ITALY CAN ONLY BE A DREAM FOR NOW

Panicale ( Umbria)

I was expecting this news from Brussels yet when it was made official

I was struck by how devastated I felt. The European Union was opening up

to outside nations but  not to the United States.

Our friends in Italy told us about their three month lockdown which was

extreme and enforced. They did not like it, but they complied and now Italy

has very few Covid-19 cases.  Who can blame the EU for not admitting

Americans? I live in New England and in this region of the U.S. where
the cases of Covid -19 have been low and are declining. We

followed the stay at home orders and are wearing masks. Many of the

States in the South and West have had their heads in the sand on 

the seriousness of Covid-19  and are now seeing the cases rise dramatically

in those regions. Please, wear a mask and follow social distancing
measures......it's not that difficult and the results are enormous.

The world is a changed place, Italy, America and 

anywhere you put your finger on a global map,

 due to this pandemic.

 The sun still rises each morning , beyond that no one

knows. All I do know is that James and I will not be returning to Italy as

soon as we'd like.  

We will miss seeing great works of art

in  places such as Florence, Rome, Assisi, Montefalco, Ravenna, and Venice. 

  We will miss eating the foods from

the fields and farms of Umbria and Tuscany and drinking the wines. We will

not be seeing the very same landscapes that Perugino or Raphael looked at and painted.

We will not be sitting in the piazza drinking our morning cappuccino at the bar. We will not 

be having an October lunch in our friends olive grove while the harvest is on 

or eating fresh umbrichelli pasta with truffles being shaved over the top in

a local restaurant.   

But most of all we will miss our friends and all the kind people 

we have gotten to know through the years of spending time at home in Panicale .
To everyone, we will return.

A few memories to hang on to.................

Panicale with Lake Trasimeno

Perugino

Rome rooftops and St. Ivo

Venice

Sardegna 

Umbria landscape

Panicale

I did not include  pictures of everyone and  of  all of our friends but we are dearly

thinking of you all.

abbracci tutti!

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( part 8)

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this plague 

that we are suffering through.

I try do do it with paint.

STUDIO VISIT

PAINTING IN PROGRESS

TURBULENCE 

Often when we visit Venice it is raining. Not just a little drizzle

but full buckets of water falling onto this floating city. With 

Vaporetti rocking and canals rolling it's difficult to know which

way is up, but it really doesn't matter because it's all such 

a wonderful swirl.

The Swirl

[detail of cloths]

In its Malthusian way sickness moves through the World's 

population. We are social animals and so interconnected that any

pathogen can and will move effortlessly through us.

That is what it does.

[detail of cloths and city]

But we will survive and continue to expand, it's what we do.

This painting has obsessed me for months, sorry for sharing

my obsession, but it's what I do.

Siena Daylilies ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 30" x 28"

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( part 6)

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this plague 

that we are all suffering through. I try to do it with paint.

Painting In Progress

KINDA NOT BLUE

Siena Daylilies (in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 30" x 28"

When I taught, I used to tell my students, "listen to your paintings,

they will tell you what they need." My students would squirm

uncomfortably and avoid any eye contact with me. They must have

thought that I was crazy. After I reflect on my lectures of the

glories of Bounty paper towels ( full sheet) they may have been right.

Siena Daylilies (in progress)

with sky ( blue)

Siena Daylilies ( in progress)

with sky ( white)

What I had 'wanted' was a sky that transitioned from an almost

white on the horizon to a deep blue. What I got was an 

uncomfortable feeling every time I looked at the 'pink / blue thing'.

So the blue had to go. Right now it is almost a monochromatic color

structure, a first for me. But, hey! What do I have to lose? If it works

let's just say that, 'I am a very good listener.'

( cloth detail)

Onto the cloth.....not so easy.

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( part 6)

 Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this plague
that we are all suffering through....
I do it with paint.



PAINTING IN PROGRESS


STUDIO VISIT

THE GHOST SHIP SETS SAIL

Morning Glories ( in progress)
James Aponovich
Oil on canvas, 12" x 10"

After painting so many roof tiles in the Siena painting I had to give
my eyes a break from Burnt Sienna and Terra Rosa.

