MEET, EAT, COMPLETE.....oh......AND SHOP!!!

OK...so grab your purse, your suitcase, your recyclable grocery bag, whatever you can and join me......let's go!!! The piece above I did a few years ago. Low fired ceramic relief form, painted with acrylics.

First of all, the title of this post, is the title of the sequel I'm writing for Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love).....yeah right!. Yes, I've been going on about this book lately......but bare with me one more time.

My daughter Emily and I met up with Constance and Susanna this weekend in a beautiful little town on the Delaware river, Frenchtown, New Jersey (hence the "MEET" in the title.....and yes, I was there a few weeks ago). We preceded to have lunch (butternut squash soup for me) and shared a slice of fabulous coconut creme cake (this is where the "EAT" part comes in).

We then headed to the store that was opened by Elizabeth Gilbert and her husband Jose, Two Buttons and .....dare I say I am a complete "groupie", we met Liz herself!! She was as delightful in person, as she comes off in the book. Each of us purchased a little something and chatted with her and some of her friends....she is writing something new, BTW.


Emily took our picture. Ta da! Susanna on the left, Liz, me and Constance.



Inside...Emily joins the rest of us and we drink wine, shop and laugh.....(that's the COMPLETE part. New friends sharing a great day together).


Getting ready to eat something delicious.


We are now heading back to Bella Italia to a great "thrift store". Basically, if you are familiar with a place like Goodwill or Salvation Army.....mixed with a great flea market AND everything is Italian made. They were not thrilled with me taking photos inside, so I took some outside in the tent they have set up.........which is a spot they place the stuff they REALLY want to get rid of. Have a seat.



Take a ride.


Uh.....bang some pots together.



It is expensive and difficult to lug stuff home, so I had to compose myself. Below are my "finds".


I love old maps for book altering and adding to encaustic painting.....and of course old photos.


Some of the old fabrics.....table linens, drapery, bedding.....were just beautiful and not heavy. LOVED the spoons and the "whatever they were" pieces of metal. They had such beautiful patinas.





I also found an old notebook with beautiful handwriting. I did not realize until I returned home that it is Latin, not Italian.

Have a happy day everyone. :-)

MANGIA??

In 1909, a photographer for National Geographic, named Wilhelm Von Gloeden, took this photograph called, "Sicilian Street Urchins". I found them to be fascinating because they looked far wiser (streetwise at least) than what seems to be their very young years. Worldly expressions on very young faces.




When I did an encaustic workshop last year, to try out some new techniques, I used these children as my inspiration.....to play around. I was prompted to mention playing around with this delicious medium after looking at what Judy Wise is doing. Wow. Check it out.



It is a medium for all of your senses.......hearing may not be in the mix, but the rest are. One of my favorite things to do is, every once in awhile. I take my hand and rub the bloom that may build up on the wax. It shines it right up and feels great. The bees wax also has a sweet smell.


I took this closeup, so that you can possibly see the textures and "build up" you can get. Plus you can attach just about anything with the wax.....I even used some gold leaf. I've seen artists create a sculpture where a painting was started.

Breakfast in Tuscany-


So, I also wondered, were those children hungry? My next post on Italy was certainly going to be about food. In a country that has "food" as it's mantra, I find it difficult to believe, but I'm sure it must be true. I could start a "heavy" conversation here about world hunger....food prices going up......farmers being paid more to grow bio-diesel source crops than food....but I won't..... now.

My second favorite Italian food......grapes hanging heavy on the vine, ready for picking, outside of Montepulciano.



"Leftovers, after the morning market at the Campo di Fiori in Rome-


Fall harvest, Italian style-


How come WE only get those little dried up packages........yum, fresh and unbelievably good!


Who can guess what this is? We sat next to a delightful couple from South Africa and Australia at a great restaurant in Venice. We all laughed hysterically all night. Their teeth were black.


My favorite dessert.......fragole piccolo...probably not spelled correctly.......means " little strawberries". Put a bit of gelato on top and ....out you go.......your waistline, that is.

Buon appetito!


I guess I was all over the place on this one......sometimes you've just gotta let it all spill out.

Coming next......flea market finds.

MANET WHO?-THE ARTFUL PICNIC

So....in which photo above, does it look like they are having a better time? You had better say the second, the one with the happy artists, holding up their wine glasses, having a glorious day together!!!


