Terracotta pots, pink stucco rendering and a pan-tiled roof; unmistakably Italian. Having lived in Italy for 20 years, our eyes are so used to these beautiful features of Italian architecture that it is good to be reminded how lovely they are when looking at an image like this one. Our guests at Art Toscana Art
Up in the hills around Art Toscana there is a beautiful Renaissance hotel called The Ciocco, and in their foyer sits a perfect still life, a reminder of Giorgio Morandi and his quiet still life art works of vases. Chris sometimes sets up a still life for guests on our art course holidays in Italy,
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
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 San Candido in The Dolomites where, we spent Christmas last year. It could quite easily be Barga covered in snow. We are all hoping for a white Christmas at Art Toscana Art Holidays in Italy.
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