 Morning Glories (detail)


Nothing like plunging into Ultramarine and Turquoise.
The composition and basic forms are set, now I paint the
first layer of color trying to coordinate the color composition.
The cloth is going towards red, green or deep blue?

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( part 5)

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this 

plague that we are all suffering through. 

I do it with paint.

PAINTINGS IN PROGRESS

STUDIO VISIT

Siena Daylilies ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 30" x 28"

Some artists never show their work until it is completely

finished. Believe me, I have nothing to hide and I think it

may take some of the mystery out of art if you show the

rough spots, indecision's, and miss cues of a painting.

Siena Daylilies ( detail /in progress)

A whole lot of roof tiles.

Basket of Fruit and Vegetables ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 24" x 22"

The cloth is 'kinda' finished, now I must wait for the

right fruits and vegetables.

 Truth be told, I make them up...

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE ( Part 4)

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with

this plague that we are all suffering through. 

I do it with paint.

PAINTING IN PROGRESS

THE GHOST SHIP

Morning Glories ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 16" x 12"

On the Mediterranean Sea during the Summer of 1348

it was not uncommon to see ships under full sail aimlessly

floating wherever the wind blew them.

Their crews were all dead....from the Plague.

Try to board and claim salvage? You will certainly join them.

So what does this have to do with a painting?

Morning Glories ( in progress/ detail)

Well to me, there is something a bit ghostly about the beginning

of this painting of Morning Glories. Sometimes if I know

I'll not be able to finish a painting 'in season', I'll sketch the

composition in pale earth colors and wait until next (this)

year for flowers to bloom.

We'll see how it goes.

ARTIST'S RESPONSE Part 3

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms

with this plague that we are all suffering through.

PAINTING IN PROGRESS

Siena Daylilies  ( in progress)

James Aponovich

Oil on canvas, 30" x 28"

The entire surface of the canvas is loosely painted.

It is called 'blocked in'.  I will be attempting to  show

the flowers emerging from the shadow into sunlight...Good Luck!

There are two cloths with  a black patterned over a simple white.

Black and white are Siena's colors.

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE part 2

Like most of us. I've been trying to come to terms with this

plague we are all suffering through.

I try to do it with paint.

PAINTING IN PROGRESS

Basket of Fruit and Vegetables ( in progress)

James Aponovich

Oil on canvas, 26" x 26"

It is very important to establish a solid foundation.

For this painting it means building a strong structure that will carry the

brilliance of the fruit and vegetables. That means paying a lot of

attention to how the basket and cloth are painted against a

dark background. It's been a struggle, but I have the time.

AN ARTIST'S RESPONSE

PAINTING IN PROGRESS

Like most of us, I have been trying to come to terms with this plague we are all

suffering through .

THE UNDER PAINTING

( what lies beneath)

Siena Daylilies  (detail)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 30" x 28"

I sketched these 'Elizabeth Salter' daylilies from our garden last
season. They are a personal favorite. I'll finish them this summer when
they bloom again.

I have chosen a cityscape of Siena, Italy. In 1347 everything seemed fine,
they had defeated ( for the first time) their traditional enemy, Florence,
and had commenced building what would be the largest
cathedral in Europe. The nave can still be seen ( upper left).
Then, by 1348 the 'Great Mortality' arrived, we know it as the 'Black Death'.
From a population of 40,000 people only 14,000 survived.
As now, population density was a factor and like now
there was no treatment.

'SONO FINITI'......The Final Paintings of 2019

Still Life with Oranges

James Aponovich

Oil on canvas, 12" x 10"

I started these paintings over the Fall in Panicale. I left a couple there

to finish in the Spring. A day or two after New Year's Day 

these paintings are heading down to the State of Florida ( Palm Beach)

for one of the endless 'Art Fairs'.

( Someone tapes a banana to a wall and it sells for $120,000.)

What a business!

