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Away
We went to Florence for my Christmas present….to see the art not to do any, but I did sketch the Duomo and Campenile from across the river. I note with some jealousy that you wouldn’t get a view of St Pauls this uncluttered due to the tall piles of steel and cement which now surround it, thanks to the banks for a lot of that of course. On top of the financial desecration.
At the central market there were literally sacks of dried ceps or porcini, they varied in grade according to how perfect the dried slices were. The price went from 5 euro to 30 euro per 100 gramme. There were also blood oranges from Sicily and baby artichokes in heaps as well as fabulous piles of fresh damp salads in all sorts of colours. The buffalo mozzarella was really fresh and made a great lunch with olive bread.
This would have been my next sketch had there been time. Its a view back to Florence from the top of the Boboli Gardens.
You find what you are interested in anywhere-Medusa I do find interesting, this is her decapitated body conquered by Perseus. She is fairly ugly faced in this but with a decent body; I was very struck by the muscular female nudes that were carved by MichelAngelo, legs like footballers or my legs on a good day. If the models were women they were involved in some very strenuous work…washer women?
#169
Helleborus
This is a repeat photograph of a view taken in the first week of April last year (see blog entry 6 April 2010), this year the “February Gold” narcissi began opening in February and the Hellebores are in their prime now in March. We have a fickle climate and the plants must follow each season as it comes.
Posy- a painting a week
This is as much painting as I have done this week. its a bright posy of flowers from the supermarket: roses , carnations and phlox.
Lovely aunt did one of the same vase , DIY dad went back to work after mystery illness and No1 son and No2 son hatched a plan to get the password which locks the computer from us; this involved a mini video camera and a reasonbly plausible storyline. Treasures.
#168
Carnation with stripes-a painting a day
This was an exercise in using masking fluid to demonstrate to lovely aunt how she could manage the white daisies she has been set as a project in her art class.
I am astonished at what is in flower in the garden…and the beauty of the blog is that I can go back and check what I said this time last year…amazing.
6in x6in 15cm x15cm approx
#167
Lemon a day 
