MEDIEVAL CENTRAL ITALY 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

  

Just a taste of the eye candy Michelle and I experienced while visiting our friends (and tour guides) from ADVENTURES IN ITALY a short while ago...another mother/daughter experience!

Kristi and Bill Steiner with Michelle and me

We returned to our convent Bed and Breakfast (San Lodovico Institute) for the 2nd  (MLL) and 3rd time (me) to spend a relaxing, educational and fun filled week in our all-time favorite place with dear friends. A few of the shops had changed, but for the most part, the passage of time had been suspended and Orvieto remained the same ancient yet sophisticated city. On top of a huge tufo rock with volcanic origins, Orvieto has scores of Etruscan tombs within the rock and served as a natural fortress with cliffs on all sides back as far as the 3rd century B.C...perhaps earlier.

Orvieto above and the necropolis with some Etruscan tombs revealed below

Our first stop after unpacking and seeing old friends, 

"Mama" Giovanna is the Mother Superior of the Convent

was to head to Orvieto's main attraction, the Gothic and Romanesque Duomo, commissioned by Pope Urban IV in 1290... but, it took several hundred years to fully complete. Although we were disappointed initially because there was scaffolding covering a large portion of the magnificent front, our eyes were directed to what was NOT covered... beautiful detailed mosaics in stunning colors and pure gold as well as large bas reliefs and statues that we'd never looked at so closely.

A FANTASTIC dark chocolate with orange peel gelato before a light dinner 

and our heads hit the pillows!! We felt like we were home...and we were!

We spent a couple of days during this visit further exploring Orvieto, with and without Kristi and Bill. It's a place where only residents have cars so "the rock" is fairly free of vehicular traffic... nice for walking, and walk we did... everywhere! We walked at our leisure, making photos of all the pieces of Orvieto that make it so appealing... stopping to visit with Orvietani who were familiar along the way... Blue Bar Orvieto for hot chocolate, internet and a visit with Antonny and Romina, the owners;

Federico Badia leather artisan and his wife, Hannah (with whom we constructed our own leather-bound journals late in the week,)

and the incredible sculptor, Alberto Bellini, in his shop, La Corte Dei Miracoli di Alberto Bellini.

One of our days, we spent with a world renown chef, Lorenzo, to prepare a sumptuous (and enormous) lunch. We started at the local market gathering the freshest ingredients...

then, under Lorenzo's tutelage, we prepared, cooked and drank wine for a few hours readying our feast...

Our friend  Bill, took advantage of the pasta making instructions, too!

Now, I'd like to share some of the photos of beautiful, peaceful and ancient Orvieto...

This and the following two photos are inside probably the oldest church in Orvieto, San Juvenal. It dates its creation to 1004! Amazing!! The fresco art is being restored bit by bit.

Sculptures of the Annunciation by Francesco Mochi (created 1603-1608)... were originally in the Duomo but have been moved to a museum space. They stand along with monumental statues of the Apostles, also originally in the Duomo. The faces of these sculptures are absolutely ethereal... look at the two below.

This is "our" personal angel who watched over us outside our window. Unfortunately, she's recently been painted rather than leaving her in the original stone. She's still beautiful...

Beautiful and ancient fresco on the wall of the convent kitchen

View inside the convent... the next two as well...

Kristi and Bill showed us some of their favorite hilltop villages in Umbria and Tuscany as well... more exceptional eye-candy! But, this post is long enough...the rest is for another day.

Thanks for  stopping by and taking this virtual trip with me. I hope you'll tune in for the rest of the story. The visuals are worth the few minutes!!

Big Hugs,

abbyj

COWBOY COLLAGE 

September 4, 2015 

Galloping our way along to Fall, hard to imagine it's September!! Our summer flew by. The art challenge groups haven't slowed down either. Just had time to work on one this week...for DIGITALMANIA. They asked artists to look at the art of Lynne Perrella, a mixed media artist who's a storyteller. I especially love her rural history collages for her town, Ancram, New York- like this one...

I did my Ancram-collage-type piece on the life of a cowboy...I never did outgrow my love of Westerns!!

It took a very long time to create this piece, but I enjoyed every minute of it! It incorporates so many elements, not including the background!! I admire all the work and design that goes into Lynne Perrella's art.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you for my next posting...enjoy your week!

Big Hugs,

abbyj 

ABOUT A TELEPHONE BOOTH... 

September 6, 2015

Telephone booths have definitely become a thing of the past...even pay phones are few and far between, and there certainly have been a variety of them.

