A GLOBAL YEAR: Art keeps me busy!

The last year and a half have proved to be very busy for this art teacher! I've been absorbed in my own position as an elementary art teacher in a busy school district AND attending graduate school obtaining my Masters in Art Education Degree. There hasn't been time to blink! But, there has been time to fill in the gaps with committee work and leading sessions and workshops at the Texas Art Education Association Conference and the National Art Education Convention, going to Cuba with the National Art Education Association, having my students win art contests-even international contests, and I even spent the summer in Italy in the Tuscany region for summer art studio painting outside in the Tuscan sun every day as part of Boston University's degree program I'm participating in. Aside from a couple Alleve every other day to take care of the arthritis and remind myself that my knee is not 86 years old, this 51 year old art teacher is beginning an adventure that will lead who knows where. A couple of years ago I taught school short team in Uganda and Ecuador and loved every single second of it. I'm passionate about glocalization. Yes, I spelled that right. I'm passionate about teaching my art students to learn and exist in their own culture while at the same time realizing there is a huge world out there that is getting smaller each and every day. There are a lot of "things" in the works. One of which is this Blog. Peacocks and Rainbows is getting ready to fan out and many surprises are in store. But first, I have got to finish my thesis which I'll be doing this spring, but one thing is for sure. This Blog is stepping up a notch and will become a watershed, or should I say a water tray, of information for art teachers and art enthusiasts. There is a lot of energy left in this ole' gal and a lot of painting and creating left to do. My first priority will continue to be my students and teaching art which I am passionate about and being as involved in possible in the fine arts in my school district. However, be watching this Blog because it is about to be packed full of great tips, tools, news, and information about everything ART!

"An artist is not paid for his labor, but for his vision." -James Whistler

TUSCANY (ITALY): Blueberries, Bruschetta, and Borgo San Lorenzo

      

     Life at Capitignano in a rural area near Borgo San Lorenzo is a dichotomy of the new and the old, blended together, co-existing in the 21st century.  One can use the Wi-Fi in the library, get up, walk 20 feet and take your laundry off the clothes lines, walking by the rabbit hutch where the evening meal might just possibly come from as you go.  On one hand life is very sophisticated-we’re using computers, taking graduate level courses. On the other, it is very primitive and reminds me very much of life at my granny’s house in Arkansas or my grandparent’s farm in Kansas when I was a kid. Whether I am sitting in an art history class learning about 12th-15th century Italian artwork or plein air painting outside with my easel and oil paints, this rural 13th century Italian estate (really just a working farm) has taught me many things this summer. One of these things is that life is to be lived, enjoyed, relished, and absorbed!

     Our world in the United States in 2012 is full of work, meetings, emails (home email, work email), voice mails, cell phone messages, Tweets, Facebook comments and messages, texting, laptops, desktops, and so much more. In between all those communication details that fill our day we also hop in our oversize vehicles like my Suburban (no Panda for me!) and drive hither and yon running errands, delivering things we could probably just keep, gathering things we could probably live without, and stopping for a $4.00 cup of coffee on the way. (Hey, don’t be messing with my Starbucks. Oh wait, that was me! Erase that!) But, when the suitcases are packed and we venture off to another spot on the globe we can often find a much different life. In fact, many of my ventures to places like Ecuador and Uganda, and other places, greatly (or gravely) reminds me that the American way of life is in many ways so wonderful; in other ways so excessive.

     This weekend in Italy I didn’t travel anywhere. Other weekends I have gone on great adventures riding trains, buses, boats, and with drivers to places like Seina, Arrezzo, Livorno, and Venice, Burano and Murano. But this weekend I wanted to just stay put and enjoy Capitignano and it’s simplistic beauty; knowing that our time will be ending soon. I volunteered to fix lunch for those of us who did not travel as the cook is given the weekends off.

     I moved the smaller patio table out under the giant shade trees on a ledge that overlooks the Mugello valley on both sides of where I positioned the table. The breeze was so refreshing and the view was stunning. I found a tablecloth in a drawer in the kitchen, ran down to my room and got a strawberry juice bottle I had been saving and picked some wildflowers on the way back for a centerpiece, quickly grabbed my camera so I could document our pretty lunch, and then, for a moment, I pretended I was Frances Mayes in Under the Tuscan Sun. I spent about an hour in the kitchen making a delicious salad full of local produce, a light vinegar and oil dressing, warmed up Maria’s delicious minestrone from the day before, and made my own bruschetta. I made a tomato bruschetta, the Tuscan way. The recipe is easy:

Chop tomatoes, add grated fresh Parmesan cheese, chopped fresh basil, some chopped bread crumbs from the heel and maybe another slice of a baguette, salt and pepper. Mix together well. Slice a baguette in angular pieces. Rub the bread with garlic, brush with olive oil. Place the tomato mixture on the slice, be generous, and bake in a warm oven, maybe 350, until nice and toasty.  The Italians are very frugal.  Using the heel ensures you use ALL the bread, but the bread crumbs also bind the tomatoes together so they don’t fall off the bruschetta. The other bruschetta was my own invention….quite excited about that….I used the same baguette bread, slathered it with herbed goat cheese, and placed fresh blueberries on it. Toasted it until nice an heated through; drizzled with peach honey with a bit of a pepper kick that I got at the Borgo County Fair our first weekend here.

      And, for the real treat, I gathered some tea bags kept for the morning hot tea drinkers, and made a delicious ICED TEA! Yes, first ice tea I have had since I left Texas on June 8th! We sat outside under this big, old beautiful tree, breeze blowing and keeping us cool, enjoying the view. While we didn’t say it, I think it was visible on all of our faces…we knew that moment was one to remember.  I found myself thinking I need to do this more when I get home. How can I squeeze in a lunch here and a supper there on the patio with friends who are caught up in the same life-is-too-busy-routine as I am? I don’t know, but I’m going to try. Don’t be surprised if you get an invitation! I can be pretty persistent! In Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes says, “There is no technique, there is just the way to do it. Now, are we going to measure, or are we going to cook?” Make some bruschetta today. Put your own favorite ingredients on it! Be inventive! And invite some friends over!

