After The Rain

The photo from which this was painted was taken last summer in Burano, which is one of the islands around Venice, Italy.   My husband and I had been there about 10 years ago but it was cloudy then and I didn't get any pictures with sun and shadows so I was very excited to be able to go there again, this time with our kids, so that they could see Venice with its surrounding islands and so that I could get some better pictures.  Of course this time it was raining!  We took the ferry and went to Murano first (an island where glass blowing is common) and just as the ferry pulled up to Burano the sun came out!  Lucky me!

I was happy to see colorful umbrellas throughout the city hanging on the shutters to dry.  It added charm to an already charming place.  So it turns out that the rain was a good thing.  We almost waited until the next day to go because of the rain but it's a good thing we didn't or we wouldn't have seen Burano at all.  That day all of the people that worked in transportation were on strike.  No ferrys, no gondolas, no trash pick up either so I guess it wasn't only the transportation people on strike.

Burano is known for its beautiful lace.  I'm not much of a lace person but it's always interesting to see hand crafted items.  In Burano the buildings are all brightly painted.  The color of this building was turquoise but I changed it because I felt that bright color would take the focus away from the umbrellas - artistic license at work.

After the Rain
Image Size 22" x 22"
Watercolor