Barbara In Italy - Summer 2008

Homeward Bound – 8/07

2008-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

I was up, got ready and was down in the lobby at 5:30 for our trip to the airport. There were five of us that Jason shuttled to the airport: the “original four” of Jeff, Sam, me and Aprile were all on the same flight to San Francisco; and Robert whose final destination was Montana.

We said goodbye to Robert at the departure curb and got our boarding passes without any problems. Since we had some time, we decided to get a bite to eat before going to our gate; that was mistake number one. After eating and a bit of souvenir shopping, we headed to the gate. The passport validation and going through security took a little longer then we expected but we still had plenty of time. To get to our gate, we had to take one of those automated shuttles that took three minutes to switch buildings. There was a little bit of confusion at the end of the ride and instead of getting out with thought it would take us closer to our gate. Wrong… we went back to the main terminal and the security guard made us get out so we couldn’t go back. So ran to get the shuttle again only to find out we had to go through security again. Now we were really in trouble. We politely forced our way to the front of the line, got through then ran back a long way through the main terminal to the shuttle. We got on and went to the separate terminal. And, wouldn’t you know it - our gate was at the very end of that terminal! So, we ran some more. Fortunately for us, they were boarding the flight but there was still time to spare.

After we got to the gate, I noticed my boarding pass was different from the others. I initially thought I was on a separate flight, but when I found that was incorrect, I asked the desk attendant what was up. Come to find out, that was my London to SF pass. After I found my Rome to London pass, I couldn’t find my London to SF pass. We tore my carryon bags apart, it was no where to be found. After all the running to get the flight, I couldn’t get home. Right when I was about to despair, I heard a voice calling my name. It was the airline attendant asking if this was my boarding pass. I had left it at the desk. What a drama to go through to get on the plane in Rome!

When we arrived in London, we went right to the gate for our plane to SF and found it was already boarding. When I got to the ticket agent, the computer beeped at my boarding pass; they had reassigned my seat to someone else. I was upset because my new seat was not on the isle until the attendant told me it was an upgrade. I had been upgraded to business class! I had a wonderful bulk head seat with plenty of foot room and easy access past my neighbor on the isle. Now that was a blessing from God after all the trials I went through in Rome.

Our flight to SF was uneventful arriving on time. After getting through customs, we met each others families and took photos. We were back on American soil; back to our normal lives and loved ones once again.

Last Day in Rome – 8/06

2008-08-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

This was our last full day in Rome and in Italy before returning home the next day. We were up early again for our last walking tour of Rome, but not without a hearty breakfast before leaving. On the agenda today was the Vatican Museum and Saint Peter’s Basilica. So off we walked to the Vatican.

On our way there we crossed over the Tiber River and had some great views of Castel Sant’Angelo (Castle of the Archangel) in the semi-cloudy, still morning. I got some great shots with lots of reflections and sky. Apparently, this castle built as a tomb of Roman Emperor Hadrian; was used as a tomb by subsequent emperors for almost 100 years. Over time it became a fortified palace; in the Dark Ages it was a fortress and a prison; in 1277 it was connected to the Vatican by an elevated corridor and was a handy place of refuge for the pope during invasions.

A few long blocks from the Castle St. Peter’s Basilica came into view, but that was saved for later after we saw the Vatican Museum. On the way there, we walked by an entrance into Vatican City where some handsome and nicely costumed men (I’m not sure what you call that outfit!) that stopped cars and people to validate their entrance. We waited in a long line for about 30 minutes before entering and finally getting into the museum. I saw Raphael’s famous “School of Athens” and “The Stanza of the Signatura”. The room that housed these paintings was amazing: all four walls and the ceiling were lavishly decorated with gold leaf, mosaics and frescos from Raphael’s hand. I sat in that room for quite awhile taking that in. After that came the large collection of modern art before entering the Sistine Chapel. I stayed there for quite some time taking it all in. When the pain of looking up got to me neck, I continued on through the Vatican library. Check out the paintings on the ceiling and arches. The cabinets along the bottom are where the library treasures were kept. I bought a book of the artwork of both Michelangelo and Raphael as I was leaving. Check out this exit stairwell; is that too cool or what!?!!

After we exited the Vatican, we walked back to St. Peter’s Square to regroup before going into the Basilica. I took several blurry pictures of the Pieta and the light in one of the ceiling’s domed skylights. Besides being huge, I was amazed at the opulently decorated interior of the Basilica. Statues after statues; paintings and more paintings; the relic of Peter’s remains; the bonze statue of St. Peter where people stood in line to touch his foot; the huge canopy where the priest held mass using the full church; all the side chapels. I just stood in awe of it all; I wondered why the church would spend so much time and money on such extravagant decorations and outward appearances. All I can say is money, position and power can cause corruption in any kind of organization. Anyway, I took a picture of the square as I exited the Basilica.

After finishing up on our final tour, we headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. We were to transfer to the Holiday Inn near the airport either by taking a taxi or the hotel shuttle. The shuttle would leave for a few more hours and we were very tired and in need of a shower, so we took a taxi. The Holiday Inn was just like on in the States. It had large rooms, a large swimming pool, and the other amenities you would expect from a large hotel. Since there was little around the hotel in the way of food, most of us gathered for dinner that evening for one last meal together with the group before our departure the next day. After some tears and final pictures, I went back to my room to repack my suitcases for the trip home before retiring for the night.

Rome, Day 2 – 8/05

2008-08-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

We were out early for our walking tour. Our first stop was Piazza Navona. Even though we had visited it the day before, Jason wanted to point out a couple of things; the Bernini sculpture’s of the Four Rivers in the center and the fountain of the Moor at the southern end. The Four Rivers fountain was not accessible due to restoration work so I got a picture from Wikipedia to post here. I’ve also included a photo of the Moor fountain.

Next up on our tour was visiting a couple churches. On our way, we passed by the Pantheon and we went in again. I took a picture of the carriages that you can rent for an old fashioned ride around Rome with the Pantheon behind it. Just behind and above the carriage is the entrance. The think I found most interesting was the hole in ceiling so here are couple of it. The floor was slanted to drain rain water that came through that open hole.

After this we visited a church where Jason new the priest and Jason had painted a painting of the inside of the church. I don’t remember the name of it but it was beautiful inside. It had a ceiling that was painted in perfect perspective. It also had the highly ornate interior consistent with most of the churches in Rome.

The next church we visited was the Church of San Luigi which had two Caravaggio paintings: The Calling of Saint Matthew and The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew. The lighting in the little chapel inside the church was run by a coin operated switch. You put a one Euro coin in and the light stayed on for several minutes; then it went out again. It was a good way to bring in some extra change for the church. After this we headed to the Piazzo del Popolo (Square of the People) to see another church that had a Caravaggio painting. By the time we finished it was around noon, so everyone went to get lunch then we were to meet Jason at the Villa Borghese Museum for our 3:00 scheduled tour there. I’ve included a shot of one of the churches in the Piazzo del Popolo.

We all met at the Villa Borghese to see the collection of artwork. The Cardinal Scipione Borghese was a Renaissance era prelate, art collector and a member of the Borghese family. The cardinal used this as a party villa and to hold his art collection. It had some fabulous Bernini sculptures and several works by Caravaggio. It was my favorite of all art places we visited in Rome. I bought a book of Caravaggio’s work at the museum book store. It was written in Italian, but that was okay because I was interested mainly in the pictures. Speaking of pictures, here’s a photo of Serena, Theo, Craig, Sean and Judy with the hat, waiting for everyone to finish the tour.

