Here is Georgie again. He is 15 months old. A very big puppy now. We took a picture of him in the very same spot this time last year when he was a little puppy. You can’t really go wrong with a Golden Retriever. That is what our guests at Art Toscana Painting Holidays in
On the last day of the Art Toscana Painting holidays in Italy our guests go to Sommocolonia, the hilltop village not far from Val di Pozza. They sketch the arches, narrow walkways, stone houses and aerial views of Barga using watercolours and watercolour pencils. It’s 2,330 feet above sea level so you feel as if
Italy has so many ornate churches. This one is particularly beautiful with its vaulted ceiling and frescoes. However, not all Italian churches are ornate. The cathedral of Barga called, Il Duomo di San Cristoforo, is a simple church reflecting the humble lives of the Garfagnana farm workers. Our guests at Art Toscana Painting Holidays in
This is Georgie on his Sunday walk from Art Toscana Art Retreats in Italy to Barga through the woods at Catagnana with that look of “Come on, hurry up, where are you?”
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
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