The Amalfi Coast Doors Series
Amalfi Coast Door No. 1
Via Delle Cartiere, Amalfi, Italy
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The EXTERIORS of the houses were far from remarkable—
One stucco building blurred into the next,
Often with only a change in paint color to mark the property line…
But the DOORS!
Each DOOR was unique,
Telling a story about the lives that dwelled behind it.
Many were paneled and adorned with antique brass or bronze hardware
Covered with an authentic patina.
Most doors were arched and recessed into the stucco walls
With a brick or stone surround.
Why so many GREEN? I asked myself.
Is GREEN the color of hospitality?”
Amalfi Coast Door No. 2
Via Santa Chiara
Ravello, Italy
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Two green, rectangular DOORS
Almost filling an arched opening.
A gap above. A slot of space to welcome the birds?
An ancient column salvaged from a building demolition.
Another, shorter, shimmed … leading to:
Uneven heights.
Capitals with contrasting themes.
Mismatched bases.
Yet somehow creating
A beauty that new materials can’t match.
Amalfi Coast Door No. 3
Via Cristoforo Colombo
Positano, Italy
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A rusticated stone surround
Envelopes another green door.
Yellow ochre over steel gray.
An aperature hovers above.
What is behind the window? Does is cast an elliptical beam of light inside?
The shadows say it’s late afternoon.
Time for a nap.
Amalfi Coast Door No. 4
Via Dei Prefetturi
Amalfi, Italy
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A pope on a poster.
Terra cotta bricks surround another beautiful, paneled —GREEN—door.
Rusted spikes keep birds out above. No glass in this transom.
Must be a garden entrance.
Light behind confirm the suspicion.
Amalfi Coast Door No. 5
Via Santa Chiara
Ravello, Italy
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Two green paneled doors stand tall
Between stucco walls dripping with the stains of time.
An arched light fanned with ironwork
Initials pronouce a monogram.
Sturdy knockers knock on the door.
Will they let me in—
Past the kick-plate scuffed and scratched,
From kicking?
Amalfi Coast Door No. 6
Via Della Marra
Ravello, Italy
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Orange, pink, and yellow brick surrounds
An open door. A welcomed glance?
We peer inside…
Stairs leading to a room: a B&B.
Outside again the cracks shout out the age.
A century? Maybe more…
Sharp shadows fall.
Late afternoon has arrived.
Will the guest be on time?
For my son, Max
Amalfi Coast Door No. 7
Via Tore di Caso
Massa Lubrense, Italy
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Casa Relax
Sharp shadows cover painted plaster pocked with age.
A balcony shelters a door.
An arched transomed window guarded by a gargoyle—demon faced, edited and replaced (not in my painting!).
Replaced—with Aslan.
Now it can be “Casa Relax.”
Amalfi Coast Door No. 8
Via Guglielmo Marconi
Positano, Italy
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A peach stucco wall is punctured by
A heavy, stoney door surround. Or is it a fortress?
Those protruding spikes will keep me out!
Afternoon shadows have lots of stone surfaces to hide under
But not so on the wood. They sweep gracefully across a paneled door-with lots of nails.
Soon the delicate light fixture will glow above the keystone.
Amalfi Coast Door No. 9
Salita Schiazzano
Massa Lubrense, Italy
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Pass the ristorante.
Pass the tabacchi.
Turn the corner.
Keep up. The tour is leaving.
But I’ve never seen this palette before!
Does dark green even go with peach?
It does in Italy.
Amalfi Coast Door No. 10
Via Tore di Caso
Massa Lubrense, Italy
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A door?
A gate?
A garden beyond.
What world lies behind this threshold?
Stoop low to peer through or jump high to peek.
I spy light and life.
Amalfi Coast Door No. 11
Via Dei Prefetturi
Amalfi, Italy
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Golden sunlight cast dark shadows on yellow ochre walls.
It’s the golden hour.
Dark, bronze tracery divides up teal glass panels.
It’s beauty detracts from the ancient artifacts built into the wall:
An ancient winged horse.
An archaic dragon.
Evidence of a period of time.
Juxtiposed with an intercom.
Amalfi Coast Door No. 12
Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta
Positano, Italy
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Sitting in front of the Chiesa Positano.
Two minutes into my sketch, a little girl.
“Mom, an ART-ist…painting!”
Couldn’t help stopping, listening, explaining, ecouraging.
Loaning her my supplies, she painted her own door.
And took it with her
—back to England.
(I hope she continues.)