La turista americana
"La turista americana" - acrylic on paper 70x100
"I believe one of the things I miss most in this pandemic, as many others here, are the American tourists.
Many great people, more than a few of them loud and inappropriate, and the UGA students - "lively, to say the least", eating and drinking while sitting on our ancient stones and monuments. Walking in my shop with their drinks from the bar or their dripping cone from Snoopy, talking over me, interrupting.
I cannot wait until we allow them back in. For what I can see in Cortona, it's much more silent and grey.
The idea of the painting came because I was supposed to see my friend in Rome last May, obviously I didn't, so I said "I'll paint us in Rome". In order to make it less cheesy than it sounds and to add a bit of mysteriousness and surreality, I decided to portray myself as a mascherone fountain, like the ones which adorn many of the monuments, squares, streets and gardens of Italy.