A couple of weeks ago, we took A Typical Quiet Walk in Venice…you were there, right? We walked a bit, talked a bit, and saw some very pleasant sights along the way…some friendly people…a wedding-dress photo shoot…a sleepy gondolier. Ok, now you remember.

The Setting

Our walk started at our Hotel Flora, traveled along Calle Largo XXII Marzo, then through Campo Santo Stefano, over the Accademia Bridge, and into the quiet Dorsoduro sestiere of Venice. You may not have noticed it at the time, but we passed right by the Church of San Vidal just between Campo Santo Stefano and the Accademia Bridge. You can see our route in this photo…and I’ve circle the church in red.

Here is the door that I’ll be transforming for you today. This is from Google ‘Street View’, which covers most all of Venice, by the way.

I don’t like the location of this door, and I’ll tell you why.

There is a tower to the left of the door. That’s a bummer for me, as I wanted the door to sit in the midst of a solid wall…what we have here is kind of an asymmetrical mess.

In this aerial view, you can see the door and its location near the base of the tower.

The Blah Door

From past transformations, you know that I want your photo-memories of Venice (and all of Italy, actually), to be memories without modern yucky things like electrical and water conduits, manhole covers, and fire alarms, like the one in the original snapshot that you see just below.

The Transformation

It’s rather obvious that those electrical appurtenances have to go…we can all agree on that…right? OK, what else?

As I mentioned above, I don’t like the fact that there is no continuous wall to the left of the door…that’s our left, not the door’s left. For the door to be properly framed within the photo, we need more wall to the left of the door. I’ll work on that. And, that brick work to the right of the door will be super difficult to place all around the door, though the texture of the plaster to the upper left and right of the door ought to work ok.

I’ll get to work…

Voila, or should I say ecco, since we are in Italy and not in France!. At any rate, here we have it…a door centered on a wall of continuous texture.

The Final Product

All that’s left is the application of that traditional (at least on my part) Venetian patina. And here we have the finished product.

So, next time that we walk together in a quiet part of Venice, if I don’t see the potential within a door or window, please point such out and say, “Hey Steve, take a picture of that so you can transform it when we get back home”. I’d appreciate your help.

Oh, before we depart San Vidal, let’s talk about who he was. According to my research, he was either an 18th-century hermit from the region of Retz, Brittany, or he was Saint Vidal Luis Gómara, a Dominican priest who was martyred during the Spanish Civil War. Either way, I really like his medallion above the door…the dove-in-flight makes it look like he’s holding a cross, don’t you agree?

Ciao for now,

Steve

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Just a couple of transformations today, as I’ve bene busy shoveling snow! Someone has to do it…right?

Trasformazione Uno

For this first transformation we go from a really blah snapshot of a door on a slightly inclined street, to something much more appealing. So, let’s get started.

Here’s that blah snapshot. I wasn’t wrong about the blahness, was I? I’m glad you agree.

As usual, I want to get rid of modern distractions, like the plumbing and its tarnishment, the address plaque, and that vestige of graffiti to the right of the door.

Now that it’s cleaned up a bit, it’s time to work on the color. I’ll work on the plaster by giving it a bit of old-world patina.

And as you know, I just have to do something with that humdrum door. So, here is the final image. Better, huh?

Trasformazione Due

Ouch! Why did I even bother to capture this image?! I guess that I thought I could do something with it back home, so I might as well give it a try.

Such a clutter of ‘stuff’ to resolve, like the address plaques, mail slots, doorbell ringers, chotskies, etc. So, here goes.

Here I am back after a bit of clutter removal. I’ll give the door a bit of color while I’m at it…I’m not happy with that dark green. Now that reflection behind the iron work has to go.

Reflection done and gone.

I’m ready to give the plaster some of that patina that I like so much.

And, for the final product, I’m going to brighten up that door so that the photo will look better on our wall.

There you have it. Two quick transformations in one sitting. Now I’m going out to shovel a bit more snow. I’ll be back next week with more on our favorite place…Italy, Our Italy.