Ciao! Bok! Hello!

There are few things I love as much as art. One of those things is travel. Combine Art + Travel and I am in heaven.

In May, we were able to travel to Croatia for the first time! County number 19 for me. We drove from Italy and in less than an hour we drove through Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia. Being from the USA where it takes 3 days to drive across one state it boggles my mind that I can visit 3 countries in an hour.

Croatia is a beautiful country. Roads were lined with vineyards, olive groves, and forests. At the sea the water was cool and crystal clear. The people were kind and the food was nourishing.

On the 1st day I snuck down to the seaside with my paints. I found a log under a tree. Perfect natural shade and a natural table. I took some reference photos and started painting. The fun and the challenge of painting in plein air is capturing the light. On this day it was a couple of hours before sunset and the sea was almost the exact pale yellow color as the sky. Painting the sea adds the extra challenge of the tide coming in and covering the rock that is your focal point. Despite the challenges, I created a piece I am proud of and I think captures the feeling of that moment in time well. My favorite part was taking a dip in that refreshing water after I finished my painting.

The 2nd day started with beautiful weather but by the end of the day it was raining. Not one to be deterred, I used one of my references from the first day to create a new piece while sitting on our patio listening to the rain. I painted until I couldn’t see my paper and called it a night. It was magical.

Our 3rd day was also greeted with off an on rain. I took this as another opportunity to enjoy the patio and complete the painting from day 2. I am really quite proud of how the final piece looks. The host at our glamping site said that Croatia often goes 6 months without rain. While the rain isn’t great for tourists, it is wonderful for Croatians and the local farms.

On the 4th day I did not paint. Instead we visited the Medieval town of Bale (ball-aye). This beautiful place is full off cobblestone streets, flowers in window boxes, cracking walls, textured doors, and small cafes. An artists dream. Needless to say I took over 100 photos and you will likely be seeing some Bale inspired art very soon. In Bale we wondered the streets, enjoyed a cappuccino at a jazz club, and stumbled upon a olive oil shop where we sampled some of the local olive oils. The Instrian area of Croatia is known for it’s olive oil. It starts off smooth but has a nice peppery bite at the end. Olive oil tasting is much like wine tasting.

This trip has inspired me to release a collection of my travel paintings this year. I am currently envisioning October. I will keep you in the loop as we get closer to the launch date.

Hvala Croatia! I feel like we barely scratched the surface of what Croatia has to offer. I am sure we will be visiting again.