On Sunday a big group of my friends and I took the train to Viareggio to see the first day of Carnival. I have no memory of seeing a parade of floats or any carnival in general, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Well...it was incredible!!!
The costumes, the colors, the ENORMOUS floats that moved and blinked and made noises!! Each float was completely unique, was preceded by a parade of elaborately costumed, dancing performers--and then the float came with booming music and bass. It was so great, because there were no blocked off roads -- people literally touched the enormous floats as they passed. Every time they would pass by, everyone would push eachother to the side of the road---just enough so we wouldn't get run over. It was great!!
Oh, and the people were incredible!! Everyone was so relaxed there. There was no drinking, just multitudes of people in VERY unique costumes, coordinated to match the family or significant other -- the kids silly-stringing and shaving-creaming random people -- but no one getting angry or having poor attitudes -- everyone just took the day in stride and in good natured, high spirits. It was really refreshing to be a part of something so gigantic, yet so community-oriented. It was quite a rewarding experience!!
Also, we were able to stop by the nearby sea!! It was so great to be able to hear the waves again!! I got attacked by the tide -- caught off guard, when my friend was taking a photo. Oops!! haha
All in all, it was so great to be able to see such a unique cultural event!!
As an update, I finished another oil painting (still life in colored oil paint) and my first fresco! The pictures are uploaded in their corresponding albums. Enjoy!!
Buonnanotte!
Mollie
2/6/09
Dropping you a line
I cannot believe that I have been here for a month now!! Time flies!!
Ten random things that I have encountered:
The class excursions I took this past week were visits to the Pitti Palace (oil paintings), Santa Croce Church (frescos), and Palazzo Medici Riccardi (the restoration of Raphael’s painting The Madonna del Cardellino). It is truly remarkable to be seeing original paintings from masters of the techniques we are studying in class!! I am so blessed to be here!!
Oil Painting
I worked diligently on my ‘eye and ‘dragon’ black and white compositions this past weekend and finished them on Monday. We began our introduction to color with oil pastels and had an assignment of drawing two landscape compositions in this medium. I have never worked with oil pastels before, so my initial reaction to the medium was “I hate this!” but after the professor showed me different techniques of application and blending with solvent, it became more interesting. It really is fun to play around with different effects!
Wednesday we started color, painting a still life in colored oil paint. This coming Monday we are finishing up out still life’s and beginning our midterm assignment of replicating a painting of an artist of our choice. I am very interested in impressionism, but also partial to realism, and I am jostling back and forth as to which technique I want to use in my next composition. I am currently looking into works by Monet and Manet for impressionism, but am also looking into various artists for realism. My professor is incredibly open about offering constructive criticism and encouragement for all of our work. There is always room for improvement! It has been really interesting to see different styles emerge with more prominence, now that we are all beginning to become more comfortable with the medium.
Fresco
We have gotten much further with fresco painting. We prepared our cartoons: using tracing paper, we traced the outline and major areas of the image and, flipping over the tracing paper, we poked holes along the border of the lines with a tack—the effect being that the raised edges are on the face of the surface and the smooth holes are on the back—this makes it easier for the powder to transfer through on to the surface of the mortar.
This past Monday we applied our topcoat of mortar covering the portion of the sinopia we wished to complete in one class period. I covered the entire head dressing of the woman’s hair, overlapping about a half an inch from my desired ‘cut of the day’ so as to allow enough room to do a quality smoothing of the surface. After the mortar was applies (about 2 cm thick) we let it dry for ten minutes or so, applied our sinopia drawing over the fresh layer, traced over the dots lightly with water to provide an outline, and then did our ‘cut of the day.’ This process consisted of tracing with a small trowel around the border of the desired area to complete. It was especially important to cut close to the edge at a diagonal, so as to make it easier to make the next day’s mortar application as smooth and seamless as possible.
Prior to applying the paint, we must prepare the colors by mixing water with the powdered pigment. The main pigment colors we use are as follows:
White (Bianco) contemporary white, used for mixing with pigment for tonal color
Yellow (Ocra Gialla/Terra Gialla/Gialla D’Ore) this color is unique, that when subjected to high temperatures, it turns into red
Red (Rosso Sinopia/Terra Rosso)
Black (Nero Roma/Nero Divite)
Green (Terra Verde/Verona)
Brown (Terra Brune/Siena/Sienabruciata/Ombra Bruciata)
Bianco di San Giovani: (coarse, white pigment made by mixing lime with water) good for high intensity yields or areas where strong pigment is needed
Verdaccio—”Ugly Green” mixed and prepared using specific proportions of yellow, black, white, and red. This color is applied as an under drawing, prior to the application of skin tone and blue pigment. The correct proportions of pigment were perfected and recorded by Cennino Cennini and have been used since the ancient masters of fresco painting.