Once everyone got back together, we headed down the road, past the zoo, to the National Museum of Modern art. They really do have modern art in Italy! It was a nice change after seeing so much religious art. I’ve included a picture of Sam walking up to it. Once we finished there, five of us decided to take a cab back to the hotel. We were really tired after a whole day of literally walking around Rome. After cleaning up Sam, Jen, Robert and I went out for a nice dinner and we celebrated Jen’s birthday. For dessert, we stopped at a nearby gelato shop. It was a perfect end to a very busy day.

Rome, Evening Tour - 8/04

2008-08-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

Our first stop on our evening tour was Piazza Navona. This piazza has a famous Berini’s Four Rivers Fountain in front of a building in which Michelangelo was the architect. From there we went to the Pantheon where I got a picture of the outside of it while a group of us were sitting at a nearby café; that’s Robert in the red shirt taking a picture of some of our group.

Next we were off to the Trevi Fountain. This was built in 1762 by Nicola Salvi and it was built to celebrate the reopening of an ancient aqueduct that powers it. The fountain’s main character is “Ocean” a figure that represents water in all of its form. Water gushes from 24 different locations. Tradition has it that by tossing a coin over your will assure your return to Rome. After working our way through the crowd, we took pictures of each other throwing in our coins (here’s to my return!) then Craig took a picture of our evening tour group in front of the fountain. It was a fun site.

Our last official stop of the day was the Spanish Steps. This is a wide set of step with a curving walkway on both sides leading up to an obelisk at the top centered between two church bell towers. The evening we were there they were setting up for a concert so the place was jammed. According to the Rick Steve’s guide book, this is one of the icons of the city of Rome.

After seeing the Spanish Steps area, everyone regrouped and went their own way for dinner. Craig, Judy and I decided to have dinner together. We found a good-enough restaurant for dinner; the food was decent but the waiter pulled a fast one on us by doubling the price of our caprice salads. When we called him on it, he gave us the line that we got the “special” mozzarella. It was a line of bull but we let it ride this time; I would not, however, be taken again by the crocked waiters of Rome!

Our last sight for the evening was to go back to the Trevi Fountain to see it light up at night. It was beautiful and much less crowded. My night time picture is blurry since I didn’t have a tripod. Now that was a long day of sightseeing and it was still hot and very humid at 11:00 at night! I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel to air conditioned comfort and a soft bed.

Going to Rome, Morning Tour - 8/04

2008-08-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

Our Monday started early to catch the 6:45 train to Rome. Jason wanted to maximize since we had only three days in this big city. We arrived in Rome around 9:00 and headed for our first site, the coliseum, via the metro. We were jammed like sardines into that train but were presented with an awesome site upon emerging from the station. We went inside and Jason showed us around. He said the museum and the best views were from the second floor, so we walked up the same stairs as a Roman would back in the heyday of the coliseum. The museum had a model of it and showed the event floor and elevator system used to raise and lower animals and people onto the event floor. There was a wooden floor over the top of the maze-like center section. At the far end of the interior picture you can see a platform that was built over a small section of event area to give you an idea of what it looked like. They actually use that area today for concerts and other events. The photo of me shows a closer view of this platform behind me and the doorway where the gladiators use to enter the stadium. The other photo is of me, Robert, Jeff, Jen and Brandon. It was an amazing place to experience.

After finishing up at the coliseum, we headed for the Roman Forum walking past the triumphal Arch and Basilica of Constantine on our way to the entrance. Once we got inside the Forum, we took the long and rather fast walk by some of the major landmarks: The Arch of Titus (where I took a photo of the inner side of the arch); the house of the Vestal Virgins; and stopping in the shade of the Arch of Septimius Severus to wait for stragglers. In the foreground of the photo (starting on the left) are Theo, Jeff, Jason and Sean with some building columns in ruin behind them. After we all gathered here, we left the Roman Forum. The visit was too fast for me so I hope to go back there some day to explore more of it.

Once we left the forum, we stopped at a landmark of the prison where St. Peter was held in jail the Romans. It has become a sacred place to Christians and they have built an altar outside and inside the dungeon where St. Peter was kept. In the photo, Jason is standing on the left at the top of the stairs to the prison; if you look closely, you’ll see a head at the bottom of the middle pillar; that is Amy walking up the stairs after her visit inside.

After this brief stop, we headed towards our hotel. It was getting really hot by this time and we were all ready for an air conditioned room and a cool shower. We got to the hotel around 1:00 and we had some time to eat lunch and relax until 4:30 when we all met again for the evening round of sight seeing.

Last Day in Corciano (Sunday) – 8/03

2008-08-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

Our last day in Corciano was cleanup day. Everyone was to leave their abode cleaner then when we arrived, so in our villa with six women we broke up the space for cleaning. We all cleaned our own rooms; Aprile did the kitchen; I took the refrigerator; Eileen cleaned the living room and shelves; Judy did one bathroom; Amy and Sam did the other. Afterwards, Sam and Amy crashed on the couch with Robert who was visiting and keeping us company while we cleaned. It was another sad time knowing we would be leaving Corciano early the next morning to go to Rome for the last excursion of our trip.

Knowing we had cleaned all food out of the house, the whole group of us when out to dinner one last time. We drove to a park on a neighboring hill that overlooked the largest lake in Italy. There were two large tables set up outside a small concession area where we had reservations to eat. We had a great Italian meal of several antipasti, pasta and dessert all accompanied with the wine and/or water of your choice. As you can see, Jason got into the meal by serving pasta around our table. There was a brilliant sunset that evening over our view of the lake.

After dinner, we went to Gabrielle and Dina’s home for more ice cream and a video he had made of our visit in Corciano. He gave everyone a CD with the video he made as a going away gift to everyone. This was a very nice ending to our summer stay in Corciano.

Last Saturday in Corciano – 8/02

2008-08-16T19:22:00.001-07:00

There were a lot of mixed feelings about wrapping up our trip in Corciano; some people couldn’t wait to get home; some didn’t want to leave; and some had a mixture of both. Saturday was devoted to packing. We had to have everything packed and the luggage ready to pick up at 7:00 am Sunday to be transported to Rome.

But, there was still some light in our weekend; the Corciano Festival started Saturday night and ran until early September. They had artwork on display by their featured artist and there was a band that played some warm up music. We were invited to have dinner of traditional Italian fare in an old building that was once a tavern. We met Gabrielle in the piazza and he took us there.

Just imagine a room with a vaulted ceiling, tables with benches and the people who would patronize this place in days of old sipping wine and sharing local stories and gossip. And, we did the same. It was a fun dinner and a nice end to our packing day.

Final Critique and Art Show – 8/1

2008-08-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we met at the Corciano town steps for a final group picture. I’d like to point out that black cage-like thing hanging above the group to the left of the archway. We called it the “man-cage” as in medieval times they actually used that as a form of punishment for crimes done in the city. They would put the person in the cage on display for all who entered the city; a form of public humiliation and torment. It’s strictly for historical “decoration” and “the man-cage” became the landmark name for meeting at this spot.

After the group picture it was back up to the monastery for the final critique and last day of the class. The photo shows Craig with some of the final paintings. He reviewed each ones painting stating what was working, what wasn’t and he gave suggestions for changes that could make it better. Also mixed in were some tips on the business aspects of becoming a successful artist. I've also included a photo of my final painting. After the critique, people dispersed for lunch but we had to be back at the piazza at 5:00 to hang our work for the art show.

Gabrielle, our Corciano host, had arranged the Corciano Art Show for the students to show and sell the work they had done during the summer. It was an informal event where our paintings were hung on wires and taped to the building. Food and refreshments were served. The first picture is my work in the show. I’ve also included some of my classmates sitting in front more of the work. Robert sold one painting and Theo sold two or three paintings, so it was great night for them.

