The Artist In Bologna Hotel Room, selfportrait, Ink pen on paper, 6×9 in. originally uploaded by ahtravis.
Just returned from a three week holiday in Italy, specifically Rome, Bologna and Milan. Since I have family there and visit frequently, this trip was spent seeking out museums of modern (19-20th century) art where I had not previously been. I was rewarded with work of artists who are familiar the world over and many Italian artists of the period who commanded a smaller audience and are not so well known.
I began the trip with a new sketchbook and filled every page. As a mother I found nothing inspired my children to create more than a new box of crayons. I respond similarly to a new sketchbook and a new location. While I tend to see figures in movement all around me, I also sketch the local land and cityscapes and especially enjoy sketching art work in the museums.
Many of these figure sketches will reappear in my larger oil paintings sometime in the future. My exhibition, The Figure, from start to finish, August to Sept. , 2010, Wilbur Gallery, Oneonta, NY, demonstrated this theme. I exhibited paintings of figures alongside the sketches from which they were drawn. The sketches of landscapes usually inform my paintings rather than are in some way, recreated.
I invite you to accompany me on my tour by viewing the selection of sketches posted on Flickr to the right.
bragg hollow studio 