At Santa Croce Church we were shown frescos ranging from the 14th to the 16th centuries. We learned specific details about the different techniques used in these periods, so as to be able to frescos in order to know by sight how to differentiate between the centuries simply through sight. The earliest techniques use a horizontal plane for the cut of the day, and this is made visible through the horizontal design of the composition. In addition, the sky is a red tone, being that blue was an expensive color, and there is a lack of depth and dimension to the figures. Giotto revolutionized fresco painting, by introducing the technique of creating the cut of the day around the figures instead of in horizontals, as was previously done. Fresco techniques further develop with the introduction of perspective and movement of the characters within the composition.
On Monday of this coming week we are going to be applying our next layer of mortar and continuing with our fresco tile. My area of focus will be on the face. I am a little nervous because the face is very detailed and I worry about not being able to get the correct flesh tones or detail to my satisfaction before the mortar dries.
Art History: Michelangelo to Bernini
Our focus has transitioned from studying Michelangelo to Raphael (Raffaello) Sanzio. His calm, considerate demeanor, which is so praised in Vasari’s, Lives of the Artists, is truly embedded within his masterpieces. The symmetry and harmony of the relationship between the characters in the composition creates a soft, naturalistic atmosphere of intimacy that invites the viewer to experience the world captured within the painting. Raphael’s paintings offer a beautiful interpretation of the subject matter, and truly capture the personality of the each individual character.
Italian
On Thursday we had students from the Italian University come to class and converse with us in small groups. A few other girls and I talked with this really nice guy named Niccolo Messeri. He was very patient with us and out inability to speak very well at all. I was SO excited to try out Italian, and I asked a lot of questions. Niccolo was very open to giving advice as to where the best places were as far as excursions, appertivos, restaurants, etc. It was so refreshing to have actual interaction with an Italian that was similar in age!
Other things…
God provides. He is extraordinary.
Prior to coming to Florence, I received an email about the possible volunteer opportunities etc. that I would have the option of being a part of during my stay in Florence. There was one group that stuck out to me -- called Creative Campus: wherein students interested in all creative arts who wanted to connect with Florence in a unique way, experiencing the arts, culture, Italian community, and language could gather and create.
There have been so many things heavy on my heart since coming here, things that I have been praying specifically about: inability to connect with Italian students (proximity), the American students and partying and, consequently, stereotypes of Americans (especially women--self-respect, that they would realize their true worth and not search for it through others), respect for Florentine culture, the Florentine community, rural Florence, lack of religious presence--faith practice among Florentines as well as the general population, truly connecting with Italian culture, and making a positive impact.
Well, the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai recently sent out an email about an informational dinner meeting for Creative Campus, for this past Wednesday evening, and I jumped on it.
WOW!!! God has answered all of my prayers! Let me tell you about it...
What is Creative Campus?
The Creative Campus community is run by the International Florence Theatre Company, by a woman from the U.S. named Bari -- she has lived in Florence for just over 3 1/2 years. She is phenomenal!!
It's a way for students living in Florence to be able to get together, integrate and do something different than what the usual night life of Florence offers them ((aka...NOT drinking -- which is a HUGE problem, for American students, and consequently, is beginning to filter over to the Italian youth)). Because of the severe, and true, stereotypes of Americans (drinking and partying) -- which is SO socially unacceptable in Italian culture – Italian youth simply do not desire to associate themselves with Americans, students in particular -- and rightly so in many cases. But in order to bridge this huge divide, Bari has created Creative Campus in order to offer alternative 'nights out' wherein American students and Italian students can connect, learn from one another, create together, and make a difference in the Florentine community.
With the relationships formed and lessons learned from Creative Campus projects, students are challenged to spread these ideas to their own country, campus and community. Together we can create a global community with a shared enthusiasm in what the arts can do to better the world through empathy, communication, and collective creation.
Basically, Creative Campus is an exclusive 'club' that integrates Italian students with Americans to do creative projects that benefit the community and draws awareness to key issues going on within Florence and around the world. I am going to be a part of a photography group as well as ‘V Day.’ The photograph topic is: Your Everyday Life in Florence and Street Pics. The photos, simply, need to be a real part of our experience here in Florence. The goal is collaboration and connection, getting exposed to Florence in a new way while exercising individual creativity and self-expression. The idea is to get together and go out on a photo city safari of Florence and have lots of fun—Americans and Italians combined!
