02/03/2021
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Aspen, Colorado
Mixing a rainbow of yellows for finishing touches on these sunflowers. I will post a photo of the finished painting tomorrow!
So I hesitated for half a second before beginning this composition, knowing that “sunflowers + Tuscany” is a bit of a cliche wrapped in a platitude. But I was compelled, and eager, to paint this scene, which represents the singular joy I associate with travel. (As well as my insatiable love affair with Italy. Also a cliche, but also not caring - I’m happy to be in good company with ...)
These particular sunflowers were growing in the town of Vicchio, in the Mugello region of Tuscany, which happens to be the birthplace of the artists Giotto and Fra Angelico. This art history was what drew me out there from Florence.
After spending a pleasant afternoon mountain biking in the countryside outside of the town (I had booked an with a delightful tour guide and was the only customer) that involved visiting a saffron farm and sampling local cheese, wine and honey (Italians know how to do mountain biking), my guide took us on a detour en route back to town. We happened upon a vista of fields of seemingly endless rows of sunflowers (the Italian “girasole” is much more lyrical to say and more befitting - literally “turns to the sun”).
Maybe it was the photographer in me - marveling at the golden hour light streaming through all those brilliant petals. Certainly it was the romantic in me - I mean, sunflowers in an infinite field, framed in the distance by cypress trees and centuries old stone walls and Tuscan farmhouses, not another human within eyesight, in Italy - come ON. This was one of those soul expanding moments that travel creates. A confluence of time and place; a shared experience with a kind stranger; an ephemeral moment of wonder and gratitude.
I photographed the sunflowers until the sun slipped behind the hillside and I was obliged to leave to bike back to town before dark. But those girasoli stayed with me. Which is why you’re likely to see more sunflowers on canvas coming out of my studio in the future. I hope they bring you a smile