DIGITAL WHISPER online challenge group is nostalgic this week as they ask to see art with a telephone booth. I had fun with it...

That's it! I think today's sophistication in the area of electronics will make many things obsolete before long...the newspaper, the phone booth, the regular camera (that's not part of a phone...) and who knows what else. Stay tuned...

Please visit me next week and enjoy your days ahead.

Big Hugs,

abbyj 

ART and SOLE CALENDAR CHALLENGE...September 

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015  

I love the ballerinas painted and sculpted by Edgar Degas. They're whimsical, yet they're serious and somewhat moody pieces. This month's art in my yearly calendar is one by Degas, "Dancers in Rose."  I didn't make many changes because I love the piece!!

Darcy's ART and SOLE Calendar Challenge rules for this month are as follows:

1.) Keep part of the original picture 

2.)Technique- add lines using the edge of a ruler or credit card dipped in paint 

3.)Add- use a random word generator to pick 10 words and use these to make a sentence to add to your page

4.)Blog your calendar page

Enjoy your month ahead... hope to see you for my next posting.

Big Hugs,

abbyj  

ARTFUL READERS CLUB

"THE PRIMATES OF PARK AVENUE" 

by Wednesday Martin

AUGUST 28, 2015 

This is a book that's part memoir, part anthropological/sociological research... THE PRIMATES of PARK AVENUE is Wednesday Martin's look at what life is like for the uber-rich who live at Manhattan's most prestigious addresses. Definitely a chick-lit tome, this book deserves raves based on the concept alone! The idea of treating "the tribe" that roams the world's most exclusive zip code the same way she would a shrewdness of great apes...that's what a group of great apes is called... is brilliant!  The similarities of the two tribes are truly amazing! The author executes her idea with clear prose that's thought-provoking, poignant, informative and very funny. (Her non-fashion-forward friend's confusion over Birkin bags and Birkenstocks had me laughing out loud.) This is not an expose. Rather, it seems a fair, benign and accepting portrayal written with understanding and respect by an astute and witty observer (and participant.)  With a PhD is Sociology from Yale, Wednesday Martin did her profession proud!!  This was a most enjoyable read...

I had two different visions for the art part of this review, so I included both.

Thanks for stopping by. Perhaps you'll give this entertaining book a try...

Big Hugs,

abbyj

DIGITALMANIA, etc.

AUGUST 25, 2015 

Always a good art challenge on Flicker's challenge group, DIGITALMANIA, "still life" is the up coming theme. So many ideas, but definitely didn't want to do the typical fruit or veggie grouping. I created these two still life pieces instead...what do you think?

A pictorial ode to my love of music and dance...

This is in the study at an old convent where I stay when visiting Orvieto, Italy...the flower petals are from their beautiful garden.

Other online art groups were equally challenging... DIGITAL WHISPER's thoughts turned to "rust..." one of nature's way of aging some metals. I love passing by old farmhouses with rusty vehicles out in front...

SUNDAY POSTCARD  ART  requested the creation of something "fishy!" I called on Dr. Seuss for a little inspiration...

THE THREE MUSES issued a very unusual challenge. They posed the question "if you could have any super power, what would it be?" How would YOU answer that? Instead of thinking reality, I thought fantasy and wished I had the power to heal the world. This is my representation of that power...

Finally, TAKE A WORD  challenged artists to take a vintage photo and put it in a new, modern setting... the poor hippie chick with the spikey hair, is too cool to use an umbrella in the rain. Our vintage girl doesn't want to get wet!! Smart!

That's it for this posting...lots of art, but sooo much fun to create!! Please join me for my next posting. Thanks for stopping by...

Big Hugs,
abbyj 

MYTHOLOGICAL TAROT 

AUGUST 22, 2015 

 

A quickie piece of art for the online challenge blog,  COLLAGE OBSESSION. (A quickie posting...putting it together was anything but quick!!) Collage Obsession asked participating artists to create a tarot card based on a mythological being. I love the myth of Icarus who flew too close to the sun, melted his "wings" and fell from the sky. Here's poor Icarus...