Last Painting Days in Italy – 7/30 - 31

2008-08-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

On our last painting day with Jason on Wednesday, we picked up with the same strategy as we started with on Monday: Paint a scene in Corciano; although this time we painted one in the morning then came back at 7:00 to paint the sunset. In between time, we could use the time to work on our final painting. I did not start the day out very well because I was thinking about it being our last painting day with Jason. My morning painting that day was a flop and I wiped it off when I got back home. In the evening, I was in better spirits and I had more success this time.
The sunset was beautiful but it changed rapidly. I laid in my foreground when I first got to my spot so I could focus on the sky. After I blocked that in, the sky got interesting but the sun moves fast as it gets close to the horizon so I worked fast and furiously on it. It’s funny how the sun just didn’t wait for me! Fortunately, I did get some pictures of the beautiful sky. Between my color study and the photo references I have good sources to do a studio painting at some point in the future.

Thursday was our last painting day of the Italy trip. I think everyone was burned out from the exhausting week and bummed by it being our last painting day. We stayed in Corciano again today. Craig’s goal was for us to paint alley ways. Everyone ended up painting in pretty close proximity to each other. During a break I went around and took pictures of some students working along with Craig. The one with no one at the easel is my setup and painting just before I took it down. As you can see, Sam was rather frustrated.

We only did one painting that day so we would have time in the afternoon to work on our final painting. It was due the next morning. Needless to say, there were a few students working into the wee hours of the night to complete their painting. I finished my about 8:00 that evening and wanted to go out for dinner to celebrate being done. Judy was also done with hers to we went to dinner together. Just as we were finishing, Craig joined us and we sat around talking and reminiscing about the class to that point.

Painting Cortona – 7/29

2008-08-13T15:23:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday, we went to one of Craig’s favorite places to paint: Cortona. He had done a number of workshops in the area and knew of some good spots for cityscapes. For my first painting, I ended up painting behind Craig. It was very beneficial as we were painting the same subject a church. As I was painting, I was able to look over his shoulder to see how he did painted and did certain areas; then I “copied” some things in my painting.

After lunch, Craig showed me a great spot for painting a different church. When we got there, Jason was painting it; I set up just a little down the road from him. The weather that day was partly cloudy, partly sunny so I got some nice shots of the church with some amazing light and shadows. I got set up and started on a painting; however, given the time constraints that day, I was not able to finish it.

Corciano Weekend, Wet Monday – 07/25 - 28

2008-08-13T14:57:00.001-07:00

After a great day at the monastery, we closed out the week; now we entered the last week of class. That meant each of us had a week to complete a final “studio” (not plein air) painting that was 18x24 or larger. The prior week we selected several photos from our time in Italy and reviewed them with Craig to determine which one we would paint. Now it was time to get down to business.

This was a “free” weekend and there were no planned trips although Jason did organize a day trip to the Ferrari and Lamborghini car factories on Friday. Most people did not go opting to work on their final projects. There was one social event planned for Sunday evening, a class potluck that included celebrating the birthday of Grayson, Jason’s third-born child; he turned five. It isn’t a very good picture but here are (from the left) Shawn, Amy, Grayson and Sam.

On Monday, we met at 1:00 pm at the Corciano piazza to begin our last week class. Jason’s goal for this day was to paint that same scene in afternoon and in evening light somewhere in the town; that’s why we started at 1:00 rather then our normal 8:00. However, Mother Nature had other plans for our day. When we got to the piazza it was pouring rain from thunder storms. Everyone in the piazza was pretty much soaked even under the “shade” umbrella or in the gelato shop. As you can see from the photos some loved the rain while others did not! Aprile and Eileen love the rain so much, went for rainy splash!

The rain didn’t let up so we decided to change plans: We did our last grocery shopping day of our trip switching it from our usual Tuesday to this afternoon. And, wouldn’t you know it; the rain had stopped by the time we got to the grocery store. Oh well, we spent the remainder of the day working on our homework assignment.

The Monastery Surprise – 7/24

2008-08-13T04:52:00.001-07:00

The monastery in Corciano was one of my favorite places to be and paint. There were animals on the property in the fenced in area around the grounds such as llamas, donkeys, goats and a three-legged deer among others. When I learned the owner was a veterinarian then I understood why he had such a variety of animals. The monastery was an interesting structure; part of it was restored, like the church area; other parts were of it like the inner courtyard was in a wonderful state of disrepair; great inspiration and topics for paintings. Inside, all around the courtyard were antique farming / winery equipment: horse cart, olive oil / wine barrels, ladders; there was a garden in the middle with a well that they still use; along the inner walls there were frescos of bible stories and events of the church or the monastery; many were hard to decipher all were fascinating to me. Think about the inner court of a California mission and you’ll get the idea. This was also the residence of owner and of three of the guys from class. I almost wished I could have stayed there myself!

Anyway, the last day of class this week we painted here. When we got to the monastery, I heard a big commotion among the students. An important event had happened the night before: Jen’s boyfriend, Dave had proposed to her. Dave had joined Jen (and the rest of us) in Venice and stayed with us for about a week in total. He had looked all over Venice for a ring to give her, but all he could find was glass, no diamonds. So, he went to Todi with us the previous day where he found a ring. He proposed that evening. Dave had it all planned ahead of time to buy the ring and propose to Jen in Italy. Jen had no idea of his plans and was absolutely ecstatic and glowing all day; she understandably had trouble concentrating on class work. Is that totally romantic or what! We are all invited to the wedding in a year or so.

Okay, now it was back to painting… Craig’s plan for the day was for us to do four quick studies; basically we were to do a painting in about an hour. I managed to get three done that day including one in the inner court yard. Craig added the finishing touches to this study so I can’t take full credit for it. I was upset with myself later when I realized that I didn’t take a photograph of the scene of the glass bottle. Oh well… it was still a beautiful and eventful day.

Painting at the Hog Farm – 7/22

2008-08-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday after our Venice trip, we drove a short distance to a farm near Corciano to paint. Craig and Jason had scoped out this spot the day before a found it a nice place to paint. When we got there, we drove to around the farm and we were appalled by smell. Jason called it the “sweet” dirty diaper smell, although it wasn’t quite as sweet as Tyler’s. We decided to stay up wind of that smell… smart move and a number of us found a painting spot near a large barn. We heard squealing coming from the barn and someone shouted that there were pigs in there.

It was a cool morning as there were thunder storms the night before and the storm did not fully pass until early afternoon. That made for some amazing light and cloud affects. I've included a photo of an abandoned barn and my painting of it. Craig came by and took a picture of me painting so I asked him to take a picture using my camera as well.

In the afternoon after lunch, the clouds cleared and I painted the house that was next to the barn. I was experimenting with painting the textures of the wall and door. I enjoyed doing this one. I wasn’t very awake that day so I did not take pictures of anyone, the landscape or anything other then what I was painting.

Painting at Todi – 7/21 + 23

2008-08-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

We were all pretty tired after getting home from Venice to Corciano, none the less we were back in class on Monday. Instead of painting, Jason took us to Todi (pronounced Toe-dee) to draw. We would return later in the week to paint what we drew. I started my drawings in paint and would finish painting them on Wednesday. The paintings didn’t turn out well, but given how tired I was, that’s okay. During my time in Todi, I also took more photos. I've included a nice shot of Alison painting one of the spectacular views in Todi along with on of my paintings and the source.

