ART AND ARTISANS

This last month has been a whirlwind of travel...I think Ryanair should pay ME for flying with them! But now that I've had a moment to breathe, the things that stand out from our trips are the Artists and Artisans we met, discovered and rediscovered along the way.

THE ARTISTS

The first heart palpitation hit when we were in The Little Museum in Dublin and came across a photo of Samuel Beckett--that in itself set my heart a-beatin'--but the accompanying post card sealed the deal....

     The homework assignment:  write a letter to a person who lived in your house before you did    (remember those assignments?)  Well for this kid, it was Beckett!  And he, Beckett, responded--

"If you ever meet my ghost in house or grounds,

give it my regards...yours antiquatedly, Sam Beckett"

 

Don't ya love it??  Generosity of spirit peppered with a sense of humor and lots of heart....ahhhh.

The images were burned to my eyelids.  My head was pounding.  My blood sugar was low...I couldn't do another Dali without food.  We had to break up our visit to the Reina-Sofia's traveling Dali exhibit into two 3 hour blocks to maintain our connection to the real world.  The ants, disintegrated phones, dismembered bodies, monsters, real and imagined, cascaded, one upon the other, grabbing me by the throat and thrashing me about.  It took me days to shake off the impact....To give you an idea, after the Dalis, we went to see Picasso's Guernica---I gotta tell ya, it is tame (but certainly powerful) compared to Dali's Premonition of Civil War....

                                    

All in one day, all in one place...both Dali AND Picasso...master works of each?  Madrid is a wonderful city!!

Then we had the pleasure of discovering---for us it was a discovery, for Art Historians not so much---Juaquin' Sorolla and his home which has been converted into a lovely jewel box of a museum, also in the heart of Madrid, away from the Museum District.  Sorolla combined the artistic aesthetic with a profound home life which informed his work, his studio and his vision.  Whether it was the lovely, sunny day or the relief from assaulting images or the delicious garden or the adventure of finding a new place in a big city, it was a perfect Sunday afternoon.

THE ARTISANS

We decided long ago to stop buying touristy crap...I have no room for it in my house and it gets stuck in a corner and gathers dust only to end in the trash in a year or two.  Instead, we search for local artists and artisans whose work is specific to the place and we can either use or look at regularly, i.e. we bought hand-painted Cypriot bowls in which we serve ice cream and we hand-knitted sweaters in Ireland to wear on cold, cold days.

So, how excited was I to see a sign, "Milliner," in Kilkenny, Ireland, right across the street from the castle.  (We like castles in my family and stop for every one we see!)  I've never visited a real, live Milliner before.  Rebekah Patterson makes hats- yes, she makes hats.  Who makes hats these days?  Many of them are works of art, spun sugar and lace and feathers and yes, I was seduced.  I bought one of her hats.  She is a charming, warm Irish woman dedicated to her craft, bringing fantasy and frivolity to your head!

   See the sign?? The hat?   It's a sculpture--we thought of displaying it on a pedestal.

                                                                                                          Cute hats, huh??

 

You can find more of Rebekah's work at www.designofthetimes.ie/rebekahpatterson.php

or The Wishing Bone Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland

Add together an English ex-pat, a Laguna Beach-type village, the wild, untamed Atlantic off the shores of Connemara, Ireland, and you've got...Art, fused glass art.  The Connemara Blue Gallery, run by Ben Cross, who, by the way, is on his 3rd or 4th career, found something that fed his passions--the beauty of Ireland, the inspiration of Miro', and firing glass.  An intimate gallery that features his glass creations and textiles made by his wife, The Connemara Blue Gallery offers the visitor unique, one-of-a-kind pieces.  Yeah, we've got several small ones--we were, unfortunately, guided by flight restrictions.