TUSCANY (ITALY): Beginning my summer of oil painting and art history at Capitignano.

Living with the Doors Open

     This morning the final leg of the journey to Capitignano began.  I woke up at 7:00 am and enjoyed a long, hot bubble bath in the Four Seasons’ extra large porcelain and granite bathtub…thinking to myself…a lover of long, leisurely, fragrant, and very hot baths…that this might be my last bath for awhile.  A day must begin with a nourishing and tasteful breakfast so after getting ready I sauntered downstairs and out to the restaurant patio where I indulged in homemade bread with fresh butter and peach jam, an omelet with fresh mozzarella cheese and grilled vegetables and two cups of delicious coffee.  I again felt my soul being nourished by the lush green gardens that had surrounded me the previous evening for dinner.  The gardens are adorned with curved and fluid sculpture and beautiful flowers.  I could smell honeysuckle and petunia’s so fragrant one thought it surely must be perfume.  The chorus of birds was there again. Birds of so many melodies that the whole sky seemed to sing.  Swallows dipped and soared all above the tree canopy expressing their love of this beautiful garden.  I closed my eyes and inhaled the air’s sweet perfume and listened to the harmony in the sky…and said…let it be well with my soul.  Thankful for the opportunity that lay in front of me, around me, and thanking God for his blessings.

     A driver took me to the airport.  His name was Alessandro.  I met the group at the airport and also Mark, the program director and one of the professors, who was there to pick us up.  We drove a beautiful, no….breath-taking, scenic drive to Borgo San Lorenzo.  The drive was lined with rolling hills, olive trees, vineyards, wildflowers, Tuscan villas with their earthy clay tile roofs, and farms.  We even saw a deer! The foliage was so green and lush.  Quaint farms….a mostly agrarian society north of Florence in the hills. And, everywhere, beautiful flowers…on porches, in windows boxes…everywhere.  We stopped at a grocery store, the Coop, and I bought a hair dryer, a fan, an iron, some crackers, and some flawless and perfect blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and apricots…which I feasted on later in the afternoon.  The produce here is so fresh and grown locally and looks  almost too perfect to be real. We stopped at a little yogurt shop in Borgo which Mark’s friend owns and I bought a bottled strawberry juice… I really wasn’t sure completely what is was.  But…it was literally strawberry juice! It was as if someone had mashed some strawberries, sieved the juice, and bottled it! Divine! (I think the brand name was Yogo.)

     We then went to the train station and picked up Sophie.  She is a delightful 20-ish year old girl from China.  She is a student at BU and has been in Italy for awhile visiting a friend and traveling around.  Her father is an art teacher in China.  Her personality is infectiously loving and happy! Also with us are Ashley from Maine, Alex from Massachusetts, and Victoria from Texas (St. Edwards University, Austin). A couple more arrive tonight.  The girls are all precious, all in their early 20’s, and I can tell I am already everyone’s “mother hen.” But, they are graciously looking out for me-helping me carry a few things as my knee has had a bit of an overload lately.

     The drive into Capitignano reminded me of the movie Gladiator when Russell Crowe remembers his house (villa) and farm.  The driveway was lined with tall evergreen trees, Cyprus trees I think, and a vineyard. It felt like driving into the Garden of Eden.  Where I sit now and write on the patio overlooking the Mugello Valley and Borgo San Lorenzo way down deep in the valley definitely feels like Eden.  Birds are singing to me from everywhere and the breeze gently blows.  I am surrounded by the prettiest shades of green that can possibly exist. 

     I walked Capitignano earlier, taking it’s beauty, and taking pictures.  There is no way that photos can capture the serenity and beauty here.  It’s as if you are living in a painting. They will serve as a reminder, but to fully grasp the beauty one must use all the senses-hear the breeze and the birds, smell the flowers, taste the fresh apricots and pasta, touch the 600 year old walls in the house, and see, really see, the depth of this place.  What a PERFECT place for an artist to paint.

    Lunch was served al fresco (on the patio) and was a delicious fresh pasta in fresh tomato and pecorino cheese sauce, a mozzarella and tomato salad, and a green salad, fresh apricots, and coffee for dessert.

     My walking journey around Capitignano included a visit to the rabbit house (yes we will be eating them), photographing a small army of fowl-ducks, chickens, and turkeys (yes, we will be eating them, too), walking through the olive orchard, and admiring the ages old architecture.  We also walked around with Mark who showed us the classroom and the painting studio.  After that I settled into my tiny little room-home for the next seven weeks and then found myself wandering out to the patio where I now sit writing.  I find myself thinking…how can this be…how is it that I am here…those questions have long, complicated answers…but I hear a voice….the voice says, “Let it be.” So here I shall be…for many weeks…a place that leaves the doors purposefully open on all the houses and buildings…as if to say…come in…you are welcome.  Francis Mayes said in Under the Tuscan Sun, “  Five tender apricots in a blue bowl, a brief and exact promise of things to come.”  I did that today too.  I found a blue and white bowl in our 600 year old farmhouse that is home for the next few weeks, I took it outside, and photographed it with fresh apricots (which are everywhere) sitting in it. And…I said to myself…I’m not sure what this journey will look like exactly…but let it be.  I know I will be a different person, artist, and teacher when it is finished. I know my own art making will grow in ways I can’t even begin to foresee and I know my students will benefit from this experience in exponential ways.  Let it be…..and let it be in a place where the doors are wide open.