There is something about sailing and painting on an old wooden catboat that has its charms especially bringing home the "Spirit of the Opera Cup " award.

Madonarro is Italian for street painting or rather one who paints Madonnas for alms on the street. This art form was practiced in Italy from the fifteenth century. As a young artist, I traveled to Italy to learn how to draw from classical statuary. Instead, I learned to draw art on the street.

In Florence, I awoke each morning and hung out by the Uffizi, where I would draw portraits of the tourists for money. That freed up my afternoons to visit the many museums and do drawings after masterpieces in the Pitti Palace, the Academia, and the Uffizi. Six months of this, and I was sick of the tourists and the crowded museums. So I packed up my few belongings and headed for Rome.