Why Italy Keeps Finding Its Way Into My Paintings
Why Italy Keeps Finding Its Way Into My Paintings
Italy has a way of staying with you.
For me, it isn’t just the obvious beauty of the landscape. It’s the combination of old stone villages, warm ochres and terracottas, olive greens, vineyards, coastal light, weathered architecture, and that soft atmospheric distance that seems to belong so naturally to the Italian landscape.
Those impressions tend to come back into the studio long after the trip itself is over.
I don’t usually paint an exact scene exactly as I saw it. I’m much more interested in what remains after some time has passed, the color relationships, the shapes, the rhythm of the land, and the feeling of being somewhere memorable.
That is especially true in my Italian landscape paintings.
Some of my Italy paintings are inspired by the countryside and vineyards. Others lean more toward Tuscan hillsides, Italian villages, coastal views, and old architecture. What connects them is less a single location than a shared atmosphere.
I work primarily with a palette knife, so the physical surface of the painting becomes part of the subject. Thick paint, broad strokes, broken edges, scraped passages and simplified forms help me avoid becoming too literal.
I want the viewer to recognize the feeling of Italy without the painting becoming a photographic reproduction.
That is one of the reasons I keep returning to palette knife paintings of Italy. The landscape already contains so much texture, stone walls, stucco, tiled roofs, vineyards, olive trees, roads and old buildings softened by time.
Those elements translate naturally into impasto.
Color is usually where the painting begins to come alive for me.
Warm ochres, raw sienna, rust, cream, olive and muted lavender often form the foundation of my Italian landscape work, balanced with cooler blues and atmospheric gray. I’ll sometimes introduce brighter accents, but I prefer to use them selectively so the eye always knows where to go.
That balance between warmth and restraint is something I keep returning to in both my Italy paintings and my California landscapes.
The geography is different, but the questions are often the same: what makes a place memorable? What can be simplified? Where does the light belong? How much can I leave unsaid?
I’ve recently gathered my available and previously collected work into a dedicated Italy Paintings collection on my website, where you can view original Italian landscape paintings inspired by vineyards, villages, countryside, architecture and coastal scenery.
If Italy is a meaningful place for you, I also accept a limited number of commissions inspired by specific locations, memories, villages, vineyards and coastlines. I can work from your own travel photographs while keeping the finished piece firmly in my own palette-knife style.
Sometimes a painting begins with a photograph.
More often, it begins with the feeling of wanting to go back.
Original Palette Knife Oil Painting
24 × 48 inches | Gallery Wrap Canvas (1.5” Deep Edges, Painted Sides)
Step through the arched alleyway into a moment that feels suspended in time, where roses spill over clay-colored walls, sunlight dances on ancient stone, and the turquoise water of Venice beckons beyond.
This richly textured palette knife piece captures the layered beauty of Italy’s timeless elegance: lush florals, aged facades, and that unmistakable sense of wandering toward something meaningful. A gondola rests quietly in the distance, reminding us that stillness can be arrival.
Painted in Lisa Elley’s signature impasto style, this 24x36 gallery wrap is alive with sculpted dimension and vibrant color. A portal piece for your home - romantic, immersive, and full of life.
• Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas
• 1.5” deep sides, painted and ready to hang, no framing required
• Signed on front and back
• Wired and ready to install
• Certificate of authenticity included