It's all thanks to this lovely lady above, Constance. She is truely one of the most beautiful spirits I have ever met. There is so much positive energy coming from this lady, you can feel it immediately.

She decided to get a few of us bloggers together, to celebrate the birthday of Susanna......and well....just get us together. I was so happy to meet all of these wonderful women! All accomplished in so many ways and absolutely a blast to be with. Constance, Susanna, Mo'a and Rena. Thank you so much for making the day so perfect.

So what are the ingredients of a great picnic? Well......have Constance make the frittata, beer bread, biscotti, soup...and probably more, that I am forgetting. Have Mo'a make the spinach salad and bring beautiful flowers. Rena makes the butternut squash soup...with a hint of spice.......Bring WINE!!! Have great party favors courtesy of the birthday girl..........and last but not least , SHARE YOUR ART! Constance, her beautiful handbags and Florilinas, Susanna, her photographic sketchbooks, like a dream and encaustic painting, beautiful color and texture. Mo'a brought her incredible Icelandic Santas. (Did you know there were 13 Santas in Iceland?) and Rena, an old friend of Susannas, is a writer. She discussed the novel she has written.




Lot's of great still life set ups!


Take lots of photos!


Play with the beautiful things around you!


Give the birthday girl a priceless gift!


At the end......feel full..........of LIFE. Thanks ladies!

FINESTRA-WINDOW

So pull up a seat, put your feet up and grab a glass of wine...or a spritz, as the Venetians would...that's Prosecco, Campari and a little orange liquor, that for the life of me I can't remember the name of.

My trip was wonderful. Trying to figure out what to post is more difficult than I would have imagined, so I decided to go with a theme. WINDOWS. I saw so many amazing sights both looking INTO and OUT of windows in Italy . I found the following info in the dictionary-

Word History: The source of our word window is a vivid metaphor. Window comes to us from the Scandinavian invaders and settlers of England in the early Middle Ages. Although we have no record of the exact word they gave us, it was related to Old Norse vindauga, "window," a compound made up of vindr, "wind," and auga, "eye," reflecting the fact that at one time windows contained no glass. The metaphor "wind eye" is of a type beloved by Norse and Old English poets and is called a kenning; other examples include oar-steed for "ship" and whale-road for "sea." Recently we have restored to the 800-year-old word window a touch of its poetic heritage, using it figuratively in such phrases as launch window, weather window, and window of opportunity or vulnerability.

Let's do a little "window shopping" and browsing, if you will.............


Sigh....... looking out from the "Bridge of Sighs" at the Doges Palace in Venice, so called because when prisoners were sent to the prison, this was the last bit of light they would see. They would "sigh"....... or curse I suppose.



Looking up at the windows of a home.


A window at the Palazzo Fortuny in Venice where I saw an incredible art show. Check it out here. What you see hanging next to the window, covers the entire front of the building. Woven tin cans. Not only does it look fabulous, when the wind blows it makes a beautiful sound. I also saw an incredible exhibit of John Singer Sargents paintings and drawings from his time in Venice, at the suggestion of fellow blogger Robyn, who does some beautiful watercolors of her own. Sargent somehow captures the essence of this incredible city without making it look like a cliche.


Peeking into the window of a jazz bar around the corner from our hotel. P.S. I hope none of you know that man :-)....pretty colors, huh? I felt an immediate need to run out and buy some new underwear.


The beauty that can only come from something old and weathered. A patina that would be difficult to duplicate........it would be fun to try, though.



Moving on to window shopping.........




....a necklace that would not be my style to wear, but oh so beautiful!



Looking up at the front doorway to the Duomo in Sienna. I can't possibly do this building the justice it deserves.



Moving on to Cortona and a beautiful gem of a B and B called Poggio Sole. It's run by a lovely young woman named Benedetta and her family. We had the BEST dinner and BREAKFAST of our entire trip here.

The windows are small at these countryside homes , originally designed to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter. But....OH THE VIEW!!




Inside Benedettas kitchen you see the Tuscan countryside on one side and a beautiful little faux window on the other.



Early morning view out of the bathroom window.




May I also point out that there are MAJOR improvements in soundproofing. Outside of our hotel in Rome, which was around the corner from the lively Campo Di Fiori area, we heard NOTHING when the windows were closed.


I truely could go on forever......but back to the real world I go.

I leave you with a view out of the taxi window on the way to Rome airport. See the rainbow? It was FULL!!! I'm thinking it means I'll return.

More later........