An Art Course – Part 2

At work in "Lo Studio"

Day four, Thursday, was an intensive work day. We were meant to try and finish whatever we had started. I had finished one painting and was deeply into my second. On one level, I was happy with the progress I was making, but, at the same time, I was frustrated by my inability to get it just right. Every time I thought I had gotten something right, Julian would come along and compliment my work. Then he would say, “Now if you just . . .” or “I want you to step way back and look at what you’ve done . . .” He was always right, of course. Still, it wasn’t always easy to “accept direction”.  Mid-morning, Julian announced that he had to run into town to do some errands. This was the opportunity that I had been waiting for. I needed to return the Hobbit car, so I needed to get a ride back to Siliano Alto. Julian and I agreed on a time when he would meet me at the rental place and he left. I left a little later. I forgot that I had to fill the tank before returning the car. So, layer of dust and all, I started down the dirt road. Of course, I wasn’t 100% sure that I knew the way off the property, but I figured it out. The return went fine and soon Julian was pulling up and off we went. 

Aperitivo with the Maestro

After lunch, we worked until about five o’clock. We were heading into Citta’ della Pieve for an aperitivo and Julian wanted us to see the town in daylight. The days were getting noticeably shorter. I had just been to the town a few days earlier, so I knew what to expect. My “classmates” were clearly captivated by this charming little town. There was a considerable amount of photography going on. We sat outside at a bar on a little square. Julian explained the custom of the “aperitivo” and the basic principles. Soon we were all noshing away with drinks in hand. When Julian left to fetch the car, we had an opportunity to buy him a bottle of wine and a bottle of grappa as gifts. Fortunately, Lois had a big enough bag to hide the stash.

Our merry band

On Friday, our last full day, we worked in the studio until about 11:00. Today we were going on our last field trip to Castiglione del Lago. Jenna and Leo were joining us, since neither of them had been. Their time at Siliano Alto was also coming to an end. Again, if you have been reading this blog, you already know about the town. Our first stop was the lakefront. Again, Julian explained the lake and its importance to the region. We took our group photos at the lake before we headed up into the town itself. We did a brief tour of the town before going to the Cantina del Lago for lunch – the same place I had eaten with my family. Again, it was a beautiful day and the setting is magnificent (the food is also quite good). We had time for a leisurely stroll and a stop for gelato before getting back in the van. A few more hours of work followed in the studio, before our final dinner together.

Door to communal dining room

Dinners were always fun at this program. It was always just the students at first, but then Julian would join us for the second part of the meal. The conversation was wide-ranging, often starting out with art but gradually veering off in other directions. Tonight, Jenna and Leo would be joining us and we would all eat together. There was lots of good-natured joking and ribbing. Over the course of five days, we had gotten to know each other a little. Tonight we were going to have an opportunity to learn some more. We had agreed during our aperitivo the night before, that we would play this game where each person gets to say three things about himself/herself. Two of the things must be true; and, one must be false. The other participants try to guess which thing is false. Well, the wine was flowing freely at this point and turned into a roaring good time. Julian was the last to go and when he was done, we had occasion to thank him and present him with his gifts. He left, but the rest of us stayed and engaged in a very spirited discussion of the state of world politics.

Saturday was pack up and departure day. Julian helped us pack our work appropriately. In my case, it involved taking the canvases of their frames and rolling them up. As we were doing that, I had a great sense of satisfaction, not just because of the artwork, but because I really had gone out of my comfort zone to be with these people. There were hugs and goodbyes as the first run to the train station departed. I still had another hour with Verna and Karen. They were heading off to hike in the Lake District. I was heading to Chiusi for the night and then to Cetona on Sunday, meeting friends of Rosemary and Joe Cooley. In a little while, Julian was back and we loaded the van for its next trip. Leo and Jenna came out to say goodbye and there were more tears and hugs. All aboard, we rumbled down that dusty road one last time.