Un Martedi di arte!

Buona sera a tutti!

In a classic "Do as I say, not as I do" moment, I realized I did not pack an adapter/converter, as I had urged many of the students to do. Alas, my camera has died! The students, of course, are incredibly patient and generous to us "old folk" and have already offered to lend me their converters, so that I can re-charge and once again regale our families and friends with photographic evidence of our many adventures.

But, to keep you satisfied in the meantime, here is what we have been up to!

This morning, I accompanied our smiling Sarah to the airport, as she was to join her family on a holiday in France! Lucky girl! You will be missed!

Then we had our morning classes. The drawing classes are beginning their "contemporary art week," so the students had class in front of the stunningly simple facade of la Chiesa di Santo Spirito, a church whose facade has always reminded me of a larger-than-life Mexican adobe-style church. Lindsay and Stefano provided the students a silouette of the church on blank paper, which they were to fill in as creatively and as freely as possible. I have seen a few of the creations, and let me say, the students are really exploring drawing outside of the normal "art class comfort zone." Jessica filled the facade in with a pen and ink drawing of a pigeon, as Santo Spirito is filled to the brim with these intriguing nuisances. Rachel chose the rose window of the facade as her inspiration, and transformed it into a cycloptic eye--from which an incredibly skilled rendering of a face emerged. There are many others--when we have the art show, I will photograph them and place them on the blog.

Today when I visited the painting class, I could only stare in awe at the work of the students. It's refined and so incredibly individualized that I felt like I could see into the soul of each of Antonio's students. They have been working on portraits. William and I both agreed that Talia's self-portrait resembled a Modigliani. And Laurie! Her stylized self-portrait captured the contours in her face with embellished shading.

The Italian students, meanwhile, visited le Cascine today, where they could observe the goings-on of Florentines, chat them up, and even join in a pick-up soccer match if they had the corraggio! I am happy to share with you all that the Italian students have taken a leadership role in guiding the non-Italian-speaking students through the city. When they go for lunch, our Lorenzo de Medici students feel more confident communicating with waiters and shopkeeps. And when we were at the pool, many of them even struck up friendly conversations with some Florentine young people, who they hope to meet again!

This afternoon, following classes, the students were given the options to attend a fresco painting class, a short history trip with Stefano to the Duomo, where they discussed the Baroque frescoes on the Renaissance cupola, or free time. Antonio and I accompanied sixteen students to Palazzo Vecchio to enjoy a fresco painting lesson. Did you know that the first fresco plasters were made of water, lyme, and sand? When Domezia, our Florentine professoressa, passed around a dollop of this plaster to the group, Sage and both exclaimed at the exact same moment: "this feels like exfoliant." Because it did--the sand was rough to the touch and the water and lyme created a sticky substance that held it together. But, as the art of fresco painting developed, ground marble was included in the paste to create a smoother, finer surface. After a history of the development of fresco painting, Domezia set us up with a tablet covered with fresh plaster, and we went to it, painting our first frescoes ever! We only had an hour before the plaster dried, but for that moment, we felt as exhilarated as Michelangelo, when he first experienced touching his paint brush to wet plaster in Ghirlandaio's studio. Oh, and let me just say, unveiling my artistic talents (or lack there of) in front of these incredible artists was fairly intimidating. Dan, Brian, Jess, Rachel, Sage and so many others blew me away with their artistic intuition.

In the evening, we had a catered dinner of l'arrista (a Milanese speciality of sliced pork in a decadent butter sauce), and delicious baked mixed veggies that included potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and carrots. Then we also had a pesto rice dish and a vegetable pasta, both served slightly chilled so that we could enjoy them in the fading summertime heat. Oh, and we had a great mixed salad, yummy Florentine schiacciata (my fave bread), and flame broiled peppers. Every last morsel was eaten tonight :)

This evening, there were three options for activities. Antonio opened the art studio to students that wanted to continue their work. Also, there was a classical concert in Palazzo Strozzi that some students attended. And finally, the staff brought some students to a new piazza, Piazza dei Ciompi, which in centuries past served as the location of Florence's fish market. Although they no longer sell fish there, the piazza has a loggia dotted with terra cotta disks which portray bright white glazed fish, installed there hundreds of years ago, when this area was known for it's delicious Ligurian-caught delicacies.

And now we are all tucked in back at the residence, to enjoy another day tomorrow. The students have started to remark that the days are dwindling--and the staff has as well--with a certain amount of sadness. This has been a unique experience for both staff and students, and while we look forward to seeing our families, we are unsure how we will say goodbye to such a beautiful, welcoming city.

Good night!
Janet