Monday, March 16, 2009

assisi

8:30 bus ride toward the mountains, we speed along windy roads, passing beautiful mountains and lakes.

upon arrival we walk up a path lined with olive groves toward San Damiano. it is located amidst and olive grove, and is just gorgeous!
after exploring the church we walked up to a hill, picking sage on the way
and sat in an olive grove and sang worship songs, the sun was shinning, it was a perfect day in umbriathen up the mountain farther to a hermitage,Eremo delle Carceri situated right on the side of the mountain.

then the most delicious lunch ever! tomato salad, bread, cheese, olives, sausage, prosciutto, olive oil, blood oranges, and cake for desert! yum yum! i ate sooooooooo much! haha! if only we had some wine to go with!

tomato salad recipe-- ps was made fresh by matt on the spot!
tomato
garlic
basil
little salt and pepper
olive oil

then a bit of a break in the main square outside of the basilica di santa chiara for espresso/gelato

after gathering, we wander toward the Basilica di San Francesco--where the spectacula frescoes by Giotto are located

these frescoes were just breath taking! it was my first encounter with this early of work were i really connected with it. even though the frescoes were faded, it was so bright in there, every part of the interior was in color--i wonder how it would have looked the day after he finished!

and here is my ranting about Giotto:

he just engages you, makes you think
his work almost seems modern--the illutrations, the coloring, the use of distorted perspective giving it a someone surreal feel. and the beautiful pattern work along the bottom and throughout all the frescoes!--they covered buildings, drapery, floors, everything...
there is just such a strong graphic element to his work, that as a designer i can't help but love!
i love how the frescoes are painted and balanced in three
the flase symetry
the triangular and linear elements Giotto uses
the framing and reframing
the layers and diagonals, and the multiple planes that it creates
and there is a fascinating tension between Giotto and St. Fransic--it is amazing how Giotto brings to Fransic to life in his work and capture the spirit of who he was
yet despite the subject matter, there is such a sense of playfulness, which as a designer i love, i love that the subject can be serious, yet show in a light way that still works and is still true to the subject, in fact it even better communicates the subject!

giotto=designer's eye candy (in the words of matt--our director)

ok that was long winded.
i will add pics later, i just wanted to get this up!

ciao

1 comment:

Doug Eubank said...

Hey abby, so i'll be on prob tonight if u get on at all. Since today is ur day before you head to Venice, just thought I would say hi and hope u get all your stuff done on time. I still have yet to start my research paper. Well if your on i'll talk to you later tonight if not i'll talk to you after Venice. Let me know when a good time for you is to video chat anytime is good for me usually so just let me know, i'm usually on my computer all day anyways so. Have a good one talk to you soon.