Georgie can’t resist immersing himself in crispy autumn leaves. I suppose it’s like a canine full body massage; the crackling and crunching sound of the leaves adding to the pleasure. The leaves arrived during the last few windy nights. We woke up yesterday to find we couldn’t open the back door without the autumn foliage
There are so many delicious Christmas goodies here at Cafe Lucchese our wonderful local patisserie; chocolates, panettone, rum babs in jars soaked in rum, specialist olive oil, fig jam, and lots of other Italian Christmas goodies. I have said that Cafe Lucchese could match any other patisserie in the world! A sweeping statement but their
I took this rather wonky photograph of a Christmas wreath in Lewes a few weeks ago whilst visiting our grandchildren. It is so delicate and wistful, I had to put it in my phone. Perhaps it is not a Christmas display because where is the green and red? Chris and I, here at Art Toscana
When Chris and I were in Lake Como this year in March (for Chris’s birthday) we visited a vineyard that had supplied the white wine for George Clooney’s wedding. The delicious white wine was quite unusual due to the native Verdese grape. George Clooney bought 400 bottles for his wedding, we bought 12 and still
Art Toscana Painting Holidays in Florence was there early this year in April. Il Ponte Vecchio spanning over the river Arno and built in the thirteenth century, is one of the images that marks, what is said to be, the most beautiful city in the world. Our guests at Art Toscana Art Retreats in Italy
This is San Candido in the Dolomite Mountains where Chris & I spent Christmas 2024 with our friends. The snow on the mountains at Val di Pozza has reminded me of how beautiful winter can be! I will put up some more photos of San Candido in the forthcoming blogs. Such gorgeous scenes to paint
This is the Liquidambar Styraciflua which is spectacular in Autumn turning red, orange, purple and yellow. It was planted 20 years ago when we ran our first Art Toscana Painting Courses in Italy and now it is enormous as you can see. In summer, it is majestic with glossy, deep green, star-shaped leaves, often appearing
What a beautiful image of the sky and the mountain taken at twilight this evening. Our guests at Art Toscana Painting Holidays in Italy would find this shot most inspiring. In summer you don’t usually see dramatic skies like this, just that perfectly gorgeous cerulean blue that dominates most of our painters creations at Art
It’s a good job we don’t run courses in the winter at Art Toscana Art Courses in Italy because we would have to do a mammoth amount of leaf clearing to make it look tidy. It usually takes us weeks every year with the help of the gardener. We start clearing when all of the
No, It isn’t Barga. It was taken in London at King’s Boulevard. So similar to Barga at Christmas time and what a fabulous scene for our guests at Art Toscana Painting Vacations in Italy!! If I was a painter at Art Toscana Art Holidays in Italy I would find this scene so inspiring.