In a fitting exit for my time in Tuscany, I was all set to put my luggage under the bus using the pull-and-lift technique some stranger had shown me when I was struggling. As the bus stopped and I lifted the familiar looking handle, I saw the underbelly of a bus engine instead of a cavernous luggage storage cavity... So then I lugged my 20 kilo suitcase up into the main part of the bus where the driver told me something I already knew: there wasn't luggage storage on this bus. I also realized this driver looked familiar to me. You know you've been taking a lot of Italian transportation when you get the same bus driver twice. So then I moseyed back to find a seat and enjoyed the tuscan hillside as we drove toward Grosseto. At one point I saw a man driving a steamroller on newly laid asphalt. It was just like the one I know how to drive!
I bought my train ticket to Milan Malpensa Airport and then ventured into Grosseto to kill a few hours. After meandering around the historic center I camped out in a little (air conditioned) cafe where I had stopped a few weeks earlier for a cappuccino and croissant. The owner may or may not have recognized me. I got another cappuccino and pastry and camped out while writing in my journal. It was really pleasant to order in Italian and feel like a regular. I even ordered a rice salad to take on the train with me, which was one of my favorite dishes I tried at the agriturismo in Tuscany.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Le Marche + Roma
After Tuscany, I headed west to the Adriatic Coast to visit the relatives of my paternal great grandmother. They are a wily bunch and it was an action-packed visit! We went to the beach on bikes, drove to eat dinner by a mountain, visited lots of medieval towns (by day and by night), ate lots of local food, and of course went swimming. The families were really excited to see me again after four years and treated me like a princess. I really loved speaking in Italian the whole time, since this was the first time in my trip to be surrounded by Italians.
After Le Marche I had to go back to Tuscany so I could then go north to Milan, where my flight was departing. I was going to pass through Rome while my cousin was there for work so we met up in the city and saw some sights. After getting carried away and not allowing enough time at the train station I missed my train...and wouldn't be able to make the bus connection in Grosseto if I caught the next one. So I added a surprise night in Rome to my trip! We saw Rome by night and walked along the Transtevere area til late at night. The next day I headed to Grosseto by train and then Montegiovi by bus.
After Le Marche I had to go back to Tuscany so I could then go north to Milan, where my flight was departing. I was going to pass through Rome while my cousin was there for work so we met up in the city and saw some sights. After getting carried away and not allowing enough time at the train station I missed my train...and wouldn't be able to make the bus connection in Grosseto if I caught the next one. So I added a surprise night in Rome to my trip! We saw Rome by night and walked along the Transtevere area til late at night. The next day I headed to Grosseto by train and then Montegiovi by bus.
Color into Print
It took me three extra-urban buses to get from Siena to Castel del Piano, a small town west of Grosseto, which was where I was picked up by the organizer of the class I came all the way to Italy to take. One of the great things about Italy is its web of public transportation. You just have to plan ahead and be patient and you can get yourself just about anywhere. Of course, if you have questions some drivers are more helpful than others. But anyway, it was a weary day of traveling that turned into a marvelous beginning of the class.
The main reasons I signed up to take this class through Women's Studio Workshop where the location in Italy and the timing in July. I also asked around about the teacher and checked out her work. But that was it. From those humble pretenses, I got much more than I expected. Color into Print was an AMAZING experience. The very first day I knew it was going to be great after chatting with Shelley, the instructor. I could tell right away she is super down to earth and completely invested in her students as artists and complicated people. After traveling on my own and having minimal interactions with people it was a shock to find myself in a meaningful conversation with someone I had just met. But it was also great.
The age range of the six students was 50 years and everyone had led a really remarkable life. I got to know the group over the 10 day class and it made the experience extra fun to scheme with them about trying to decipher information about the staff at the agriturismo where we stayed. I was the only one who could speak Italian so I acted as liason/diplomat between the two groups. Did I mention it was fun?
The first morning of the class was full of demos. Since they had converted a dining room and living room space into a print studio we were working with low-tech methods, but I learned a great deal. There's a lot you can do with not a lot. The days were set up to have work/demo time in the morning til 1:30. Then lunch. Then a break til 4 at which point work time started up again until 7. And then dinner was always (mostly) promptly at 8 and lasted at least two hours with four very generous courses.
During the break sometimes we went to the pool, sometimes napped, and sometimes we walked in the heat of the day for hours to and from Seggiano, the closest town. The art-making was at times frenzied and intense and at other times relaxing. I worked best when I was printing in the morning and making plates in the afternoon. I had been gathering inspiration in the first week of traveling in Italy from magazine images to images drawn in my sketchbook. So I just dove right in and made things like crazy.
New* things I learned:
Chine colle method that actually makes sense
Shaped drypoint plates with plexiglass
Using foam shapes to create the illusion of screen printing
Collograph with chipboard, metal filings, and spackle
Watercolor monoprint
Viscosity monoprint
A la poupee inking technique
Lots about mixing color
*a few things I saw done in college but had never tried them myself
I paired some tried and true methods like acetate stencils and transparent flats with the aforementioned new techniques and just kept making and printing then making more and printing more. It was the first time for me to play with printmaking in over two years. I jumpstarted my stagnated studio practice and hope to keep up the momentum back in the States.
The main reasons I signed up to take this class through Women's Studio Workshop where the location in Italy and the timing in July. I also asked around about the teacher and checked out her work. But that was it. From those humble pretenses, I got much more than I expected. Color into Print was an AMAZING experience. The very first day I knew it was going to be great after chatting with Shelley, the instructor. I could tell right away she is super down to earth and completely invested in her students as artists and complicated people. After traveling on my own and having minimal interactions with people it was a shock to find myself in a meaningful conversation with someone I had just met. But it was also great.
The age range of the six students was 50 years and everyone had led a really remarkable life. I got to know the group over the 10 day class and it made the experience extra fun to scheme with them about trying to decipher information about the staff at the agriturismo where we stayed. I was the only one who could speak Italian so I acted as liason/diplomat between the two groups. Did I mention it was fun?
The first morning of the class was full of demos. Since they had converted a dining room and living room space into a print studio we were working with low-tech methods, but I learned a great deal. There's a lot you can do with not a lot. The days were set up to have work/demo time in the morning til 1:30. Then lunch. Then a break til 4 at which point work time started up again until 7. And then dinner was always (mostly) promptly at 8 and lasted at least two hours with four very generous courses.
During the break sometimes we went to the pool, sometimes napped, and sometimes we walked in the heat of the day for hours to and from Seggiano, the closest town. The art-making was at times frenzied and intense and at other times relaxing. I worked best when I was printing in the morning and making plates in the afternoon. I had been gathering inspiration in the first week of traveling in Italy from magazine images to images drawn in my sketchbook. So I just dove right in and made things like crazy.
New* things I learned:
Chine colle method that actually makes sense
Shaped drypoint plates with plexiglass
Using foam shapes to create the illusion of screen printing
Collograph with chipboard, metal filings, and spackle
Watercolor monoprint
Viscosity monoprint
A la poupee inking technique
Lots about mixing color
*a few things I saw done in college but had never tried them myself
I paired some tried and true methods like acetate stencils and transparent flats with the aforementioned new techniques and just kept making and printing then making more and printing more. It was the first time for me to play with printmaking in over two years. I jumpstarted my stagnated studio practice and hope to keep up the momentum back in the States.
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