It’s There Again!

It seems I have a thing for old cities with quaint, human-scaled buildings. As my husband would say, “you just love arches, lampposts and umbrellas.”  If we’re talking the cafe variety, not the rain variety, he’s right. And I’d add balconies. There’s something about those architectural features and streetscapes that feel inviting to me.

Any competent city planner could explain in detail why this is true, but perhaps not why these scenes show up so often in my travel photos, then in my paintings. Many painters find natural landscapes move them, but for me (unless there’s a flaming sunset over water) the draw is definitely cityscapes. I feel the need to show what grabbed my attention and to share how it felt to be there.

There’s also something called the Baader-Meinhof effect, known as the frequency illusion. It’s when you learn of something for the first time and then it suddenly seems to appear everywhere. Perhaps since my husband made that observation I’ve noticed these things more, photographed them more, and painted them more.

Our recent trip to France certainly resulted in numerous such photos, which I’m still sorting out for painting purposes. Medieval villages carved into stone cliffs, holiday markets being installed, plazas full of cafe tables…  the paintings will follow. Meanwhile, my painting of Evora, Portugal, just came back from the frame shop. Notice anything?! LOL