Italy and Sicily - Spanish Steps

"Tearoom by the Spanish Steps - Rome" (18"X14", OIl on Canvas, $550)

A painting of the Spanish Steps is pretty unavoidable once you've been to Rome, but the normal angles were pretty much covered by the postcard photographers. I knew I loved the look of the famous tearoom alongside the steps, with its burnt sienna/orange walls and classic shuttered windows. I decided to combine the two, focusing on the tearoom.

The steps are so iconic and well-known that I felt this angle would add something to the conversation. The bright sun coming from behind the young tourist marveling at the scene below casts a long shadow on the front sidewall of the tearoom, while bringing everything else into sharp relief. The tourist is there to add the usual human element and some scale to the scene. The building in the distance on the left is just as big as the tearoom, but looks tiny across the wide boulevard. It sits in full sun and so brings us into the depths of the painting. The cloudless blue sky above makes a nice vibration with the deep burnt warmth of the building that dominates the painting.

The theme here is the joy of discovery that every tourist should feel when surrounded by the most beautiful and historic views in the world. The feeling of awe that all this was created by the hands of humans, for me, makes it all the more breath-taking. To be a part of it, as an artist, makes me feel the inspiration to want to create something that makes others feel the same.