Columbia Home & Lifestyle - January/February 2009 - (Page 35) leashes that looked like they had important business and were on a time crunch. I found if I asked a someone if I could take a picture of their dog, they would invariably be pleased to pose with their dog for me. In this way I managed to practice the little Italian that I was learning and interact with locals on a more personal level, not to mention make new dog friends: Bobby, Lucky, Elizabeth, Kira, Flo and Clifford. Other fun distractions were going to a Vivaldi concert one night and the opera ”Tosca” the next. Finding our way to the venue was challenging, but we did it and even had time for an al fresco dinner, too. Venice is one beautiful picture after another, regardless of the weather or the time of day, and we took an incredible number of photographs. We painted at the Piazza San Marco, where you can spend more on two cups of cappuccino than on a tank of ”la benzina.” Paul also managed to find a quiet area to paint next to a very picturesque canal, where I met a charming man, Sergio, walking his two dogs, Nino and Chico. Sergio pointed out which window was his and explained he had lived in Venice for over 50 years. The next day we took a water taxi to the Venice airport and bid arrivederci to Italy. In my heart it is really a presto—see you soon! The group spends time painting and sketching in different scenes in Italy. click on this paul jackson’s blog www.pauljackson.com columbia home & lifestyle 35 http://www.pauljackson.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.