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Messina: A Surprising Pleasure

It takes a half hour on a fast ferry from Reggio de Calabria to arrive in Messina, crossing the Straight of Messina. The large port is home to numerous ferries, commercial vessels as well as military ships. The city center of the small city of 215,000 is about 12 kilometers from the entrance to the Straight. The lovely City Hall sits along the harbor. The city, wracked by a major earthquake in…

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Reggio de Calabria, then and now

The comparative few who give previous thought to this small city in southern Italy wonder at its name. “Reggio’ comes from the ancient Greek for ‘region.’ There’s a Reggio elsewhere in Italy so ‘de Calabria’ distinguishes the two. Despite its present day obscurity Reggio de Calabria was home to a perhaps legendary early king named Italus, whence ‘Italia.’. Italia initially referred to the…

[garyartista]

Pacentro, Italy: drawings of a historic town and its castle

Pacento, Italy 1 pen and ink drawing 21 x 30 cm/8.3 x 11.7 Pacento, Italy 3 pen and ink drawing 21 x 30 cm/8.3 x 11.73 Pacento, Italy 4 pen and ink drawing 21 x 30 cm/8.3 x 11.73

[garyartista]

Abruzo- the mountainous home of the wines of Montepulciano

From Pisa we drove some 500k/300m to the Abruzo region, staying in the tiny town of Caprociano. This town is home to 100 people. It is nestled on a rocky hillside. Our rustic residence was in part dug out of the rock by our host Gaetano, a friendly sixty something golly good fellow. The pellet stove we used for heat was smoking us out without warming us very well. Our Italian was barely adequate…

[garyartista]

Pisa: more than just a tower

In the center of town we found the city’s main plaza, a large one flanked by majestic Medici era architecture. But the city goes back much further, to the Etruscans circa 800 BCE. Excavations in the 1980’s and 90’s proved its Etruscan origins, around the 5th century BCE. The city is close to the coast and was once a maritime power. It is split by the Arno River, which nearly topped it’s tall…

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Video: Northeast France aboard our boat Viking 2024

We put together videos, photos and drawings to bring you with us as we traveled from the Belgian/French border to Strasbourg.

[garyartista]

Fallas 2025 begins!

The Fallas Convento Jeersalem (named after the street it uses) goes up March 12, 2025 Mascleta, the 2pm huge fireworks every day March 1-19. Amazing! Learn about the annual https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/the-fallas/

[garyartista]

Ballerina: Vencerem (We shall overcome)

Ballerina: Vencerem (We shall overcome) was produced for the 13th annual Art al Career (Street Art) fair in Picanya, Spain. It is organized by the Dones de Picanya (Women of Picanya in Valencian) . Picanya suffered significant losses in the floods in October 2025. There is still much work needed there: houses, bridges, businesses and much more. The metro is still not working. This painting is…

[garyartista]

Futbol (soccer) players in ink, male figure drawing and portrait

Futbol players in ink, 21 x 30 cm, 8.3 x 11.7″ Each drawing 21 x 30 cm, 8.3 x 11.7″

[garyartista]

Discover Olite's Gothic Castle: A Hidden Gem in Spain

Surely there is no king with a more beautiful castle or palace and with so many gilded rooms (…) …how magnificent and sumptuous is this palace. — 15th-century German diary (British Museum) Olite is a town of 4,000 in the Spanish Province of Navarre. The Royal Palace located there is a beautiful example of French castle design. French, you say? Indeed. King Charles III built the Royal Palace in…

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Castle at Vic sur Aisne, pen and ink drawing

Castle at Vic sur Aisne, pen and ink, 21 x 30 cm/8.3 x 11.7 We came here on our boat last summer. The locals refer to it as Donjon de Vic-sur-Aisne. The first castle was built in the 8th century. It was part of the defense that stopped the Normans in the 9th century. The keep was built in stone in the 12th century to a height of 25 meters with walls two meters thick. The castle was badly…

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The Royal Palace of Olite - 3 drawings

Royal Castle of Olite, pen and ink, 21 x 30 cm/8.3 x 11.7 Royal Castle of Olite pen and ink as in the first but digitally modified

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Ballerinas, three watercolor paintings (version 2)

Studies for a larger painting. Images updated. Abstract Ballerina in Abstract Background 1, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor Ballerina in Abstract Background 2, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor Ballerina in Abstract Background 3, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor

[garyartista]

Ballerinas, three watercolor paintings (version 2)

Studies for a larger painting. Images updated. Abstract Ballerina in Abstract Background 1, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor Ballerina in Abstract Background 2, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor Ballerina in Abstract Background 3, 21 x 30/8.3 x 11.7″ watercolor

[garyartista]

Ballerinas, two watercolor paintings

Ballerina 1, watercolor, 21 x 30/ 8.3 x 11.7″ Ballerina 2, watercolor, 21 x 30/ 8.3 x 11.7″

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Two Chilling (watercolor)

Two Chilling, Watercolor 21 x 30 cm/ 8.3 x 11.7cm

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Royal Monastery of Santa Maria in El Puig and the legend of Valencia's bat

With the renewal of the €10 unlimited regional travel pass we’re again visiting the smaller towns near Valencia. Puig (officially El Puig de Santa Maria) is just 14k and less than 30 minutes away. The train wasn’t crowded on the way there, though bursting at the seams on the way back as people were joining the King’s Day festivities in Valencia. Walking to the center of Puig from the metro stop…