Nature Journaling in Tuscany 2006

2011 Workshop Description is in August posting


 From the GNSI Newsletter, Volume 2006 Number 7 September

Nature Journaling in Tuscany-A Report on the Summer 2006 Workshop-

-Gretchen Halpert

 It’s true what they say about the light. 

Castiglion Che Dio Sol Sa
watercolor value study
D. Piemonte ©2006

You stare at it until it absorbs you. You drink it in like it will quench your summer thirst, and then, you must record it.

         We all fell in love with the Tuscan glow, calling to us from the luminescent wheat fields we passed on our sojourns. In the early evenings, it called us gently from the hills,  while we drank homemade wine on the terrace. From acres of sunflowers in full bloom, it called us loudly. We gasped at the brilliance of thousands of orange-yellow heads demanding our attention until every one of our heads turned and snapped their pictures.

         Ten artists converged at Tenuta di Spannocchia, a working farm and nature preserve on 1200 acres of forest, gardens and history. Each morning we gathered for field sketching exercises. From the shade of the secret garden to the domain of the chickens and Cinta Senese pigs, we drew. From the Escher-like Castle That Only God Knows (Castiglion Che Dio Sol Sa) deep in the woods, we drew. We sketched, painted and photographed at the Monastery Among Olive Trees (Monte Oliveto Maggiore),  where 14^th century frescos painted by Signorelli and Il Sodoma line the walls of the Great Cloister. We drew in a Zen-like garden nearby, during Pre-Palio festivities in Siena, in museums where the architecture is as impressive as the art, on field trips to walled medieval cities and from the bedroom windows of our 16^th century Villa overlooking terraced vegetable gardens and Tuscan hills.

watercolor value study
W. Smith ©2006

         The afternoons we weren’t on field trips, we spent on our own: exploring, hiking, drawing, writing, swimming. Whatever we chose to do, we never missed our farm-grown, creatively prepared,  sumptuous meals. One day we spent playing in the kitchen under the direction of a local chef. We cooked up a 5-course meal then feasted on it. Another afternoon some of us took an Italian language class so we could order meals and buy postcards and souvenirs in Italian. Another couple (hundred) of those and we would fit right in.

         Evenings we held slide shows as well as an art opening to share our drawings with the Spannocchia community. The ten days we were in Tuscany coincided with the Palio, the 4^th of July (yes, we had a barbecue, beer, chips, and fireworks) and the World cup where Italy reigned. Thanks to all the participants: Diane Dorigan, Wendy Smith, Antonia Ross, Rachel Robinov, Cally Gurley, Susan Horigan, Colly Geer, Diane Piemonte, Carol Rothberg and honorary participants Ronald Faris, Jim Ross and Cally’s whole family for making this a memorable workshop. The participants coupled with the wonderful staff at Spannocchia have made me look forward to offering this workshop again.

2006 workshop participants
Front row from left-Gretchen Halpert (instructor), Colly Geer, Diane Piemonte
back row from left-Jim Ross, Toni Ross, Susan Horigan, Diane Dorigan,
Wendy Smith, Rachel Robinov, Ron Faris, Carol Rothberg, Cally Gurley