Venice – Cleaning Up, Heading Home - Sunday, 7/10

2008-08-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I also got up early to take photos before breakfast. When I went back to one of the places I had been the day before, I found the streets had quite a few people on them; many more then I expected for a Sunday morning. As I explored further and observed the people, I remembered the fireworks gala. They were revelers left over from the night before! The tip off was that they were carrying things you’d take to an event like ice chests, chairs, left over food, etc. Then it all made sense; Italians start partying late, party hard and many of them don’t stop until the next morning! This was confirmed to me once night in Corciano after we got back from Venice where there was a band playing outdoors literally until 5:00 am in the morning. They kept waking up everyone in the villa that night with the noise.

Back to Venice… While I was out, I saw another interesting event: garbage collectors cleaning up after the event. They actually sweep up the garbage with the type of broom you see witches riding on for Halloween. I saw these brooms used by people in many of the town we visited. I found it fascinating! I followed this one lady around quite by accident. She would sweep all the garbage to the nearest garbage can and then dumped it in a larger rolling bin. She took the bin to the pickup point where she met the garbage “barge” that then picked up the bin and dumped it in the boat. Then she continued to the next piazza in the same way. Now that’s garbage collection Venice style. Check out the photos!

As I continued my photography journey to interesting places, I ran into Jason painting. He had painted in this spot a number of years ago and wanted to paint it again on our trip. While I was there, I noticed a woman hanging around where he was painting. Come to find out, she was a revealer at the fireworks that night before and when she got back to the friend’s house where she was staying, the door was locked; she didn’t want to knock and wake them up so she just waited outside. Since she was nice looking, I asked if she would pose for me. Fortunately for me, she spoke English so I could communicate with her. She was happy to oblige me as she wanted a photo of herself to commemorate her visit to Venice. So I took some photos of her in different places and she gave me her email address to her pictures to. This photo of her is standing at her friend’s door.

When I was done with my photos, Jason was done with his painting and we headed back to the hotel for some breakfast. Here’s a breakfast picture of some tired souls from our group. From the front left clockwise are Jen, Sola, Shawn and Brandon. After breakfast Craig and I took off again for another couple hours of photo shooting. We met back at the hotel at 1:00 to begin our trip home.

By then, I was tired and tired of taking pictures so the only people pictures I got of our departure from Venice were of Jason with two of his sons while we were waiting for the vaporetto stop beside the canal; Grayson is the one with the backpack and Jason is corralling Tyler, their two-year-old, from to keep him from running into the canal. We took the vaporetto back to the parking garage where the vans were parked and headed back to Corciano.

Venice – Burano, Saturday 7/19

2008-08-03T00:55:00.000-07:00

I’ve been delayed in updating my blog. It was a very busy last week of school; I had to complete my final painting, and it took longer then I expected to get the villa cleaned up and my packing done to leave Corciano. But, more on those things later; back to Venice.

Saturday in Venice I went out early and took morning pictures before breakfast. I caught some people in their homes looking out onto the piazza. I’m hoping these will make nice figure/window/door paintings. I met up with Craig at breakfast and we headed to Burano to take more pictures.

Burano is a nearby island that specializes in handmade lace and colorful buildings. The vaporetto to St. Mark’s Piazza plus a 60-minute ferry ride took longer then our direct taxi ride to Murano the day before. After arriving in Burano, Craig and I looked around a bit in the shops, but found we were hungry from the long journey so we decided to get a bite to eat. We sat down at a nice canal-side bar-trattoria (café) and had a nice lunch of lasagna washing it down with bottle of frizante aqua (soda water). I’ve included a photo of the restaurant. We sat directly behind the sign on the right next to the canal.

After lunch we checked out the lace shops. There were table linens, children’s clothes, novelty items and women’s clothes. There was even a shop that specialized in wedding and formal gowns.

At the end of the main street, I found a shop that had some nice clothes that I like and I tried some things on. There were a number of different outfits I put on and I modeled some of them for Craig as he was interested in buying something similar for his wife. I’m about the size of his wife so that was convenient for him. Trying on clothes in this shop was an unforgettable and delightful experience. The owner/lace-maker simply asked everyone that was inside the shop to leave and closed the shop door; there was no separate fitting room in that small shop. She then helped me in and out of all the things I tried on, buttoning up the back of the blouse as appropriate. After I was in an outfit, I went outside to show Craig. This went on several times until I narrowed down what I wanted to purchase. After bargaining with her, I walked out with a nice tank top and skirt; both were made of stretchy material and had lacework or hand-made lace. It’s hard to describe; but, suffice it to say it was flatteringly fitted (and comfortable) outfit with a lacy, mid-calf length skirt, and a tank-top style top with cleavage and shoulder showing. Hey, this is Italy; low and lacy. Craig liked the top but couldn’t find one in a color he liked for his wife.

After my purchase, Craig and I continued on our photo-shooting tour of the town. Another characteristic of this island were the “pastel” colored buildings. I use the word pastel lightly as some of them were brighter; there were several “Christmas tree” houses of bright red and green; there was a blinding yellow-green house and many other colors.. I found a nice plaque describing a reason behind the colorful town.

Our trip back to Venice was quite an experience. We had just missed the ferry when we got there and had to wait an hour to catch the next one. After the long hour-long ferry ride back we were surprised to end up at a different station in Venice, they emptied the whole ferry and we were forced to take a separate vaporetto back to St. Mark’s Square.

And, it took us six bus-boats before we could get on and back to the main piazza because they were so crowded. We found out later that there was an annual fireworks show that night so everyone was coming into Venice to see it, thus our having to wait so long to get on a boat. That made us late for our 7:00 dinner plans with Jason and those who chose to join him.

After getting back to the hotel, I showered then walked around near our hotel for awhile. I was amazed watching all the hoards of people head towards the water front near our hotel. But, I was tired and I decided not to stay up to watch the fire works. Around 11:00 pm I heard some very loud booming that woke me up. I heard the next day that it Venice fireworks were 100 times better then anything done in the states. Now I regret not getting up to see it.

Venice – Photos & Painting; Friday p.m. 7/18

2008-07-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

After lunch in Murano and taking photos of the town, Craig and I left around 2:00 and headed back to Venice. He wanted to paint at a spot near our hotel that he found before breakfast. Since I had not been there and I did not bring any paints, I decided to tag along to take photos in that area while he painted. We went back to the hotel briefly so Craig could get his paints and so I could download the pictures I had taken in the morning onto my computer.

The light in my room was very nice when I got there so I took some photos of it. I called it the “padded room” because the walls were decorated with fabric with a small amount of padding behind. It had a ceiling decorated with paint, molding and a beautiful Venison-made glass chandler; it was like some that we saw in Murano. On either side of the bed was a small closet with painted doors. There were niches built into the closet where the lights to read and “end table” were placed, and it took away from the closet space. A flat screen TV was on the wall at the end of the bed. There was just enough space in the room to move around the bed and to get into the closets. The bathroom was small; it had an interesting corner shower with the two rounded glass sliding doors that served as wall and doors converging at the corner. The window had old and interesting shutters that looked out onto an alleyway. The window and shutters had original hardware and was the only part of the room that had not been replaced when it was remodeled. It was a compact but elegant honeymoon suite; the only thing missing was my husband!

Craig and I met outside the hotel and headed for his spot. When we got there, the light was great and the canal scene was ideal for painting. I took pictures while he painted, including a couple of him. I also found other interesting subjects like a gondola repair shop, a church, people, businesses and residential buildings that were nearby. After he finished painting, we went back to the hotel to clean up for dinner. We walking around awhile looking for a restaurant to eat and found a comfortable “Tavern” in the same area that Craig had painted. It’s hard to see in the photo, but the restaurant is at the base of the bridge on the right. It had really great food and we both enjoyed our dinner and sitting after a day full of walking.

After dinner we walked around a bit more to take more photos in the nice evening light then we called it a day.

