Friday, January 22, 2016

The entrance to our farmhouse in the middle
 of Tuscany and the agritourism fields

It's hard to believe 2016 has begun and I have not written for months on this blog.  One of my intentions this year is to be more consistent with communications on my blog, website and social media.  


Reviewing my previous posts, I realize I did not mention an amazing three week journey to Italy last summer near the town of Castel del Piano.   I was privileged to be accepted as an Artist in Residence with Respiro, a residency offered by Transform, the creative ministry in New York City with Cru.  I joined 17 other artists from various cities in order to be in community making art, sharing stories, workshops,   biblical studies, lectures and  prayer.

I made some sketches of the landscape while we were there and other small watercolor pieces.  Last fall I began responding on larger panels using these sketches as inspiration.  However, I got stuck and nothing was progressing in a way I wanted.  After a dialogue with a friend and colleague, I'm now moving forward with those pieces and they are totally different than I thought they would be.  I plan to share the pieces as they are finished. 

 
For now, I'll post a  watercolor sketch I completed in the studio from a photograph I took on a walk around the town of Arcidosso. The history of the town is so interesting and the textures of the buildings beautiful.  I found my eyes feasting on all the beauty surrounding me and had to respond.

This is an introduction to the process of several months in making a series inspired from this trip.  Every time I make a series the inspiration takes a different form and the process has different timing.  I'm beginning to accept the timetable without stressing as much 
as I used to.