I absolutely love it when I come across a whole field of wildflowers – there is something about the transformation of a single dainty flower into a dense explosion of color that inspires awe and delights your senses. So when my husband and I came across this gorgeous ruby blanket in Tuscany we had to stop and capture the moment. I liked how the rows of poppies and rolling hills created a gentle harmony leading you to the quintessential stone farmhouse in the distance. I hope you, too, can feel the joy of a perfect spring day in Tuscany!

I absolutely love it when I come across a whole field of wildflowers – there is something about the transformation of a single dainty flower into a dense explosion of color that inspires awe and delights your senses. Inspired by our travels to Italy, cypress trees rise out of the vast open landscape signaling that you have arrived in Tuscany! Perched on a hilltop with its long curving driveway, this villa is set against the perfect backdrop for a romantic escape. Rows of ruby blooms draw your eye back to the rolling hills and beautiful billowing clouds. Painted with palette knife and thick oil paint, this canvas is loaded with movement, color and dimension.

If you’d like more details on Ruby Road and more of my Tuscany painting, please contact Brandon Jacobs Gallery in Kansas City, MO, brandonjacobsgallery.com.

We visited Tuscany at the end of summer and were surrounded by grapevines everywhere we went. I loved the vibrant vines in the foreground framing the rolling hills dotted with more grapevines, olive trees, and plowed grain fields in the distance. I created this textured painting with palette knife and a lot of paint. I arranged the planted vines to lead your eye back to the Tuscan villa tucked into the distance. Morning light cast deep shadows on the ground and caused the leaves and soil to glow. As a treat when I finished, we enjoyed a picnic of salami, proscuitto, pecorino and of course, vino. Yum!

To see more of my contemporary impressionistic landscape paintings, visit nikigulley.com.

 

E-mail Niki Gulley for more information on my Tuscany and travel oil paintings.

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If you’re interested in joining us on one of our upcoming Art Treks or Foodie Treks, please let us know. Spaces fill up quickly!

 

 

Scotland – Aug. 2019

Tuscany Foodie Trek  – Oct. 2019

Greece – May 2020

Iceland  – Sept. 2020

 

For more information on upcoming Art Treks, please visit http://www.ArtTreks.org.

Just Sold through the Good Art Company Gallery! Inspirerd by a trip to Italy, my husband wanted to stop and photograph this lone stone building. I was also attracted to its glowing white facade in the dramatic light that often fills Tuscany. The clouds above were so voluminous and massive compared to the small structure below, that the contrast really gives you a sense of the open space and surrounding hillsides. Capturing the drama of the sky and the joy in the poppy-filled hillside with palette knife while leaving my strokes loose and free, all add to the energy of that moment. I hope you, too, can feel the peace and happiness of being surrounded by nature in all of its glory, staring into the clouds while dreaming about what the future holds.