ciao cortona

This is our last morning in Cortona. We depart for Naples in about an hour. 

This last week has been eventful. 

-Alina, Enriqua, and Lydia came and visited from florence

-Trip to the amazing city of Siena 

-End of semester celebrations

-Pack to leave for Naples

Here is my travel plan for the next few weeks

Nov 18-20- Naples

Nov 20-25- Prague

Nov 25-29- London

Nov 29-Dec 3- Paris

Dec 3-6- Amsterdam

Dec. 7 Back in NC 

Its going to be an exciting three weeks. I'll try to keep up my postings while I'm on the move.

Love you all and I'll see everyone again soon! 

art coma

Yesterday I awoke from my 11 week art coma. As I was packing up my studio, I was reflecting on why time has passed so quickly here and I realized its because I've been completely consumed in making art. In the past, I've had days go by without notice because of art projects but never months. All I've really done is eat, sleep, and make art. This has been a wonderful creative experience and I've learned much and grown as an artist. I have a sense of direction of where I want to take my art and I've developed concepts I want to explore for future work.

As rewarding as this experience has been, I feel I have unfinished business here in Italy. Because I've been so consumed in art and the nature of this trip, I've been with other Americans for the majority of the time. I want to continue to learn the language and come back to live here again one day. Maybe in graduate school or perhaps as a professor. Whatever it is that brings me back, I know I'll return. So as sad as I'll be to leave next week, I know it won't be forever.

final show

 Yesterday evening we had our final exhibit. It was a successful show and a bittersweet occasion. It has been an intense two and half months. We've been up here on the top of our mountain immersed in art. I've produced more in this short time than I usually manage in a regular length semester. Now my time here at our little artist commune is coming to a close. We will be leaving Cortona in eight days and this last week will be spent writing papers and cleaning up studio. 

I can't believe how quickly its gone by. 

Everything culminated last night with the exhibit. Everyone put one piece in the show and each class chose another piece to represent that class. I put one of my paintings in and my class chose another of my paintings; so I was able to have two pieces in the show. I was excited since the two are part of series that I've begun. 

I was very impressed with everyones work.  There are so many talented people on this trip; its been a great experience to live and work with them. 

There was a wide variety of work: stone carving, bronze sculpture, book art, photography, printmaking, drawing, and painting. 

Many of the Cortonese came and the local paper took pictures. It was a good turnout. 

I'm going to spend the majority of this next week trying to take in as much of this quite Tuscan town  as I can. There are still many places that I haven't had the time to explore. 

Oh Cortona, I'll miss you. 

Il' nuovo presidente!

Today in the small medieval hilltown of Cortona, Italy-I am proud to be an American. The last eight years has been damaging to my concept of what it means to be American and has slowly turned my nationality into a source of shame. 

But this morning I am proud.  

I am proud that we have overcome entrenched biases to elect an African American, that we are moving away from cold war politics, that we elected a man in tune with our modern global society, and that we as a people have chosen someone who can rally the disenfranchised, disaffected, and the plain apathetic to give everyone a voice. This is larger than one man, larger than the presidency; this is about the American people. 

My optimism is not blind. Barack Obama will be facing immense challenges, both known and unknown, and I do not expect him to be the solution to all of the problems our country faces. But I do see this as a new beginning, and it is one that I can believe in. 

Today I am proud to proclaim "Io sono Americana!"  

not the bash-but still awesome

One of the few things I regretted missing this semester was the College of Design Halloween Bash.  For the last few years, Halloween has been a big deal. I've had more fun celebrating Halloween as an adult than I ever did as a child. So as 31st approached this year I felt a little disappointed that I wasn't home in Raleigh preparing for the COD Bash. 

There were plans here to dress up in costumes for dinner at Tonino's but it didn't sound like it was going to be a big deal. 

It was.

Everyone went all out with costumes; including the teachers and the creepy groundskeeper, Geno. It was so much fun. They gave us lots of wine and there was a goofy costume contest. 

After dinner, they arranged a party in one of the rooms. They cleared out the tables for dancing and had a band.  They played such hits as: t.v killed the radio star, songs from greece, relax, and the YMCA, all in a heavy italian accent. It was hilarious. Everyone danced like crazy, the waitstaff, the professors, Geno, everyone! 

So even though I missed the bash, Halloween in Italy turned out to be pretty amazing. 

I don't know why I had any doubt. 

deluge

So the other day the power went out for a few hours. This really wasn't a problem, it was just a little inconvenient. The issue was that the water runs on a pump, so it cut off while the electricity was out. While flipping the faucet on and off in frustration, I accidentally left it in the on position. When the power came back on, so did the water. 

