Off the Beaten Path: An Old Street in Rome

Off the Beaten Path: An Old Street in Rome

If you haven’t already noticed, I just love anything off-the-beaten-path, whether it be in Rome or wherever I go. I’m one of those gals who always roots for the underdog and likes to try something different and explore around the next corner. That’s why Rome is my favorite city and the place for me.The Old Casilina, Acqueduct Felice10×12″Oil on Linen Panel© Kelly Medford, 2012This aqueduct named Felice is one of my favorite things to paint, as it has been restored in many places and runs right through my neighborhood and along the train tracks, giving me one of the strongest images that I have come to call Rome. I love the little old shacks like these here and the wild vine growing up to the aqueduct, it tells the story of how Rome still has wild places from times past. Cars drive through the acqueduct at this point, so a lot of people slowed down to try and get a glimpse at what I was doing. Some of the locals who were headed home for lunch after a morning’s work on foot took time to stop and chat. These people make painting out on the street the most fun and they always have a lot to say, whether it be their opinion on current events, the state of Italy and Italians in general, or to tell me about a relative who used to paint. Most are just curious to see what I am doing and to know my story, as it’s very uncommon to see someone out painting here.My favorite character this day painting was a poet/physicist, an unlikely combination, but an amirable one. I’m dying to read a physicist’s poetry, I wonder if it’s all about space and time? He felt pretty down about the recent state of affairs in Italy, but he was happy to see an aritst at work. He told me about his family in the U.S. who come to visit every few years and how they have comic episodes of trying to understand each other, as neithers Italian or English is completely fluent.This place for me is special not only because it represents a landscape particular only to Rome, but a time that has passed, but is hanging on around the edges. This aqueduct was the last one in use in the city, bringing water from the mountians to the city all the way until the late 1960’s when the city put it out of use and begin restoring certain parts of it where people are living all inside and around it as if it were an organic part of the landscape.I’ve often asked myself if I shouldn’t paint some of the more known places in Rome, places that people who want to see and know Rome would like to see. My answer thus far is to just keep painting these unknown hidden places that draw me in for their charm and character. Maybe one of these days I will get around to painting the Colosseum, but for now I’m going to stick to the alleyways and aqueucts that tell a story of their own.If you like this painting and want to own it, you can buy it here.