Sneak Peek into the Entrance

Now, a sneak peek into the house does not scare visitors off anymore

Remember, two years ago, when the movers carried the boxes in and a neighbour came with flowers? - Back then it still looked like this:

before

But two years later, finally, we can invite the neighbours over: 

further up the stairways it looks like this

and more further up like this

the stucco is repaired by Angelo while the lamp restored by myself

All the walls and ceiling restoration and painting was done by Angelo and the colour is his choice since he does not like it white - we know that by now ... Some summers ago, I am not even sure if I have ever posted it, the original lamp was "restored" and repainted by myself. Left alone the flooring that is still  not done yet as we have not decided on the material yet. But I am on site next week and then it will go on.

Sneak Peek into the Blue Bathroom

Our sixth and last bathroom seems to become a new highlight of our renovation project :

a shower inside a niche of blue mosaic

sanitary equipment not installed yet, vaulted natural stone ceiling restored

blue tiles on opposite wall, natural stone wall restored

Vertical Wall Stripes

Apparently I inspired Angelo with my recent post about walls with stripes. After painting two horizontal stripes in a small corridor, he also painted three vertical stripes in a side entrance:

Angelo's latest art project

To make it clear, this was not my idea. It's his creation. He got very creative: three vertical stripes of different width in a room with five different paint colours ... we have light sky blue on the ceiling and around the door and window niches, we have a turquoise blue for the stripes, we have white for the stucco, deep apricot on the ceiling and very pale apricot for the walls.

For explanation, this room is the side entrance and we will need it also for storage. We will need cupboards and shelves. The flooring is not decided yet. Stone or terra cotta will be more practical then wood. Not sure, if at the end, everything together will look a bit too wild.

However, nice experiment. Vertical stripes are approved!

Horizontal Wall Stripes

Angelo did it: 
Horizontal stripes in the small corridor:

horizontal stripes and door to the green bathroom

view towards side entrance area

view towards dining area and kitchen

view towards kitchen with balcony in the back

two horizontal stripes

Not only I am impressed with the speed Angelo implemented my proposal, I am also impressed by the result. The two painted blue horizontal stripes look as interesting as I thought they would.

I discovered something else in the pictures: the passage way towards the dining area and kitchen is wide and open. I was not sure if there would be a door, it looks better this way! And you see the original thick walls (egg last pic)! They are about 1 meter thick. (The art work Angelo did on these walls I need to check out on site next month.)

But this is not all.

I got also vertical stripes !!!

But this in another post.



Italian Beach Painting

Beach at Tropea in Oil on Canvas, 40cm x 40 cm (painted by me)

my inspiration, a photo by Italian photographer Marco Cristofori (via imagestate)

While Angelo is painting walls and ceilings, I am painting the beach in Calabria.

The beach shown above is at Tropea and the view is from above. It is quite a famous spot to take pictures. There are many on the intern if you google "Tropea beach" images. 

The motif I have chosen, however shows the Calabrian beach life best: colourful umbrellas, white sands and turquoise sea. And I wanted to try out water, colour and pattern. It was easier than I thought. If I would have known that my second oil painting turns out so nice, I would have painted on a bigger canvas. Now I have to do a second beach scene to hang a pair somewhere in our "beach palazzo".

Tropea is just about 30 minutes drive from Pizzo. But Pizzo's beaches are nice too. You even have the same perspective when you watch the beach at the Marina from the upper piazza.

In April, although there will be not many umbrellas on the beach, probably none, I will take some photographs that I could use as original for a painting. - Or I just use the second photo that Marco Cristofori did only a moment earlier:

Funny, if these people would know that they are not only eternalized on photo, but now also in oil ?!

Okay, one of the bigger guys I changed into a singorina... freedom of artist - and no royalties to pay to the photographer. My teacher and maestro also added a doggie since he felt something was missing in the lower left. Thanks to him, my painting looks so decent!