"Grand Canal Sunset" (oil on stretched canvas; 12" x 12")

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It is the golden sunset in Venice. Take a gondola and glide along the Grand Canal. We just passed Santa Maria della Salute. Ah, life is good!

"Venice Scuola Grande di San Marco" (oil on stretched canvas; 11" x 14") sold

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Venice is beautiful wherever you look. One of my favorite places in this serenely beautiful city is the Scuola Grande di San Marco. It originally was the home to one of the six major sodalities or Scuole Grandi of Venice. It faces the Campo San Giovanni e Paolo, one of the largest squares in the city. Of course, the square is always packed with people, whom I made disappear magically!

The edifice was built by the Confraternity of San Marco in 1260 to act as its seat. In 1485, however, it was destroyed by a large fire, and rebuilt in the following twenty years. The façade is a masterwork of delicately decorated niches and pilasters and white or polychrome marble statues. It is now a civic hospital.

"San Marco Dusk" (oil on linen; 9" x 12")

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Venice is beautiful at any time of the day, but it becomes ethereal at dusk. At the edge of St. Mark's Square, one can see a sliver of the elegant Doge's Palace and the column with a winged lion, the Lion of Venice, which is the symbol of St. Mark. The small island with San Giorgio Maggiore and its bell tower fills the mauve sky. The beautiful street lights are lit and cast long reflections on the pavement. The rest is hushed silence.

"Venice the Most Serene City" (oil on linen; 12" x 12") sold

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The best way to see Venice is by a gondola.  Hop into a gondola and glide by the famous Basicila di Santa Maria della Salute, on the way to the Piazza San Marco.  The domes of "The Salute" glow in the golden light of late afternoon.  No wonder that Venice is called the Most Serene City!

Step 1: Drawing for "Venice in Late Afternoon"

Step 2: Transparent underpainting

Step 3: The first layer of opaque paints down

Step 4: Time to refine the painting

"Rialto Bridge Dusk" (oil on linen; 12" x 12") sold

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Venice is always beautiful.  At dusk, it becomes breath-takingly ethereal.  Ride a gondola, like the couple in the painting, and glide under the famed Rialto Bridge in the sunset.

"Venetian Gondolier" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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Venice, one of the most enchanting cities in the world, on a sunny, shimmering day.  Glide on a gondola through the meandering canals.  In Venice, one forgets time and becomes timeless. It's like a dream.