The Grand Bazaar in Italy

I had planned to share this months ago, closer to when we made our trip to Italy this past May. If you had been following along in that adventure, you know that things got weird. Well, weird is not the right word - let's just say it was complicated. But as the months passed, things evened out, and now I am here to share a story about Italy, Romeo & Juliet, and The Grand Bazaar of Ethra VanDalia.

Our second to last stop in our Italian adventure was Verona. This was our first time in the city, and it became an instant favorite. As our hosts described it, Verona is the most Italian city in all of Italy. We didn't understand the comment at first, but after a couple of days, as an outsider, we understood it. We did see the Pope zip by in a motorcade while we walked down the street, so I think there is some truth to it. We enjoyed the city and would return without hesitation.

One of the main reasons that you may know the city of Verona is because Shakespear's Romeo & Juliet was set here. While the story is fictitious, the Capulets were real. And it just so happens that our hotel was located in the buildings that once were the Capulet home. There is a courtyard with a balcony that is said to be Juliet's balcony - even though she never existed. It is a tourist destination with massive crowds while it is open. As our hotel's entrance was off the courtyard, we had after hours access, which was fun and gave us a chance to see the balcony, the courtyard, and the bronze staute of the 13 year old Juliet (whose breasts have been polished to a shine by all the creeps visiting). Out on the street under our hotel is a store that sells souvenirs related to Romeo & Juliet. You can find shirts, aprons, buttons, and everything else in between, but most of all, you can get your name and the name of your true love embroidered onto some of these items. It was a perfect moment we found ourselves at the souvenir store talking to a very nice old man who worked the store and ran the ancient embroidery machine. He made my wife a free bookmark, and we knew it was time to get something silly.

Ethra and Shaper in the Capulet courtyard under "Juliet's Balcony"

It's weird, it's silly, and no one will really understand it except my wife and I, but here it is. A heart-shaped pot holder with hearts and the two main characters from my stories. It is perfect. And I am so glad I got it, for so many reasons, but at a very low time on an amazing trip, it was just want I needed. Having tangible artifacts related to the real world and the world of the Grand Bazaar makes me more giddy than it should, but that is the point of them. This hangs in my studio above my drawing table, where I can always see it so that it reminds me of the trip and the good and the bad.

A better shot of the balcony and yet another PERFECT Italian wall - just look at all that beautiful texture and detail!

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability, head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Adventures in Venice - 2015

In May the wife and I went on adventures in Italy and Germany. During our adventures I took 4200+ photos, many of which are potential reference and inspiration. Today I have some images from our time in Italy to share with you. We started in Rome and then returned to Venice for a brief visit. Today, I have images from Venice.

Returning to Venice allowed us to see our favorite places again and to explore things we missed before. We also arrived by a different route to this most magical of cities. This time around we took the train up from Rome so it allowed us to see the country side of Italy which is very beautiful in its own right. Upon arriving we got settled and then headed out to the the island of Murano to eat at one of out favorite restaurants to enjoy some of the best pizza I have ever eaten. The rest of our time in Venice was spent wandering the streets exploring and simply taking in the city and enjoying the magic of Venice. Here are but a small number of my photos from Venice...

When you walk out of the train station this is the first thing you see. The automatic doors slide open and you are facing the Grand Canal and the glory that is Venice.

One of the many beautiful buildings you can see along the Grand Canal. The water buses are a great way to see the sites and give your legs a little rest, because you are going to walk for hours and hours!

Even the hospital in Venice is a magnificent building.

A detail of a column in front of the Venice hospital. One of the things I love about Venice... monsters EVERYWHERE!

A pair of Hippocamps on the facade of the Venice hospital.

We were fortunate enough to be back in St. Mark's Square at golden hour and the architecture was alive with light and color. Everything was aglow in the light of the setting sun and it was thrilling to see.

You can learn a lot about light and color by seeing this first hand.

Love the shadows and light that the architecture creates.

My favorite image from this visit to Venice. This says it all to me and brings back so many memories.

One of the many mask shops in Venice. This one is just off of St. Mark's Square and is one of my favorites.

The Frari Church or Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari (or just Frari) is one of favorite churches to visit in Venice. It is FULL of monsters and some of the most unique and interesting sculptures and displays. If you go to Venice, you owe it to yourself to visit the Frari.

Just look at this thing! Black skinned giants and black skeletons leading up to the ceiling... have you ever seen such a thing? Simply beautiful to behold!

