The Workshop
Looking back over the last three weeks in Italy
a number of things stand out and are helpful in determining my own future
direction.
When the luggage was delayed it turned out to
be a blessing, forcing me to open my eyes and mind to really see again. Working from still life setups for the last
year has resulted in isolating my vision to painting what is in front of me
instead of trying to capture something beyond the setup. While I know not to do that it becomes all too
easy to slip back into it. Also I was correct in thinking ahead that I might be
overwhelmed and I was. Overwhelmed by
new territory, new country, newness everywhere and so much beauty to absorb in
the natural environment, architecturally and in museums.
As I already mentioned, when my luggage finally
reappeared with all my painting gear it felt like too much technology compared
to the simplicity of sketching and studying what's in front of me. This also
highlighted a problem I've had all my life - being able to simplify
options. When I see a complex menu in a
restaurant, or a complex landscape or still life setup, what I see is every detail in front of me. I find it difficult to simplify to just the
essentials. Our eyes and brain see
everything, much like a camera, but our minds sort out what to pay attention to
– the camera doesn’t. I find it difficult to do this sorting to just the
essentials when I want to paint. For
some reason the act of sketching is more immediate and gestural and therefore
helps me quickly sort things out to the basics.
Another issue I have is feeling self-conscious
about painting. One critique was that I’m being too timid, but I’ve discovered
that it’s not timidity at all, but instead not knowing where to jump first if
what I see is so complex I can't see a
landing spot! It also reminds me of something Tom Hanks said in an
interview about his acting. He has
always felt and still does feel self-conscious.
He has to just jump in and stop over thinking it to lose the
self-consciousness that will destroy the immediacy of playing another
role. In art I have to remember that
there are no mistakes or failures. I
have to explore and experiment and realize that anything I start can be put
aside or scrapped and started over again.
With all the focus on details I become too invested in making sense of
it all with the result being that I don't move forward till I feel I have more
information. Often that information
doesn't become available without jumping in and just trying different
approaches.
I also learned as an egg tempera painter that I
certainly have patience, but I don’t have the mind-set or speed necessary for
plein air painting. With the changing
light and weather conditions it becomes a race with time to correctly capture
light, values, shadows. I prefer the time to consider what I’m painting over
the longer term and in the studio as I often change my mind, rearrange things,
add information as I carry a painting to completion.
As an egg tempera painter I’m also always
looking for new techniques, or examples of techniques used by the old masters. Two such opportunities were found in first the
Ospedale degli Innocenti, the world’s
oldest orphanage in Florence designed and begun by Filippo Brunelleschi in
1419, it has now been restored and contains some exquisite examples of egg
tempera work. The other was found in the Uffizzi Gallery. Today’s egg tempera
art experts and critics apparently disparage the use of the techniques of splattering and sponging as, I guess, not scholarly enough. Here are two wonderful examples of the same
from the 1300s and 1400s! Without online stores at their fingertips to buy
tools of all kinds, the old masters used whatever they found or made that
allowed them to achieve their goals in a painting – hence what certainly looks
to me like splattering from Giovanni di Francesco Toscani (c. 1420), and
sponging from Giotto di Bondone (c. 1306-1310). 
During the workshop we either painted there on
the property of the Associazone Culturale il Palmerino or were driven to any
number of places in and around the Florence area. Most were private villas and museum
gardens. We had a private four-hour walking tour of the Uffizzi
Gallery at night that turned out to be their last evening tour for a
while. It might seem an odd thing to
say, but we were constantly surrounded by so much beauty that after a while I
began to long for something ugly, or at the very least ordinary. It was becoming too much like working in a
candy store.
The painting tours were interspersed with walks
down into Florence to go to the market to buy food for our lunches, otherwise
most dinners were prepared by Federica and Stephano at the association. A separate shout-out should be made about the
dinners – they were spectacularly delicious.
Usually three to four course entrees preceded with apertivos and
followed by dessert. By the end of the
workshop it became difficult to understand how I could consume any more food as
I’m not used to eating this way at home.
When we shopped for our own food, though, it meant not only walking to
get it, but to also carry it all back home up
hill. When I returned home to the
states, despite all the food we consumed (all, I might add, that was healthy
and fresh), I had lost five pounds just from all the walking. It was a vivid reminder just why there’s such
an obesity epidemic in America as we drive everywhere and then eat so much
processed food (I’ll point out that I try to stay in the produce section of the
grocery store). Unless you live in a
city it means you drive to get the things you need. In America we often set aside specific times
to walk or exercise, but isn’t integrated into our daily lives!