Venice – Murano; Friday a.m., 7/18

2008-07-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

I woke up Friday morning to the sounds of heavy rain. By the time I finished getting ready for the day, the rain had stopped. I walked over for breakfast at a sister hotel. The lobby we checked into is actually the sister hotel; breakfast is served in a room next to the front desk. That is Jen, Jeff and Dave eating breakfast.

After we finished breakfast we were to meet Jason at 10:00 in Piazza San Marco to get our museum pass. It covered many of the museums in Venice. When we went out to leave, it was raining. “Conveniently,” a peddler was selling umbrellas for 10 euros; some had bargained him down to five. Knowing that, I put 4.50 in my pocket. I went up to the guy and asked him to put up the umbrella so I could see that it worked and what it looked like. I asked him how much; I said it was too much, closed the wet umbrella, and gave it back to him. He had a fit because it was all wet; I took the 4.50 out of my pocket and showed it to him and he took it. That started my bargaining in Venice. There is a photo of Sam holding my umbrella; Jeff is making the sad face and Meredith (Jason’s babysitter) is standing next to him.

A group of us headed to P. San Marco taking pictures along the way, in spite of the pouring rain. Here’s a shot ofsome of our group “window” shopping. There was one interesting spot where I took a number of photos; I call this area “traffic jam in Venice” and I plan on doing a series of paintings based on this area. When we arrived in the big square were approached by many giving “free” passes for a taxi ride to the island of Murano to see a glass blower demonstration. I had read about them ahead of time in my travel guide; they offer a free ride over to Murano, show you the demonstration then take you up to the showroom to buy glass; and they don’t give you a ride home as they say they will. The book said they did a pretty hard sell after the demo. Regardless of he draw backs, we decided the free and fast taxi ride to the island was worth it; and it was out of the rain. I've included a photo of Judy, Thomas, Robert and Craig on our "taxi" ride and one of the demonstration. Afterward, our guide took us upstairs to the rooms with the most elaborate and expensive works of glass. Everything was phenomenal; chandeliers; all kinds of art glass; vases; wine, liquor and beverage glasses; pitchers, perfume bottles, plates… all amazing with the price to match. Down stairs the things were cheaper and less elaborate. The prices dropped as we went room to room. Knowing not to buy at the first place we went to, we left; and without any kind of hard sell. It was nice to miss the hard sell.

We visited a number of shops after we left and it was still raining. Here a shot of the harbor entering Murano and the town duomo (cathederal). Further down we found another shop that gave demos. The lighting was better here and he displayed what they made. There was no sales pitch here probably because as they were getting ready to close for afternoon siesta. At this point, we stopped for lunch. After lunch, Judy and Robert went on their own way and so did Craig and I; they went back to Venice, Craig and I stayed to take photos.

Venice – Arrival Thursday Afternoon 7/17

2008-07-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

It’s been a busy week here after getting home from Venice. In our house of six, two of us brought home colds (including me) and two caught a stomach bug along with our major purchases. We also have a final large painting due next week so I’ve been slow in writing my trip updates.

After a morning reviewing our paintings with Craig, we left for Venice around 1:30. We made good time getting there with the “route” advice from our host Gabrielle. Including Jason’s family, there were 24 of us all together in three vans. It took us about four hours to get there including a restroom and snack stop. We parked the vans at a parking garage near a vaporetto (ferry) stop to Venice. Here’s a photo of Jason passing out our ferry tickets, one of us disembarking from the boat and part of the lobby of our hotel.

Once everyone got to their rooms, we were on our own for the rest of the evening. A group of us met in front of the hotel to check out Piazza San Marco (the main piazza in Venice) then find a place to eat dinner. We stopped a lot along the way to take pictures. The day was overcast, but I still got a couple good shots of the cannels. Once we got to the piazza and looked around, we decided to focus on getting something to eat.

After dinner, Craig said he “knew” how to get back to the hotel but we got lost. Getting lost is typical and expected in Venice, even with a map; most streets aren’t marked; only the major piazza’s and churches are. There are dead ends and navigating at night time made finding our hotel a challenge. After walking around for an hour, I decided this wasn’t working looked at my map to find the way. Once we got to a large piazza, we were able to find our way back. That was our first evening in Venice, long but enjoyable.

Going to Venice 7/17 - 7/20

2008-07-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

We are leaving for Venice Thursday (7/17) after lunch for a van ride of about four to five hours. We will be there for three nights, returning home on Sunday. I probably won't make any updates of our trip until next week.

Caio, Caio!
Barbara

Painting Water – 7/15

2008-07-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

For Jason’s class today, we focused on painting water in a small valley town called Umbertide. It was a twenty-minute drive from our home base. The topic today was composition and painting water. Jason started by showing us the stages of development of a painting he did the day before. In the photo, he is showing a couple preparatory drawings of his initial composition while gesturing toward the scene he painted. Sean, on the left, is holding the Jason’s final painting for comparison to his sketches. Next we started our own paintings. Here are Allison, Solla, Aprile and Amy (from right to left) painting the same scene as Jason. My painting was similar except that I did a vertical format instead of horizontal.

This was a very scenic location; the only disadvantage of this spot was that there was no shade. Fortunately, I had my umbrella, but most of the others were not so lucky. But the temperature was with us as the temperature was in the mid 80’s temperature in the morning.

Around 11:45, we broke for lunch and went into the town piazza of Umbertide. After lunch we met for a critique. I included Jason commenting on the paintings as well as some of the paintings the other students did. Mine is the third from the left.

Painting Clouds – 7/14

2008-07-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

The weather report said there would be a 60% chance of rain on Monday and when we got up there were lots of clouds. It was one of those partly sunny, partly cloudy days so Jason decided to use this opportunity to show us how to paint clouds. It was a lovely morning where we set up to paint that day about five minutes from home. Here he is doing a painting demo with Corciano in the background. I also included a picture of Jeffrey painting Corciano and Robert painting under a tree out of the sun. Here’s my painting from the morning.

After lunch, I took a little walk down the road a ways and I found a nice spot of Corciano where some others had set up. I liked the cloud patterns and moved over and set up at this new spot. Just as I was blocking in (painting) the sky, the thunder started. I said to myself, nahhh, it’s not going to rain! Well that was wishful thinking. It clouded over real fast and next thing we know, it started raining. Here’s a picture of Jen trying to quickly put away her French easel. Notice my umbrella covering her block of water color paper. I also took a picture of Aprile folding up her easel. The pavement was just barely wet for the photo. When I finished packing up my stuff, the rain was coming down in buckets. It was too warm for hail but the drops were huge. Everyone got soaked to the bone by the time all the gear was packed and everyone got into the vans. Here’s the scene I was going to paint (minus the telephone pole and wires) when I got interrupted by the storm. It’s amazing how quickly the weather changed.

We headed for the monastery where several of the men are staying where Jason did a critique of everyone’s paintings from the morning. It was a warm rain so no one got cold from being wet. By the time we finished the critique, the sun was back out and many of us had dried off.

Cortona – 7/12

2008-07-13T12:05:00.000-07:00

Craig was excited to go to Cortona, a hill town nearby, and show us the town. We parked at a church on a hill above the town and walked down into Cortona. The view was amazing and I stopped to take many pictures along the way.
I lagged behind and got separated from the group. I ended up in the town piazza. Fortunately, I found Jason and his family there eating their lunch. I eventually met up with the others in the shopping area around the piazza. After I ate lunch, I decided to go to a nearby park to sketch. It had a beautiful view overlooking the valley.

