A Little Painting I brought home from Italy

Terry and I were on vacation in Rome, wandering through Piazza Navona and having the kind of day you wish you could tuck into your suitcase. Everything felt beautiful and romantic. We came upon an open market in the most beautiful piazza, and one artist’s display stopped me.

It was the color. Her paintings had these deep, rich colors that felt so much like Italy to me. Looking at them gave me the same feeling as strolling through the streets of Rome. I wanted to know more about her work, so I went over to talk with her. Terry, as usual, watched me fall for something and happily enabled me.

The artist, Filomena Garonna, painted on thin pieces of cement that she had mounted. She told us she had developed that style because, to her, the surface recalled paintings on Italian walls and stucco. I loved hearing how she had come up with it. My Italian vocabulary was very limited, she spoke next to no English, it was Google Translate that helped us muddle through. It was such a fun conversation.

The piece we chose is small, mounted on a deep teal board. On its rough-edged surface, a little winged figure leans over a painted architectural detail, reaching toward it with a sprig in hand. There are cracks and worn edges that make the whole thing feel like a bit of an old Italian wall. Its colors don’t really match anywhere in our house, either. But I didn’t want to leave it behind. I wanted to take home the feeling I had while standing there in Rome, talking with the woman who made it.

We usually bring home a little something from our travels. This one became a keeper for a different reason. The artist’s work drew me in; and meeting her became part of what I see when I look at it.

Today the painting sits on a shelf in our living room. I’m not in there all the time, but whenever I notice it, I’m right back in that piazza, chatting across a language barrier with an artist whose work I loved. It makes me happy. It gives my heart that warm, vacation feeling all over again.

I wasn’t thinking then about becoming a professional artist, and I certainly wasn’t trying to learn a lesson about why people buy art. But looking back, I recognize that same wish in other art I’ve brought into our home: a painting of our vineyard at sunrise that I commissioned for Terry, and now a portrait of us from a favorite wedding photograph that I can’t wait to see – maybe I’ll tell you more about that story later…

Sometimes you want to live with a moment or a feeling a little longer. That small painting lets me do exactly that.