Joseph Blanford
Gallery

Castel Sant' Angelo

Rome is my favvorite big city in the world. I keep going back and seeing things in a different light each time. This view of Castel Sant Angelo won a Best of Show award last year. Although this scene can easily become a postcard exercise, I tried to focus on shapes and tonal valuess to move the eye around the picture plane.

Best of Show Award Winner
Watercolor

11 X 15

$420

Rue Saint Paul

A visit to Montreal yielded this image as I crossed the rain swept Rue Saint Paul on the way to a restaurant. The captured image was very blurry but I was intrigued by the shapes and reflected light and decided to improvise.

Watercolor
22 X 15
$825

The Blind Pig Pub

I consider myself very lucky to live in Austin, Texas and to have studied art at the University of Texas at Austin. Although I travel a lot, I could focus on Austin for material and not miss a lick. The Siixth Street area is a local hotspot but what attracted me in this composition was the narrative between the old and new.

Watercolor
22 X 15

$825

Santorini II

The Greek Isles were breathtaking, Santorini in particular. Native color of the buildings is a white that blazes in the sun. Walking the streets, however, you get more a sense of color that I chose to use with the buildings, contrasting against the blues of the sea.

1st Place Award Winner

Watercolor
15 X 22

$825

Estrela 28

This scene is from the Baxia district in Lisbon. I have used a severly cropped version of this painting as the banner for my artblog at www.joeblanfordart.wordpress.com. We spent several days in and around Lisbon. I didn't know what to expect but found Lisbon to be very entertaining with beautiful scenery and engaging people. The Baxia shopping district is not just a tourist draw, locals use it as well and the government subsidizes local business so they can compete with the large concerns. It creates a very nice mix of old and new.

Watercolor
22 X 15
$825

Piazza Campo dei Fiori

One of the joys of Rome is to walk from your hotel to the Campo dei Fiori and shop in the open market for fruit, meats, bread and wine for an inexpensive, totally Roman lunch experience. Eat it right in the piazza while you people watch and then head out for the day.

Oil on Panel
12 X 16
$770