Where I live - My Life in Venice / Peter Delahaye

I arrived in Venice the day after I retired. Close Venetian friends had already warned “You won’t last six months” and earlier that year had nudged me to look at rental property in Treviso, 30 kilometers inland. “Venetians are insular” they said. “You’ll find it hard to make friends. The officialdom is a nightmare, even for Italians let alone foreigners”.

That was ten years ago, and I’m still here, still waking up delighted to greet the sound of bells, the buzz of early morning commotion, still attracted by the unique light that pervades this watery, magical city, from sunrise to sunset.

Exhibition poster at the restaurant Peter decorated with paintings

Peter glimpsed near the Guggenheim Museum

I’m a painter. It took me quite a few years to be comfortable in this new skin. I paint. I can say that now. And I have done since I first picked up a brush, back in Rome, on a terrace overlooking Campo di Fiori, making my first tentative marks, oblivious of the niceties of perspective or chiaro-scuro. I paint and am productive, shifting to a second career in retirement. And I look at hundreds of visual images as I sift through photos of how other artists tackle new landscape approaches, or minimalist abstraction, or conjuring up realistic skies. I’ll take painting materials outside, find a remote spot with a flat wall or a bench and capture on paper what I observe. It’s a kind of meditation, in the right location.

Blue abstract inspired from an old Venetian mirror

Venetian water door painted by Peter

Painted panels of rice paper drying on the terrace

Peter’s painting of the edge of the Barena, where land meets water

Venice everyone thinks they know, even if they haven’t visited: gondolas; the “must see” monuments; the Rialto fish market; cruise ships spilling tourists into narrow calli (alleys) and wide campi (squares); pigeons being fed corn in Piazza San Marco … the list is endless. What is less known is that Venice is a city constructed amid canals that also nestles in a large lagoon - to the north and south, protected from the Adriatic sea by a narrow peninsula, and most recently by the “Moses” man-made pontoons which sporadically rise from the sea bed to protect the city from “acqua alta” – flooding. Many residents hang a green cloth from their terraces with the words “Venezia e Laguna” as a reminder of this crucial symbiosis.

The skies above San Marco

Detail of one panel of a triptych inspired by the Barena

Old engraving of the map of Venice

I go often by boat to the Northern Lagoon, beyond the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, to paint in the flat tidal marshlands known locally as “La Barena”. Here the landscape turns a rich purple as the “limonio” flower blooms. I paint and I share my technical knowledge of using watercolour to encourage landscape plein air artists. Prior to covid restrictions, I’ve held week-long workshops mentoring fledging painters who attempt to capture the nuances of immense sky above tiny strips of water and land.

Peter’s painting of the island of Lio Piccolo, in the Venetian Lagoon

Blue abstract, now in the collection of a friend in Chile

Working as an artist is quite a lonely activity.  I have finally found someone who will give me much needed feedback on my creativity.  I have developed to a point now that I paint and show my work .  A gallery in Florence represents me, I take part in open studio sessions and I’ve held several solo and group exhibitions in Venice and surroundings.   I have been fortunate enough to move into a new large space in Cannaregio that I could personally adapt, where I’ve combined a home with a large sunny terrace and a teaching studio.

The gallery entrance to Peter’s home, lined with paintings

Peter’s 12–panel abstract at the Tobian Art Gallery in Florence

The Grand Canal

I have focused so far on my work as a painter as it is a vital part of my life – the backbone if you like. Familiarity with Venice enables me to circulate easily without getting “bottlenecked” by hoards for the day. I never ever show guests the tourist traps, preferring to wander with them along empty canal paths, pointing out views, stopping to sip Spritz when thirsty. I live in a “sestiere” (district) that is still traditional, with market stalls, greengrocers, butchers, bakers all with family ties. I buy regularly at the Rialto fish market, just as I procure “vino sfuso” (literally loose wine), much cheaper than that sold in bottles. But Venice’s population is steadily declining (soon we will be less than 50,000 residents), meaning that eventually these services will vanish as more and more buildings are requisitioned to meet tourist demands. Life is much more expensive on the island than on the mainland, so I rarely eat out in restaurants preferring to cook at home. (That will come as no surprise to those that know me.) I entertain a lot, as I did when I worked, and I’ll often join neighbours and friends in gatherings where much of the conversation is done in Venetian dialect.

Peter’s home in Venice

Peter’s terrace in Venice

Peter’s artist studio inside his home in Venice

Some called it a brave decision to retire in Venice, foolish even. Life here has now been recently complicated by the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, effectively making me an “extra-comunitario” or third-country national. I still call it the best decision I ever made!

Peter

Peter’s Russian watercolours

Peter can be contacted via: peterldelahaye@hotmail.com