Vicki Ross Amalfi oil painting READ IT ALL!

Be sure to read below for more info! I'm on my way to FRANCE! Sponsors came through at the last minute...however, the $1500 offer for a full-sized portrait (or other painting) will still be good through July...after training with Leslie B. DeMille and Kippy Hammond for 14 days, 10-12 hours a day, I will feel comfortable with new pricing! Right now, I'm looking forward to some R&R on the trip over.

This painting has a new home! It was carefully selected, the client couldn't get this one out of her mind. I decided to share my story about this one so she could maybe feel what I felt when I saw the scene.

This is what I wrote to her. Perhaps I will do this for every painting to make them even more special for their new owners! It is SO great to only paint from your own source photos...even better to paint en plein air on the spot, but that is not always possible.

"I'll show you the area where I took the picture for your painting...it was a warmish day and I was tearing myself away from painting on the steps of this church...I knew that I had to observe other parts of this jewel of a town, Amalfi, on the Mediterranean coast. The church was in the middle of the square and was constructed of a native pinkish/salmon colored limestone. The massive scale of the Italian architecture tends to make you feel small...and somewhat in awe of the temporary nature of life. The way the light was shining through the arches was what caught my attention. I'll smile every time I think about this painting being your favorite. I know it is in good hands and hanging in a special spot."

Making my way to 100 subscribers...will continue to manually send links to this blog until then! Subscribe and make me feel good...computer travels with me, so will blog from FRANCE!

I do need to give a bit of credit to my sponsors, and to a blog I discovered named Journey JuJu. She left for a 6 month sabbatical in Europe, and created travel shrines she sold online to raise money. Since I'm all packed, I may just make one for myself! She is a professional writer, and apparently has been blogging every day. I'm an artist, and will be painting every day...blogging when it makes sense!

My Last 3 Weeks

Can't believe it has been almost 3 weeks since my last entry! We've not only found a fabulous independent living apartment for Randy's Mom and Dad, we furnished it, moved them and all their lifetime of 'stuff', got them moved in and unpacked by last Sunday! Everything was decorated, pictures were hung, fresh flowers in all rooms, and they slept in their own bed the first night!

In my spare time that last week, I painted six 8x10 portraits of the 3 Grands (from left, Sarah, Betsy, Bill) and the 3 Great Grands (on right, Bill's Rip and Tyler, below Betsy, the one due in September). I used creative license on that one! Randy and my co-decorator, Mary Jane Comstock did the placement and hanging on this wall.

TWO WEEKS! No wonder I am past exhausted...but their apartment looks great, all new furniture scaled to fit the space. My mood is not great, and I am once again made aware of how important the act of painting is to me. 

I leave for Paris and La Bonne Etoile on May 17. We have one strong potential for sponsorship ($1500 now, full sized portrait when I return); and a possible sponsor who will subsidize the entire trip for me in return for my graphic design expertise to publish his cookbook. Barter is a wonderful thing! If I'm meant to be there for Mr. DeMille's class, I will be there!

A few more pics of the light-filled apartment are below, since I don't have any other new work to show. Their new sofa must be acceptable, judging by Wesley fast asleep in the garden (really just a large painting  :)

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