Friday, November 22, 2019

Art Workshops in Valleriana Tuscany Italy in 2020

5-day workshops in Valleriana, Tuscany, Italy in 2020:
This is actually a series of workshops so that you may plan your preferred time to visit Valleriana. 
Our Tuscan hills are located between Florence and Lucca, with Pescia being the closest town with rail and bus stations.  We can meet you there.
Art instructor is Kelly Borsheim.

Day 1:  Discussion of composition, with emphasis on Notan and emotional design; a bit about taking photographs for reference; Afternoon:  start touring in Valleriana with cameras/phones
Day 2:  More Tuscan touring in our old villages and the surrounding woods.  A 2-hour (maximum) tour of our Museum of Paper, featuring the Magnani Italian paper that we will use in class.
Day 3:  Morning tours; afternoon studio time to sort, edit, and choose each student's photographs to use for painting composition
Day 4:  Studio day starting paintings with your own images of your visit in Valleriana
Day 5:  Continue painting

Each 2020 Workshop is from Friday to Tuesday, with 6 hours minimum daily.  [I chose these days of the week since it is often more economical to travel during the week.  Also, many art museums, in Florence/Firenze for example, are closed on Mondays.  If you choose to extend your stay in Tuscany to hit the cities, everything should be open and available to you after (or before) the workshop.]

Dates for EACH 5-day workshop in 2020, your choice: 
May 22-26
June 26-30
July 17-21
August 07-11
September 04-08
October  09-13

Included: basic art materials, such as Magnani Italian hand-made paper, and your choice of pastels, charcoal, or watercolor. 

Not included:  food [although we have lovely restaurants in the area to let each experience our local Tuscan foods], and lodging [but I provide a list of local places to stay, and can help you make arrangements, no extra cost], art supplies if you choose to paint with acrylics or oil.

Bring:  What makes you happy, but also comfortable shoes for the season you choose.  Will will be walking in forests and old villages.  The cobbled stones and a few uphill stairways entice shoes that support well.

Price of workshop at $490, with optional extra painting day:  $95  [you may decide on extra day during the workshop if you like]

Early Bird savings:  $400, if order by February 29, 2020, with a NON-REFUNDABLE deposit of $50.





Choose Your Dates:




For more information on this area of Tuscany (and see the "Where to Stay"link), please visit:
http://pleinairvalleriana.blogspot.com/p/whowhere.html

We look forward to sharing with you this little paradise.  Come paint, learn, and breathe the clean air of our Tuscan hills.  Situated between Lucca and Florence (Firenze).  Pescia is the closest town with a train and rail station.

Castelvecchio in Valleriana, Tuscany, Italy

Monday, February 25, 2019

Natura Arte and Sapori

art exhibit in Castelvecchio Valleriana Tuscany Italy

I am pleased to announce a wonderful day-long event:  Natura, Arte, e Sapori [Nature, Art, and Flavors] on the 10th of March 2019, a Sunday.

Typically in March, the village above my home hosts the festival of the chestnut pancake [sagra del neccio].  We have loads of chestnut trees [Castagna] in the hills of Valleriana and the fall harvest time features the Sagra delle Frugiate [festival of roasted chestnuts].  One can often buy the flour and other products from chestnuts at these events.  They are fun!

The neccio [neh-choh] is traditionally cooked by heating many flat round stones [about 1 inch thick and maybe 8-10 inches in diameter] in the fire.  Then one makes a stack... stone, castagna leaf, ladle on some batter [just the chestnut flour, water, and perhaps a wee bit of olive oil], leaf, stone, leaf, batter, leaf, stone, etc.  The heat from the stone cooks the pancake in a short time.

Nowadays, some people use a long-hinged iron paddle.  Open the long arms, and place the batter on the inside of the round end, near the hinge.  Close it up and the hot iron cooks the pancake on both sides.

The neccio is then served with ricotta or another cheese or Nutella.  Rolled up inside.  Delicious!


So, then, my friend Danilo Giusti, is offering a tour of three of our ten castled villages of Valleriana that morning.  The villages are Aramo, Castelvecchio, and ending up in San Quirico for the sagra that starts at 2 p.m.  Meet up with him at 9 a.m. in Pescia, our nearest large town with train and bus station.

They will pass by La Pieve Ristorante, run by my friend Lara Matteucci and her parents for over 25 years now.  She asked me to put on a solo art show and demonstrate, as well.

So, we have a fun day planned for those who would like to get a taste of Tuscany!
If you would like more information about Valleriana, situated between Florence and Lucca, please visit this site that I created in English :
http://pleinairvalleriana.blogspot.com


     If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram or Patreon, you may have seen a post in which I explained that I am currently working on some paintings for a competition.  It requires that no part or whole of any of the finished work or the work-in-progress may be seen online or in any exhibition prior to theirs.  I understand the desire to be special and new, but it leaves me feeling a bit strapped because it feels as if I am not working at all!  I mean, in the eyes of those who pay attention to my postings.  hahah...

Thank you for reading!
Peace,
Kelly Borsheim
http://BorsheimArts.com