Still Life with Bowl of Berries

James Aponovich

Oil on panel, 10" x 8"

As far as I'm concerned this just about sums it up. I have been

studying Italian Renaissance painting for almost a 

half Century and this little guy says it 'in a nutshell'....

....I think.

R.B.R.V.C.

Renaissance

Based

Radical 

Visual

Conservative 

Copyright 2019 James Aponovich

All rights reserved

LIGHT REFLECTING ON ITSELF

Still Life with Oranges ( study)

James Aponovich

pencil on paper, 4 3/4" x 4"

I've always heard people talking about the 'quality of the light,'

of one place or another. I never quite understood just what they

were talking about. We used to live on the coast of Maine where

I constantly heard about the wonderful light....where?

Now we live smack dab in the middle of Italy, with the

Adriatic Sea on one side and the Tyrrenian Sea on the other.

So, I should get it , right?

Still Life with Bowl of Fruit, Panicale

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 10" x 8"

O.K., one way to paint 'light' is to paint objects in their environment

( i.e. the landscape and sky). Looking up, I must say that the deep 

blue of the Italian sky is amazing. By incorporating Renaissance 'Sfumato'

and aerial perspective ( Hello, Leonardo) and you wind up with the

classic depth of field and light stuff.

That's one way.

UP AGAINST THE WALL

or

'LIGHT BOUNCING BACK AT YOU'

Still Life with Oranges (in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 12" x 10"

A number of years ago, Elizabeth and I were in Rome to see an

exhibit of 19th Century Italian painting at the Cloister of Bramante

just off the Piazza Navona. In the exhibit there was a still life of

oranges against a wall, but man, was it bright! I had to put on

sunglasses to look at it! When I got back to the studio I did a sketch,

in my style (first image) and this is the in progress painting.

Not so much as seeing through light, but having light

bounce back at you.

Copyright 2019 James Aponovich

all rights reserved

PANICALESE STILL LIFE

Panicalese Still Life

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 10" x 8"

It's not unusual for me to complete a small painting in less than

a month ( don't tell my galleries that). I guess that I have

never been very adept at group efforts, but when I'm left alone,

things seem to take on a life of their own. Until...

"James, why don't you, while we are in Italy, paint on 

one of these wood panels. I love them," my wife Elizabeth asked 

prior to our latest trip.

"Hmmm, why not?", I thought, they travel well and those 

Renaissance guys used them 

( when they weren't painting on walls)

"Finalamente'....Two months later and a whole lot of hours

chained to the easel, this is the result.







Copyright 2019 James Aponovich
All rights reserved

SQUAM STILLWATER: Five Pines {8}

AS EVER HIDDEN

Squam Stillwater: Five Pines   ( in progress)

James Aponovich

Oil on canvas, 24" x 18"

Now the painting is in the home stretch. To most eyes it

appears to be finished but I know that there still remains hours of 

painting ( pine needles ) ahead. I originally had something happening

where the air meets the water. On the surface of the water I painted

a Mayfly which has just landed and underneath you could see a trout

 rising to catch it. I understand that things like that occur. I realized that was

 in complete juxtaposition of the tranquility I was trying to capture.

So out came the hungry fish and if old 'Golden Pond' ( Squam Lake)

is known for anything.....

(detail)

.......it's Loons

copyright2019 James Aponovich

all rights reserved 

SQUAM STILLWATER: Five Pines { 7 }

What would happen if one combined the Japanese like elegance of native

pines with 15th Century Florentine musical ratios by way of the Greek

Philosopher Pythagoras ? Let's find out.

Squam Stillwater: Five Pines ( in-progress)
James Aponovich
oil on canvas, 24" x 18"



The painting has stood in a corner of the studio for the greater
part of a month. I had to attend to a Sunflower painting. Now it's
back on the easel so I repainted the sky ( 8 colors & values) and
the water ( 10 colors and values).

The sky is dry so I begin the
arduous process of painting the pines, plus the distant
mountain and hills. Did I mention I hate the color green?

Detail

SQUAM STILLWATER: FIVE PINES {6}

What would happen if one combines the Japanese like elegance of native

pines with 15th Century Florentine musical ratios by way of the Greek

Philosopher Pythagoras?  Let's find out.....

