Rooftops, Venice 1983

Frank Mason made this painting of Venetian rooftops with oil on canvas. Just look at those rooftops! They are painted with such attention to the architecture, but then the whole thing is bathed in this light – oranges, yellows, reds – like a Turner painting. I'm guessing Mason probably spent a lot of time just watching the light, waiting for a moment when the sky turned into this intense, almost unbelievable color. There's a real sense of atmosphere, a kind of dreamy, ethereal quality that makes you feel like you're floating above the city. I'm also interested in the way he's handled the paint. It's not super thick, but you can definitely see the brushstrokes. You can see how he's layered the colors, building up the image bit by bit. It's like he's trying to capture not just what Venice looks like, but what it feels like.