Royal Oak sends out Newsletters to everyone in the city seasonally. This summer's issue has a picture of my pottery on the front page! It's the one is the top center. All the art shown are samples of what you can find at the Royal Oak Outdoor Art Fair the 9th and 10th of July. Guess the judges must really like my pottery. I never expected this. :)
My first painting at Grace College.
The only painting that I have done for myself... then when I was poor, I sold it. 
Bekah also had me do these for her. -Cincinnati, OH
This one is painted only using a knife; no brushes.
This is my personal favorite. It was also done my first year at Grace. 
After my first Lily painting, I decided to do a bunch of them. 
-A longtime friend Ashley has this one in Indianapolis, IN
My cousin, Becky has this one in Louisville, KY. She will be having a baby in November and has already picked out the name of Lily for her!Venice means Queen of the Sea. This fishing city’s wealth came form the sea and trading. The 117 islands began sinking from the buildings above and were secured with lots of logs standing straight and tightly underneath the surface. All of the islands are connected with over 400 bridges. There are no cars or Vespas like the other cities. Walking a ton or taking a water taxi is the only ways to get around. It is a very unique city!
Gondola ride: A must when in Venice!!!
St. Mark Basilica:
This Basilica, built in the 1100’s is the oldest monument in Venice. It took 50 years to build, and 500 years to decorate. The church has 1800 feet of glass and gold textiles.
Dodge’s Palace:
A Dodge is kind of like the President. He is the head of the Church and State, has governors, senate and court underneath him, but always has the last say. In the Dodges palace is a gold plated ceiling. It is this way so that others will come in knowing that the Venictians are supposively richer than them.
I went to the Art Academia in Venice which has only Venician paintings. I saw one that was a painting of St. Mark’s Square and God flying above it. The Square looked exactly like it looks today, except in the background had ships in the canal and the people in the square were wearing Renaissance clothing. It’s cool how history can be portrayed in art.
Guggenheim Collection:
Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979) was an art collector. Her motto was to buy a new work of art each day… rich lady if you couldn’t tell… She loved modern art: Abstract and Surrealism. The galleries that I know about were opened in London 1938, New York 1942, and Venice 1949. I visited the gallery and saw pieces that people have seen in books, but still have no idea what they really are like. I was going to buy a poster of Jackson Pollock’s ‘Alchemy’ for my classroom one day, but didn’t after seeing it because it just doesn’t give the work justice. Other works that you might know, that were featured (but we weren’t allowed to take pictures of) were Picassos ‘The Poet’, and Max Ernst ‘The Kiss’.
Getting lost in Venice is a part of experiencing it. When I was lost, I came upon a church holding 60 reproduced models of Leonardo da Vinci’s invention notes. Made from wood, brass, fabric, and bronze they are divided into sections of war, flying, water, mechanical, and building. He was a genius. Living from 1452-1519 and being a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, and writer makes him the archetype of the Renaissance man.
P.S. He pretty much invented the bicycle, but it wasn’t coined till the 1800’s.
Since being in Rome, I’ve been trying to get used to the time change… it didn’t help that on the way here I was only able to get about 3 hours of sleep. I’ve been very tired; drinking as much coffee/espresso as I can manage, and also walking around all day trying to keep myself from taking catnaps, resulting in achy feet with blisters. These curcomstances are small compared to the huge blessing I’ve had to be here!
Rome is an amazing city. Wow, the drivers are crazy, its not an odd thing to see a business man in a suit on one…. which reminds me; there are some really good looking Italians out there…. I’ve seen a ton already and my tour hasn’t even begun.
Above picture is at the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps are 300 years old. At the bottom is a sinking ship fountain built by Bernini. All the fountains in Italy are powered by an aqueduct underneath and keep tourist hydrated.
The Pantheon:
Built before Christ was born to honor all pagan gods; the Pantheon is the pride of the city. It is the best-preserved temple of ancient Rome. Agrippa built it with gilded bronze so that it would gleam and been seen from all around the city. The only light comes from the apex of the 142-foot in diameter by 142 foot high dome opening. The Emperor, Hadrian rebuilt the Pantheon from 118-128AD, capping a former temple. It is the largest and most daring of its kind, and was until the 20th century.
Bernini’s “Four Rivers” is centrally located and represents the four continents that were known in 1650.
Fontona di Trevi:
Designed by Nicola Salvi in 1762.
“Throw a coin into it [backwards] and you will return to Rome.”
