Sheryl A. Cooke

''One of A Kind''

Inspired by the trip back from Padova I decided that I would take up the suggestion of driving to Croatia with my husband for the summer holiday.  I tried hard not to think of the oven of a car and to concentrate on all the great photographs about Croatia that I had seen and all the beautiful places that we planned to visit.  And besides all that they serve lots of lamb dishes I read and Italy, unlike Australia does not embrace the concept of lamb roast.... and it seems to be only available from the butcher at Easter.

I did manage to do a few little paintings which I do not consider good enough to put online but its a fantastic country filled with sweet people.

I did manage however, to do some little paintings...

I have discovered, and I know it was not lost, a colour called sepia... so delicious, beautiful with rose colours.

I am setting up a new web site at present so its good to pick up a paint brush and paint.

On the way back from Padova the heat was unbearable, or perhaps that was me, I hate the heat and my sweet husband does not like airconditioning so it was a long trip, all I wanted was to go home....

Out on the big main highway, the A1, between Florence and Bologna the trucks are bumper to bumper along a skinny two lane highway with mountains one side and a kilometer drop the other side, (a slight exaggeration) but really, really bad and very scary for me.  In Australia I loved driving and did lots from one end of the country to the other, but here in Italy its a different story.  All the Italians drive like they are late for the most important moment of their lives, my husband included.  So hooning down the freeway at 130 kilometers an hour, passing six big, long huge trucks, one after another which are all about 3 cm from where I am sitting in this little hot box of a car is not my idea of the best fun I have every had.  Consequently the armrest of my door is indented by fingernails trying to hang on.  And of course being a woman I must say something or perhaps even at times quite a bit.  

Consequently I have refused point blank to go out on that road again.  So we have found a new highway which is so much more to my liking, two lanes but not many trucks and not many cars either and spectacular scenery going through like this beautiful scene in Umbria.

Another beautiful inspiration for my paintings, shame I have no time right now to do anything except take photographs.

This little gem of street is in a little village in Deruta, near Perugia.  It is a glorious place and the tiny restaurant we found served some of the most delicious food I have ever tasted.  Deruta has the most incredible Italian ceramics and a couple years back, before I was married to my husband we were there and he said darling why don't you go and have a look at some of the ceramics.  So off I go and when he joins me I say to him, its beautiful but it is a bit expensive and I don't know what to get.  Darling here's my wallet, buy what you want... so what was a woman to do... I found six stunning hand painted bowls and a great big one, fantastically perfect for pasta.  The bill came to 439 euros and he had 440 euros in his wallet.  Perfect.... have you heard that expression... face like a cats' bum... well all I could do was laugh so much.  My husband originally came from the region of Genova and spent 5 years in Scotland.  The people from Genova are known for their tight fistedness, but how was I to know.  I love those plates!!!

WELCOME TO MY WEB BLOG....

I am an Australian artist and this is one of my favorite paintings which I have hanging in my apartment in Rome and I look at everyday and love it everyday.







I have just spent an incredible European summer, tripping around the world.  My First stop was back to Australia to catch up with some great friends and family in May.

And as you can see by my Photographs, my friends live in some incredible places.

And I cannot disagree with the rest of people in the world that Italy has some of the best, most delicious beautiful food you could ever eat, sometimes my little heart craves something different.  We went to a Mexican restaurant in Queensland where the food was so good.  I had to take a photograph to show my Italian family how real mexican food looked in other countries.

We had recently gone to a Mexican restaurant in Rome where they waved one avocado over 50 plates and charged you 20 euros a plate.  Incredibly disappointing.  But expected.  The only food to eat in Rome is roman food.  And that is magnificent!!

A quick trip back to Rome, or perhaps a very long trip and then I was on the road to Padova in the north not to far from Venice.  My husband who is a scientist was giving a lecture to some students at the University in Padova.

Padova is very beautiful and during the summer and all Italians wander around looking tanned and beautiful as only Italians can do.

While wandering to the piazza we crossed this beautiful tiny canal into which someone has thrown a hand full of long stem roses, sadly you cannot see them in the photograph.  So romantic and so beautiful.  And such inspiration for painting yet to be explored.