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| Piazza San Marco on a Sunday—with empty tables because of slight flooding. |
To be free to wander is a ravishing pleasure that feeds my artist
soul. And in Venice, to wander is extra pleasurable since there are
no cars to threaten a person who is dreamy and in an altered state of
consciousness. Altered states occur since it is a “floating world,”
much like a dream. Accordions play, church bells ring, boats drift by
on the labyrinth of canals and one cannot walk far without coming to
one of 400 bridges that span the city.
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| Reflections—Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy |
I have had a remarkable 24 hours. A friend from the United States
arrived yesterday and we met at my apartment to have dinner and catch
up with each other before leaving to meet with two Venetian ladies.
My American friend, Neely, speaks Italian and immediately was
conversing with her Italian counterparts as we walked together to a
free baroque concert in a 700 year old church—
Chiesa della Madonnadell'Orto. The concert was a fundraiser for ebola victims in Africa,
and consisted of recitals from
Antonio Lotti (5 January 1667 – 5
January 1740) an Italian Baroque composer. The massive church with
soaring architecture and paintings by famous Venetian painter-
Tintoretto, (Italian, October, 1518– May 31, 1594) soon filled up and we sat together in pews as the conductor
and musicians came forth and stood facing us. The music and singing
was sublime and as I closed my eyes I was transported through the
ages to other times.
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| Stevie, self-portrait in Venice |
Today, I have been walking with Cristiana for two hours, and
amazingly we chatted most of the time, while she occasionally waited
patiently while my muse stopped me to photograph something or other.
I realize that when I am in the artistic zone, it is an altered
state where I am not really seeing people as personalities and
buildings as shops or homes. Rather I am responding to light and
reflection, texture and space, intriguing positions of humans in
interaction or alone within the environment.
Cristiana recognizes me as an artist and says that anyone who is
to be in relationship with me must understand this is who I am. I
agree totally.
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| Venice . . . double exposure |
