Paolo

This month I am focusing on trying new mediums, experimenting, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I have begun a new portrait series here in Venice, and am conducting my interviews entirely in Italian. I’ve studied the language for 8 years (on and off), but have quickly realized how much I still need to learn. Most of the locals that I have interviewed here don’t speak any English, so it has been quite the experience trying to grasp the fine details of their stories.

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Paolo left Bologna at age 18  to come to Venice and has not left since. He has lived here for 60 years, and has run his little art supply shop for over 40 years. Despite the fact that he is not an artist, he knows every detail about what grain and weight of a paper is best for your medium or project.

Throughout his years here in Venice, he has watched communities disappear as tourism gets stronger. His once-quiet neighborhood campo is now flooded with crowded, camera-clicking tourists. Amongst his local neighborhood and shop, he now rarely sees the same person twice; nobody stays for long, everyone is always rushing somewhere else.

In this digital generation, less and less people desire analog materials, and his business has suffered from it. If you are in Venice and are in need of art supplies, I recommend visiting his gem of a shop in San Giacomo near the S. Stae stop off the #1 Vaporetto.