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| 7 DAY ART & CULTURE ADVENTURE |
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| Days 1&2 |
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We begin at the Villa
Pandolfini in the countryside just outside of beautiful Florence, enjoying an
evening garden appetizer and conversation with the artist teacher who will be
your partner and host for the course to get to know the program, each other, and
what each of us has come to learn or find. We each take away a beautifully-bound
sketchbook to hold all of our sketches, notes, and discoveries and a set of
drawing supplies to use and keep after the trip. The first full day we indulge
the slower pace and cultural wealth in an outing into the world-renown Chianti
region where we see generations-old techniques in practice and taste the fruits
of these labours in a delightful wine tasting and appreciation experience.
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| Day 3 |
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After this gentle introduction to your new time zone and fresh from a good night's sleep, we begin the art making experience the next day, applying secrets of Renaissance artists through drawing and observation techniques that are like putting on new eyes, and we later enjoy what we can perceive and sense through a delightful exploration of watercolour technique painting outdoors in the beautiful Tuscan landscape, painting plein air, in the outdoors. After enjoying a delicious lunch prepared by our world-class teaching chefs and cooking course guests as we share the comfort and delight of a multi-course meal in the kitchen classroom that is just across the road from the villa in our converted medieval tower, we spend the afternoon creating our own traditional egg tempera paints from egg yolk and powder pigments to discover the exceptional seen in the ordinary as we explore natura mort,still life, that comes alive through laying down luminous layers of color and noticing marvellous details.
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| Day 4 |
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The next day, we go into the heart of the birthplace of the Renaissance in the historical city center of Florence whose architecture dates back to the 12th century. There, we draw in the grand piazza that is a living outdoor museum for everyday residents, housing original sculpture works that serve as our figure models while we investigate Renaissance methods for creating form and light and the idealized human form that also represented hope for humanity's movement toward civilization and beauty. We visit Michelangelo's masterpiece the David and then the stunning architectural engineering breakthrough that is Brunelleschi's dome on the main cathedral where we will also visit the gold mosaic ceiling of its adjacent medieval baptistery. We'll then walk through the rich artistic heritage on every street corner while taking time to orient ourselves in a brief walking tour that will allow us to find sites to come back to draw and paint on our own later in the afternoon. To taste the local culture, we'll take time for a delectable hot chocolate or espresso and pastry, and stop by the host's favorite gelateria and sandwich with glass of wine shop run by the same two brothers for more than two decades, or sit down for a plate of the best homemade potato dumpling gnocci with four cheese sauce at a restaurant named, aptly, in Italian "from the artist's brush". We then spend a couple of hours in one of the world's most important museums, the Ufizzi, seeing unforgettable masterpieces of Medieval and Renaissance art and taking time to understand their meanings and sketch personal responses as we feel inspired, staying there or returning to our favorite spots to draw and paint in the pedestrian streets and beautiful piazzas of the center.
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| Day 5 |
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We return to Florence the next day to paint and draw plein air in the beautifully designed Boboli Gardens where a breathtaking view of Tuscan hillsides await along with numerous exhibits within the Pitti Palace it adjoins. Later we'll stop by Masaccio and Lippi's masterworks in fresco in the nearby Brancacci Chapel in the Church of the Carmine. We'll enjoy a delicious picnic lunch and then devote the generous afternoon to making art, starting with a hands-on drawing exercise designed to open your eyes more deeply to the world around you, and then chosing to continue your landscape, architecture, or botanical painting as you feel inspired.
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| Day 6 |
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We then spend a day designing and painting your own pieces of Italian ceramic pottery after watching artisan's techniques during our morning local ceramic factory visit and eating lunch in a medieval hamlet. When they are fired, these pieces are shipped to your home or chosen destination
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| Day 7 |
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For our final day in Tuscany, we visit the Medieval architectural gem of Lucca just a short train ride from the villa, and spend the day integrating all we've learned and experienced and been touched by, wandering its windy streets and looking out across its adjacent farmlands to spawn our final drawing and painting works of the trip. We return to the villa to share a celebratory final dinner and evening of music and relaxation to allow the experiences and visions we've collected and created sink in and share them with fellow guests, teachers, and friends.
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| To us, it's more than just an unforgettable drawing, painting, and living experience: it's personal. |
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Join us as we become your personal hosts, inviting you to stay in our family-owned villa where you can truly relax and feel at home. We know that life lived well, la bella vita, is in the details. We create many memorable details and share all we have to make you feel like our honoured guest.
That means in the morning, we'll enthusiastically show you our favorite local café for your morning cup of Italian espresso, or invite you to enjoy a treat from our gift basket brimming with your own supply of cereals, fruit, and fresh pastries when you arrive in your room. We'll invite you to join our world-class chefs for a gourmet Italian lunch made by the cooking class guests. You will enjoy dinner in our humble kitchen where mama often comes by to share a meal with guests, or we'll treat you to the best traditional fare and most delicious grilled bistecca Fiorentina (the traditional thick Florentine steak) we've ever tasted
You can also decide that you, too, want to learn to cook like an Italian and take home recipes to prepare and share when you get home.By opting to join in our cooking classes for a whole or half day experience, you'll cook alongside our expert chefs who are not only wonderful teachers, but literally food artists and passionate lovers of quality, slow food. We guarantee you'll see your daily sustenance in a whole new way, and understand why Italians are known the world over for their reverence and celebration of a well-prepared meal shared with friends.
We invite you to come immerse yourself in the everyday culture and go beyond the surface and dive into the way you touch it and it touches you, and draw and paint alongisde the artisans and masters who today and yesterday call Tuscany home, as you will while you stay and study with us.
We are a group of people in love with this place, devoted to sharing its beauty and warmth . We invite you to come embark with us on a life-changing journey where you'll be renewed and restored while we welcome you as one of the family.
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