Aperitivo 18″ x 24″ oil on linen panel, framed by the #artist.

On this day, the sun was #bright and #crisp; I #love what it the light does when #captured by this #calming #afternoon #Aperitivo (a light cocktails before dinner). She basks in the #sun, the dappled #light filtering through the #leaves of a distant #tree. She is surrounded by #beauty, surveying a #DaVinci-esque landscape. The use of #Sfumato, developed by the #Italian master, is the #blending of edges to a soft, non-existent line. Of course, I am no da Vinci, but we would be fools not to apply our #modern sensibility to the #master’s #teachings.

Here we are, transported to an easier moment of #freedom and #ease. We view the #scene from a patch of #flowers, surrounding the #model. Who is she? Is she you? Is she the beautiful #woman next store? Is she the woman of your #dreams? She certainly is mine. There is a certain tension, with the razor thin #Iris blades inserting themselves into our view. Who are we? Her lover, a voyeurs’, the artist charged with capturing her beauty? I’ll leave it to the viewer to decide such things.

I encourage you, your friends and myself, to slow down and smell the flowers. #Taste the #wine. Take in the beauty all around you, every detail. This painting is all about letting go and #celebrating our #freedom to just be, without affect or pretense.