florence for culture week

so jake, josh x2, erin and i went to florence on friday (april 24th) to see everything we missed the first time... ambitious!

and everything was free! i love culture week!

so we got there...grabbed a coffee...

and went to our first stop, Palazzo Pitti
the only modern piece we ended up seeing....but it is awesome!

we went there on a whim because josh had a friend that recommended it.
so we went for the modern art...which was not modern art....so a huge disappointment...then we stumbled into the museums HUGE gardens!
we were there an hour and saw maybe a third of it! i can't wait to go back and have a picnic, play soccer and frisbee.... i can't wait :)
and go biking....because we ran out of time to do that.... stink

so here are some pictures from the garden....because it was amazing!

i like shadows.....and feet pictures.... :)
erin and me :)
the trees here were gorgeous!
how sweet is the slant of the steps!
jake hates this picture....so i thought i should put it up....

so then we went borgello to see donatello's david
and we were all artsy and stood around discussing the statues and the piece submitted for the competition for the gates of paradise on the bapistry

then the academia to see mich's david and unfinished slave statues
the unfinished statues were amazing, it was really as if these figures were breaking free from the rock that encased them

then we ate and ran....

then waited two hours talking to a lovely older couple from canada...then the Uffizi...which was cool to see some of the pieces, but really as a whole was not impressed with the uffizi's treatment of work, the lighting and encasing of the images made them hard to see....

but then we headed back to orvieto..... to see charlie :) my favorite pizza man!

goodnight spoon!

cinque terre

some rain at first .... a little colder than expected... specially at the campsite at night..... haha!

but all in all, cinque terre is beautiful!

so this fogging rain was saturday morning.... this is the town monterossa
hiked two hours from monterossa to vernazza
took the train to the riggamorre so jess could see the first two since they were close together before she left
some graffiti
a sweet view looking toward the monterola
monterola was gorgeous, the sun came out and we had a picnic lunch by the water, then walked up a path and found a bunch of cute old ladies doing watercolors! it made me miss water color so much! i can't wait to find some time to get back into it :)

jess and me :)
back to some solitary hiking and some great views!

day after

so it is the morning after.... no sleep.... but finished drawing in two days..... two straight days of drawing.

we did large drawings on cite in orvieto... i really loved my spot! i felt i really connected with the location and the people who stopped by all the time to look and offer me things! haha!

i can't wait to put up pictures of the work thus far! i will try to get to that soon.

ciao

buona pasqua!

pancake breakfast, church, lunch, and the fun/wine!
deciding how to interact with our ceramic friends
playing with the ceramic fishes
and a group shot
ps....we ate five giant chocolate easter eggs in like 6 hours or less....nice....

a drawing room....

So….i haven’t posted in sort of awhile, which I keep meaning too, but I have been so busy, enjoying italy, but mostly just drawing until I am covered head to toe in charcoal.

But it is easter Sunday today, and I am feeling lazy, so no work for now, just writing, and trying to finish up the book I am reading, which is, Crow Lake by mary lawson, which is really good. i have about fifty pages left…

On another random note, dried figs are amazing! I have become rather addicted…and in this last week, we have been working on two drawings, both dealing with intense light and shadow, and one of which is to be done at night, with an extreme light source and then we had to put ourself in it somehow…I did mine in our courtyard…every night this week, I bundled up, brought a cup of tea and drew for 2-3 hours…it was lovely! But afterwards whether is was midnight, or 2 am I had a little night cap…that is a bowl of cereal and dried fruit…

Anywho…not that the above is in anyway vital information…

Oh and Bible verse of this last month:
Ps. 112:4
“even in darkness light dawns for the upright…”

I realized I haved posted since I started drawing, which is really sad because this class has been amazing! I am learning so much about letting go in both my work and in life, it is funny, but my struggles at the easal tend to correlate with my life…

Matt (or professor and director) has been great and really helped me start to break through in my work. Learning to let go…
he has inspired me in many ways, the way he and his family live…we have got to know him and his family pretty well and I love them!

one of my favorite quotes he gave us came from:
“Night Studio: A memoir of Philip Guston” by Musa Mayer (his daughter)
“When you start working, everybody is in your studio—the past, your friends, enemies, the art world, and above all, your own ideas all are there. But as you continue painting, they start to leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone. Then if you are lucky, even you leave.”

There is so much more to write about this class, I will do it more just later, I want to photography my work, so I will try and talk a little more about the journey then, but for now….

a weekend in roma

Our first weekend in drawing was spent in Rome! We stayed in a few apartments all fairly close to one another. From the window of my apartment you could see a little piazza that had a market every morning, fresh fruit!

