Just Sold - "Creating Memories" Palette Knife Oil Painting of Venice, Italy by Niki Gulley

"Creating Memories," Venice ©2016 Niki Gulley

SOLD • 24" x 36" • textured oil painting

Inspired from our first trip to Italy, I fell in love with everything about Venice. The city feels preserved in time with all transportation happening on water versus roads. The architecture, art, history, and people are all fascinating, the food and wine delicious, and it was such a romantic place to visit. So in this painting, I captured a lone gondola to convey that feeling of lazily drifting along with your loved one down this brick canal filled with history and future memories.

If you have any questions, please e-mail Niki Gulley.

To see more of Niki Gulley's contemporary landscape paintings, visit NikiGulley.com.

Bayou City Art Festival - Houston, TX - Oct. 9 & 10

“Bon Appetito” ©2010 Niki Gulley Pastel 24” x 36”

On my second trip to Europe, my husband wanted to take me to Venice since it was one of his favorite cities, and I fell in love with almost everything about it. The timeless quality created by living on canals free of cars, the history in the architecture and even the cobbled walkways, the beauty of the scenery and the magical quality created by the light to name just a few of my favorite things. I love how food and meals play such an important role in Italian culture – a time to slow down and enjoy friendships while savoring the local grown cuisine and wines over the course of the evening. In this pastel I wanted to communicate all of those joyful feelings in addition to capturing the energy and romance of the city at night. Bon Appetito!

If you’re in Houston, TX this weekend, please stop by the Bayou City Art Festival to see Bon Appetito and my other recent pastels. I’ll be displaying my work at booth #480C - on Walker St. between Bagby & Smith Streets facing City Hall. See BayouCityArtFestival.com for more information.

Or, e-mail me at Niki@NikiGulley.com for more information.

NikiGulley.com

Venice Painting Workshop

Venice oil painting • 10" x 8" • by Niki Gulley • SOLD

This is one of my favorite paintings I completed during our Venice workshop last spring. I found us the perfect quiet spot to paint with almost no onlookers, however it turned out to be a major thoroughfare for the gondolas. We were serenaded the whole time by various baritone gondolier voices breaking into "Amoré" and curious passengers craning to see what we were painting. It only added to the ambience!

Once I blocked in the background of this piece I started painting the gondola, which was quite a challenge since they didn't stay still for more than a few seconds. Luckily there was a constant stream of boats so if I waited a little bit, another one would come floating into the scene. Painting moving gondoliers also proved to be difficult, and I was struggling with his hair when right at that moment, a new driver came into view with this great hat and navy scarf wrapped around it. Voilà! Problem solved.

If you'd like to join us for our next painting / photography adventure in Venice this May, e-mail me Niki@NikiGulley.com. There are only 2 days left to sign up for this amazing workshop!

Visit NikiGulley.com for more information.