I sketched at the park for a couple hours. A man from Ireland complemented me on my drawing and we struck up a conversation. He was an cabinet maker and worked with architects to build things. We discussed how building and art were related. Then he teased that he didn’t want his daughters to see me drawing or my colored pencils because they would want to draw and not stop. Then Susanne, a cute little girl the age of five, came up and asked me to draw a bear. She said that wasn’t the kind a bear she meant, so I asked her to show me how she draws a bear. Next thing I know, she’s asking for other colors: blue, brown, orange, pink and green. Next her sister, Jessica comes over and wants to draw too; Jessica is Suzanne’s twin sister! So, I get her a piece of paper and a colored pencil and away she goes. Then I met their mom, three other older sisters and their uncle! We all had a great time watching Susanne and Jessica drawing together. I gave them little tips here and there. We got to talking about animals and I told them about the series of paintings I plan to do in the fall on “People with their pets.” Now they invite me to Ireland to paint the girls with their pets. They were such fun and the high light of my trip to Cortona. They were vacationing with family in Cortona for a week. I asked Jeff, a fellow student who was drawing nearby to take our picture together.

We all were to meet back at the main piazza at 5:30 for dinner. Several of us were waiting on the steps of a church when we’re asked to move because a wedding party was exiting the church and were going to throw rice. I decided to take pictures of it along with the photographer.
Later, Craig joined us and took a picture of everyone who went on the trip. We went to dinner at a nice but reasonably priced restaurant in town before heading home. It was an enjoyable day.

Hello Craig, Good-bye Carolyn - 7/11

2008-07-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

Craig Nelson arrived in the evening of Thursday, 7/10. He and Carolyn are swapping for the rest of the semester: Craig will take over Carolyn’s class here in Italy and Carolyn will take over Craig’s class in San Francisco after she arrives home on Sunday. To commemorate this transition, we had a potluck on Friday night at our place at the villa. Here are a couple pictures. The first one is of Gabrielle and Dina (our Italy host couple) with Jason in the middle. Dina makes the best Tiramisu I have ever eaten! The second picture is of Sam, Robert, Shawn, Isaac (Jason’s son) and Jeff on our balcony.

I didn’t get any pictures of Craig, but I’ll take some next week when we’re out painting.

Montepulciano – 7/10

2008-07-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

On our last painting day with Carolyn before she flew back to the states, we drove for about an hour to some location; I’m not sure where. The spot she hoped to paint turned out undesirable; so we headed back to one he has passed on the way. On our way to a new spot, Jason and Carolyn wanted to check out a small town. We drove in, liked it and decided to paint there. It was another of the small hill towns of Umbria; the town was called Montepulciano.

I started two paintings, one of a house with two windows and a lot of “wall character” and one of a view of the town. I only finished the painting of the city. I think this is my best painting so far this summer. I might do this one as my final project, a larger painting. The challenge is I took the photo in the morning, but painted it in the afternoon. I forgot to take a photo in afternoon light. Oh well…

After I finished my painting, I went into the town and took some pictures. Here’s one of my favorites of a sleeping kitty, dead-to-the-world. She really looked dead to me until I saw her move. I may turn her into a painting.

And here, by special request, are pictures of “walls”. Hey Lynne, there are for you! Let me know if these fit the bill or if there is something specific you’re looking for.

Painting Sunflowers – 07/08

2008-07-12T00:55:00.001-07:00

In Italy, they grow a lot of sunflowers. It’s so fun see how one day a green field changes to bright yellow orange. Given her artistic bent, Carolyn wanted to paint the sunflowers; so on Tuesday that’s just what we did.

I did my first painting up close and personal with the sunflowers. I took my easel and got right down in the thick of it. I was right close to the driveway where people came and went frequently. Many stopped to admire my painting. They were not the least bit bothered that I was painting in their field; in fact, they were thrilled that I would paint their flowers! The only draw back to painting in that spot was the stench. Besides growing sunflowers, these farmers also raised ducks and pigs. A very stinky duck pen was just beyond the tree row where I was painting. At times, it smelled like I was standing in a full port-a-potty. Oh my! Now that’s suffering for art! After I finished my sunflower painting (I had a lot of incentive to finish fast), I went around and took pictures of other people and their paintings.

I stopped and ate lunch then I decided to paint the farmhouse on the property where I painted my sunflowers. Here’s my painting.

I also included a photo of me and Aprile, one of my house mates. This was a fun day so I thought you might enjoy it along with me.

Florence – 07/04 - 05

2008-07-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

We left at 7:30 Friday (7/4) for the depot in Perugia to catch our train to Florence; and arrived in Florence around noon. We were staying in four different places due to availability of rooms, so Jason walked us around and dropped people off at their accommodations. The second stop was where three of us were staying; it was a convent! I got my own room and the two other girls shared a room. The only down side (for some) was that the doors get locked at 11:30 for the night. That’s not a problem for me, but one of the girls would have liked to have stayed out later.

It was noon when we arrived and our rooms would not be ready until 1:00, so the three of us went out for lunch to kill time until we could check in. After we checked in, my room was nice; it was simply furnished with a single bed, desk and wardrobe to hang my clothes. After we got settled, we met everyone at the Uffizi Gallery at 2:30. On our way there, we stopped to take pictures on a bridge called the Ponteveccio. Florence is famous for its jewelry and the Ponteveccio is the diamond district of the city. Here’s a picture of me in front of one of the jewelry stores.

At the Uffizi Gallery, there was a lot of sculpture and medieval art. The highlights of this museum for me were Botticelli’s Venus that we studied in art history, and several paintings by Caravaggio. We could not take photos in the Uffizi of the art; however, I did take a photo out of the upper story window of the river, the Ponteveccio (the first bridge) and a series of bridges down the river.

After our visit at the museum, we were on our own until 8:00. Jason organized dinner at Za-Za’s restaurant for dinner. As the afternoon waned, I was just too tired and hungry to wait until 8:00 for dinner, so I decided to head out on my own for some peace and quiet away from the group. I headed back to my room and stopped to eat at a small sidewalk café. It was still early when I got back to my room so I decided to do some drawing in the garden. Here’s a view of the garden from the window in my room. I went down and walked around the garden. I met a nice kitty and found a spot under an arbor covered with wisteria to sit and draw. But, after I sat down, I was swarmed with mosquitoes! Needless to say, that ended my “drawing” in the garden. I went back up to my room, closed the window shutters to keep those flying pests out then took a shower.

The bathroom was large and it had the most unusual towels I’ve every used; they were pressed and folded like table clothes; no terry towels here. And, they worked surprisingly well. The sheets on my bed were a nice weight of cotton, also starched and pressed but soft and cosy to the touch. Unfortunately for me, the mosquitoes followed me back to my room and tortured me the first half of the night. I got some very itchy bites in Florence. Thank goodness for Benadryl!

The next morning we met at the Academia. This museum had a nice section of musical instruments including a couple Stradivarius violins; there were more medieval paintings. But the main attraction here was Michelangelo’s sculptures, especially David. I shot one photo before I was told I couldn’t take photos. Since I couldn’t take any more photos, I decided that the best way to get to know “David” was to draw him in my sketch book. Jason had us keep a sketch book for his class, so this was a good opportunity to use it. I sat down in a chair nearby and began drawing. It was a lot of fun. Several others in our group stopped and did the same. Then people stopped to look and admire our work. It was a lot of fun and the highlight of the trip for me.

Later, a number of us met for lunch at Mario’s Tattoria. They had the best “beef stew” I’ve ever tasted. It was nothing like our beef stew. It was melt-in-your-mouth tender and had a hearty tomato-type sauce. It was fabulous! This was my favorite meal of the trip. The eating area was into a crowed small space where strangers sat together in order to get a seat. Communal eating at it’s Italian best. Here’s a picture of some of our group outside the restaurant after lunch. In the front left are Ben (Jason’s son) and Jeffrey; behind and between them is Aprile looking over her “Jesus” fan that she bought to help keep her cool. She kept making cute comments about her Jesus fan keeping her cool.

