Firenze (Florence), Italy
Alan's Log:
Joan's Log:
Painting under the Tuscan sun
La Villa Poggio, Via Volterrana, Impruneta
October 4th - 9th 2007
Italy...how can I describe it?Of course I loved it - it was impossible not to.
Love at first sight evolved into something more. I had a feeling of coming home...I could easily live here!
I was met at the airport in Florence by Donna Trent (Donna!) and her husband, John. I met Donna during our first year in Gig Harbor and we have painted together many times since. She and Jane Wallis (also from the Seattle area) started teaching art workshops in Europe a few years ago which have become very popular with artists from across the U.S. Jane and Donna are both highly accomplished artists, they paint primarily in pastels and oils (my favorite) and both have a lovely loose impressionistic style, which I so admire. They are also very skilled at plein air painting (painting outside, on location) which can be daunting and intimidating for many artists. Their workshop was all about plein air painting and they have developed some great techniques to make it less daunting and more fun! Since I pretty much live outside nowadays, this was perfect for me. There were three other artists also from Gig Harbor taking the workshop; Anne Knapp, Myrna Binion, and Mimi VanBallenberghe, my art buddies! I met Anne and Myrna the first summer we moved to Washington, we have attended other workshops together and painted together many times and Mimi and I belonged to an art group on Fox Island.
Italy, art, good friends, (Italian food) you can understand why I was in heaven!
The workshop was held in a beautiful old villa on a wine and olive oil estate in the Chianti hills just outside Florence.
It is situated on the top of a hill with the most amazing vistas in all directions of rolling hills covered with vineyards, almond trees and cypress and olive groves. Plus it had a wonderful view of Florence and the Duomo. In the evening a chef prepared incredible Italian meals for us, and we were served wine produced on the estate!
I was there only 4 days but I was able to complete 2 paintings in pastel, one of a view from the villa and the other from Michelangelo Piazza, on a beautiful day, over-looking Florence. One of the world's greatest artistic capitals, home of Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Donatello and I was there, painting it. I still get goose bumps when I think of it!
Another day we went to the lovely medieval hilltop town of Monteriggioni, built in the early 13th century.
It is a teeny tiny village completely surrounded with a perfectly preserved wall and 14 heavily fortified towers, I guess all the fortification paid off in the end as the town, church and large piazza with it's central well are like stepping back in time a few centuries. It offered wonderful painting possibilities from just about every corner. Outside the walls is a vast patchwork quilt landscape of rolling hills, vineyards, and small farms. If you are into plein air painting and want to visit Tuscany, this is where you want to be! Trust me.
The hours flew by, I just have to go back.
.....the big let-down was after carefully packing the paintings for the trip back to Barcelona, I unwrapped them to show Alan on the boat and he laid them on the bench next to the table temporarily, as we were going out to lunch. Almost immediately a very large wake, caused by a police boat, hit us and knocked a vase of sunflowers over on top of them, ruining both paintings. To add to the misery, I brought back three bottles of the estate's wine, which were sitting on the galley counter, all three fell on the floor, smashing one. You can imagine the mess and how devastated I was to lose the paintings! Ironically we get rolly from time to time but that was by far the most severe wake we have experienced in the month we have been here.
I have the memories and the photographs (and eventually I did refinish both paintings), plus we are definitely going back!!!
Next....Gypsies Tramps and Thieves in Barcelona!