First Week in Italy - 6/15 - 20

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