot better in venice, i think. but everything there seems to be a lot more expensive than in florence. even food. kind of ridiculous.
today! we went to the accademia here in firenze and saw beautiful paintings and sculptures and of course michelangelo's actual david. that was so awesome. i snuck a picture of it. it's so huge. and just, incredible the amount of detail that he included. it was really cool to be able to walk around it and not just see it in photographs. i also loved michelangelo's slave sculptures. the ones that are unfinished and look like people trapped within the stone. that was so beautiful. you can see all the gouges from his chisel. so cool. there was also this musical instrument museum attached to it and that was neat too. i took pictures of the percussion instruments to show my brosef. i think he would have thought they were neat.
i can't believe i only have about a week left here. it's gone by so fast. i'm going to go to rome next weekend with dan kuhn, i think. because he's coming to visit from geneva. and i'm pretty excited for that.
i have so many photos to upload when i get home. it's going to be ridiculous.
oy, i don't wish to do homework today. i have to do a painting from last weekend and a drawing from this weekend. ooohh well.
ciao!
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