Monday for one of my courses we went out to Chiesanuova, a small town in Tuscany, to visit and have a workshop at the house of working artist Alessandro Nocentini. This was by far one of the coolest things I have had the opportunity to do since coming to Italy, and it was so great that I decided to post solely on this. My Florence Sketchbook course keeps getting better and better! He lives on a farm with his family and fig and grape trees for as long as the eye can see, and I immediately fell in love with the idea of this kind of life.
View from the studio:
Upon arriving at the workshop, we were introduced to Alessandro and brought up to his attic where his painting/drawing studio is.. This room was absolutely incredible, and the view of the countryside was even better. We got to work on drawings and watercolor of his favorite subjects, fish. This sounds gross but it was actually really interesting, and a concept that I am revisiting in my prints. The fish and squid were so colorful that they make for very vibrant watercolor sketches.
Isabella, Alessandro, and Rosanna, my professor. She's the best!!
Class sketches (Mine is the second squid in the second row)
Watercolor (Mine is the one on the bottom right)
After the workshop Alessandro made us a three course lunch (!!!) complete with wine that he makes himself from his farm. We had sandwiches, pasta, and salad, and it was all delicious, of course.
After lunch, Alessandro brought me to check out his printmaking studio, which was really exciting. I am hoping that when I get myself established (after graduating and hopefully getting a real job) that I can get a grant to get my own press and materials for a studio. This is not the first print studio I have seen and being able to go to more of them makes it seem much more achievable to me. One thing I found that was unique to Alessandro's process was that instead of using acid for etchings as we typically do, he used enamel on aluminum plates in order to etch lines. This seems a much cheaper, quicker, and safer route than our process at school. I would need to see the process in order to really understand how it works but it's something I would like to experiment with on my own, as the overall affect is much similar.
More succulents, I just love these plants.
My class, with Alessandro.
I find the way Rosanna really uses the resources in the community around Firenze in her curriculum to be really fresh and inspiring for my own teaching, as it gets us out of the classroom and allows us to get the most out of our experience here.. I will take this idea and attempt to use it in my own teaching when I get home. I couldn't be more grateful for this experience, and I'm excited to see what the rest of the semester will bring! Alessandro invited our class to come back to see the pressing of the grapes for his wines, which I definitely plan on doing, and is having an exhibition of his work on December 6th. I can't wait to see more of his work!
For my seminar on Michelangelo, I had to give a 20 minute presentation on the Vatican Pieta last week. We went to the Bargello museum today and each had to introduce one of his works to the class. I was grateful for the speeches we had to give for the Shinn Fund before I left as I felt a lot more comfortable speaking in front of my class. The museum is really interesting, and I actually have to go back tomorrow to do drawings for my sketchbook course, so I will write more about it when I have had time to really observe the work. Then off to Venice, Padova, and Verona for the weekend with API! I'm very excited about this as there is a Leonardo exhibit in Venice with his drawings and sketches. I will write more about it next week! Ciao!
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