Italy | The Daily Norm

Jul 15

My travel sketchbook: Capri 1– Roof of the Church of Santo Stefano

Being as the island of Capri is not exactly short of a tourist or two, and seeing as the prices which a café there can evidently get away with are sky high, you can understand why the cafés packed into the little Piazzetta at the centre of Capri Town are keen to do a quick turnaround of customers. After all, at nearly €10 a pop for a glass of wine or something similar, why would they not want to churn out the customers like a supermarket conveyer belt? So there must have been some extent of vexation for the waiters of one such café located directly beneath the square’s famous ceramic-faced campanile when I sat down at the café table and, after ordering myself a coffee, proceeded to open up my travel sketchbook and start sketching. Fearing no doubt that I would be there all day on the price of one coffee, I could almost feel their frustrated eyes burning into the back of my head as I began to sketch. And yet how could I do otherwise? After all, Capri is undoubtedly a place of beauty, and in the centre of its small capital city, the architecture is so cutely quaint that it feels a bit like Toytown. In particular, I adored the rooftop of the church of Santo Stefano, whose small little domes and white-washed walls captivated me from our first steps in the town. And it was those which I sat down to sketch at that little front line café table.

Capri Sketch 1: The church of Santo Stefano (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

Capri Sketch 1: Roof of the church of Santo Stefano (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

The waiters needn’t have been worried however. As ever with my impromptu sketches made in pen, I wasn’t working on this for long, and in fact had to leave said café before the sketch was completely finished owing to the fast approaching time of the last ferry back to Positano. And yet I’m glad I risked their wrath for the short time I did, because this is definitely one of my favourite sketches of the holiday.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Jul 14

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Positano & beyond | Capri: Part 1 – People, Prices, Paradise

It was of course long ago that I heard of the seductive allure of super-chic Capri, rocky Island paradise beloved of celebrities, royals and couturiers alike. The island, which is just off the Sorrento Peninsula in Italy, was first the beloved of Emperor Tiberius himself, who spent much of his reign luxuriating on the island, and since it has been home to some of the worlds most famous creatives, from John Singer Sargent to DH Lawrence. Of course alongside its innate popularity is also a reputation laced with tales of pompous overpriced fashion boutiques, snobby restaurants and not for the feint hearted lavishly expensive hotels. This reputation both repelled and entranced me, and while I was always procrastinating over whether or not to go, my decision was made up when I watched the delightful 1960s film, It Started in Naples. Starting Sophia Loren and Clark Gable, the film is a tribute to the stunning beauty of its island backdrop, as Capri is made just as much of a star of the film as Loren and Gable themselves. Although itself alluding to Capri’s over popularity amongst tourists, and the capitulation of the island to its predominantly American visitors (the satirical song Tu vuò fa l’americano is performed by Loren in the film), this 60s masterpiece made multiple promises of Capri’s geographical and social allure, and I knew I had to go there.

So keeping Positano on the Amalfi coast as our base (this avoiding at least the expense of Capri hotels) we set off on the morning high speed jet to the island and in under 45 minutes found ourselves approaching a jagged mountainous island so geographically surprising that it looked like an upturned knife searing out of the sea. There in the old harbour were the eye wateringly large luxury yachts (even our jet had cost is a cool €70 for the journey) although happily the scattering of colourful old fishing boats meant this port retained much of its Italian charm.

But the real charm was reserved for Capri town, a 20 minute hot uphill walk (or a more leisurely funicular ride for those who can be bothered to brave the long queue of tourists, and the price). Everything up in the town was like a pristine city in miniature. A half sized campanile with a charming yellow and blue ceramic face, little twisting streets containing small boutiques of the worlds most recognisable names: Gucci, D&G, Valentino, Prada, Versace, and at the centre of it all, a bustling central square, not even an 8th of the size of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor or London’s Leicester Square, but bustling and crammed with 4 or 5 cafes spread out over the whole area. Of course we headed straight to one such cafe – second Capri price shock: €17 for two glasses of house wine. Gulp.

There, sat in the Piazzetta (as it’s known), in the shadow of the white-washed Santo Stefano, one could really feel the essence of Capri. The square evoked the glamour that makes Capri so unique, fizzing with gossip and preening glitterati; waiters with their noses slightly upturned, regulars sat at the best cafe tables, their carefully coiffed dogs curled up beneath them, shiny boutique-bought handbags reflecting the sunlight, and the ice of morning cocktails glinting in the sun. Yes this was surely the reputed Capri – the very pinnacle of Paris couture in the tiniest cluster of toy-sized civilisation.