It must have been at least an hour after the power came back on before my roommate Fern found the flood. Water had run over the sink onto the floor and out into the room. There was enough water to float papers. It took every towel in the dorm to soak it up enough to then mop it. 

Fortunately, nothing too important was left on the floor and the floor is tile;  so we were able to dry everything out no damage done. 

It was the biggest mess I ever made- and I've made some big messes. 

It was kind of amazing.

midterms and the plague

Last week was midterms. No matter where you're at, its a stressful part of the semester. Projects are due, there are tests to be studied for, and everyone is generally freaking out. But I made it once again. My Italian exam and monster Art History exam are over and I can go back to concentrating on art. The new concern this week is the bad case of the stomach flu which is sweeping through the dorm. So far I've avoided it. I think the count is 11 of 36 people are down. My roommate,Fern, seems to have gotten a particularly bad case. I've basically moved out of the room. I'm avoiding it like... well... the plague. Its pretty ironic, since we just took an art history exam which covered Black Death Style; art that emerged after the plague of 1348. I'm pretty convinced the fact that we studied the plague, and we now have a plague of our own, are not unrelated. We'll see if this influences our artistic style.

florence and feet

I've reached the halfway mark for my time here in Cortona. I can't believe this coming week is already mid-terms!

I've had a great creative week. For most of the semester I've been in a creative rut. It was very frustrating and unexpected since I'm in such a visually rich place. What it boiled down to was that I was putting too much pressure on myself to make "good" art. I was putting too much weight on everything I was doing and it was simply crippling. I've finally relaxed and suddenly the ideas are pouring out. Now the pressure is not on coming up with ideas but completing them in the time I have left.

The week prior was the turning point. It was my best week yet in Italy. On Wed. Sept 24, some friends and I skived off from doing work and took a day trip to Florence (Firenze.) Firenze is about an hour trip by train. We had already explored Florence before we arrived to Cortona, so we already had a good sense of where we wanted to go. My main goal of the trip was to find find some shoes. The tennis shoes that I brought are starting to fall apart, so I felt like I could justify the purchase of some fancy Italian leather shoes. It was fun and relaxing trip- and I found some fabulous shoes. It really was the week for feet, because that Sunday the group got to take part in the grape harvest and grape stomping. It was a great experience and everyone's spirits were high. There was lots of laughing, drinking of wine, and general silliness.

So for all of the silliness and fun the week prior, I was finally able to take pressure off myself and inversely get serious about my art. I've started the largest painting I've ever done. Its over five feet tall and equally wide. I've enjoyed working in oil paint rather than acrylic. Its much easier to work with and the color is so much richer. Acrylic is such a stubborn medium , I'm enjoying the fluidity of oils. I think my painting style was meant for oil paint. I'm really excited about it. I'll post images of the work I've done soon.

I've been a bit neglectful of my blog and flickr lately, but I'll work on updating it more frequently!

hugs and love!

a weekend in italy

Time has been passing very quickly. I've realized that I'll have been in Italy a month this coming Wednesday. Now that I've settled into a routine, the days just roll by. Every weekend we travel as a group to surrounding cities. This past Saturday we went to Assisi and Perugia. Assisi was an amazing town. Its the town Saint Francis began the Franciscan order. It was interesting to visit the grave of the namesake of my favorite city. After visiting the Church of San Francisco, we explored the town and eventually made it to the market. I discovered that the weekend markets are where most people buy the things they need. You can get anything from shampoo to fruit and vegetables. Since I've been in need of warmer clothes I went in search of a sweater. Once I found one, I put my bartering skills to the test. I'm proud to say I haggled the price down three euro (I did all this in Italian, mind you.) It ended up costing seven euro, much better than the 280 euro sweaters in town.
From Assisi, we traveled to nearby Perugia. We only had three hours in this town, my friends and I decided to spend it in a leisurely manner rather than rush around. Emogene, Lindsey, Dan, and I found a great little pizza place and spent our time there. We had pizza, salad, and later coffees. I think it was the best meal I've had in Italy.
I spend my Sundays catching up on the work I wasn't able to do the day prior while traveling. So I spent most of the day drawing and working on art history. The weekend was caped nicely with a piano concert at the theater in town. It was an amazing recital, the pianist played pieces by Chopin, Liszt, and Debussy. The music was incredible and it was also a good opportunity to hand out with the locals. I feel like my Italian is coming along nicely. I'm not forced to use it much since I'm living and working with Americans but I've come a long way since the beginning of the semester.