MID POINT 

( But still swimming upstream )

Squam Stillwater: Five Pines (in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 24" x 18"

Finally the entire surface has paint on it. I want to

emphasize that this is only the first coat. By the time the

painting is finished you will not see this layer. This is the

'Ugly Duckling' stage with all the miscues and warts

showing. I now let it dry then scrape it down smooth and

start over again. Are we having fun yet?

Oh, I should mention...there is something happening

where the air and water meet.  (?)

copyright 2019 James Aponovich

all rights reserved

SQUAM STILLWATER: FIVE PINES {5}

What would happen if one combines the Japanese like elegance of native pines

with 12th Century Florentine musical ratios by way of the Greek 

Philosopher Pythagoras? Let's find out.......

THE FIRST GO-ROUND: Part II

Squam Stillwater: Five Pines  ( in progress)

James Aponovich

Oil on canvas, 24" x 18"

GROWNG PAINS

I have just completed the 'Blocking In" of the trees and other

reflections. So far, nothing in this painting is finalized, just 

the basics are established. Now the real ( a,k.a. tedious)

work begins with a very, very small brush.....every twig

and pine needle and then everything is repeated in the reflection...

Did I mention I hate repeating myself?

Fortunately I have to wait a few days for the paint to dry.

Company is coming for the weekend anyway.

Copyright 2019 James Aponovich 

All rights reserved 

SQUAM STILLWATER: FIVE PINES {4}

What would happen if one combines the Japanese like elegance of native

pines with 15th Century Florentine musical ratios by way of the Greek

Philosopher Pythagoras?  Let's find out.....

Squam Stillwater: Five Pines  ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas,  24" x 18"

THE FIRST GO-AROUND

The first coat of the sky (and water) is dry. Now it's time to

'generalize' the trees with color. There will be more detail to come

but now I want to establish how the light is....not easy.

Mt. Chocorua is just catching the last rays of the setting sun

and glows with ember like warmth. The tips of the trees are

also barely in sun while their bases are in cool shadow.

Now I have to repeat this in the reflections.

Copyright 2019 James Aponovich

All rights reserved

SQUAM STILLWATER : FIVE PINES {3}

What would happen if one combines the Japanese like elegance of native

pines with 15th Century Florentine musical ratios by way of

the Greek Philosopher Pythagoras? Let's find out.

THE BLOCK- IN

Squam Stillwater: Five Pines  ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 24" x 18"

I now need to cover the entire surface of the canvas with a coat of paint.

 Since most of the painting is sky ( or reflected sky) I can rely on

my ' sky progression' sequence, ie. pale Naples Yellow transitioning

into Ultramarine Blue. There are usually seven colors of deepening

value, each reflected in the water. The land is a soft Cobalt Green

with Mt. Chocorua bathed in distant sunlight.

So...with all the blues, violets and greens everything is quite cool.

That usually means I will want a 'Hot Spot'.

Stayed tuned.....

Copyright 2019 James Aponovich
All rights reserved

SQUAM STILLWATER: FIVE PINES {2}

What would happen if one combines the Japanese like elegance of native

pines with 15th Century Florentine musical ratios by way of

the Greek philosopher, Pythagoras?

Let's find out.

THE WASH

Squam Stillwater: Five Pines ( in progress)

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 24" x 18"

The oil wash does a couple of things. First, it covers the pencil with

a thin semi-transparent coat of oil paint. It also darkens the trees so

that I can see them through the subsequent coats of paint.

By the way, after the first twenty minutes or so, 

the 'fun' is over. It's all work( albeit enjoyable) now.

Copyright 2019 James Aponovich

All rights reserved

SQUAM STILLWATER : Five Pines

SQUAM STILLWATER: Five Pines ( in progress)

James Aponovich

pencil study on canvas, 24" x 18"

What would happen if one combines the Japanese like elegance of

native pines with 15th Century Florentine Musical Ratios

by way of the Greek Philosopher, Pythagoras?

copyright 2019 James Aponovich