Umbria 2010, the advance party to Torgiano
Two hours north of Rome, we arrived in Torgiano, Italy five days before the workshop attendees. This advance party consisted of artists Anne Schreivogl, James Moore, and Alfred Currier (yours truly). Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Art School, Sue Symon, accompanied us as we were greeted by local artist Tony “Torgiano” Turpin. The purpose of our advance party was to iron out certain logistics and scope out painting locations for the next 11 days.
Torgiano is a very quaint little Umbrian town, seemingly untouched by the tourist mania that is ever present in other popular European destinations. James, Anne, and I salivated at the potential painting we had at hand. Almost immediately, we headed for the plaza for our first plein air adventure. We broke the ice! The next day, a streetscape of the bell tower, we’re on a roll. Off James Moore and I headed for the vineyards and walked about 4 miles back because we had no car but, a good day. Tony Turpin dropped Anne, James, and me off past the town of Brufa for a day of painting. Now, for your interest, James and I were equipped with our backpacks and lightweight “pochade” boxes. Anne, however, decided she’d bring her trusty, but heavy, French easel. Six miles from home, we head back taking turns carrying Anne Schreivogl’s French easel. As we turn right on the street heading back to our hotel, Anne grabs her French easel from James and proceeds with a high-stepping, arm-swinging gate for the final sprint to the front door! (hmmm?, store that in the memory bank)
Day five, the group of 17 arrived with rain clouds in tow.
See, traveling with a French easel can be quite light. :-) -Anne
ReplyDeleteI like your equipment list Anne, in addition to the French easel you bring along 2 strong men!
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful, inspiring trip and a great group of people. Al did a great job getting me to stretch outside of my comfort zone.
I think we should blame Tony for the rain though, he said it wouldn't.