Two Turtle Fountains _ Yandell and BerniniOur plein air group continues to paint in the parks around town. I was inspired to get a head start on the next location - Cherokee Park. This fountain graces an area of the park and was designed by Enid Yandell(she also created the statue down the hill from this - of Daniel Boone). The sculptress also worked in Paris for a time with Auguste Rodin. The fountain features Pan holding up his pipes calling the woodland creatures and served, at its installment in 1920, as a watering basin for horses and dogs. In this small study I am capturing the light on the fountain and added a mom pushing a stroller with baby on board.
I look forward to returning and adding the details en plein air. Including the turtles! The turtles - four of them- sit perched on the top edge of the fountain where the water spouts from their mouths. I saw a fountain with similar turtles years ago in Rome. My Uncle Dominic Mattei had encouraged me to see this fountain - he called it the turtle fountain. Little did I know that the fountain was located in Piazza Mattei in the Trastevere. When I paint the turtles in the sun this week I will remember him.
