More on Venice

Door to Door: available here

This past Sunday, an out of control cruise ship crashed into a dock and a tourist boat on the Guidecca Canal in Venice. Five people were injured; not to minimize that, but obviously it could have been much worse.

According to reporters, this was an accident waiting to happen. Apart from the risk of further accidents like this, these floating skyscrapers that go right into the heart of the city also cause invisible damage to the foundations of the buildings. The canals were simply not built for that kind of traffic.

Venice has attracted many artists over the centuries, but it has now become a city of tourists. And who can blame them? The city is unique and beautiful, so it’s at the top of countless bucket lists. Unfortunately, if this trend continues, I fear that Venice’s attractiveness will be its ultimate downfall.

I don’t mean to sound dire, but the plight of Venice is one reason why I feel compelled to capture the city in paint. For reasons I can’t quite explain, I’m often drawn to places that are in peril in one way or another. Perhaps it’s an instinct to preserve a peculiar beauty that’s in danger of disappearing, or a way to express my affection for these weathered old walls with their feet in the water.

Photography and film are perhaps better means for recording our world for posterity – faster, more comprehensive, more detailed. But I believe painting is still the best medium to record the essence, the soul if you will, of a place. Not just what it looks like, but how it feels.