The Monastery Surprise – 7/24

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.