"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.

"US Capitol from Pennsylvania Ave" (oil on stretched canvas; 10" x 8")

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This is a famous view of the US Capitol from Pennsylvania Ave.  It always looks grand, doesn't it?  The Capitol dome is probably one of the hardest things to draw and paint.  I have painted it several times.  I hope that I am getting better each time!

"Lincoln Memorial Sunset" (oil on linen; 9" x 12") sold

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I've noticed that some artists who are participating in Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 Challenge actually have a theme for the month.  They are very wise and I admire them.  I, for one, have no such luxury.  Some days I wake up in the middle of night wondering what I am going to painting the next day!  That's is why I decided to paint my favorite scene one more time.

We Washingtonians don't go out of way to pay respect to these famous memorials but for the out-of-town relatives.  More than 10 years ago, before the digital age, a cousin of mine from Korea came to visit and we took her to The Mall.  It was a beautiful spring day.  As the sun started setting, the marble structure began to glow against the golden sky.  Green leaves burned orange.  It was a magical moment.  So pardon me for repeating myself and please tell me that the new painting is better than the old one!

"Lincoln Memorial at Sunset" (oil, 11" x 14"; sold)

"Victoria Embankment, London" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

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If you ask me what I remember most about London during my recent trip to England, I would say "the crowds"!  True, you don't visit big cities like London for peace and quiet, but the city was completely mobbed with the tourists from the UK, Europe, and elsewhere. If we had been astute travelers, we would have checked the calendar ahead and noticed that it was the Easter weekend and the beginning of the Easter holiday.

There were lines everywhere.  London had become Epcot at Disney world on a bad day.  Look at the inside of the beautiful, but packed Natural History Museum on Friday afternoon.  Or Parliament Square on Saturday morning.  Or Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square on Saturday afternoon.

The mob scene at the Natural History Museum

Parliament Square; do you see the statue of Winston Churchill?

Piccadilly Circus is ALWAYS crowded!

But who knew that Leicester Square, one of the theater districts, was this  popular among tourists?

Don't get me wrong.  I love London.  Back in my youth, I lived there for six, happy months.  The stop at the  National Gallery, which was, needless to say, mobbed, was one of the highlights of the entire trip.  I got to see in person the 17th-century Spanish artist Velasquez's "Rokeby Venus"!

This was the only picture I took at the museum until I learned that photography was not allowed.  Oops!

We finally found peace on the Victoria Embankment, a river walk along the north bank of the Thames River. Boy, we walked gazillion miles that day, which wasn't over yet. We would continue the walk for a few more hours until our legs gave out.  By the way, if you think that I painted the river with the famous, ancient Egyptian, Cleopatra's Needle too romantically, you are wrong.  Paris is not the only romantic city in the world!

I have a suspicion that the British kept these iconic telephone booths for the amusement of the foreign tourists.  The girl in a serious winter gear is my daughter.  It was cold!

"Connecticut Ave Bridge in Autumn Afternoon " (oil on linen; 8" x 16")

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Reference photo

On a beautiful autumn day ten days ago, my family had to drive to the Levine School of Music in Northwest in Washington, DC for my daughter's Suzuki flute Christmas concert rehearsal.  Instead of griping about missing the opportunity for plein air painting with friends, I took my camera with me to take pictures of Rock Creek Park in the car.

Yes, you've been there, clicking away your camera without even getting out of the car.  In my defense (I always have excuses!), it is impossible to pull over along the drive in Rock Creek Park.  Besides, the traffic was heavy, as seemingly everybody was out enjoying the spectacular weather.

I was mesmerized by the tall trees in brilliant autumn colors along the drive.  Since we were in the valley, only the crowns of these trees were lit by the late afternoon sun.  Fascinating!  We passed under several bridges until we hit Connecticut Avenue Bridge over Klingle Valley, more commonly known as the Klingle Valley Bridge.  It is a handsome Art Deco bridge near the National Zoo on Connecticut Avenue.  Marvelous!

I cropped the photo to make the composition more dramatic and proceeded to paint "Connecticut Avenue Bridge over Rock Creek Park."  The painting has the clear separation of the light and shadow families that Kevin Macpherson talks about in his book.  To exaggerate the sensation of a bright sunny day, I painted the area in the sun even lighter than in the photo.  Do you feel like you were there with me in the car wowing at the scenery?

"Jefferson Memorial Nocturne" (oil on linen; 10" x 15") sold

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"Jefferson Memorial Nocturne" was the first of my new mini series--mellow nocturnal scenes of Washington landmarks.  Initially it turned out dull and boring instead of evocative and stirring.  So I let it dry and reworked with more paint and colors.  The famous memorial to the great president doesn't look dirty anymore; its reflections in the water have colors instead of mud. 

We are used to seeing Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin during the National Cherry Blossom Festival against gazillion, fluffy, pink petals.  I wonder what President Thomas Jefferson feels about that in his grave.  To this man of many talents and great vision, three achievements mattered the most. 

Thus, he penned his own epitaph on his tombstone at Monticello, VA as follows: "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statue of Virginia for religious freedom, and father of the University of Virginia."

"Capitol Nocturne" (oil on linen; 12" x 12") sold

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I thought I would create a series of evening scenes of famous Washington landmarks.  "Capitol Nocturne" was actually the third in the series, but it was the first one that turned out right at the get-go.  Painting from the reference photos of nocturnal images that did not give much information about details and colors was not easy. I also wanted these nocturnes to be as evokative and stirring as Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata."

Capturing the drama of the brilliantly-lit US Capitol dome  and lights and their reflections in the pond was my goal in "Capitol Nocturne."  About half of the painting session was spent painting upside down in an effort to get the image and reflections to match up more or less.  I would bring the painting to a mirror to look at it reversed, only to put it back on the easel in the wrong way!  Wait a minute, which way was I painting?

"Smithsonian Castle Rose Garden" (oil on canvas; 18" x 18")

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Reference photo

One spring day, I went to The Mall with my family and saw the rose garden at the eastern end of the Smithsonian Castle.  The air was so thick with the rose perfume that you couldn't have missed it while walking by.  I didn't, however, stop to take pictures because I had company.  So I went back a couple of days later, hoping that the heavy rain the day before didn't damage the flowers in full bloom.  I timed it carefully so that the garden would be basking in morning sun as you can see above.

So far, so good.  Painting the scene was not as easy.  It was tough to make the various components of the picture--the castle with a complicated mock medieval architecture, two big trees, garden, benches, etc--work together harmoniously without drawing too much attention to the castle.  I finally finished "Smithsonian Castle Rose Garden" yesterday.  I am going to enter it in The Art League's annual landscape show in two weeks.  We'll see how it goes.