‘V Day’ is a day devoted to Violence Against Women in Florence. Unspoken, or undocumented, violence against women is prevalent in Florence, heavily due to the ‘nightlife’ behavior of study abroad students. A woman documented personal accounts of American women who wanted to share their testimonies with incoming students, and she put these testimonies in a book along with tips for being safe and emergency contact numbers. Her hope was to be able to provide incoming American students, women in particular, with informative, raw facts and resources to avoid conduct that would put themselves at risk during their stay in Florence. This simple booklet took her three years to get published due to the lack of sponsorship from surrounding universities!! Finally, once she did get enough school sponsorship, those hardly any of the sponsoring universities requested booklets to distribute to incoming students!! How absurd!! So, what Creative Campus club is trying to do with regards to ‘V Day’ is create awareness through creative expression—through artwork. I am not sure of the details and complexities of the day, but I am excited to learn more once we start meeting (for both groups), hopefully this coming week.
With How HUGE is that!! It is oozing with potential!! WHAT an answer to prayer!!! I have been praying SO much for the Florentine community and study abroad students, especially those who ‘go out’—and this is definitely an answer for spreading awareness and creating unity!! I am SOOO excited to share the love of God with the people of this group!!! I will undoubtedly get to know them very well, as there are not more than 30 of us—you have NO idea how excited I am for that!! ; )
I know that God will use this opportunity to challenge me and grow me in exponential ways this semester, and goodness Am I UP for the challenge!! I am SO excited to share more as I get further connected into specific initiatives, etc. To quote Bari, “With Art we can change the world!!”
Many blessings and much love!!
Mollie
Ten random things that I have encountered:
- Florence does not sell Ziplock bags -- or anything resembling a plastic seal bag! That is certainly something that I took for granted, and not something that I ever thought I would miss. I am deprived!
- The doors always PUSH open. I cannot describe how many times I have made a miniature scene of myself by pulling the door towards myelf --loudly re-shutting the door-- prior to pushing it open. It is quite an entrance! haha--can you imagine? oh, my... I am predicting that I'll finally get it down by the time I need to leave.
- All of the drinks are served neither hot nor cold (so coffee is just warm and water is room temperature). Ice is available upon request.
- Coffee is not normally drank at home--you go to a Bar (cafe) to drink your coffee. A cafe (or the equivalent of an espresso in the states--that term does not exist here) is drunk standing at the counter. Also, as some of you may have heard, it is culturally unacceptable to order a cappuccino after 10:30am--till about 4.
- When ordering a cafe or a panino at a Bar, you receive order and you go sit, or stand by a nearby counter, and eat it. After you are finished, you bring the empty dishes to the counter and then you pay. This is something that I am still getting used to.
- Florentines go to a different Forno (bakery) for each different type of bread, depending upon the bakery specialty and use for the bread.
- At a restaurant, each course of an Italian meal is served separately. You order an antipasto, primo, and secondo course--desert is ordered after the meal. There is a wait between the antipasto and the primo course, as well as between the primo and the secondo. The primo arrives for all people at the same time. When the secondo arrives, your contorno (side dishes) also arrive. Normally, coffee is served after you have finished your meal, never with it. Order coffee after the dessert course as coffee and dessert is not normally served at the same time. Italians usually always finish a meal with "something for the digestion”. This is usually one or more shots of liqueur(s). (my body doesn't enjoy this, but it was an experience the first time) ; ) The waiter will not give you the bill for your meal until you request it. You should not tip. Tip is included in the cover charge for sitting, that is included in the bill. Also, you have to purchase water for the table (in bottles)--complimentary tap water is not an option.
- Wine is drunk with nearly every meal. I love this about Italian culture! White wine is to be drunk with fish and white meat, Red wine is to be drunk with most pasta, and red meat. In
- I still haven't gotten used to the eating schedule--it is SO late! I think my biggest adjustment is being out late--my 'late' is stretched as far as 1 am--CrAzY, I know....haha...but I am honestly unable to function if I do not get 8 hours of sleep! This has to be the biggest cultural challenge for me. I have adjusted just fine to the conservation of energy: turning off all unnecessary lights, being conscious of how much hot water is used, and how long of showers I take-- even the 'shower every other day' routine, but I have not managed to keep myself awake past midnight! haha.
- The crosswalks are just a suggestion here. Yielding is a necessity, otherwise you will never make it across the street! The unspoken rule is that if you are on the crosswalk, traffic has to stop for you, otherwise they will hit you, of course ; )
The class excursions I took this past week were visits to the Pitti Palace (oil paintings), Santa Croce Church (frescos), and Palazzo Medici Riccardi (the restoration of Raphael’s painting The Madonna del Cardellino). It is truly remarkable to be seeing original paintings from masters of the techniques we are studying in class!! I am so blessed to be here!!
