Free to Roam

'Free to Roam'
Jo-ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush ' Series
H122x112cm
H48x44ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2009
sold

I'm living in a suburb where everywhere you look, the bulldozers and developers are moving in.





beautiful old homes are flattened in hours, and as the rubble is loaded onto trucks to be hauled to the rubbish dump, I can't help but feel really sad  for the loss of the memories, the history, the connection with the past.





it's not that I'm against modern architecture.

it's not that I'm against change.

'A Gentle Life'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2006
sold

it's just that I love old buildings.
.....and I love new  buildings.....
I love DESIGN....good design, brilliant design.
I love the dichotomy of when people restore, reinvent an old building, and choose to insert a new shell inside an old skin to bring something old into the modern era.




this belief in the power of blending the old with the new was sparked  by a trip to Italy many, many years ago, when we visited a relative in Padova, Italy.




the external appearance of his apartment was definitely 11th Century, but inside was the epitomy of the absolute latest in the best of Italian design.
.....I was gobsmacked, won over....oh boy!




 I realised then that one can honour the past, but still acknowledge the present, and definitely look to the future.




His was a  building that was half 11th century , and half looking towards the 21st century....even though technically it was in the 20th century !
combining the old with the new, for me , that's the way forward.




 to respect those who've been before us, and to honour the knowledge that we're only guardians of this patch of ground where we live and build our lives.





more power to the renovators!





I guess I've always been nostalgic for the past.....not that you could tell!








                                                     Jo x








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