 

You can find out more about The Connemara Blue Gallery and Ben Cross at

info@connemarablue.com

 

 

And now to the artist/artisan closest to my heart, my husband.  Gary attended the United Makeup Artists Expo in London the first week of April where he was demonstrating a new piece.  Weeks, he (and consequently me), spent weeks prepping for this convention.  First the design phase, the trial phase, the finishing phase, the test phase....getting the model phase, putting the makeup on, taking it off (not an easy phase), and what about the costume phase?  Gary was working without most of his supplies (because they're in California), so it was "MacGyver Time," finding creative ways to make non-theatrical makeup things work on prosthetic/silicone pieces.  The piece?  A Lizard Woman.  The concept?  Melding beauty makeup with creature makeup to create a new being.

I am unspeakably proud of Gary's work...he has the courage to know when his work is not perfect and the strength of conviction to commit to redoing it until it meets his standards.   His new-found humility provided him opportunities, opportunities that allowed him to see the makeup artist he wants to be, and the strength to explore that heady realm.



Art and Artists fed our souls this last month.  We looked into the heart of beauty and rage and love, we saw the worlds of family and nature through new eyes, the creative spirit sparked discussion and envy and insight.  We are fuller and richer for it.
 

THE YIN AND YANG OF IT ALL

                                                                     

 

I don't know why

I should know better

I've plenty of life experience to teach me...

and yet,

I am continually surprised by life in Italy.....



 

                                                                    THE POLE

See that pole across the road??  that's our telephone pole, yep,
the one that connects our land line and internet services...
OH...the ROAD?  it's a public road and our egress...

Soooo, two weeks ago we noticed a pole had fallen across the road--with lots and lots of wires entwined not only with each other but also the branches of the trees--wires cascading all the way down the hill.  So we called TeleCom Italia, the company that handles most of the fixed lines in Italy.  It was a Thursday...well, sir, it is Thursday, it'll be hard to get someone out before next week, Monday or Tuesday.  Monday comes, Tuesday follows, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday inevitably arrive, and you got it, no TeleCom Italia.  And the pole just hangs there...

 

                                       

 

 

 Yowee, look at those wires...inspires confidence, huh?

  Luckily, they're phone lines, not electrical wires and,

    miraculously, our phone and internet work!




 If you look veeeery carefully, you'll see the cable amongst the branches...it's been there so long it looks like a branch!    >>>>




Two weeks have come and gone; several calls have been made
to TeleCom and they've promised to send someone out; we keep our fingers crossed the phone and internet continue to work; and life goes on...except for one LITTLE THING...

                                       Someone--a neighbor? TeleCom under cover of night? A wild boar?--
                                       has moved the pole to the right of the road to make our egress
                                       easier, if only we could drive UNDER the OVERHANGING WIRES!

Tomorrow it will have been 3 weeks since "the fall"...and the pole remains fallen.  So, we wait, and we call, and we wait, and....

THE PAEAN

 

 Is it appropriate to tip the shampoo girl?  Is it appropriate to tip at all?  Why is there so much graffiti on national treasures in this country?  (So many of the ruins are covered with it while remaining exposed to the elements--both natural and human.)  And, why is it Italians are fanatically fastidious about keeping their homes spotless, while trash overflows in the streets?  Or...when people, Italians, learn we are American, do they automatically assume we're "spoiled, rich snobs?"

I've been on the "other side" of the desk this last month and I've had several "I could have had a V-8" moments. I needed a place to ask the above questions without fear of insult or judgment, secure in the knowledge of receiving an honest answer.  And there is the heart of education....for when all is said and done, I trust Letizia, our Italian teacher, to be candid and tactful and forthright.  She answers my questions, provides information, directs my learning, excites my curiosity, challenges me.  True education goes beyond the subject matter, supplying the larger context and widening horizons.  (What a joy to have this opportunity!)

So here is my paean to all the teachers in my life.  The "ah-ha moment," the contagious excitement, the ignition of an idea are the fuel with which you help your students learn.  You have provided a safe haven, a larger world view, a kind word, a simple gesture, and a lifetime of experience to help guide your students.  Thank you.
 
Teaching is an honorable profession; I am proud to have been a part of it and to know so many dedicated professionals.