The weekend was one of seeing and drawing.

some sweet graffiti

we went to the vatican museum, a ton of churches and walked everywhere.

i fell in love with piazza navona! and this trip really reminded me just how much i love rome! i loved getting to see it at night again too!
one of my favorite parts was the whole group sitting in a big circle in the middle of a piazza, all facing out and a 360 view! it was really fun and we got a lot of attention! haha!
the lovely jana papp
and here is my feet.....i love feet pictures.....
wicked cool bending tree
the soccer store...the place to buy tickets... i will most assuredly will be going to a game!


the optical illusion

venice and bologna....

(3-20 thru 3-22)

very early morning....and long train rides, picnic on the train...and some spillage in a bag, but we make it and step out of the station onto to the windy platform on the edge of the canal, sun beaming and sea in the air....

a forty minute walk across town, good thing jake is extremely good at directions, we enter a little piazza and see our hotel....run into a snag with the rooms, thinking that we could just put all six of us into the triple we booked was a bad idea....but we dealt with it and spent two night in the top of a gorgeous hotel with a great view, the nicest bathroom i've seen thus far, and in the very heart of venice, right off the canal.

we take some time to chill then set out at dusk to explore, we stumbled onto the piazza di san marco.....which is gorgeous!
we pretty much got roses forces apon us, and jake bought them....what a guy :)
then we wandered and found ourselves on the rivalto bridge, with a view over the canal all lit up at night!
from there we found a cheap pizza place were i got one of my new favorite kinds of pizza--a little crispy thin crust, sause, light cheese and zuccini and pepper that had been grilled in olive oil.

back to the hotel for some drinks and a movie to relax and head to bed

saturday:
woke up to the best breakfast i have ever had in a hotel! i ate so much food! yogurt, granola, fruit, pastries, nutella, sweet breads, eggs, teas, juice, cappuccino's with smily faces on them!
perfection!!!

then we went back to san marco, went in for a bit, walked around the piazza, took some pictures, people watched, fed the pigeons.....off of jakes head....good times

jumped on a gondola to cross the canal....a nice long walk found a place for a quick bite then into the guggenhiem!
what a cute italian gondola man! haha!

i loved the guggenhiem! favorite museum thus far!-it was a modern art collection, with gorgeous gardens--i don't have my notes with me so i will try to add some about it later...

from there...walked for a bit, some napped, some journaled....
we adventured out again that evening...back to the rivalto market, got a gift for my sister.....and a yellow scarf for me.....had a little picnic with jess and heather---yum yum...a third of a block of mozzerella, some bread and a tomatoe, back to san marco piazza to meet up with the boys, then we went on a gondola ride!!!!

back to the hotel to chill before an early morning forty minute walk to the station to bologna....(the time of that walk being 6:20 am)

we got to bologna and walk up the street to a large piazza, went into a museum to see the morandi exhibit--one of matt's favorite artists--check him out.

then we headed over to a nice restuarant for a long and relaxing meal....yum yum!

after that we walked to the far end of town and found a gorgeous park to lay in, soak up some sun, take fun pictures and drink wine!


pizza waiting for us and goodnight!

florence

i have to be honest....after an early morning....and getting over my sickness....i was not in the best of moods to listen to long winded talks on church art....

soooo

the morning was good....but i was ready for lunch at 1:45 when we were given 5 euro. i was on a little bit of visual overload.... so here is the morning...

arrive
santa maria novella
question posed--how would i visually represent the church?

then...museo di san marco (rebuilt by cossimo medici)
fra angelico paintings
monastic cells

(one thing that was mentioned was that the best view of florences is from fiesole....so i need to find that on my next trip there)

lunch.....wandering and then the best pick me up!--cappuccino with a chocolate heart on top :)

after coffee i had a great afternoon seeing bits of florence
florence is a rennaissance city--the beginning of secular modernity

we saw the Bapistry infront of the duomo
and the gates of paradise! by Ghilberti
the Duomo bell tower
depicting the seven sevens
all the important trades of the city on bottom row

the orsonmichela "the garden of michael"
the guild's chapel--each guild ordered to commission a statue for their niche--florence liked to do things that drew everyone in together

Piazza Dela Signoria--main piazza, contains town hall
the masculine statues and authority of government offer a contrast to the the duomo (the mother church and father government)
the town hall is were the famous "David" was supposed to stand--which we haven't got to see yet...
the loggi is an amplitheatre...previous of civil speaches, but not used for concerts

we were sort of rushed through here, so not any good pictures....

then an amazing view overlooking the river
then we saw some art and back on the train....

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

week three: a papal audience

wed of this last week we made another trip to rome......for a papal audience!
before the event....without espresso yet....

we were literally maybe 30 yards away, and he waved to us when they announced our group form gordon college!