Feeling all the merrier for the wine, ignoring its hefty price, we wandered onwards, out of the square and into the town’s little streets which became ever more quaint and charming as one led to another. Our only attempt at shopping was thwarted by the sight of the price tag of a rather ordinary looking pair of sunglasses: a snitch at €1500. Happily, a sumptuous sun-dappled lunch in the cool gardens of the Hotel La Palma was easier on the wallet and even more so on the stomach. This left us well nourished (if a little tipsy) to explore the rest of Capri. Oh and what wonders were to come.

Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 3: Positano III (cluster on the upper road)

Following hot on the heels of my photographic post on Positano’s upper mountain passages is the third of my Positano paintings it inspired. Unlike my previous two works of Positano, both of which included the sea and the beach as prominent compositional elements, this one concentrates solely on Positano’s mountainous backdrop as it focuses on a cluster of houses on the town’s upper mountain road. With its resulting rocky background and not a slice of sea or sky in sight, the group of pastel houses collected onto the mountain side is even more striking set against these dark and looming surroundings, emphasising just how striking a sight is created by a small town built upon the steep sides of huge imposing mountains.

I kept this painting as simple as possible, and even though the mountains have the appearance of craggy complexity, the brain is doing most of the work here – for in reality I have painted neither shade nor light into the purple mountain – only the impression of texture as created by the strategic placement of green detailing indicating where the mountain’s verdant plant life would be. It’s an effect which I find altogether pleasing, and a simplicity which ultimately does all of the work which a more detailed illustration would provide. Yet in this simpler form it seems altogether cleaner and more contemporary – and for that reason I love it.

Positano III (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Jul 10

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Positano & beyond | Photos Part 4 – Mountain Passage

The thing about the wildly romantic mountainous geography of the Amalfi coast is that its pure altitude and geological breadth gives rise to equally dramatic weather conditions. And so in the short time that we were on the coast, we not only enjoyed days of glorious sun and blue skies, but also intense humidity, evening temperatures in the 30s, thunderstorms which came as barely a relief, and some mornings when clouds were literally tumbling over the mountains which loom large over the town. These days, while not as dazzling as the sunny ones, were still gloriously warm, but not so uncomfortable as when sun is beating down upon your shoulders, and so they made for the perfect weather conditions to hike up the steep stairs and slopes of which Positano is comprised, and explore the town.

On one such day, instead of turning right out of our hotel and down into the valley and onto the beach of Positano as we usually did, we headed up a very small little set of stairs opposite our hotel to try and establish where they led to. Unbeknownst to us, those stairs led up and up and up, almost to an endless infinity of altitude, until we reached an until then undiscovered upper road snaking around the town. This road not only led us along the quaintest of little shops, garden stores, and one of the most charismatic coffee bars we visited on our whole trip (where the coffee was by far the best – the most authentic flavour of Italy), but it also afforded us some of the most stunning views across the mountainous valley, stretching all the way down to the town below.

One gets the feeling that much of the glitz and glamour of Positano’s boutique lined streets is put on for the tourists, and as lovely and extravagant as the experience of walking in amongst them is, the little mini town, higher up in the mountains, felt truly, authentically Italian. Old locals sitting outside doorways gossiping; others meeting in a bar clad with old adverts for coffee; garden shops and groceries overflowing with the most mouthwateringly fresh produce and stunning floral displays; and old fiats and scooters parked haphazardly in the streets in a way that looks as though they had been set up for a vintage movie shoot.

That wonderful walk, and all of the sights it delivered are the subject of this fourth photo display from my trip to the Amalfi coast. I hope you enjoy them.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Jul 9

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Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 2: Positano II (the other side of town)

So excited was I by my first gouache interpretation of the Italian town of Positano, that as soon as I had completed it, I started another. This one is based on the other side of town, Positano viewed from the densely packed cluster of houses which had inspired the first painting, with only the rooftops of that view visible in the immediate foreground. Otherwise, the town’s iconic domed duomo takes centre stage in this depiction of the town, alongside a number of buildings which, like before, are stripped back to their basic cubic elements, devoid of all of the architectural details which might have spoilt the simplicity of the image. Meanwhile, in the background, the awe-inspiring silhouette of the Amalfi Coast’s mountainous scenery fades gradually off into the background, towards the little white-washed down of Praiano.

