Malta - Valetta

In 2002 I visited Malta with a good friend, Nicki. It was one of those last minute deals, and we were both excited and apprehensive not knowing until we arrived what accommodation we would have. We were well looked after, and had a beautiful hotel, a short walk from the water front in an area called Bugiba - overlooking St Paul's Bay. Malta and it's sister islands Gozo and Comino have a really rugged coastline, and arid countryside. There were various excursions on the trip - Gozo and the Azure window were amazing - you cannot get over how blue the sea is.

One firm memory for both of us was the evening we went to a bar in St Paul's Bay for some cocktails - Blue Lagoon was their speciality and we came up with a recipe as soon as we got home! While we were walking back to our hotel I was utterly convinced that the moon was really huge over Malta that night ... while Nicki was saying she couldn't even see the moon from where we were...  and finally pointed out it was actually a street light... A proud moment for me.

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The sky was a very clear blue, but I wanted to give it some texture, and depth, using a broad brush and working quickly. 

One of the excursions was a visit to Valetta, the capital city of Malta. It was stunning with it's steep shopping streets, horse drawn carriages, bright yellow buses, and sea views. I was really captured by this interesting, romantic city, and took many pictures on the day. I've wanted to paint a scene from it and capture the bright colours and peace of the place ever since. So I've begun!