Oil Painting
I worked diligently on my ‘eye and ‘dragon’ black and white compositions this past weekend and finished them on Monday. We began our introduction to color with oil pastels and had an assignment of drawing two landscape compositions in this medium. I have never worked with oil pastels before, so my initial reaction to the medium was “I hate this!” but after the professor showed me different techniques of application and blending with solvent, it became more interesting. It really is fun to play around with different effects!
Wednesday we started color, painting a still life in colored oil paint. This coming Monday we are finishing up out still life’s and beginning our midterm assignment of replicating a painting of an artist of our choice. I am very interested in impressionism, but also partial to realism, and I am jostling back and forth as to which technique I want to use in my next composition. I am currently looking into works by Monet and Manet for impressionism, but am also looking into various artists for realism. My professor is incredibly open about offering constructive criticism and encouragement for all of our work. There is always room for improvement! It has been really interesting to see different styles emerge with more prominence, now that we are all beginning to become more comfortable with the medium.
Fresco
We have gotten much further with fresco painting. We prepared our cartoons: using tracing paper, we traced the outline and major areas of the image and, flipping over the tracing paper, we poked holes along the border of the lines with a tack—the effect being that the raised edges are on the face of the surface and the smooth holes are on the back—this makes it easier for the powder to transfer through on to the surface of the mortar.
This past Monday we applied our topcoat of mortar covering the portion of the sinopia we wished to complete in one class period. I covered the entire head dressing of the woman’s hair, overlapping about a half an inch from my desired ‘cut of the day’ so as to allow enough room to do a quality smoothing of the surface. After the mortar was applies (about 2 cm thick) we let it dry for ten minutes or so, applied our sinopia drawing over the fresh layer, traced over the dots lightly with water to provide an outline, and then did our ‘cut of the day.’ This process consisted of tracing with a small trowel around the border of the desired area to complete. It was especially important to cut close to the edge at a diagonal, so as to make it easier to make the next day’s mortar application as smooth and seamless as possible.
Prior to applying the paint, we must prepare the colors by mixing water with the powdered pigment. The main pigment colors we use are as follows:
White (Bianco) contemporary white, used for mixing with pigment for tonal color
Yellow (Ocra Gialla/Terra Gialla/Gialla D’Ore) this color is unique, that when subjected to high temperatures, it turns into red
Red (Rosso Sinopia/Terra Rosso)
Black (Nero Roma/Nero Divite)
Green (Terra Verde/Verona)
Brown (Terra Brune/Siena/Sienabruciata/Ombra Bruciata)
Bianco di San Giovani: (coarse, white pigment made by mixing lime with water) good for high intensity yields or areas where strong pigment is needed
Verdaccio—”Ugly Green” mixed and prepared using specific proportions of yellow, black, white, and red. This color is applied as an under drawing, prior to the application of skin tone and blue pigment. The correct proportions of pigment were perfected and recorded by Cennino Cennini and have been used since the ancient masters of fresco painting.
At Santa Croce Church we were shown frescos ranging from the 14th to the 16th centuries. We learned specific details about the different techniques used in these periods, so as to be able to frescos in order to know by sight how to differentiate between the centuries simply through sight. The earliest techniques use a horizontal plane for the cut of the day, and this is made visible through the horizontal design of the composition. In addition, the sky is a red tone, being that blue was an expensive color, and there is a lack of depth and dimension to the figures. Giotto revolutionized fresco painting, by introducing the technique of creating the cut of the day around the figures instead of in horizontals, as was previously done. Fresco techniques further develop with the introduction of perspective and movement of the characters within the composition.
On Monday of this coming week we are going to be applying our next layer of mortar and continuing with our fresco tile. My area of focus will be on the face. I am a little nervous because the face is very detailed and I worry about not being able to get the correct flesh tones or detail to my satisfaction before the mortar dries.
Art History: Michelangelo to Bernini
Our focus has transitioned from studying Michelangelo to Raphael (Raffaello) Sanzio. His calm, considerate demeanor, which is so praised in Vasari’s, Lives of the Artists, is truly embedded within his masterpieces. The symmetry and harmony of the relationship between the characters in the composition creates a soft, naturalistic atmosphere of intimacy that invites the viewer to experience the world captured within the painting. Raphael’s paintings offer a beautiful interpretation of the subject matter, and truly capture the personality of the each individual character.
