All Things Venice!!!

A few years ago, I met Isabella Campagnol who was with Rubelli in Venice at the time. Being from Venice, Isabella has always looked at the historical side of its past. She has recently written two books that Venetian lovers will truly enjoy!

Forbidden Fashions is available through Amazon  (and Kindle)and explores the decadent and controversial outfits worn by nuns in the early Venetian convents. Fur, silk, make-up and elaborate hair were the norm as many  of these women were locked in convents for monetary reasons by their families.

If you want to find the best kept secrets in Venice from a woman's perspective, this book is a must! My Pretty Venice  is available at this time through amazon,it and will be on amazon.com in October.
Shopping, interesting secrets that only locals know about and so many other things are included to make a woman's trip to Venice special. Shop like the locals with this book and come home with a truly authentic Venetian experience.

I want to thank Isabella for letting me know about her books and will be purchasing them soon! If you have travels in your plans, be sure and pick up these books before you go! Ciao!!

For the love of coral!

I have been traveling to Venice for well over a decade.

The magic of Venice is like no other place on earth....

Each shop window is full of temptations....

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So, how have I missed these fabulous pieces of glass(?) coral??

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Linda Bailey Zimmerman is in Venice now and spotted these in a shop window. Coral on a Christmas tree...fabulous! ( Linda has a wonderful blog on Venice here and is a serious photographer and you can buy her work here. ) 

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 Tony Duquette understood the magic of coral and used it extensively in the Venetian Palazzo Brandolini. In the photo, Hutton Wilkinson is installing the coral.

See how the red pops against the pink and cream walls? 

Tony had a source for coral in Venice!!

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Here is another example in a Venice store window. Next time you are in Venice, keep your eyes open for coral!!

Vignettes.....

Vignettes....one definition is "a grouping of treasured items arranged artistically on a table, shelf or piece of furniture."(source) I live in a home that is a blend of curiosity cabinets and personal vignettes.

I do not live in a pastel world...I like dark, rich environments. Everything has a story and a memory.

Everything on my desk has a story, the sea shells from trips to see my daughter, my taxidermied mouse under the glass dome from Paxton Gate...notice the lamp shades are a little wonky, that tells me the cat walked across the desk last night and her tail made them tilt. She is forbidden on the furniture but takes delight in the night walking across things! I straighten them daily....ahem...

The lamp that was my mother's, the luna moth found in the front yard after a storm...

My beautiful parrot feathers from Patrick Gracewood mixed with goose feathers from my daughter along with my love of fossils and minerals....

This baker's rack shows my love of Italian ceramics  along with a bonsai I made from a twisted rosemary bush root....it was too perfect to get rid of.

I love opening my cupboard and seeing lace fragments from my Mom...I love all my blue and white and think they belong together.

My spices from Paris...

A vignette is a grouping of treasured items...a mask from Venice, a clock from Paris,and a picture from a party with Chihuly....

My keys from a hardware store in Venice, a small Eiffel Tower from Paris and a ribbon found in Rome sums it all up...

"la vita e bella"...Life is beautiful!

Postcards from Venice...

On my last trip to Venice, I wanted to find the Libreria Acqua Alta touted as "the most beautiful bookshop in the world".

I have a penchant for jumbled, chaotic bookshops that have stacks of books with a few stray cats roaming the aisles.....throwing a gondola in the middle of the room was just icing on the cake!

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I picked an overcast day to find the shop. Located in the Castello sestiere, I wound through tiny calles , some so small that as the rain started, my umbrella scraped both sides of the stone walls.

And then I found it! The tables outside were covered with plastic due to the rain and the cats took refuge inside...a soft rain was falling....perfect book browsing weather!

Luigi Frizzo, owner of the shop, was very kind as he allowed me to dig freely in the two rooms of books. I found a rare book that caught my eye, some art prints and then I found the boxes of postcards!

I was fascinated. I bought way too many, but the artwork and writing on the back was intriguing.

The ones I bought had postmarks from 1910 -1925. They represented people just like me who traveled to Venice to see the same buildings I was seeing. Not much has changed in Venice for hundreds of years.

The postcards will be used for reference when I am painting. Some are photos and some are lovely artist's illustrations of gondolas and other iconic images of Venice.

What things do you gather on your journeys? If ever in Venice, I highly recommend visiting the Acqua Alta bookshop....the most beautiful bookshop in the world!

Connecting with the World.....

Before there were blogs and internet websites, we connected to the world through hand delivered mail.

Leave it to the Europeans to inject beauty into a mundane object like a mailbox!

I took these pictures in March when I was in Venice....I am always fascinated with artistic beauty seen even in a mail slot.

Oh yes, there are beautiful door handles as well....but this time I really found some treasures!

My heart nearly skipped a beat when I walked by these name plates!!! I stopped so abruptly, I was almost trampled by the people walking behind me.

These beat any profile picture I could post on line!......
I saved the best photo for last!

This was an unexpected surprise  found in a narrow calle behind the Ca Rezzonico. The first impression someone has of your home is usually your door...make it fabulous with a wonderful vintage door handle or mail slot. It is always in the details that you find the most delightful inspiration!

Wandering in Venice...!

Getting lost in Venice is almost always inevitable! I know the city well enough to get from one district to another...

But it is so easy to get distracted by all of those incredible window displays and get off track!

Getting away from the tourists paths, you will find more of what Venice  is known for, intricate lace...

Wood carvers and gilders....

And incredible carved stone on almost every building...

Old world charm with medieval influences are still a typical site.

But eventually, you make you way back towards your destination...

And the water that connects all things in Venice. Happy wanderings to all who visit this magical place!

Buona Pasqua!

I just returned from Venice two days before Easter and the shops were full of decorated eggs!

The Pasticceria Marchini; one of Venice finest pasticcerias, had an explosion of heavily decorated chocolate eggs and candies.

Small ones with spring themes and holiday decorations....

Large ones in the window with Happy Easter written on them....

 And the sweetest bouquet of flowers and butterflies on a larger one inside to lure you in from the street....( as is the pungent smell of chocolate in the air isn't enough!)

Walking over by the Rialto, Drogheria Mascari had a mammoth chocolate egg in their display window.

These two pasticcerias still carry on the tradition of the serious art of confection. I hope you all have a happy Easter and maybe some chocolate on the corners of your mouth!