Who doesn't like a good reliquary?

A closer view of the giants and skeletons. LOVE the details like the tore clothes that expose the black skin.

There is also a massive pyramid with a winged lion and several figures. The handling of the lion and the expression is so great. You can read all of the symbolism and meaning behind all of this at the church.

When visiting Venice you will find yourself at the Rialto, and when you do you must visit the best jewelry store in all of Venice, Jovon. It is owned by our friend Marco Jovon and his family has been selling jewelry on the Rialto since 1934. Stop by and have a look at all of the amazing and beautiful things his family creates!

All images © 2015 Christopher Burdett

That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here next week! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

Phoenix Tattoo Design and Application

Let's get this out the way first and foremost... Unless you are my wife and it is a milestone birthday, I do NOT design tattoos for people out of deeply felt personal reasons.

Okay, now with that said let's get down to the subject at hand, the tattoo I designed for my wife for her birthday. As a particularly noteworthy milestone birthday approached for my wife she asked, implored, and insisted that I design a tattoo she has been wanting for some time. She knows about and understands my feelings about designing tattoos but she being my wife and her birthday I agreed. She wanted a phoenix for her leg and she wanted a phoenix that was not the typical Asian inspired and influenced creature.

During out trip to Italy and England we looked for elements that would work well for a phoenix so that I could weave our trip into the design. I will get to some of those reference in a moment, but first let's have a look at the design from concept to final drawing...

Phoenix tattoo - initial concept without reference, revised post trip reworking with reference, Revision 3, cleaned up red line final.

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

Final phoenix tattoo drawing

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

My wife was involved in every step of the process to make sure she got what she wanted and needed out of this design. The overall body arrangement was her request to work best for the placement on her leg. Now let's talk reference. Here are some of the images that played heavily in the design of the phoenix...

Assyrian eagle guardian - British Museum - London, England

Wood carvings - San Pietro Martire church - Murano, Italy

Now that the wife had signed off and was thrilled with the design it was only a matter of it getting permanently applied to her body. For that we went to Alain at Euphoria Tattoos her in Tallahassee. We were both extremely happy with the job Alain did, here are some images of the tattoo in process...

The stencil in applied and the tattoo is about to begin.

Alain is hard at work.

I was impressed with how quickly the tattoo took shape.

Almost done!

All done! Alain did an amazing job and was extremely faithful to the original design. Thanks Alain!

Not to beat a dead horse but many people has requested that I design tattoos for them and I am just not comfortable doing so. This may change at some point, but for now, I am not available for such ventures.

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, I will see you back here on Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

In search of Monsters - Vencie, Italy

I have just returned from a much needed two week vacation in Italy and England. ...hence my posts about my monsters running the blog while I was offline. I am back and am now going through over 2,900 images that I took while adventuring. Over the next several posts I will have some highlight images that I will like to share with you. I plan on doing some more targeted postings relating to what I discovered on our adventures... but I have many images to go through first.

Today I have for you a look at Venice, Italy and its neighbor, Murano, Italy. I highly recommend travel and I can't express how amazing and awe inspiring I found Venice. There are monsters on everything and so much incredible reference everywhere you look. These images are just the tip of the iceberg... but I do not want to bore, so here is a taste of Venice...

St. Mark's Basilica - Venice, Italy

 AMAZING reliquary in St. Mark's Basilica - Venice, Italy

 St. Mark's Basilica - Venice, Italy

 St. Mark's Basilica - Venice, Italy

 Found this just wandering the streets - Venice, Italy

 Monsters and creatures around every turn - Venice, Italy

Don't forget to look up - Venice, Italy

Wood carving in a church - Murano, Italy

Wood carving in a church - Murano, Italy  

The churches don't spare any expense - Venice, Italy

Grand staircase at the Doge's Palace - Venice, Italy

A view of St. Mark's Basilica from the Doge's Palace - Venice, Italy

From the balcony of St. Mark's Basilica - Venice, Italy

Inspiration everywhere you look - Venice, Italy

Even in the most unsuspecting churches you will find massive works of skill and art - Venice, Italy

Layers of detail upon layers of detail - Venice, Italy

Needless to say, all images are...

© 2013 Christopher Burdett

Hope you enjoyed a taste of Venice. Next we head to Leeds and York in England. But don't worry, I will be returning to Venice eventually... I have some specific work I want to do in response to the things I saw and experienced there.

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday! Until then...

 For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com