life in cortona

The semester is in full swing now and I’m beginning to settle into a routine with classes and homework. After a few crazy weeks of traveling the routine is welcomed. My schedule revolves around art and eating, not a bad way to live in my book. Italy is known for starting the slow food movement and that influence is apparent in our group dinners. We eat at a restaurant called Tonino’s every night and dinner is served in three courses lasting from seven-thirty to nine. I enjoy the leisurely meal and dinner conversation; it’s a pleasant way to end the day.
There is a very interesting group dynamic on this trip. The directors of the program keep referring to it as our family, which at first I thought was cliché but is proving to be true. We live in the same building, have breakfast and dinner together everyday, work in the same studio space, do our laundry together and even hang it on the same line. It’s a lot of togetherness; sometimes it’s hard to find a moment to be alone.
After a rainy weekend, the weather has cooled significantly. Everyone is wearing scarves and sweaters and they gave us extra blankets for our beds. Campus is near the top of the mountain, so to come up from town is quite a workout. The cool weather makes the trek much more pleasant. I’m starting to think I’m not prepared for the weather to get much cooler than it is now. My roommate from Minnesota brought several sweaters while I only brought one. In trying to pack light, I may have inadvertently left out a few essentials, like a coat. The clothing stores in town are great but very expensive. I walked into one to look at sweaters and the first one I picked up cost 280 euro (about 420 American dollars,) I immediately turned around and left. I need a Target. There is a thrift store in town that has clothes I can actually afford. In a few weeks I may be rocking a warm blazer straight from the eighties. I’m going and try to talk to the ladies who work here and figure out where I can find more reasonably priced clothes. Everyone can’t be wearing sweaters that cost half a grand each.
Yesterday was beautiful. It was the clearest day yet. I could see mountain ranges in the distance I didn’t know were there and the sky was an intense blue. When the sun was setting, the valley was illuminated in an almost eerie way, there were shadows that looked as though stretched for miles and every tree or house that caught the sun burned bright. It was breathtaking. I sat on the city wall for a while to absorb the view; I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

cortona!

We’ve finally arrived to Cortona! I can’t even begin to express how beautiful it is here. There’s a reason this region is know for its art, there’s just no way to put the beauty into words. The campus is at the top of mountain overlooking a rich valley of farmlands; there is a large lake in the distance and silhouettes of mountains all around. The campus is surrounded by vineyards that are dripping with grapes and olive groves that are beginning to fruit. I can’t wait to begin painting!!
The building we are living in is great; it’s a refurbished 15th century monastery with fresh white plaster walls, red tile floors, and very high ceilings. There are several terraces that overlook the valley and all the rooms have big windows. I’m rooming with Emogene, my friend from Minnesota and Fern, a sweet girl from California.
We begin classes on Monday but we’ve been able to spend time with our professors while we were traveling. Scott and Susan are my drawing and painting professors, respectively, and Roy is my printmaking professor. They’re open and friendly and I’ve already had several engaging conversations with them about art and their artistic philosophy. I’m looking forward to getting the perspective of teachers outside of the College of Design.
Now that I’m in Cortona, I’ll be able to email and update my blog and flickr regularly, so you’ll be hearing more from me now. I hope to hear from you too!
LOVE!!

roma!!

This morning we departed Roma and left for Firenze (Florence) and on our way stopped in la citta di Viterbo (The city of Viterbo.) Staying Rome was a wonderful introduction into the Italian culture. It was a very easy transition since it’s a tourist destination; it wasn’t difficult to find someone who spoke English. In fact, it was so easy it was almost annoying. I’ve been enjoying my attempts to speak Italian. I’ve become fast friends with a girl named Emogene, from Minnesota, and we’ve become travel buddies. She knows more Italian than I, so she’s coached me through some basic conversations. Today, I managed to go into a bar (not quite the same as American bars, you can order gelato and sandwiches at these.) and say hello, ask where the bathroom was, then order a drink, ask how much, pay, and say goodbye all by myself. A small accomplishment, but an accomplishment nonetheless. Not bad for only three days in Italy. I’m really excited about the prospect of actually learning to speak Italian. I’m taking a class once we get to Cortona, but I’m learning a lot through immersion. Yesterday, Emogene and I meet this guy who is an artist in Rome. We stumbled across his studio on a side street. She was able to have a 15 min conversation with him and she’s only been studying Italian for a summer. His work was awesome and there was so much I wanted to say to him, but I could only stand there and grin. That really motivated me to try and learn as much as I can while I’m here, and try and pursue it after I leave as well.
I’ve seen so much it the last few days its overwhelming. Ancient ruins, churches, and so many paintings and sculptures, its really hard to absorb it all. It’s amazing that so much is pact into one city. Even more amazing is that it’s a thriving modern town and not just a giant museum. We went into the Vatican yesterday and saw St. Peter’s Cathedral and the Vatican museum. It was an exhausting but exhilarating five-hour tour. When we finally got to the Sistine Chapel, I felt like my head was going to explode. Serious sensory overload... It was so beautiful though, I almost wish that was the only thing I saw that day so I could really take it in.
I’ve enjoyed finding quiet spots to sketch, when you slow down like that, you can really see where you are and fully appreciate it. It’s hard to race around and try to absorb it all.
It seems like I’ve been here a lot longer than a few days. I guess its because I’ve experienced so much.
The group of people I’m traveling with is great. We have bonded so quickly, it seems like I’ve know some of them for years. All of the vegetarians have to sit together at one table at dinner and the 8 of us have really grown close. It’s a hilarious time; we’re definitely the fun table at dinner. The group has required dinners every night, so the good times will carry out through the semester.
Tomorrow, we explore Florence!!