After lunch a few of us took the bus with Jason to a hill top where there was a great view of Florence and bonze replica of the David. Here’s a photo of David with a pigeon on his head. I also took a picture of Jason with the view behind him. Afterwards we walked up to the cemetery and its adjoining church. Then we took the bus back. I got off close to convent where they were holding my luggage for the day. I stuck around for a little while and I did a drawing of a doorway in the lobby before heading to the train station for our trip home.

We got home around 10:00 that evening and were greeted with a 4th of July party. They had been partying since 2:00 in the afternoon and waited for us to come home to do the fireworks. They can do “real” fireworks here in Italy. They had cherry bombs, fire crackers, and shooting stars, with and without noises. It was quite amazing compared to the little sparkler nothings we get in the States.

That was a nice patriotic ending to a very exhausting week.

Sienna and the Palio - 07/02

2008-07-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, July 2nd the day was organized around our trip to the annual Palio in Sienna. We left for Sienna about 1:30 and it took a little over an hour to get there. The first thing we did was go to the Duomo Cathedral. This was an amazing duomo. It has some fabulous paintings, sculpture and a library of medieval hymn books. The artwork on the walls and ceiling were gorgeous. I’ve included a photo of a part of the ceiling and one of the hymn books. The calligraphy was amazing.

When we came out of the duomo, the procession of family groups had started. Each of the 17 groups were dressed in medieval costume and carrying their flags. My pictures of the parade didn’t turn out because a setting on camera got tweaked so the photos were way overexposed.

After watching the procession for awhile, we got a quick bite to eat and took our last potty break before entering the main square for the horse race. There is no where to “go” once you get in the town square, so you have to hold it until the race is over.

Our guide for this event, the daughter of the family where we are living, guided us through the process. Having a guide that was a good thing because she knew where to go a midst of all the chaos and where to find a good spot for the race! It was so crowded with people everywhere crowding to get into the square. Here is a picture of a few of our group waiting to get into the square. From left to right are Jeffrey, Sean, Sam (eating), Amy (behind Sam) and Brandon. I've included a link that has the history and background of the race as well as some great pictures of the event. http://www.initaly.com/info/palio/palio.htm.

I bought a scarf of one of the flags I liked the best. The colors are green, red and white with a goose on it.

Paintings the week of 6/30

2008-07-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

This week in Jason's class we practiced drawing trees so I have no paintings from his landscape class. For Carolyn's class, we painted in Corciano on Tuesday, July 1st. The first painting of the door was done near the duomo in town. Before I got it finished, cars starting parking in from of the door. Later the church bells started ringing a different tune from normal and people started coming to the church. A man came up to us and told us there was a funeral, and asked us to move because we were set up where the hearse needed to park. I moved to another spot and did the second painting of the window. I could paint in Corciano frequently and never get bored with it!

On Thursday, we went to a town called Castigline Del Laro. It is on the second largest lake in Italy called Lake Trasimeno. The first one is from the lake looking up at Castigline. The second one is of a boat that was tied up near the shore.

I was very tired this day, so my paintings aren't the greatest. I didn't get to bed until midnight because we went to Sienna for the Palio. There's a separate posting about our Sienna trip.

Ovieto - Afternoon of 06/28

2008-07-06T07:48:00.000-07:00

On Saturday afternoon, June 28th we went to a town called Orvieto. Besides the Duomo Cathedral, the main attraction was the Etruscan caves tour. This town was build on top of a hill, as were many Etruscan cities. In order to get water, they dug down into the hill. This particular hill was made of a softer, more porous rock that was used as a base for cement. Beside the wells, they dug a series of tunnels under the city in which they kept animals, stored food and pressed their olive oil. They did not live in the caves because while it was cool, it was also a very humid environment because of the porous rock and not suitable for human inhabitation. Here is a picture of a storage room and one part of an olive press. The caves were also used as catacombs and to raise pigeons that were sold for food. There was an elaborate system of pigeon holes and water cisterns used to the raise pigeons. Here’s a picture of the pigeon of one such room. Apparently, they also “harvested” the excrement and used it as fertilizer. Now wouldn’t that be a wonderful job to have; cleaning up after the pigeon! One can only image the stench. At some point, predators (owls, eagles, weasels) began eating the pigeons, so it was no longer an viable business.

It was fascinating to see how the wells were dug. Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of it however of it to show you, but I’ll try to describe it for you. The wells were dug in a square shape rather then round. On opposite walls, they dug out little spaces that were used as foot holds. Apparently, there was no rope at the time, so in order to get the water, the wells were dug square and just wide enough for a small Etruscan person to wedge himself in. They climbed up and down using the holes in the opposite walls as “steps” or footholds for their feet. I don’t know if you understand my description, but they climbed up and down into these wells to get water using these “steps”.

After the tour, we were free to shop or walk around the town. This was a much smaller town then Isisi and much more of an authentic Italian-like town. There was the Duomo Cathedral that had very elaborate decorations on the outside but not much art of interest on the inside. Here’s a picture of the art on the Duomo. The artwork was made with mosaic tiles.

Assisi - 06/27 p.m.

2008-07-06T02:44:00.000-07:00

In the afternoon of Friday, June 27th we went to Assisi. This is the home of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. We parked at the bottom of a hill and walked up to the Duomo (the main church in a town). We started our visit here touring this church. It was very impressive and we were not allowed to take pictures inside. I only have ones of the outside. I’ve included a picture of the lower entrance and of the carved doors. Inside, besides all the beautiful art, was the tomb of St. Francis.

After touring the Duomo, three of us decided to talk up to the castle on top of the hill. I shot some nice pictures but when we got a little lost, I pooped out and decided to go back. When I reached the city, I took a little picture taking detour before heading to the meeting place in the main piazza. Here are a couple photo I may use as reference for future paintings.
The last photo is of Robert, Aprile, Sola and myself waiting in the piazza for the others; once they all got there, we went out for dinner.

Italy Ceramics - 06/27 a.m.

2008-06-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning June 27th, we went to visit a local potter who has been making Italian ceramics for 50 years. We usually take two vans whenever we go places and this day was not exception. However, Jason got distracted with talking and we lost the second van, which was supposed to be following us. Normally Jason and Thomas (who drives the other van) have cell phones and they communicate that way whenever we go anywhere. However, for some reason Thomas didn’t have is phone. So we went round-about Corciano trying to find the other van; but no luck. Finally, someone suggested that Jason call Judy who as in the other van; and he got through. Once we regrouped, we made it to the potter’s shop and store.

You can see purchases are lining up at the counter. Here is Amy and Sam are in the foreground, and Carolyn is behind Amy. If you’ll notice the front corner of the counter between Amy and Sam, you’ll see the cute little espresso set I bought. It has the symbol of Umbria on it. Speaking of espresso, they only have instant decaff here, so I won’t be able to enjoy one until I get home.

Anyway, everyone made their purchases and received a 15% “friend of the family” discount. Jason arranged a pottery demonstration with Mario, the artist. However, he was not at the store but was supposed to be “on his way”. While I was waiting I took some nice photos of the shop as potential material for future paintings. Mario still wasn’t there. Here’s a picture of part of the group waiting in front of the store. In this photo (starting at the bottom right and going clockwise) are Robert, Shawn, Jen; in the back row are Amy, Judy and Sam. Forty-five minutes later Mario came; he was obviously on “Italian” time. Once he got there, I took more photos. Here are a couple of Mario making a pot and (I think it is his wife) painting a dried pot the symbol of Umbria on a large pot.

