#and squee

And back to work, boo :(

But--

-- I had a great time

-- saw some old friends

-- consumed some ~special chocolate~ and other goodies not legal at home

-- came up with a few plot bunnies 

-- and am ready to get back to work writing and painting again as soon as possible!

Not only did we see the Venetian art exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, but we had the chance to visit some private homes (re: mansions) with amazing modern/abstract-expressionist art collections which have me inspired to try some new things with the piles of cheap canvases in my basement. Hey, you never know. 

And some of the people on this trip were trips in and of themselves, filed away in my memory banks now for possible character inspiration in the future. We were there with Save Venice, where everyone is basically leagues wealthier than we could ever dream of being, but Mr. Hawkland gives what he can every year to support their tremendous work for Venice’s art and architecture. And they seem to like having two actual artists with them on these trips to talk more about technical details and practicalities of painting that the historians don’t even know.

I actually had dinner one night sitting next to and chatting with Hutton Wilkinson, who is an utterly delightful and charming man who complemented me on my style and jewelry (which left me on Cloud 9). He in turn seemed to file Mr. Hawkland away in his memory banks, if he ever has a client who wants a giant Renaissance art reproduction for his home, after seeing a few samples of his artwork (!!!!!!) And we might be doing a lecture at one of their events next year to talk about traditional painting techniques as a way to explain why some works present more difficult challenges to restorers today than others. So that’s exciting.