Billy Gringley’s artwork was falling into a rut.

He’d had a few solo shows but his work was taking a back seat to the maintenance and construction jobs he took to support his family.

“Art takes time,” he said. “I need long stretches of time to devote to it, rather than spurts.”

Then in 2013, his wife Gretchen, a marine biologist, received a year-long fellowship to study corals at the University of Bologna.

“My first time in Italy was when I went to study at the Studio Art International Centre in Florence,” he said. “I was a college kid at the time with not a lot of money and sophistication, but it was still a great experience and I got a taste of Renaissance art. So naturally, this time around I jumped at the chance to go back to Italy.”

The couple moved there with their then five-year-daughter Elsie.

It opened up eight hours a day for Mr Gringley to devote to his craft.

Once he found his groove, the 48-year-old made 30 oils of Italian scenes. Those paintings go on show at Common Ground Café tomorrow.

Many reflect his fascination with Italian architecture.

“Bologna is an old industrial town,” he said. “The city used to have 90 medieval towers, but a lot of them were knocked down or fell down in the 1970s. Some of the ones that are left are leaning. Rival families used to fire cannons at each other from the towers. I would take photos of different scenes like these and paint them later.”

Finding space to paint wasn’t as easy as he’d imagined.

“I had to paint in the kitchen, because I didn’t have studio space,” he said.

“It was too expensive to rent. I made an easel out of scrap wood but I had to have everything cleaned up and packed away when my wife and daughter came home.”

Buying supplies was also an experience.

“I went to a very old art store in Bologna called Sebino Colori,” he said. “They don’t like you to touch anything.

“You tell the salesperson what you want and they go and get it for you.”

On the whole, he found Italian living was very easy.

“My daughter went to school next to the Ducati motorcycle factory,” he said. “They took care of her until 5.30pm which was handy. The apartment we rented came with maid service, so that was also good. The Italians are very quick people.”

In Bologna there is a café or a pizzeria on every corner, so it was easy to pick up a quick snack or dinner.

“Italians do everything very quick,” he said. They are always in a hurry, and it’s usually to get to the nearest café. There is a real café culture in Bologna.”

To fit in he had to upgrade his wardrobe a bit.

“The men all wear dress shirts and nice shoes,” he said. “For some reason, everyone looks at your shoes so I had to get a nice pair of shoes too.”

His daughter initially struggled because she didn’t speak the language. When they left Italy, almost two years later, it was no longer a problem.

“We taught her how to say ‘let’s play’ in Italian,” he said. “The next thing I knew she was coming home jabbering away in Italian. I think if we’d stayed another year she would have been fluent.”

He was a bit unsure how people in Bermuda would react to his Italian scenes. “I know a lot of Bermudians like to put pictures of Bermuda on their wall,” he said. “But maybe some people would like pictures of Italy. Bologna really was a beautiful place.”

His work will be on show at the Chancery Lane store until January 27.