Pieces of the Grand Canal

It has not been my intention to ignore you. It is just that other obligations have intruded. You know, appointments, tax prep, shopping. All that "real life stuff. Most pleasurable was a four or five day stint of puppy-sitting for Birdie, a family pup - mostly lab - and all incredibly cute. Here she is:

Additionally, the image I am working on has become foolishly complex. It started with that view of the Grand Canal out our window in Venice which you might remember from the post Venice in the Rearview Mirror. If not here it is again:

Well, I thought about it for awhile, and for some reason the notion of mosaics came to mind. So I wiped out the canal and the sky and proceeded to draw in the pieces of the mosaic. And a very, very, very long time later I now have this, to which I will now begin to add color:

Yes, I know. Counseling might be in order. But other artists, far more accomplished than I - Michelangelo, Klimt, etc., - spent years on various compositions. So who am I to complaint about a few hundred hours on this one? Besides it is while drawing that I feel most at peace.