“The Lion of St. Marks” 18 x 36 Oil 1998
	This was inspired by a visit to Venice, Italy in the spring of 1998. Venice inspires and enchants as no other city in the world. Adrift in this fantasy it’s sometimes easy to forget that this was once the heart and center of a vast economic empire for over three hundred years. This oil took some sixty hours to complete and was a reasonable substitute as a fond remembrance of the real thing. It consists of many diagonal lines, seen and unseen as well as that old art talk standby- the contrast between light and dark. Despite the title, the famous St. Mark’s Square is not depicted. It lies further around the Grand Canal to the left. But the winged lion, long Venice’s symbol of power and strength, is hidden somewhere within…