Dear Art Lover,
Lately,
my neighbors have been making little fires all around these hills in Tuscany. They are removing much of the grasses that
have overgrown over the winter. Today,
my landlord and his brother will start trimming their olive trees. I really hate to miss this!
Tomorrow I leave for Firenze and will live
there for one month as I work with a private student. We will have fun on his new still life
painting project (after his first project EVER was Leonardo da Vinci’s “Leda
and the Swan” – a human figure, and animal, and a landscape!). But, I love my new home and I want so much to
see each season here as they unfold. My
landlord assured me that spring will not pass me by before I return, but … I
love helping “my family” in Casignano each November with the olive harvest. To be around for the trimming sounds
interesting to me. Here, it is dangerous
work because the olive trees grow on the sides of the hills and they use
ladders and saws. It would be nice if I
could be here even for added safety for them.
Oy yoy.
My mural project
progresses slowly. This is partially
because there is so much detail work in creating a specific landscape, and I,
sadly, get confused easily on which of my charcoal markings denotes the dark
shape or the light one. The other part,
naturally, is that I have a fair amount to do before leaving tomorrow.
I took these close-up
images last night. It is weird to see
them in this way. I think the mural
looks better in person. However, I have
not finished with these parts that I show you.
I just wanted to share how I am layering the acrylic paint and trying to
get soft edges to create something of an atmosphere. Sadly, not much more will
happen on this for at least a month, in
case you were thinking to hold your breath.
Hahaha…
Thank you. And
happy birthday to two very lovely ladies:
Giuliana and Dilya!
Peace,
Kelly
