On the third day of our Venice Art Trek, we took a vaporetto tour of the island and got off at the Rialto bridge where we wandered the fruit, vegetable and fish markets. We left the photographers there to shoot while we set up our easels in this quiet spot marking the oldest restaurant in Venice. This bridge had so much character being made completely of wood, decorated in plantings and flanked by red and white poles that we just had to paint it!

On the second day of our Venice Art Trek, we headed to the islands of Murano and Burano. First Murano, famous for its beautiful glass, to see a glass blowing demonstration and tour the museum. Then, onto Burano which is known as a fishing community (and for the homemade lace that they make there), and to help the fisherman find their houses while coming back from sea, they painted their homes every color of the rainbow. With the picturesque canals and so many great colored buildings to choose from, it’s hard to pick a single subject matter! We were drawn to this quiet location, however, and the vibrant blue stucco wall with that morning’s laundry being hung out to dry screamed to be painted. Today I chose to work with thick oil paint and palette knife to capture the rough surface of the walls, resulting in a final painting which is loaded with texture and color.