first day in rome

After 24 hours of travel I made it to ITALY! I left Jacksonville on Wednesday around 11am and arrived in Rome on Thursday at 5pm. (There is a six hour time difference.) I had been dreading the voyage for a while, but it went really well. I was most concerned about not being able to sleep on the plane. Here’s the secret I discovered: A couple of whiskey sours at the airport (sorry mom) and dose of Tylenol pm once on the plane and you’ll wake up six hours later, well rested and drooling on a Norwegian man’s shoulder (sorry Usloff.)
When I got to the airport in Amsterdam, I met up with a few other kids who are going to be studying with me this semester. I thought I would be traveling alone until I met with my group today, so I was excited to acquire some traveling companions for the last leg of the journey.
After a fumbling effort to speak Italian, we managed to catch a shuttle bus from the airport to our Hotel in Rome. We are staying at the Torre Rossa Park Hotel, it has a beautiful lobby and garden area but the rooms are very small. We will be staying here for a few days to explore Rome until we head to Florence on September 2, and then to Cortona on September 5. It’s not clear to me when we start classes. I think my art history class begins as soon as we gather as a group in Rome and my drawing class wants us to be working in our sketchbooks, but I don’t think my painting or Italian class begins until we reach Cortona.
Wendy Moore, the lady I worked with this summer at the California Academy of Sciences (YAY paussines!!), has a colleague here in Rome. She put me in touch with him and we arranged to meet today. Andrea is very nice fellow who also studies paussines. He picked me up at the hotel on his scooter and took me to lunch in the center of Rome. (Don’t worry mom, I wore a helmet) It was a lot of fun to zip around town and see Rome like a real Italian. Scooters are a very popular mode of transportation here, since the traffic is so bad. I had a great time, we had lunch at Trasteverino Bar and then walked around town a bit and got an espresso before he took me back.
I got to Italy a day ahead of schedule so there were only a few people from my group here yesterday. But today the people are pouring in. My group is much larger than I thought it would be. There are 40 people studying in Cortona. Its going to be fun trying to remember everyone’s name. Its time to meet and greet!
Until I get to Cortona I have to pay for internet access by the hour, so I may not be able to send many emails or update my blog or flickr. But after the September 5, I get all the free internets I want, so you can expect to hear more from me then.
LOVE!!!

p.s I've been checking out everyone's shoes. Anyone who speaks Italian and looks to be about my age, I scope out their footwear. And guess what? SNEAKERS!! not big white ones, but I've seen a lot of asics and pumas. I wear asics, so I'm thinking I'm good to go. As long as I keep my mouth shut, I blend in pretty well. I just need to work on my Italian.

less than two days

I'm concerned about my shoes. Everyone keeps telling me that all the Europeans will be able to tell I'm a tourist because I wear tennis shoes. I want to blend in, be a chameleon. However, I think the group of 20 other Americans I'll be traveling with will give me up before my shoes do. 

I'm leaving in less than two days and I think I'm ready to go. I have a few small things I need to do before my flight to Europe but nothing big.  I'm flying from Raleigh to Detroit to Amsterdam to Rome. All and all, I'll be in transit for almost 24 hours. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this any less painful, I'd appreciate it. 

I'm ready for school to start. I've got a lot of creative energy I'm ready to expend. I'll be taking a painting and a drawing class. Along with my studio courses I'll be taking an Italian Renaissance art history and an Italian language class. I've been twiddling my thumbs ever since I got back from San Francisco, its time to be productive again! 

an attempt to blog

I never thought myself to be the blogging type. I guess I thought blogs were a little strange, like public diaries or something. Cries for attention...I don't know. But those of you who know me also know that I was once morally opposed to anything that had to do with computers and now I'm an insufferable mac owner. What can I say, people change. Anyways, I've changed my mind about blogs and I've decided they can be interesting and even cool. So here is my attempt to keep a blog. Here we go!:

I'm leaving for Italy in four days.