Roy Connelly

Painting Santa Maria Della Salute at night.

I recently spent a few days painting in Venice with fellow plein air painters; David Bachmann, Paul Rafferty and Karl Terry.   This photo was taken on the day I arrived.  I had been up since 3am to drive to Gatwick in the snow and not even darkness was going to stop me painting.

It was an eventful trip with flights home cancelled by the snow in the UK and an unusually high acqua alta of 140cm left more than 55% of Venice flooded.

Rising water in the Piazzetta San Marco

Painting the Salute in the rain.

The fishmarket at night. Oil on board, 10×8 inches.

Last night I painted the wonderful German Christmas market on the Southbank in London.  Here you can see a couple of small paintings on my easel.

The plan was to paint in Trafalgar Square at night after the rain.

The rain stopped for just long enough for me to set up and start painting.  But, 25 minutes into the picture the rain became so heavy I had to pack up.  You can see how far I got in the picture above.

Above: Rain water on my palette.