Positano II (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Jul 8

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My travel sketchbook: Positano 2 – View from the Beach

You will have seen from yesterday’s Positano beach post just how incredible the views of the town were from the average sunbed on its wide pebbly beach. They were indeed the same views that inspired my first gouache painting of the holiday (posted last week). The views were so good in fact that it felt sinful to simply lie out on a lounger, eyes closed against the sun, ignoring the view. Rather, not only did I feel compelled to keep my eyes on the view for fear of wasting such an incredible sight, but I also felt the inspiration rise within me to sketch it.

And so, stretched out on a beach lounger, a glass of wine in one hand and a pen in the other, I set about sketching this very detailed but fairly quick impression of the town of Positano – the gem of the Amalfi coast. Unlike my gouache interpretation of the same scene, this sketch is more fastidious in capturing the details of Positano’s buildings, and all of their details – windows, balconies, garden terraces and so on. But devoid of the pastel shades contrasting against the grey-purple and forest green backdrop of the mountain, the whole architectural force of Positano appears to melt more permissively into the mountainside, as though nature and mankind have become a single inseparable form. And it’s a beautiful form to behold, both in reality and, I think, on the pages of my sketchbook.

Positano Sketch 2 – View from the beach (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Jul 7

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Positano & beyond | Photos Part 3 – Giornate in Spiaggia

Ah beach days. Those heady days of sunshine bliss, when you can lie out in the sun, meditating upon the swish of the waves curling in upon the sandy shore; when lying back enjoying the sun makes relaxation feel purposeful (after all, you are getting your intake of vitamin D, with all of the protections of sun lotion, naturally); when a refreshing dip in the sea affords all of the thirst-quenching satisfaction of an icy drink on a hot summer’s day; and when, at the day’s end, your skin feels sweetly sun kissed and your whole body groans in the pleasure of having embraced the good life. I’ve always been a beach lover, my partner even more so, and in Positano on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, we were afforded the opportunity to enjoy beach life with an indisputable bonus: a view which has to be one of the most stunning I have ever experienced from a sun bed.

From Positano’s surprisingly long stretch of beach, your lounger gives you a view not only on the crystal clear Mediterranean sea, with the swish yachts moored a little further out and the small ferries gliding in and out from the island of Capri and the town of Amalfi further down the coast, but it also gives you an unbroken panorama of the splendidly clustered town of Positano, its little pastel houses gathered together on the steeply plunging mountain sides. There was therefore no greater pleasure than simply lying out on a lounger gazing at this view – on one particular occasion I don’t think I was able to close my eyes once for fear that I would somehow betray the beauty of this landscape. And when taking a dip in the sea, and therefore straying a little further out, the views just got better and better.

This set of photos was taken either from the beach, or of the beach, both viewpoints providing wonderful vantages from which to catch a beach and a town full of abundant colour in the Mediterranean sunshine. On one particular occasion, we managed to bag two sunbeds set out on their own on a jutting rock, giving us unrivalled views of the town and the beach below – no wonder we had to toast the occasion with a glass of chilled white wine. This was a beach experience which is unlikely to be beaten.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jul 3

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Art-in-Amalfi – Painting 1: Positano I (viewed from the beach)

Having seen my post of photos on yesterday’s Daily Norm, and perhaps even my photos of the incredible views which we were lucky enough to enjoy for our week’s stay at the Palazzo Talamo Hotel, you will easy to understand why I was inspired to create by the town of Positano on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Not only is the town a picture perfect dazzlement of beautiful houses clustered against a vast imposing mountain backdrop, but it is also a riot of pastel colours in an otherwise natural landscape of verdant greenery and sheer greyish purple rock. The most striking thing about Positano is the fact that the small town appears to defy nature as a small cluster of dwellings clinging, almost like limpits, to the sheer side of the otherwise inhospitable mountain sides. The effect is a stark and beautiful contrast between the man-made regularised geometric forms of buildings and the irregular looming presence of the nature-made mountains, and it was this contrast which struck me the most as I set about painting my first homage to the town.

Positano I (viewed from the beach) (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, gouache on paper)

Stretched out on the beach a day after our arrival, I started work on this piece: Positano I (viewed from the beach). Using simplified geometric forms and stripping away all of the details which otherwise characterise the houses and hotels of Positano (windows, balconies and so on), this painting purposefully reduces the buildings of Positano to their most basic cubic form in order to emphasise the contrast between rigid geometry and rugged mountain, all the while expressing the beauty of Positano’s very colourful cluster of houses. The result is a painting I love. Made in gouache on paper, for me its colours and sunshine brightness sum up the mediterranean mood, while the geometric gathering of cubes echoes the shape of this small town which makes it so unique on much publicised postcards and travel guides throughout the world.

