A number of years ago I asked an art dealer who was evidently a very skilful salesman if he could sell some of my paintings. “You are a good painter Oliver - if you have some paintings of Venice I could perhaps have a go”, he replied. The very thought of it appalled me. Did I wish to compete with the distinguished artists who have tackled ‘La Serenissima’, and risk becoming kitsch? Ten years later a hot chocolate on a rainy day in the Piazza San Marco clinched it. Open urban spaces in the rain invariably excite me. The buildings turn upside down in the puddles, their edges smudged, the pavement lets in the sky. umbrellas puncture the monotonous grey with sudden bursts of colour. The taboo now broken, I have even allowed myself a canal and a gondola or two!