I'll be back with another posting soon...please do check back!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

abbyj

 

TRAIN TRACKS, TATTOOS and MAN 

AUGUST 22, 2015 

I've always had a love affair with anything involving trains... the tracks, the steam locomotives, freight trains, the Orient Express, less fancy sleeper trains and normal passenger trains... that lulling click-clack sound and gentle sway of the carriages. It's all part of a romance novel for me,  one of adventure and comfort, too. This week's theme at online art blog DIGITAL WHISPER just happens to be "railroad tracks."  My mind flashed to one of my favorite visual experiences with the subject...in Bangkok, Thailand, Maeklong Railway Market is set up along both sides of very narrow railroad tracks. The train chugs through the market spaces 8 times a day. The people must pull back their booth covers and often, their products, each time. The customers walk along the tracks to gain access to both sides of this market. It's very exciting and wonderful fun!! I wanted to share this with you...I only played with my photos, digitally, a bit.

Here's a good video showing how this works in real time...check it out by opening this link...it is truly AMAZING:

https://youtu.be/wJpR9n-L680 
SUNDAY POSTCARD ART's theme for the week is "tattoos." This is near and dear to my heart being a child of the 60's. I have a lovely thin vine with a couple of small flowers tattooed on my wrist (done within the last decade) and a matching  small flower on my ankle (from the 60's.) Here's the first woman tattoo artist, going back to the mid to late 1800's...Maud Stevens Wagner. She was a circus performer and learned the art of tattooing from her husband, also a circus performer! Here's Maud...

 Finally, TAKE A WORD simply asked to see "man!" That was easy and fun. I thought of boys and their toys...what's more fun than a motorcycle???

Thanks so much for stopping in. Please join me for the next posting. Enjoy your days ahead...

Big Hugs,
abbyj

THE THREE MUSES 

August 19, 2015 

Hi Dear Family and Friends,

This is the first summer in a decade that I haven't spent  part of my days in Africa...I'm missing it, but I was just there in January! Will return next year...soooo looking forward to visiting with extended family once again as well as making new friends.

When online art challenge group, THE THREE MUSES declared this week's theme for our creations to be "background with text,"  my thoughts turned to the Dark Continent.  I recalled a trip to Ethiopia where I spent a while with a tribe called the SURI. They are true artists...even the children...using natural elements for personal adornment: florals as well as minerals found in the ground to paint themselves and the things they make.  Here's the piece I created using my photo of a new friend...a chief's wife.

We spoke easily through a translator, despite her lip plate. Here are some more photos of these beautiful and interesting people...

Thank you for checking in. Hope you enjoyed a peek into the art of Ethiopia's Suri tribe. Please stop by for my next posting...

Hugs, abbyj 

PLAYING and FLORIDA 

August 16, 2015

Hot, hot days here in Central New York as in much of the country, but we're not used to it here. I'm ready for SNOW!! I know...crazy! Hope you're well and enjoying the season, wherever you are. We just returned from visiting with dear, long time friends...about 48 years of friendship- starting right here and continuing long distance. Pete and Martha live in Florida's panhandle, near Destin. We visited them with our daughter (their God-daughter) and our grandkids. I thought it was hot here...nothing compared to hot, humid Florida, but we had a wonderful visit with our friends and their family. Here are some photos...

(l to r) Michelle, Me and Lilly

Michael and Pete

Clark (4 years old) and Martha (Grandma)

Pete and me

Hunter (our 12 year old grandson)

Lilly, our 10 year old granddaughter

Lilly and her Mom, Michelle

Michelle and Michael tubing

 On to current art projects...Astrology is the theme for SUNDAY POSTCARD ART...here's a wizard of astrological matters...

TAKE A WORD wanted to see some glamorous women. To be a bit different, I went to the glamorous women who graced to noses of many of the U.S. airplanes involved in WWII... airplane nose art!

Finally, THE THREE MUSES challenged artists to create art with a "feathered friends" theme.

All fun themes to create...hope you enjoyed viewing them!

Big Hugs until my next posting,

abbyj

GRANDDAUGHTER ART 

August 14, 2015 

Meet Lilly, our 10 year old granddaughter. She's athletic, musical, artistic and a good student. Color us PROUD! Recently, on the plane coming home from Florida, we sat together and did some art. She wanted to learn how to use some of the art apps offered on her ipod and my iphone so we worked on some photos taken on our trip. She learned a difficult app, SUPERIMPOSE, so quickly it made my head spin. Here are some of her very first pieces...I can't wait to see what she's done since she's been home. She's already taught her Mom how to use the app!!

Keep it up, Lilly... this is a fun way to use your electronics in a more useful way than just playing games!!
Thanks for stopping by. I'll have a regular posting soon.

Big Hugs,
abbyj