As with all of my travel-inspired art works, this painting gave me great satisfaction to create, all the more so because it was started on the beach and completed on my balcony with a view. Now who can ask for a better art studio than that?

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com

Jul 2

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Positano & beyond | Photos Part 2 – Down into the town

On Monday I shared a collection of photos showing the dazzling views of the seashore and the vast mountains of the Amalfi Coast which greeted us from a hotel balcony every time we awoke and entered our bedroom at the Palazzo Talamo Hotel in Positano, Italy. And this was just for starters. Up in the hotel, on the meandering upper road which snakes its way across the mountain sides and over the town, we were approximately 300 steep steps (or a longer sloped descent) away from the bustling centre of Positano, and if we thought the views from up there had stolen the show in the beauty stakes, Positano’s beachside centre was about to show how it too could take centre stage.

One writer (who shall remain unnamed) in my Rough Guides travel guide to the Amalfi Coast maintained that Positano was unfavourably given over to tourism and lacked authenticity. That writer has either never been to this picture-perfect gem of the Italian coast, or is just plain foolish. Of course, Positano has its fair share of souvenir shops given over to sales of limoncello and beautifully hand crafted pottery, but what shop on the Amalfi Coast doesn’t, when the beauty of its landscape is so obviously going to pull in and ravish tourist hoards in their turn? But in Positano, those same shops are nestled together in a cluster of pastel coloured houses which almost glow by contrast with the dark mountains looming behind them, and which, at ground level, are so small and quaint, situated in tiny little lanes covered from the sun with vibrant pink bougainvillea, that at every turn there is another photograph begging to be taken.

So this post of photos moves from our hotel’s coastal panoramas to the finer details of the town centre itself. From groups of children dancing, to locals chatting over a stall selling granita de limon, and from the brightly coloured tiled dome of the duomo to the vivid stripes of the umbrellas lined up along the wide pebbly beach: these photos show a town which is bursting with the spirit of Italia, and is certainly far from the inauthenticity which Rough Guides has alleged. Picture-perfect houses and a landscape to die for; a beach side paseo bustling with locals and tourists; little shopping streets with their wares almost falling out onto the street like in nearby Naples, and a central core with a grand church at its centre – Positano for me is the very epitome of the Italian dream – an almost fiction-like paradise whose reality is ever questionable – close your eyes before it and you may realise you were simply dreaming.

All photos and written content are strictly the copyright of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown © 2014 and The Daily Norm. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Jul 1

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My travel sketchbook: Positano 1 – Balcony View

It was only around 5 weeks ago that I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend in the Croatian jewel of Dubrovnik, and there to open the pages of my brand new leather backed moleskin sketchbook and begin covering those pages with pen sketches. There is nothing quite so nice for me as making sketches on the spot, particularly of views from cafes and piazzas, on bustling beaches and of stunning views, because unlike the process of taking a quick photo, the duration and experience of making a sketch makes the process more memorable, and the resulting image far more rich and rewarding. I’ve already shared with you some of the sketches which came out of my Dubrovnik trip, and now I am delighted to be able to share some of the works which have come out of my visit to Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

Following in the tradition of my Norm Sketches, I tend to create my sketches using a fineliner pen rather than the more traditional pencil or charcoal. I find the permanence of pen sketches more attractive, and the depth of black that can be achieved more dramatic. It does however mean that there is no scope whatsoever for mistake, and so very often artistic license takes the place of reality when inevitable errors have to be “corrected” such as to salvage the whole work. This may mean that a few buildings come out a bit wonky, but I enjoy this aspect of the “hand made” about a sketch (and indeed a painting). After all, if you want photographic perfection then you may as well take a photo.

Positano Sketch 1: Balcony View towards the Sirenuse (2014 © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, pen on paper)

My first sketch is of our base on the Amalfi Coast, Positano, and more particularly one part of the stunning 180 degree panorama we enjoyed from our hotel room with a view. This sketch captures the view looking Westwards towards the tiny group of Sirenusas islands (otherwise known as the Li Galli) which can be seen on the horizon of the sketch. That little archipelago is named after the Sirens of Homer’s Odyssey, as they are reputed to be the location where the Sirens lived, and from whose deathly allure Odysseus had to be protected by being tied to a mast with wax blocking his ears from their tempting song. It is undoubtedly no coincidence that our room was named “Li Galli”, because our balcony probably afforded the best view of these islands of any other in the hotel. There was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to do the view justice therefore, and this first sketch of the holiday is my homage to it.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2001-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work, photography or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For more information on the work of Nicholas de Lacy-Brown, head to his art website at www.delacy-brown.com