WEEK # 43 / The White Sofa

The White Sofa

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 14" x 16", 2012

"AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT "

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Due to a lifting of a deadline and accumulating snow outside, I am finding myself in need of a getaway. The problem is that I am still "chained to the easel" until this project is finished, so artistically anyway, I am going to Rome.

Beth and I share adjoining studios and by chance we are both working from drawings we did on our last trip to Rome.

The White Sofa

James Aponovich

pencil on Arches paper, 9.5" x 10.5", 2010

Hanging in our kitchen is a drawing I did a couple of years ago when I was a Visiting Artist at The American Academy in Rome. The Academy is housed in a magnificent group of buildings on the Gianicolo Hill overlooking Trastevere and the rest of Rome. The views are stunning. This drawing is of the interior of our apartment "Il Cortile", the courtyard, in the McKim, Mead and White building. It indeed overlooks the main courtyard with huge cypresses and a Paul Manship fountain. The rooms are brilliant white with deep Florentine Red tile floors. This sofa is in the living room and is the first thing you see as you enter.

Interior of Cortile apartment

Usually, Beth and I would start our day downstairs at the Bar/Cafe for a cappuccino and cornetto while trying to catch up on world news and baseball scores back home. As many places are closed during mid day we would spend our mornings walking down into Rome to visit galleries, churches,ruins, markets,restaurants and just about everything else we could absorb.

In Umbria we draw everyday. Here we looked and looked. Late in the afternoon I would draw for a few hours. Don't ask me why, but I was fascinated by this sofa. Technically it's an interior but I just view it as a big still life.

Courtyard

I really treasured my time at The Academy. I felt quite at home there, it's more like a monastery with writers, architects, historians, musicians and, oh yeah, artists concentrating on their work. The quiet beauty is intoxicating and I look forward to returning.