Wine Country

My friends and I went on a wine tour on Tuesday April 30.

Thank you to the 4 ladies from Ad Maiora for taking the time to accompany us in your cars and spend the entire day with us!! Much appreciated!

We drove up to the Valpolicella where Suzi had organized a fabulous day for us.

Visit to 2 villas. Gorgeous gardens at Villa Giona.

Wine tastings...at 11 am? Well ok!

Lunch at a small place in Fumane.

and then Suzi's house for dessert.

A surprise for the group! What a treat to go into such a special home. People loved her studio!!

She has been organizing this segment for me since 2011 and she is amazing!! I couldn't do it without her.

Entrance to Suzi's home.

We visited Masi. The president, Dott, Sandro Boscaini greeted us.

Notice the flags behind the ladies? What a welcome!
Our group was made up of 8 Canadians,
2 British and one American (living in Germany)

Look at the size of the barrel!!

The Serego-Alighieri homes.

Masimilla Serego-Alighieri (right)
direct descendant of Dante, 21st generation of Alighieri
gave us our tour. 

We ended the tour with another wine tasting.

We drove up to San Giovanni for a great view of the Valpolicella valleys and a visit to a roman church.

Thank you, Suzi!! It was a memorable day.

(Note: This post is a late addition because I had problems with my internet provider and wasn't able to post.)

Textile, Dance and Music

There is a little gallery underground in a small piazza in Padova.

Prato della Valle, Padova

I like going there. Often they show textile work. This time I discovered the work of Leda Guerra.

Dione e Afrodite, 1992
private collection
cotton

She is a textile artist. The exhibit highlighted her work from the 1990's to present.

Pensiero, 1998

I like the way the soft fabric seemed to turn into stone in some of her works.

Omaggio a Doré- Virgilio e Dante, 2009,
linen

We later returned to the gallery for a ballet which was extremely satisfying for me as my first career was in dance. I appreciated the choreography and its connection to the textile artwork .

A violinist played as the dancer made her way around the artwork. She wore a costume made by the artist.

The audience followed the dancer and the musician around the gallery.

The three artists with Leda Guerra in the centre.

Art for all the senses.

Back in Verona

I am back in the wonderful city of Verona.

The view I see every day-
taken this afternoon- we had a little drizzle this morning.

My social calendar has started with a bang! Birthday party, aperetivo with friends, lunch with another friend, an italian lesson..

I was at a concert on Saturday evening listening to pianist Julian Gargiulo. You can hear his music here.

Teatro Ristori in Verona

He is Italian from Verona and was living in New York for many years. I met him when he was performing in Toronto.

Julian Gargiulo signing his CD's after the
performance.

I have unpacked my fabrics for sewing and yarn for knitting.

Judy Martin gave me a great idea for while I am away from my studio. She suggested I choose 3 of my daily postcards and re-make them. Copy them but larger. Go from 4"x 6" to 12" x 18". I can do that.

Four of my past postcards that I have chosen.

It will be an interesting experiment. I don't like copying. The part of art I like is the "doing". I like creating and thinking of how I want things to be and so when I make my daily postcards, I never go back to them. What I wanted to say is said. But I think I will enjoy re-making the postcards because I won't have my usual supplies with me. Looking for new materials I can use to express the same idea could be a fun challenge. Thanks Judy.

Today at the studio instead of sewing we cooked!

We had a friend from the province of Puglia (the heel of the boot) come in and teach us the tradition of orecchiette.

Orecchiette in the foreground.
The pasta in the background was made using a metal stick.
The stick isn't cylinder but square.
The pasta is rolled around that metal
 and then slips off creating a hole for the sauce to hide in.
 In the old days the ladies used
the metal spokes from an umbrella, also square.

Delicious!

Hand work. Tradition. Women's work. Creating of a different kind.

Padova for the Day

A few weeks ago I spent the day in Padova with a friend.

The Venetian symbol seen in many places in Padova

We had a day of ART and inspiration.

Book stores, AltreVoci

The smell of fresh lilacs greeting you was fabulous! It is a wonderful shop.

Art galleries,

Mandala...incompiuto
by Maria Rosa Migliorini
46 pieces of ceramic
85 cm in diametre

a ceramic patchwork

live music in the piazza,

Cant find his name!
He is the famous pianist
that plays in odd places in the world,
like on a gondola in Venice
or the top of a mountain.

architecture,

the back of the Duomo

frescos.

ceiling in the Battistero del Duomo
photo taken from a postcard
as there are no photographs allowed inside. 

We stopped in to admire the work of artist, Gesine Arps.

Le api e i santi dicono la stessa cosa
100 cm x 100 cm

Pittrice
120cm x 120cm

There is something about her paintings that reminded me of the work of Hundertwasser.

She had a very interesting sculpture in the midst of her paintings- all about love and peace.

The sculpture was sewn together.

There were several openings in the body of the bird. One of the openings was filled with special thoughts and wishes. I picked the following.

Un tempo è andato, l'altro non è ancora iniziato, 

ciò che conta è il presente. 

Concentrati e vivilo pienamente.

It means: A time has passed, another has not started yet. The thing that counts is the present. Concentrate on that and live it fully.

It is so fun taking a one-hour train ride and being in a new, wonderful place with a friend.

Art Journal Continues

Maria Sfara passed away a few days ago. She wasn't a good friend but I did stop in at the bar that she owned to see her every summer. She was an institution in this town.

The church bells rang all afternoon, every fifteen minutes, announcing her passing.

photo diary August 3

I went to her funeral. I think everyone in the town was there.

My journal entry was about that day.

I 'drew' the sound of the funeral bells.

Miss Gracious

A few years ago while at a piano concert performed by Julian Gargiulo, I met Denise Garrido.

Julian gets crowned by Denise in the parking lot.

She has been in the news recently. She was crowned Miss Universe Canada for a day only to find out that the judges miscalculated the points!

Denise Garrido at the concert

She has been on every radio show and TV talk show for the last 2 days. I must say she is very gracious in all her interviews...like a true Miss Universe! Commendable.

from left to right:
me, Christina Rowlandson, Julian Gargiulo, Denise Garrido, friend

Through meeting the group (seen above), I was able to connect with the Diabetes Association spokes person from the Cayman Islands (C. Rowlandson) which is where Ad Maiora Canada and Ad Maiora (Verona) donated blue quilts for the newly diagnosed children.

I also became good friends with Julian. His music was the inspiration for one of my art pieces.

Julian Smokes
(he doesn't by the way!!)
67 cm x 83 cm
 It actually isn't finished yet!

Julian Smokes, detail
hand embroidery, stamped afbric

Julian Smokes, detail
hand embroidery, stamped fabric