Moving in Florence, Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I am not sure why I am so amused with myself. Or maybe it is a strange sense of pride. I now live a life senza macchina (without a car). I borrowed my friend Jesper’s bike to help me move, but as it turned out, he had nothing – not even a guard – over his tires, and no basket up front. My first attempted trip was a fiasco and one of my roommates came along with her visiting parents in time to offer me her bicycle instead.



But I was able to use this bike to transport my awkward garment bag full of art supplies. I just swung it over the seat like a saddle. The second and last time I used it was to transport many canvases and large sheets of paper that I stored in a long awkward box with a strap. I carefully balanced this on one handle bar while threading the other bag over my forearm as I steadied it with my hand on the other handle bar. Then I loaded up my madonnara backpack. My new landlord took this photo of me. I arrived just as he was heading out. Each round-trip took me one hour! Mamma mia.

I returned the bike after this run and then a visiting American treated another artist and me to lunch (how fun!) This photographer had contacted me via the Internet some time ago and his search led him to other artists that I know from my life in Florence. After that I took the train to see my friend Hafiza and she again loaned me her bici.

This bike is a gem and has everything an artist might need (except protection from the weather . . . which lately has been perfect). So today I loaded up a table and chair and various other odd-shaped objects that I had not moved already. I took this second image outside of my now former home on Via Leonardo da Vinci, 6.

And finalemente I took this image from my new bedroom window. It will take me time to turn this space into a working studio, but I am looking forward to getting my hands back into art. It will be a good thing that I cannot access the Internet any time I want!