A suburban street, Santa Monica; Italy

 A suburban street, oil on card, 12 / 14 cm  NOT FOR SALE

I have bought myself a little tablet and am playing around with it. I think the camera is just about good enough to mean I can leave the conventional digital at home, and can post images as I go along. Typing on the tablet is fiddly, but it's fine for short entries.

I fly to Italy in a few days time- thank God, as I need fresh ideas: Rome, Puglia, Orvieto, perhaps Lucca, a rough diagonal crossing from Southeast to Northwest.

 Perhaps too much is resting in my mind on the trip- a disadvantage of planning much in advance being that one tends to overload a journey with expectations.

Two square still lives

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 Bananas, oil on card 13/ 13 cm - unavailable

Painted patiently in phases, and aiming for a much more textured effect. I'm hoping I can apply this to landscapes somehow.

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I'm driving down to Gramado and Canela tomorrow. All being well I should be about to do some work there, and along the way.

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Gerberas

Gerberas, oil on card, 14 / 13 cm - unavailable

After several days of hapless work, finally I arrive with something I like.

 Such passages of work, or non work, more accurately, are tiresome, and its sometimes simply better to abandon work for a few days, and hang up the gone fishing sign. But more often it's wiser to hack through, if only for the education it brings, and to maintain ones discipline- a value in itself, I am increasingly prone to understand.

Whizz! A car descending a hill

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Whizz! A car descending a hill, oil on card, 12.5 / 13.8 cm - available

Painted from near where Saturday's painting was made.

A dull, hopeless sort of day.

Overlooking Praia Mole

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Overlooking Praia Mole, oil on card, 12 / 13.5 cm   - available

A windy, sun-filled day, not too many tourists as yet. Painted from the hills above the beach, working quickly, not worrying too much about accuracy.

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Pochade carriers for Italy

A stack of carriers

 Open carrier

Closed

I am slowly preparing for September's trip to Italy, with a new run of carriers. These are deeper and larger than previous carriers. 

They are unpainted. I like the utilitarian brown, which I think contrasts happily with the contents. But, of course that means they are not so well protected against moisture. Perhaps I can varnish them.

This sort of craft work is therapeutic and makes for a pleasant escape from the sort of intellectual work I normally do.

River, Palhoça

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River, Palhoça, oil on card, 11.4 / 14.1 cm  - available

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