Postcard from Piedmont

Normally, when I send you a Postcard, I tell you the name of the town where the image was taken or painted or sketched. To be honest, I can’t remember the name of the little town where I found these churches. Piedmont is the name of the region in Northern Italy where this little town and many others exist. Piedmont is known for its sophisticated cuisine and wines such as Barolo. It is also home to many other small wineries that produce some of Italy’s finest wines.

I and my wife Susan stayed in a private home up in the hills near the town of Canale. From there we would venture out to the little hill towns that dot the landscape of this fabulous wine growing region. Here, towns and homes were built on hills rather than on the flat land where the wine grapes grew. We visited one town after another without a map. We could always see the towns in the distance and all we had to do was find the road to it. That was great fun!

We always purchased our lunch in the morning, including a bottle of local wine, from a delightful little deli in Alba, run by two women who spoke no English. They always sold us wonderful meats and bread for our picnic…and excellent wine at very reasonable prices. Then we would venture out to the countryside to see these wonderful little towns. That was a week both of us will always remember.

As I said, I found these churches in one of the little towns along the way. Churches are a major going concern in Italy…all Catholic, of course. And you find them everywhere, often in close proximity like these churches. Once in Torino, I would find a church on every block, sometimes across the street from each other…or close together like here.

I think this digital pastel-style painting turned out quite well. The vibrant colors may be a slight exaggeration (artist license), but those are the colors. I called this painting, “Three Churches,” because I can see three crosses on three different architectural styles (count ‘em). However, there may actually be only two churches. In Italy, you will sometimes see modern facades added to old churches. Actually I have seen a couple of those here in America.

But it was such a lovely scene that I had to photograph and paint it. I hope you find it pleasing.