Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Italy 2011 - A Few Photos (Un Po' Foto di Italia)

Step right up and guess the name of the famous actress whose visage I've attempted to render in the ancient art of origam... uh I mean, mosaic!
Below is the result of my portraiture class with Luciana Notturni in
Ravenna, Italy, which is always a great time.


















This time in Venice, I happened to stay during the 'Historical Regatta' right on the Grand Canal. Drinking wine and waving back to the race boats and looking out on all the plebs crowded in to seats at the Rialto market allows one to catch a glimpse from the vantage point of royalty, if only for a moment. Maybe it was more because the Count Francesco di Mosto's place was right next door?










In addition to the obligatory wine touring, Florence this time involved an awesome cooking school excursion called 'In Tavola' just on the south side of the Arno river. You go into the industrial kitchen with 20 or so people. Working on stainless tops, 5 professional chefs and a blur of cleanup people assist you in prepping a multi course meal. Then they throw it it the oven while you go down to the wine cellar and have some liquid refreshments. Then BAM, you're served! That is, food is served, not like someone showed you how to do something that you are bad at, or a lawsuit or something.

In Rome this time, I stayed in a great apartment (Palazzo Velabro) immediately adjacent to the world's oldest sewer, the Cloaca Maxima. It didn't smell bad though even though it was uncovered. The Quadraporte monument and various temples were super close. I probably could have spit watermelon seeds from the apartment into the surprised mouth of the famous Bocca di Verita because of the proximity. But, who would do that really? Watermelon tastes terrible.


I'll tell you all about Sardegna later, but let's have some guesses on that mosaic up there.

17 comments:

  1. I'm not wearing my glasses, but I'm going to go with Scarlett Johanson? Although the dark hair is throwing me off. Dead or alive? Need more clues.

    Thought of you a few times on our Europe trip when we saw some amazing mosaics.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It reminds me of Cher. Sounds like a great trip. Those meals sound like a blast. I need a bunch of cleanup people to hang around my kitchen when we cook.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Knowing you it's Gina Lollobrigida or Sophia Loren or some other Italian siren but I agree with Nikki, it totally looks like Scarlett with black hair! Maybe, Elizabeth Taylor? Um... TELL US!

    Whoever it is, it's smokin' hot and awesome you talented bastard you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am happy to see you posting your work! Bravo!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have to reply before I read the other posts... I see Scarlette Johansen, be it right or wrong, a portrait in mosaic tiles is awesome!! Sounds like you had a wonderful time.. and on a side note, I have begun a commissioned painting of Venice! I've missed dropping by, thanks for the smiles....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sorry guys, I've been super busy with work and watching the World Series and stuff.

    Nikki,
    You were first *and* correct. Awesome

    Tom, good guess but no... The top three choices (in order of popularity) were
    1) Scarlett Jo.
    2) Elizabeth Taylor
    3) Cher
    4) Other / various like Sophia Loren, etc.

    Vegetable Assassin,
    You took several guesses! But it seems like you settled in on Scarlett, which was correct!

    Mags,
    Thanks!

    Toni,
    Thanks for stopping by and guessing, you are totally correct! I will stop by and want to see the Venice work in progress if I may?

    ReplyDelete
  7. i'm not dead yet. you're welcome. :D that's an amazing mosaic and i must say i recently have a new appreciation for mosaics. the end.

    ReplyDelete
  8. MLB
    Your blog post short stories are *The* best. After careful consideration and consultation with the independent auditing firms, I'm most pleased to report that everyone is happy that you are still among the living. Yay! :)

    Mag
    Che figata! (Hope that means 'cool!') Sorry I've been a bad design partner lately, but work is too busy! Please forgive...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Drinking wine and pleb-watching from the vantage point of royalty is my favourite passtime. The difficult but is deluding myself that I'm a royal.

    ReplyDelete
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