Confident Color

A group of Dayton, Ohio, artists, stand behind Nita Leland at her book signing event at Books & Company last week. A lot of the artists brought their Confident Color books and exchanged autographs on pages where their art was included in Nita's book. Standing from left to right are Rosie Huart, Leonard Williams, Trish McKinney, Marilyn Hart, Sharon Stoltzenberger and Karen Benedetti, all members of the Ohio Watercolor Society.

Closure of Italy Workshop in Florence

Each morning there was a word chosen for the six days. The words were awareness, stillness, reverence, listen, transformation and gratitude. In the evening a candle was lit and we gathered in a circle to talk about how we experienced the word for the day. It was always enlightening, endearing and heartfelt.

By the end of the week we had encountered each other in many ways. We ate together, prayed together, meditated together, did art together, toured together and left Italy with hearts transformed. We saw others with different eyes, because they were mirrors to ourselves. We closed the circle of travel by giving to each one the gift of words. On watercolor paper we each wrote a characteristic trait that we recognized in another and knowing that these were our own gifts as well. Some of mine that were given were reflective, inviting, sensitive, love, light, serene, rock and teacher. What I gave to others were grounded, centered, eager, yearning, contemplative, vivacious, generous spirit, heart of love, gracious, thoughtful, quiet and knowledgeable.

"The stranger at the heart of my journey is me--transformed. I have come all this way to find this new person. At the center of my wanderings, the world is strange, wonderful and new. Al that I see and touch now is new. With a rush of recognition, I lovingly accept and embrace my new self." The Way of the Traveler by Joseph Dispenza

Painting the Essence of Italy Workshop

Here is part of the afternoon poetry painting class. After our walking tour in Florence and seeing the Galleria dell' Accademia where David is, we did an Ekphrastic poem, whereby, the picture seen in a museum is written in words of our making. Another day we did an exercise, whereby we had a conversation with a meaningful object that we encountered in our morning session and incorporated these words into our painting. We also did some Haiku and Formula poetry. At the end of the week we collated our painting poetry pages and compiled them into a Japanese stab-bound book.

Villa Grounds

Here we are trying to capture the essence of Tuscany with our cameras. A camera can only capture a portion of the magnificent scenes.

The apartment we stayed was in back of the villa. There were 10 of us with several private bedrooms and 4 baths. The kitchen was quaint and several participants prepared the evening meal and we all sat around the dining room table to share the events of the day.












The five day workshop was truly an awesome experience for both students and Trish and I as teachers. The mornings were devoted to plein aire painting on the beautiful villa's property with Trish and in the afternoon I taught creative writing and painting on the porch of our apartment. The panoramic view was
an experience etched in my memory.

Siena, Street Scenes and Duomo

We took a bus ride to Siena and I took several pics of street scenes and the duomo. It seems each city has a duomo. Siena's duoma was truly beautiful with its many altars and stained glass.

Our First 24 Hours in Italy

With great anticipation we see a little portion of Italy from the air.

Upon arrival at Florence's airport we take a wild taxi ride through the narrow streets of the city. Little did we know that most of the drivers on these narrow streets are a little on the wild side. We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast called Tourist House Ghiberti. I found out the famous artist Lorenzo Ghiberti who did the bronze Baptistry doors had his workshop in the basement of our b&b.
The famous Florence duomo was a few blocks from our B&B. On our afternoon walk the first day we ate pizza, gelato, shopped at Lorenzo Market and visited the Uffizi Museum, which houses so much Renaissance art. There was a nice misty rain while we walked the cobblestones and visited the inside market where we had lunch. The market is where the Floretines shop for groceries.

Duomo Florence by Day

Duomo Florence by Night

A little Italian pizza cafe where we snacked the first day.

Jennifer hiding amidst the colored pasta.

Inside the meat market our eyes fell upon this Italian cutie.

We celebrated our first day in Florence with a 5-course dinner from a famous restaurant called Latini's. Amy knew someone from work who recommended it. It cost 40 euros each. The rest of the time we ate more reasonable. It was the best meal we had.