Capo Lago

*All of my Travel Sketches may be re-painted by commission.  If you see one you like that is sold or you'd prefer in different colors, contact me!*

Overwhelmed by the beauty and the sublime experience of space in European towns and frustrated by my inability to capture this new feeling in my drawings, an evolution was initiated as I began sketching while walking.  I call it "experiential drawing." Through a transformative process, including a break-through moment in Capo Lago, a narrow stepped village street in Ticino, I finally learned to create with my pen an experiential representation of a place. The drawing, a combination of plan, section, perspective and diagram exhibited surfaces, openings and paths exploding out from my sketching stance - essentially, maps. The drawing became dynamic as I moved through spatial sequences and my hand moved pen on paper, continuing to build the drawing while experiencing the space. This drawing is special to me in its manifestation of the “experiential” process.

I made the ink drawings as an undergraduate architecture student on travel study abroad with the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech in 1998. I used watercolor to interpret and enliven the drawing during pandemic quarantine, Spring 2020.

Watercolor Paper 140gsm

9” x 12”

Frame not included

I'm excited to bring nearly 100 of my architectural Travel Sketches, created in mostly Italy, but also Switzerland, France, Spain, Greece, Hungary and Czech Republic from 1998 - 2012, into a Collection: lines drawn on site now illuminated by watercolor. Together, they reveal my personal evolution in architectural travel sketching and offer a piece of travel art that can remind you of your own memories in place, invite you into these spaces with your own experiential vision and, hopefully, offer hope that these piazzas and streets, now quieter than ever, endure, beautifully, and will again fill our senses with life.

Thanks for helping to DO GOOD and GIVE BACK: 25% of the sale of each piece will be donated to Lifting Hands International* (LHI), a 501(c)(3) public charity that specializes in international and domestic relief and aid for refugees of war-torn countries of origin.

I'll also donate 5% of the sale of this piece to the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech for student assistance/scholarship for travel study abroad.

*More from/about LHI: “Our high flexibility as an organization and low overhead costs have enabled us to adapt, redirect, and keep going, even through shelter in place orders, social distancing, and widespread shortages of hygiene and medical supplies. We are now focusing on getting as many hygiene supplies to as many refugee families around the world as we possibly can.Millions of refugees live in crowded camps where social distancing is impossible and where there is little, if any, access to clean water and soap. Access to healthcare was limited to begin with, so prevention is paramount. You can support their efforts to get them the critical hygiene supplies they need by donating. Every $10 donated provides a family of 4 with a hygiene kit that will last them for a month. $100 provides 10 families with kits!For the second year in a row, LHI has earned the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency, honoring the progress and results thry are making toward their mission. With only 2.5% of our revenue going to overhead, you can be confident that donations to LHI will benefit the refugees they support directly.“