Author: Erin Murphy
Acrylic on canvas
Size: 60x80 cm
 
A beautiful pattern was created by a thoughtful and conservationist-minded roofer. Here in Florence there are very strict rules governing the restoration of buildings and roofs; each roof must be made of terra cotta tiles which are laid one by one. So when the roof next door needed fixed after who knows how many decades and they saw it needed a great number of brand new roof tiles, this sensitive roofer alternated the old broken ones with the new ones. He even saved the smallest, most rounded-edged bits here and there. I was experimenting with metallic paint and found the flatness of it to be fitting of the crisp edges of the bare, new tiles. The roofer has no idea that someone out there appreciated his aesthetic sense so much.