Italy Sketches

My husband likes to sketch things. So when we were in Italy last year (my first time ever in Europe!), he tried to get in as much sketching as he could. He did some drawings in Venice but it rained on some of his sketches causing the ink to run. It was a lovely effect, water on water. He lugged our day-pack complete with his drawing supplies, our son, and any extra bags that I couldn't handle. And although he didn't do much actual sketching due to all the lugging and the jet lag, the sketches that he was able to complete were simply amazing.

When I look at his sketches, I immediately feel the essence of the place. I can feel the close-in quarters of the cafe, the tiny shops that we popped into, the artisan shoe maker's cubby-hole shop. And, though it felt hemmed in while I was there and I could stand in the middle of the street and touch each building that framed the street, I also felt peaceful while in Venice. I think it's because of the lack of traffic. Plus, there were no Vespas whizzing by with 2 bags of groceries precariously perched on the front and back. And, as we got closer to our place, the crowds thinned out and the revelers stayed away. That feeling comes through in his sketches.

He also did some amazing sketches while in Lucca and Rome. In Lucca, we had a lovely day of riding bikes around the walled town. We rode up on top of the wall, which has been turned into a nice bike path, with picnic areas, playgrounds, sculptures, and a few restaurants. Then we descended into the town and found a little place to eat located off an ally on some unnamed street. This is where he did another of his sketches. My son loved his spaghetti dinner that night then he did some great drawing on the sidewalk while we were able to chat and drink wine, just lovely.

There was a particular sketch that he did in Rome from the terrace of our apartment. It was the night that we almost burned down the building. Ahh, yes, Rome. The night of almost burning down the building. Anyhoo, suffice it to say that we didn't burn much except a foil dish and we have a really great story and a sketch to go along with the memory.

Back to the present, for the past 6 years, I have been hanging my son's art on our walls because we have NO other art or anything to put on the walls. We're the kind of people who have to love what we put up. And I love my son, bless him, but I'm really getting tired of looking at loopy train drawings done in light yellow. So imagine my surprise when I went to get something from the basement and I saw that my dear husband had taken his 5x7 sketches and had them blown up to poster size which he then mounted onto frames.

My heart lurched in my chest, my eyes welled up with tears and I whispered aloud, "Our Italy trip." So, for our anniversary present, he hung those in our bedroom so that we can wake up each day to see these beautiful sketches and works of art which remind us of our moments in Italy.