“ A pretty girl like you can’t be alone all the time, find a nice guy and you may even marry him one day”
“All your friends are already engaged, what are you waiting for? A prince ringing your doorbell? “
“She is too snobby, who knows whom is she waiting for, she pretends surely a rich guy or an intellectual man… but let me tell you she will remain at home with mum and dad”
So I sit here with a nice guy, trying to have small talks … being normal’
Oil painting on canvas 60×80 cm from own photo reference.
“I arrived just yesterday, long trip, full bags heavy heart.
Here life just run slower, the time is gentle with us, days are extended and I can even walk late afternoon just letting my mind free to imagine.
I could spend my entire life here, listening to the waves, not only one week or two…why not always?
Rent a simple room somewhere where I can hear the sea and watch its endless movement
Breath this salty fresh air and simply be calm.”
As much as I love the sea and ocean, it’s rarely subject if my paintings. I find difficult to tell it’s story without being obvious. The reference I used for this work is an exception, I was in Ischia around with my camera in the evening and my subject were those rusty boats In one shot I realized there was hidden a scene, two men chatting at the ferry boat’s dock.
I loved the situation, so usual for a place at seaside, so connected with the moment… and while I was busy rendering people and boats, I painted the sea.
“ I double check the address and I am right, I didn’t expect to find this small house surrounded by other buildings. The appearance is quite modest and the garden surrounding it is wild and green like a Bavarian jungle. I have the task to get this ground, of course as cheap as I can – it looks like an easy job…we can build more apartments there, I will ring the bell…“
An old lady opened the door, deaf and suspiciously looking at the real estate agent…
Oil on panel 30x30cm 2021
Metropol Garage
‘ Her car is there so she must be at work, I can wait a little… I know we don’t have a date and I am not even sure she will be happy to see me here around but I must try it. She is so beautiful, I can’t wait days in the hope to meet her again at the coffee shop where we hada chat last week… why I didn’t ask her phone number?….I am such an idiot … now here I look like a stalker’. The Metropol Gar age door opened suddenly, there she was.’
Oil on panel 30×30 cm 2021
.
I painted both scenes in the last weeks, they are spontaneous works and have been painted outside on the spot, enplain air, like the impressionists used to do. This way of working requires speed and focus in the execution and the small format forces to take quite bold decisions on the subject and composition.
The old house is entirely painted with pallet knives for the simple reason I forgot the brush’s case at home that day, nevertheless I like how it turned out. The snapshots I decided to depict were impressing me for the light and the simplicity – I feel they are close to ‘real life’ with some imperfections and stories to tell.
Ink on paper – very little sketch thinking with the brush
„When the night comes and the lights are on
You walk home, the same way as every day in a cold winter evening. Nobody waits for you beside Micky, your cat waiting for his dinner. It is different from what you imagined or not?
Tokyo, Hong Kong, London and now here, you have not really expected more company, the job is less thrilling than years ago and your watches collection reminds you that time pass by.
Smoke from your cigarette and you walk home.”
While I paint, I tell myself stories and I begin when I decide for a subject.
It’s very often a spontaneous decision, immediate, like taking a instant picture or the opposite, growing day by day , slowly, passing by always the same spot.
In this case it was a slow approach, the flair of this shop, the light in the night with the warmth of the window: smoking as comfort for the soul, a meditative hug a relaxing moment where you stop the hectic of the day and start thinking.
I never smoked and I can’t tell if my interpretation is right: but the sketch convinced me, the square composition simple and balanced with a jazzy mood. The enlightened red of the label, you can’t help falling in love with it while painting.
I changed a bit the drawing in the painting, introducing a little perspective instead of a side view; it shows a bit better the dynamic of the walking man, the way he comes back. From-where we don’t know, to where, neither.
Following the theme of the hat shop, a second work inspired to a lovely shop in Munich and to my exceptional friend that model for me. Somehow it’s not the season to paint in studio but given the current situation and the indication to stay home , I am coming back to all the photo references even if older ones.
It’s super interesting to see which elements are differently capturing my attention, completely new stories come out from the same source. Here I liked the gesture to look for the matching element in the hat atelier shop.
The first weekend at home… a relatively warm day, actually I would have loved to go out and set my easel somewhere in the city for a street view subject. I decided not to do so even if I would have been alone and without company, mostly by principle. Apparently the only way to reduce possible illness is to reduce possible contacts with other people. Therefore I used my outdoor equipment and installed it in front of the window… the neighbors garden is not particularly spectacular but the afternoon sunshine was supportive and a little painting story could be created . That’s all from the home studio
An amazing art show, the last one I visited just before the pandemic infection blocked all the soul food activities… the French Gobelins shown in Munich. Amazing tribute to art and themselves unique works. The show was so intense and the colors stunning that I decided to continue the tribute chain … painting the Gobelin that honors artists ( Picasso here)
I close the circle painting-textile-painting being quite sure nobody will continue it based on my work 😂
Beside that I loved to see how the visitors look as part of a wider artwork, all of them creating a composition in harmony with colors and textil – a deeper participation ,than everyone was maybe not aware of.
I don’t want to write much about this painting, because it’s a feeling I let everyone make his/her own story about it Be far away from home, family, friends, all people you love For whatever reason, waiting for the moment to be together again, That‘s it. Oll on canvas 40×60 cm
This painting is inspired and dedicated to my friends and it makes sense to dedicate it today to all the women. The spontaneous shots I took some time ago and just now I am reworking them in a bigger format ( 60x60 cm) after some little and more abstract works. My friends will pardon me for having modified here and there our memories, the spirit of complicity between us and the fun in a wonderful hat shop we had remains the same. Thank you girls for being my models 🤗
Valentina Radice - Paintings 