Every painting tells a story--and the tale of Michael John Ashcroft's 'Campo S Giovanni, Venice' is certainly one worth sharing.
You may notice a small line that goes across the bottom third of the painting: this is because the painting is actually made up of two separate panels.
Michael painted the top panel en plein air on a recent trip to Venice. However, once he got back home to his studio, he felt that the painting was missing the buzz and movement of people in the square. So taking a page from the likes of the old masters and Lucian Freud, Michael decided to add a second panel to the bottom of the painting that would allow him to incorporate the cafe scene and better capture the atmosphere of his initial experience. A brilliant solution from an equally brilliant artist.
