Day 68

--What a swell, stupendous Saturday! Nikki and I went to Volume, which is a wonderful caffe that used to be an artist's wood shop. I am in love, as you could imagine. And I had a great cappuccino, too! This place knows the way to my heart =)   We worked on homework and things, and then Jayne joined us.

The three of us grabbed panini from a hole-in-the-wall shop, and sat in the sun by the Duomo for lunch. After some gelato, we went to Florence's library (the one with a close view of the Duomo top), and sat on the third floor to so some more work.

Later, we reconvened, and went to an incredible vegetarian restaurant for dinner. I don't think I have ever been to a vegetarian restaurant before, but let me tell you, it was great! The three of us pushed our plates together and shared the delicious variety of flavors, rice, cous cous, and veggies. And we shared a piece of carrot cake for dessert! Such great food, such lovely girls. 

We met up with Karlie and Amanda to hear some live music at our favorite pub. Last time, it was two men and their acoustic guitars. This time, however, it was about ten musicians, playing Irish music! (Mom, you shoulda been there!) They were preparing their songs for St. Patrick's Day. In the Irish musician circle, there was an acoustic guitar, a botzucci (mandolin-ish, played by Mico), 4 fiddles/violins, a harp, and some sort of a drum. It was very neat and inspirational to see all the instruments. We talked a bit to our friends from Livorno from the last live music performance we saw at the pub. And our kind friends are pictured below!

 Mico, Nikki, Karlie, myself, Amanda, Jayne, & Alessandro

inspired by the instruments and each one's sound, 

i began a sketch of the musician circle while in the pub

Day 67

--Nikki, Cassie, and I took a day trip to Cinque Terre, which are "five towns/lands" (the Italian translation) on the coast of Italy. We first went to Riomaggiore, and i was in love. It was a beautiful place that resembles Greece, with it's beautiful water, staggered buildings on the hill sides, and the narrow steps. The water was stunning.

The girls and I walked from the Riomaggiore to Manarola, the second town. The walk between these two towns is along Via dell'Amore, which translated to "path" or "by the way of" amore, love. With the sea to my left and cliffs on our right, we were surrounded by hundreds, probably thousands of locks  of lovers. The idea of the lover's locks is that two lovers will go to Via dell'Amore (or other locations such as the Ponte Vecchio). The couple usually goes as a newly wed celebration and tradition. They either write or engrave their names on the lock, and sometimes the date. The lock is locked on a gate, or even another lock, and the key is thrown into the ocean.

I have never seen so many lovers locks in my entire life. So wonderful.

We went to the fifth town, Monterosso, which had a wonderful beach. We picked rocks like flowers and wandered up for a beautiful view near a monastery. And lastly, we went to the fourth town, Venazza, which has the worst damage from the flood back in October. It was really sad to see, as the town was still quite abandoned and damanged, but construction is still going on and you can tell that it was and is a beauty. Overall, we made it to three of the four terre, and it was such a grand day trip.

Riomaggiore (terra uno)

photograph by Nikki

myself, Cassie, & Nikki

in front of Manarola (terra due)

photograph by Nikki

beach of Monterosso (terra cinque)

photograph by Nikki

Cassie & I

photograph by Nikki

 drawings from the train ride

Day 66

As a 21 year old artist who has always had a washing machine and dryer inside their house (with the exception of college), I have romanticized the place of the laundromat. It may seem bizarre, but that is what I believe. Now, I'm sure if I had to constantly do my laundry at a laundromat for years and years and years, I am fairly certain that I would loathe the idea of such a place, but in my case, it's quite a unique place.

Laundromat (as defined by me): noun; a place where strangers come together or cross paths to wash and dry their clothing. These people may not know each other, but they are involved in the same act, and their lives directly correlate for just an hour or two, sometimes even minutes, while they wait for clothes to wash, spin, tumble, and dry.

I love the idea of each of these strangers acting in the same way, and observing what they do with their spare time. Do they leave their clothes? (where do they go?) Do they sit and wait? Do they read? Do they talk on the phone? It's so fascinating to know what a person will do with these hours of waiting for clothing in twirling machines.

Well, I was able to sit with Nikki at the laundromat, chat with an awkward stranger (who claimed that east and west coast accents are the same..?), and of course, sketch. Any place is a drawing place!

Here are my drawings from the wonderful, but not so pretty laundry place around the corner.

what is through

"and i felt love, 

again"

Day 64

--Drawing club today was quite tiny (being only Jake and I), but still a very enjoyable session! The products of my sketching hand are peculiar today, so bear (punny!) with me!

Dancing Bear

€48.52

€1.80 / ore

26.92 liters of pollen

literal finger mustache

oh the oddity

ps - he won't rotate on this page. sorry!

Day 64

Here is a drawing I made on cardboard tonight. Not your typical drawing surface, not a very typical drawing, not by your typical gal.

"little bread butterflies kiss the tulips,"
as light rays shone through the flower's face
solemn and quiet
waiting for the rain's music to 
hum & patter off
to sleep.
our minds branch out
or we live in a daze.
grease from my fingertips
may be the only remains


mark it up.

Day 62 again

--Tragedy of the day / lack of photographs explanation

I had dropped off a roll of film over two weeks ago when it takes one week to develop. After a few times of going to pick up my film and it not being ready, I grew skeptical.

Today, I went with Mom to pick of my roll of film, which had photographs from the snow to cool broken bikes to old documents on the street to Greg’s visit in Florence.

Today, I finally received an envelope with

- a letter of a short apology in Italian from the lab the photo place sends black and white film to

- my roll I had shot of now blank film (that they accidentally exposed --all 36)

- and a new roll of black and white film to make up for it.

The man who gave this to me didn’t quite understand why I was so upset and confused, and didn’t think that the ruined film was a big deal. I don’t think my questioning and upset qualities translated well to him. So, I won’t be developing more film in Italy, but I will save my rolls until I get back home. Aka, sorry for the missing black and whites, but they will be posted in May!

It’s an odd thing being a drawer and a painter, and having 36 little pieces of art burnt out by the light.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep on shooting as much as ever! 

You will just have to check for the b&w's in May!

Day 63

--After class, I was supposed to take Mom to the Uffizi, but I goofed up big time as it is closed on Monday (and it is her last day here). We sat on a fountain in the sun in Piazza Santo Spirito before having some gelato! I had to make sure Mom got her fill of Italian sweets. For dinner, we went out to a restaurant with some of my friends on Mom’s last night. 

Karlie, Amanda, Nikki, & I

photograph by Mom

A lot was packed in during her short visit, but I am so glad she made it and that we got to share new and familiar parts of Italy together =)

Me & Mom