Italian
On Thursday we had students from the Italian University come to class and converse with us in small groups. A few other girls and I talked with this really nice guy named Niccolo Messeri. He was very patient with us and out inability to speak very well at all. I was SO excited to try out Italian, and I asked a lot of questions. Niccolo was very open to giving advice as to where the best places were as far as excursions, appertivos, restaurants, etc. It was so refreshing to have actual interaction with an Italian that was similar in age!
Other things…
God provides. He is extraordinary.
Prior to coming to Florence, I received an email about the possible volunteer opportunities etc. that I would have the option of being a part of during my stay in Florence. There was one group that stuck out to me -- called Creative Campus: wherein students interested in all creative arts who wanted to connect with Florence in a unique way, experiencing the arts, culture, Italian community, and language could gather and create.
There have been so many things heavy on my heart since coming here, things that I have been praying specifically about: inability to connect with Italian students (proximity), the American students and partying and, consequently, stereotypes of Americans (especially women--self-respect, that they would realize their true worth and not search for it through others), respect for Florentine culture, the Florentine community, rural Florence, lack of religious presence--faith practice among Florentines as well as the general population, truly connecting with Italian culture, and making a positive impact.
Well, the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai recently sent out an email about an informational dinner meeting for Creative Campus, for this past Wednesday evening, and I jumped on it.
WOW!!! God has answered all of my prayers! Let me tell you about it...
What is Creative Campus?
The Creative Campus community is run by the International Florence Theatre Company, by a woman from the U.S. named Bari -- she has lived in Florence for just over 3 1/2 years. She is phenomenal!!
It's a way for students living in Florence to be able to get together, integrate and do something different than what the usual night life of Florence offers them ((aka...NOT drinking -- which is a HUGE problem, for American students, and consequently, is beginning to filter over to the Italian youth)). Because of the severe, and true, stereotypes of Americans (drinking and partying) -- which is SO socially unacceptable in Italian culture – Italian youth simply do not desire to associate themselves with Americans, students in particular -- and rightly so in many cases. But in order to bridge this huge divide, Bari has created Creative Campus in order to offer alternative 'nights out' wherein American students and Italian students can connect, learn from one another, create together, and make a difference in the Florentine community.
With the relationships formed and lessons learned from Creative Campus projects, students are challenged to spread these ideas to their own country, campus and community. Together we can create a global community with a shared enthusiasm in what the arts can do to better the world through empathy, communication, and collective creation.
Basically, Creative Campus is an exclusive 'club' that integrates Italian students with Americans to do creative projects that benefit the community and draws awareness to key issues going on within Florence and around the world. I am going to be a part of a photography group as well as ‘V Day.’ The photograph topic is: Your Everyday Life in Florence and Street Pics. The photos, simply, need to be a real part of our experience here in Florence. The goal is collaboration and connection, getting exposed to Florence in a new way while exercising individual creativity and self-expression. The idea is to get together and go out on a photo city safari of Florence and have lots of fun—Americans and Italians combined!
‘V Day’ is a day devoted to Violence Against Women in Florence. Unspoken, or undocumented, violence against women is prevalent in Florence, heavily due to the ‘nightlife’ behavior of study abroad students. A woman documented personal accounts of American women who wanted to share their testimonies with incoming students, and she put these testimonies in a book along with tips for being safe and emergency contact numbers. Her hope was to be able to provide incoming American students, women in particular, with informative, raw facts and resources to avoid conduct that would put themselves at risk during their stay in Florence. This simple booklet took her three years to get published due to the lack of sponsorship from surrounding universities!! Finally, once she did get enough school sponsorship, those hardly any of the sponsoring universities requested booklets to distribute to incoming students!! How absurd!! So, what Creative Campus club is trying to do with regards to ‘V Day’ is create awareness through creative expression—through artwork. I am not sure of the details and complexities of the day, but I am excited to learn more once we start meeting (for both groups), hopefully this coming week.
With How HUGE is that!! It is oozing with potential!! WHAT an answer to prayer!!! I have been praying SO much for the Florentine community and study abroad students, especially those who ‘go out’—and this is definitely an answer for spreading awareness and creating unity!! I am SOOO excited to share the love of God with the people of this group!!! I will undoubtedly get to know them very well, as there are not more than 30 of us—you have NO idea how excited I am for that!! ; )
I know that God will use this opportunity to challenge me and grow me in exponential ways this semester, and goodness Am I UP for the challenge!! I am SO excited to share more as I get further connected into specific initiatives, etc. To quote Bari, “With Art we can change the world!!”
Many blessings and much love!!
Mollie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
