Sketch crawl and coffee

My adventure is winding down...but you can bet I've packed in enough sketches, paintings, photos and memories to last me months of delicious review.  

Kelly met me in the corner bar yesterday for coffee before we headed off (2 buses, 1 tram and a short walk) to her new studio space. On the third floor of a school ( middle-ish) she shares a large room with two other artists. A huge wall of north windows sheds gorgeous light over the areas where they have each established their own spaces. 

I'm being silly here but this great organization happened because I convinced her that shelf assembly was one of my fortes and together we made this IKEA piece come together. Now she is one huge step closer to working en situ! 

We headed out to sketch the city...since it was the most gorgeous day ever we headed to a park to lunch and draw. 

Rome is filled with my favorite tree ever; umbrella pines. They are the source of the versatile pine nut and are so graceful and personality-filled. I have painted them often and could draw them forever. This is a quick sketch before I pulled out the Watercolors. 

We hopped all over tackling some challenging areas (I'll post Kelly's work seperately).  I decided to work on some perspective and got part way into this fence before we decided it was wine o'clock. 

While I used to freeze in fear while drawing in public, it doesn't phase me now. It's rather fun to see what happens, no final pieces, all studies and it is interesting to see people's curiosity. One "brava" can make your day. 

The sun was casting a golden hue to everything as we left the park. My forest of umbrella pines looked magical with all the shadows. That's me on the bench raising my  arms in joy and sending up prayers for a return trip. 

Ciao,

Cindy