Finished Mural Painting Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

So, on Friday afternoon I returned to Caprese Michelangelo, east of Arezzo, in the lovely Italia. I worked on as much of the acrylic painted mural as I could finish that evening, making corrections that could dry fast on the figures, creating light areas in anticipation of oils. That night around 2 a.m., I applied acrylic varnish on the entire mural. As Sandro Zecchi, of Zecchi’s Art Supply in Firenze, Italia recommended to me, I used a mixture of half glossy and half mat, mixed with a wee bit of water.

Saturday, I got an early start on the oil painting part, namely the figures. My friend and mural teacher, Victor Goikoetxea, came over and took a quick look at the Michelangelo Museum on the top of the mountain. Then he joined us for dinner at La Buca di Michelangelo before heading off to his own space in the Tuscan countryside.

I ended up working after dinner until 4:30 a.m. Saturday night. And Sunday, I started up again around 9 a.m. and this night I never went to bed. Because of the scheduling of my ride to Arezzo to catch the train, I had to be finished with the mural and packed up, ready to go by 7 a.m. Those who know me well know that I love the mornings, but not after the nights. And the night always gets first dibs on my attention.

However, I got my second wind about 5 a.m. after taking a break to wander out in the moonlight to pick and eat some grapes an hour before that. I finished almost everything, except the flowers on the two potted plants, some minor details in the figures, and also, I had intended to put a nude man into the hole behind the real wooden window. Equal rights, you know, but also as a gift for the woman of the house. But that will have to wait until spring since my friends are leaving Italia soon.

Here are the images I took around 6 a.m. today. One is the view from the door on the left as you enter the room; the other from above the center of the Jacuzzi. I hope you like my mural. It is approximately 200 x 400 cm. I, for one, am pleased with my first mural (as an adult), but exhausted.

Please feel free to leave a comment on my blog entries, if you feel so inspired. Thank you for sharing my artistic journey with me!

Sculpture Museum Italy

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Continuing my report of the small town of Caprese Michelangelo
in the province of Arezzo, I wanted to share with you a few more of the sculptures on exhibit in the Museo Michelangiolesco.

This first one just caught me off guard and made me laugh. This museum celebrates the birth of Michelangelo. His works strike me as dark and serious most of the time, and this bronze titled “Il Pollo Innamorato” (“The Chicken In Love”) by Giulio Galgani in the year 2000 is hardly that. I thought it was an idea well depicted.



This next sculpture in wood, “Scultura Multiforme” by Mauro di Scovola, was a bit confusing for me and I am not sure even now what I think of it. I can see obviously at least one female torso, but there are so many elements of Escher-like qualities and other symbols, perhaps, that I had a difficult time relating to this work. Basically, regardless of how curious I felt, the overall effect for me was not beautiful and for this, I think it has failed (for me). And yet, I included it here, so . . .


Another room exhibited the following sculpture and struck me as a moment that I had not previously seen sculpted. Decimo Passani, a Florence-based sculptor created this colored plaster piece titled ”Bambino che cade dalla sedia” (“The baby (boy) that fell from his chair”). I like the energy, the texture, and the naturalness of this artwork in sculpture. Not kitsch at all.


Although there are many more works of sculpture and even a few drawings on exhibit in the museum (some more of which I will be sharing with you tomorrow), my main complaint is that the exhibit is set up in such a way as to make viewing the art really difficult. I understand the need to protect the art from theft and dust, but the plastic enclosures were full of glare and frankly, horrible. It was lovely to be able to see outside into the surrounding green areas, but I wonder if it would have been better to place some light curtains over the openings and install lights overhead. They could be placed in positions to minimize reflection on the Plexiglas. My images are horrible largely due to the fact that I could not find a good viewing position.

Still, the museum is worth a visit in a charming location in central Italy. When I was there, the Michelangiolesco Museum and its lovely grounds on the hilltop were open Monday through Friday 10:30 am to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from 10 am to 7 p.m. Tickets are four euros each, with discounts for groups and children.

Museum Caprese Michelangelo

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

In my last post, I spoke about my visit to the birthplace of Michelangelo Buonarroti.

In this post, I wanted to share with you some of the scenery of the museum in the small town of Caprese Michelangelo, north and east of Arezzo, Italy. Inside the buildings are copies of many of the great works of Michelangelo, but there are a lot of other artworks on exhibit as well.

I love the omaggio to classical storytelling in art in this bronze sculpture and bas relief combination that you see in the first image. The young Michelangelo rests in a twisted pose (cleverly predicting his dynamic figure poses that changed the art world) as he gazes up into his future. Although my image does not show it well, each of the boy’s future sculptures is envisioned in varying levels of dimensionality, moving from high relief close to the young artist, to extremely low relief (upper left).



Unfortunately, I could not find the artist’s names on several of these outdoor pieces, although they are assuredly more contemporary works. I think what I am trying to show here also is that just because you have seen the original works of Michelangelo, do not think that this museum is only full of copies of the great artist. It is worth a trip and quite a beautiful area.



And I can highly recommend the food at the nearby Pensione e Ristorante Buca di Michelangelo. And if you find yourself there during the week, please stop into La Pecora Nera [The Black Sheep] shop and say hello to Simona and perhaps even her husband Andrea.

Birthplace of Michelangelo

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Recently I returned to the birthplace of Michelangelo Buonarroti for a party that one of my collectors held in their home there. The morning after the party, I revisited the renovated Museo Michelangiolesco that celebrates the life and work of the famous artist and architect.

One of my first and most important teachers, Michelangelo was probably born in the Palazzo del Podestà, the home of his parents Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti di Simoni and Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena. At the time of his birth (6 March 1475), babies were born at home and not in a hospital.

Podestà is the title for a delegate from the Florentine government who worked this area. Michelangelo’s father held this political post for six months during this time. Palazzo is the Italian word for “palace” but this stone house looks quite simple by today’s standards. I included a detail shot of the stairs leading to the upper floor where the living quarters were, but you may see a better image of the (left) building on the museum’s site.




Some of the furniture in the home is contemporary with Michelangelo’s time, but are not original to this space. Other furniture, such as the bed, is a reproduction in a Renaissance style from the 1900s. Also in the home are reproductions of works of art in which Michelangelo was a subject, including my two favorites: monochromatic sketches by Francescho Furini titled “Michelangelo sul letto di Morte / Michelangelo on his death bed” 1627-28 and “La Madre di Michelangelo incinta cade da cavallo / The pregnant mother of Michelangelo falls from her horse” created in 1628.

The name “Michelangelo” was added to “Caprese” in 1911 and this charming little town is north and east of Arezzo. When I was there, the Michelangiolesco Museum and its lovely grounds on the hilltop were open Monday through Friday 10:30 am to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from 10 am to 7 p.m. Tickets are four euros each, with discounts for groups and children.

P.S. I hope that you enjoy my little self-portrait with Michelangelo! Ha.

Arezzo Italy - New Friends

I hope to share more with you about the amazing experience that I had this weekend. Met some new friends and toured a lovely part of Tuscany in Italy. Our trip started in Arezzo, after my friends Skye and Hafiza and I took the train from Florence. Here you see an image I took on my timer of the kind couple from Denmark and California who met us and were amazing and generous hosts all weekend. From left to right: Hafiza, Jytte (pronounced U-ta), Kelly, Borge, and Skye. We are in a park in Arezzo that overlooks the valley in lots of rolling mountains in Tuscano. More later . . .