Fabriano, Watercolour and a Return to My Beginnings...

'Above is an early illustration when watercolour became my first love in painting' Watercolour of Piazza in Fabriano, Italy 2019-20

In the town of Fabriano, Italy, a 14th century town in the region of Marche, the world famous European centre of paper production during the Middle Ages, a small watercolour gallery hides among stone corridors, cobblestone paths and lingering medieval history. The International Watercolour Museum.

I still remember stumbling upon it as we wandered through the town. Fabriano itself felt untouched by time, its fountains, narrow streets and medieval buildings carrying the quiet weight of centuries.

Tucked away within this setting was a gallery dedicated entirely to international watercolour.

For me, this was a significant milestone, the first gallery exhibition I walked into and thought, 'I want to do exactly this... paint.'

I spoke to the curator, who took my friends and I through the current exhibition and introduced us to the medium.

'Aquarello!'

The watercolour paintings, created on Fabriano paper produced from the town's centuries old papermaking heritage, captivated me.

Their translucent, gentle, meticulously layered surfaces made watercolour feel like a medium I was brave enough to attempt. Unlike some of the paintings I had encountered before, there was something approachable about watercolours, something delicate and human.

Very quickly, I had to learn the art of restraint. Watercolour demanded that I think ahead and paint as though the work was already complete.

Watercolour Studies From 2019-20

Highlights had to be protected from the beginning, carefully painted around rather than added later. I discovered the fragility of the medium too. Paper can only absorb so much water before it begins to fray, buckle or weaken, and the darkest passages can become vulnerable to damage. These were some of my earliest lessons as I began learning to paint.

As uncomfortable as it can be to look back at old work, revisiting this watercolour phase reminded me that every artist starts somewhere.

We are all beginners before anything else.

Looking at these early paintings now, I can see the uncertainty, the experimentation and the excitement of discovering a medium for the first time. I never quite mastered watercolour, as oils eventually took my heart, but it remains the medium I consider my first love in painting.

And now that I am deep into the world of oils, I still feel the same way. I have a long way to go and will one day look back on the work I am creating now, just as I look back on these paintings.

Perhaps with the same mixture of fondness, embarrassment and gratitude that comes from seeing where a journey first began.

When I was first practising, I painted countless studies of ordinary objects, Italian coffee machines, packets of pasta, prickly pears, and whatever else happened to be around me. Looking back, these simple observations became an important foundation for my first published poetry collection, for which I created watercolour illustrations to accompany the poems on each page.

Watercolour Illustrations from 2020/21

Perhaps one day I will revisit watercolour within my professional practice.

For now, however, I continue to use watercolours as a medium of remembrance.

Today, it functions as a visual diary.

I use it to document daily scenes, moments shared with friends and family, and environments that feel nostalgic or visually compelling.

These small paintings become private keepsakes, illustrated memories that can be treasured long after the moment has passed. In a way, they serve the same purpose they always have.

They allow me to hold onto places, people and moments that would otherwise drift quietly into memory.

Grace xx