The Home of Gondolas

The Home of Gondolas

Last week on a (too) quick trip to Venice, I had a few days to paint and immediately went and sought out the city’s oldest gonodola maker and repair yard called Squero di San Trovaso.The Gondola Yard, Squero di San Trovaso9×12″oil on paper©Kelly Medfordclick here for purchase informationIf you have not seen this place, it’s such an odd jewel on the corner of a canal next to the church in San Trovaso. It’s odd because it is built entirely of wood and looks like something straight out of the Dolomites. That’s because it is.Traditionally the workers came from the Dolomite region of the Alps and the structure is Tyrolean in style.This gondola shop was built in the 17th century and is the oldest of the 3 shops of its kind left in the city. Mostly they just repair gondolas rather than make them anymore. There are on average just 350 gondolas on the canals of the city today compared with the 10,000 in the past.Making a new gondola is a feat and requires 8 different kinds of wood: mahogany, cherry, fir, walnut, oak, elm, larch and lime.And if you are wondering about the color black, that became the mandate in the city since the 16th century when the gawdy decorations were getting out of hand.The light and colors of Venice are much softer than Rome, with pinks, greens and blues that have a soft warm glow in the summer.Painting this place was exciting for me and although I had wanted to paint a larger canvas, there literally was no room to stand with an easel and canvas. Luckily there was a tiny alley just across from the gondola yard where I could park my easel, but it was just wide enough to fit and to let the stream of tourists continue past.Upcoming WorkshopsThe Light and Life of Venice: 8 days of plein air painting in Italy’s most magical cityclick here for detailsArt of the Painted Sketch: 7 days of all expenses paid learning plein air oil sketching in the Umbrian countryside click here for detials