Studio39Designs

 

A Walk Thru a Tuscan Village

I just couldn’t get enough of the small, old villages that we saw throughout Europe.  This is another in a wonderful series of them.  I converted most of these images to paintings or sketches because that best captured what I felt when we walked thru it.  The name of this village is Monte Carlo - not to be confused with the Monte Carlo in Monaco!

Tuscan Eatery

How charming is this!  We slowly walked down what we think was the main street of the village and came across a small shop with a small table and chairs out front, for customers who might want to sample the treats they just bought from the shop, or just enjoy a cup of cappuccino! 

Door with a Crooked Handle

It took me a bit to figure out what I was drawn to by this door – was it the rock arched doorway, so full of texture?  Maybe.  Was it the ornate iron work on the top of the door?  Could be.  Was it the vivid color of the door, the small sign just to the right of the door, or the plant to the left of the door?  Perhaps.  Or, was it that lovely crooked handle of one of the doors?  Yep!  It just drew my eye toward it over and over again.  So perfectly imperfect!

Private Door

I was drawn to this door because it appeared to be the entrance of a private home, but the roofline above it really made it stand out more than some of the shops next to it!

Tuscan Alley

I was constantly surprised by how picturesque the alleys were in these small villages.  I love the texture of one wall, and the smoothness of the other.  The paving stones on the alley presented two different variations of the same texture.  Then, at the end of the alley is a picket fence gate and the wall of the building facing me has some interesting texture to it as well.  It would seem that all these conflicting textures would overwhelm……but it doesn’t.  It all just blends and melds wonderfully.

Village Main Street

As we reached the end of the street, I turned around and captured it framed by an archway that we walked thru and cars drove thru.  The cars that drove down this street were all very small cars.  The car I drive back in the States would be considered, in all likelihood, too big for these streets, and I drive a moderately sized crossover vehicle.  It’s amusing to think of it as being a “big” car by this village’s standards!

Rustic Inside Wall

What a contradiction this image is!  I would expect to see smooth walls on the interior of a building, and, if there are to be rough, textured walls, they would be on the outside.  But, in this case, the opposite is true.  And what wonderful texture is on that inside wall.  I wish I could have seen more of that!

Door Reflection

The glass in this door’s windows was more like mirrors than clear glass, altho they were clear glass.  It must have been the way the sun was shining that morning.  I was drawn to the greenery not only in front of this door, but also reflected in its windows.  It feels remarkably peaceful.

Enjoy!