I’m back from Fabriano in Acquarello.

For the second time, the international watercolor festival Fabriano in Acquarello or Fabriano in Watercolor, took place in Bologna instead of its namesake. From April 24. to 28. the Salaborsa library located in the picturesque town center of Bologna was host to hundreds of watercolor paintings from all over the world. I was fortunate enough to exhibit with Team Switzerland. The Salaborsa was the perfect spot for this exhibition, as the area is a hotspot for locals and tourists alike. I am certain the paintings got a lot more exposure than in previous venues.

Outside Salaborsa, the annual group painting took place. This is where I ran into Carsten Wieland from Brushpark Watercolors . I have been following his blog for several years now, and it was nice to bump into him. He is the team leader of the German watercolor group that was also exhibiting at Salaborsa.

I took a watercolor workshop with Felice Feltracco . It turned out to be more of a painting demo by the artist where he gave pointers for painting architectural scenes. Mr. Feltracco began with a very light wash for the facade and used more pigment when zeroing in on his point of interest, the overgrown balcony. I had a go myself and noticed how hard it was. The facade came out too strong which made the sketch look flat. On the bright side, my simple and lightweight plein air setup consisting of a children’s whiteboard and clips worked out well. When I was done, I clipped a clean kitchen rag to either side of the whiteboard to protect the painting.

The beautiful city of Bologna was the perfect place to hold a watercolor festival of this magnitude. I look forward to visiting again.