Viale del Teatro, Villa Pamphili

Viale del Teatro, Villa Pamphili

Viale del Teatro, Villa PamphiliOil on Panel8x10″© Kelly Medford, 2011Heading out to paint Rome’s biggest public park with my friend and fabulous mosaic artist Megan Mahan (she’s lucky, she actually lives next door to this place!), we walked through the woods, past a lake and to the villa in search of a good composition.This place has a long history (as everything in Rome) and has changed hands many times after the original owner Girolamo Pamphili died in 1760 with no male heirs. Lucky for us it is now an enormous public park (divided in 2 by a major road) and a paradise for anyone seeking the out of doors right in town.Spending the morning there with Megan I got to thinking how much tourists must miss when they come to Rome, and what kind of picture they have of the city just visiting the central Roman sites. It’s not a complete picture, though it is surely impressive. Rome is just packed with wonders and it has to be the capital city with more open spaces than anywhere in the world. An entire life could be dedicated to exploring all the open green spaces, lost in time in Rome.We chose this little set of stairs leading to I’m not sure where as our painting spot for the light and solitude. It somehow seemed to represent the time past.If you can’t tell, I’m completely enthralled in all that is Rome and hope to have the opportunity to explore every nook and crannie.