You can take the artist out of his native Italy, but an ineffable, singularly Italian flair abides on his canvases. In his work Riverside Cafe-Glittering at Noon (24″ x 30” oil on canvas), Italian American artist Ivo David illustrates the iconic Riverside Cafe restaurant on the Indian River in Vero Beach, Florida. The destination is popular with residents and tourists, coming by both land and boat. The boats arriving at the Florida landmark in David’s painting bring to mind Venetian gondolas and fine crafted, classic wooden boats traveling along the Amalfi Coast. David’s Riverside Cafe restaurant is a realistic rendering, recognizable to any local resident of the area, but his water and sky are portrayed with the artist’s hallmark version of impressionism. Though the river casts a mirror image reflection of the land, it is a playful, mystical waterway, formed with imaginative swirls that evoke snakes, “S’s”, and the French curved shape of the bow of an ancient Viking ship. David’s fluffy, blue, cream, and cotton candy peach colored sky hints at hidden, heavenly forms: angels, musical instruments, flying dragons and spinning spheres. On a sail boat heading toward the restaurant in David’s painting, the viewer can almost see the wind ruffling and puffing the sail, and a movie of ever changing ethereal images seems to be playing out on the sail with each gust.

By Ella Chabot, artist @ GetShotByElla.com