This is where it all begins...an empty, non-descript
room at  the Accademia Italiana in Ascoli Piceno
...a table, chairs, a white board, what more
would you want??? (or need?)




Add books, a teacher, a student or two,

Letizia and Gary
 studying the subjunctive.

some homework, and the non-descript
place fills with focus and dedication...


and our lives are richer for it.







            The challenges and the rewards continue.

 

 







 





JUMBLED IMPRESSIONS, or re-entry into Italian Life

A COUNTRY WITHOUT...

Making idle chit chat while waiting for the teller, I said to our commercialista, accountant, "so, what about those elections, huh??"  His response?  "We're a country without a President and without a Pope.*  All is chaos!"  And he continued to figuratively pull out his hair.

1 out of 3 Italians voted for Berlusconi...yep, that's correct.  Mr. Bunga Bunga Party Man received 33% of the vote.  And yet, when you ask people if they voted for Mr. BBPM, to a person they say, "Nooooooo."  Go figure.  It was the other people who voted for him. 

It's fascinating watching the political process here--from the outside looking in.  And the people are confused and mad and scared, except my cousin who says, "it'll pass."  Yeah, but what about....  "It'll pass."  No really, there's no leadership or ....  "It'll pass."  What about unemployment or the EU or Italy's standing in the world.... "It'll pass."  Okey dokey.

"NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE EXCESS"  thank you, Julian Fellowes of Downton Abby fame

Everything is big and colorful and over-the-top in California.  Malls, cars, freeways, parking lots, grocery stores--we all know we need the choice of 20 cereals or 30 different soups; it's in our genes.

One aisle at Stater Brothers--ONE AISLE--hear the musak??





Italy is a small country, so things tend to be proportional to their environment.  Butcher shops, bakeries, grocery stores, restaurants....it's charming and cozy to go to a neighborhood restaurant that has 7 tables.  And one of those is "our table."  However, we've found the perfect California gym in Le Marche, Q-bo.

Spinning Classes
are offered in the pool

           Sooo, the gym has a pool and group            

A Biiiiig Window looks into the pool
and there are always people with
their noses pressed against it to get the
full benefit of --"the pool"

           classes and a bar and a restaurant and  a hairdresser and massage therapists and manicures and pedicures and a nutritionist, and, my favorite, Cosmetic Surgeons.  Yes indeedy, when that chin juts out too far or the buttocks need lifting or the breasts need implanting, the gym offers you a special place to go!

Q-bo is a little bit of home--a little excess never hurt anyone.

If they had beds, we'd move in!


HUMILITY and HUBRIS

I don't fear many things---except maybe spiders, scorpions, driving in the snow and ice, living in a  cold house, losing Gary---but mostly, I don't fear many things.

So I happily walk into the grocery store and have a conversation with the butcher about how to cook bull testicles, excitedly talk with the owner of the tappezzeria about recovering my couch, superficially discuss the fine art of opening my chakras with my yoga instructor, and communicate my desire to install a new shower with the plumber.

BUT we need to speak better Italian.  We need to get out of our comfort zone, go beyond restaurant, functional Italian.  So, we take intensive Italian lessons.  We're committed.  We study.  We discuss and argue the fine points of grammar, (sounds like a fun time at my house, huh?), practice verb drills, live with the dictionary, study the culture.  And we are brilliant in the car and in the shower.

But here's the kicker, when I need to incorporate the lessons into daily communication, I think, I search, I stammer, and then...no one gives a crap.  It is a lesson in Humility.

I have spent my professional and personal life communicating--with students, colleagues, actors, designers, friends, family.  Word choice which clearly and succinctly delineates an idea is one way I define myself.  OUCH....to have to fight for that with a 9th grade vocabulary is...painful, humiliating, and a CHALLENGE.  I will not be beat by the subjunctive.  It will kick my ass, but I will master it.

No, I don't fear many things, except maybe spiders and scorpions and the subjunctive.