Castel Vieto Hospitality - 6/25/08

2008-06-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

We had a great time the next day at another small town that was an ancient castle called Castel Vieto. Parts of it have been renovated into a “modern” Italy home but in the old world style. There was a particularly friendly senior citizen who came out and befriended the students in class. Early in the day, she brought out espresso coffee to a couple of the guys close by and offered us the use her bathroom, which as a good thing because there were none near by. Jason was originally going to ferry us back to Corciano once during the day for that purpose. Bagno (pronounced bah-nyo, bathrooms) are few and far between in Italy. Jason told us to use that bathroom (or toilet) whenever you see one whether you have to go or not! Here is a photo of me and Jen with our hostess from Castel Vieto. She was not deterred by the language barrier. Jen and Alison spoke a bit of Italian so with that and a lot of gestures, we communicated with her. She showed us her handmade linens and doilies, and told us about her family. Now that is Italian hospitality!

It has been getting hot over the last couple days and this day it was 98 degrees with high humidity. We were all roasting and one student got over heated. I only did one painting this day because it was so hot. I've included pictures of our group critique at the peak of the heat.
Our friendly hostess came and offered us hot espresso and even in the heat, five people took up her offer! I guess the coffee was that good

I've included another photo of our hostess talking with Jason and Alison. My painting for that day is the first image in this journal entry.

Back to Corciano - 6/24/08

2008-06-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

For our cityscape painting day, we stayed in Corciano our home base. It's a beautiful with many, many charming things to paint. Today, I had a painting breakthrough. As Carolyn (my teacher) said, all those concepts rattling around upstairs made it from my head to my brush. It was a happy day. Here it is along with the reference photo.

Painting in Todi - 6/23/08

2008-06-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

On Monday June 23 it was back to class and painting. We painted in a town called Todi about 20 minutes from our home base in Corciano. It was another beautiful, ancient town built on a hill. This we were painting landscapes with Jason. I've included a picture of a couple of my fellow students painting. We were fortunate to have great shade most of the day from a series of large trees along this beautiful view point.

The next two images are of a painting I did along with the reference photo.

More from Italy - 6/22

2008-06-28T05:25:00.000-07:00

It’s the weekend here and I have a bit more time to write about things we did last week. As I mentioned in my other email, Friday was a "required" field trip for the class. Since we don’t have our own transportation, Jason showed us how to take the bus. It goes into Perugia which is the biggest close-by city. This bus goes by the train station in case we want to go to Florence or another city by train on our free days. I also found out where the grocery store is so I can go on my own.

In Perugia I got some art supplies. I toned my canvas grey before coming to Italy and Jason said it should be a warm color instead. Soooo, I bought some acrylic to redo the grey tone. We visited a museum in Perugia and Jason took us on a walking tour of some interesting sights. They actually built new cities upon the old so there are places where the Etruscan architecture shows through. He also took us through some underground tunnels that were from medieval times where the army was housed. He walked our legs off that day.

Here’s a picture in Perugia of the Etruscan city gate, our first stop on the marathon walking tour of the city directed by Jason. This dates back to B.C. times. I’m not sure how far back. The Romans built on top it and you’ll also see where some of it has been restored at the top. That’s Jason in the bottom right.

The sun was really intense in Perugia. I decided to leave early to grocery shop on my way home. I timed it just right, so that I got on the same bus that Jason and the class were coming home on. The bus was packed and everyone from the class cheered after I got on the bus with my groceries. Jason said he was "a proud parent" that I figured it out; Carolyn countered, "now, don’t take it that far!" It was sooo funny…we were laughing so loud. The people on the bus didn’t know what to think; that certainly doesn’t happen every day. It gave them an interesting ride home with those loud, rowdy Americans!

Jason is here with his wife and kids. His mother also came for a few weeks to help with the kids until the "nanny" arrives in July. She will take my room when she gets here and I will move to an apartment just across the lawn from the villa I’m currently in. I’ll still be close to the gals I’m with now and to Jason. The villa we are in is built on a hill and has three stories with an apartment on each story. Jason and his family live in the apartment on the first floor, our Italian hosts live on the middle floor and us six girls live on the top floor. This villa is the central meeting "hub" for the class.

There are some really nice people in the group of students and faculty. It’s a typical mix of partiers and non-partiers and those in between. And, the partiers party hard! The artistic talent/experience ranges from never painted at all to intermediate painters. And get this: one student wore a dress and low-heel flip-flops on her first day of painting. She asked Jason if he had an apron. He suggested that she paint in clothes she didn’t mind getting paint on.

Our apartment is nice. It is simply furnished – think Scandinavian – but comfortable. The kitchen is VERY small; the frig is about a third the size of what we have; it has a four-burner gas stove that you have to light with a match. There is literally about 3.5 feet of counter space. The drainer for dishes in built in to the cabinet above the sink so that it drips into the sink. The drainer is a really cool design. You open the cupboard, wash the dishes; put them in the drainer above then close the cabinet door… the dishes are instantly out of sight! We have a beautiful veranda facing west the whole length of the house that has a fabulous view; although it is hot in the evening.

This is the front of the villa that shows the top two stories: notice that Sam (Samantha) waving from our kitchen door. All the doors and windows on homes here shutters. The daily ritual here is they open them in the morning when it’s cool and close them in the afternoon when it’s hot. It is hot here, usually around 90 with 65% humidity, but not as hot as you’ve been having recently in CA. The villa also has a pool on a lower level.

Here’s a view of the villa where Jason and his family are staying. This one shows all three stories from below. They have no clothes dryers here so you see sheets hanging from the second floor. This villa was build in 1993 so it is relatively new.

As you can see, this is a very nice place.

First Week in Italy - 6/15 - 20

2008-06-27T05:38:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I got to Corciano, Italy at 11:00pm on Monday. It was a VERY long trip and I got a headache a short way into the flight. I didn’t sleep much on the plane; nor did I sleep well the first night. My first 24 hours were after getting to Corciano were pretty rough. I was overwhelmed from exhaustion, from being in a different country, and I still had a headache. Fortunately, I slept well the second night and woke up feeling much better.

Once I got out, I found Corciano a quaint 14th century walled town. It is an amazing little town like you see in movies of that era with a slightly modern flavor. It is about half way between Florence and Rome in the heart of Umbria; and next to Tuscany. This will be our home base for the summer.

Tuesday was mostly a free day to get acclimated except for going to the grocery store and the Welcome dinner in the evening. We had our first class was on Wednesday. It was a just warm-up day to get people familiar with the equipment. Here’s a picture of some students painting. Carolyn Meyer, our teacher, is in the front left.

Next is a photo of the subject of one of my paintings; I didn’t have time to finish it so I did not include a photo of the painting. My first-day paintings were pretty must just practice; that was fortunate since my paintings were pitiful that day.

Next is a photo from my bedroom window as the sun was setting. The landscape here is pretty much like the Bay Area except they get more rain later into the spring so the hills are still green. The views from our villa are fabulous.

Thursday we had our second day of class with Jason Bowen. We painted at another overlook spot close to Corciano. Friday was a mandatory class field trip to Perugia by bus. Jason wanted to show us how to get around the area, how to get to the train station and took us on a short walking tour around the center. We went to a museum and saw some other sites of interest. We walked almost the whole time we were there. Everyone was pooped by the time we got back home. Saturday (today) and Sunday are free days for us to do whatever we’d like. I did some sketching this morning and I’ll take it easy the rest of the day.

That’s all from Italy for now.
Barbara