LA CAMPIÑA, watercolor

La Campiña, 6x9 in. watercolor
painted near Assisi, Umbria, Italy

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in "Circles", said:
"The one thing which we seek with insatiable desire is to forget ourselves, to be surprised out of our propriety, to lose our sempiternal memory, and to do something without knowing how or why...Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. The way of life is wonderful: it is by abandonment."

BUENOS VECINOS, watercolor

Buenos Vecinos, 11x15 in.  watercolor

This is the area where I'm living, walking, painting, working, breathing in now. Range of nuances, scene becomes emotion, nature repeats itself. Mysticism and nature in perfect union, ginestra in bloom covering the fields with yellow flowers, and its smell invading your soul. Breathe in, breathe out, close your eyes, open your eyes. You are in Umbria, "the green heart of Italy".

UMBRIA, ITALY, watercolor

Umbria, Italy, watercolor 6x9 in.

Walking around Assisi, in the province of Perugia, in Umbria, we often see grapevines attached to a wall, a building, and even to another tree for support.

Reading DANTE, A LIFE, by R.W.B. Lewis, I've just learned that when the first gold florin was minted in 1552, it became almost instantly the basic monetary measure in Europe. Its originality consisted in that instead of being engraved with the pope or the emperor, as it had been the custom, it had the symbols of the city of Florence (thus "florin"), St. Giovanni on one side, and the lily on the other, the city's secular emblem.

SERENITY, watercolor

Serenity, 6x9 watercolor

An old chair in the garden: Arte Studio Ginestrelle,  Assisi, region of Umbria, in Italy. The yellow flower, "ginestra", gives its name to the Residency: "ginestrelle", little ginestra. A place to meditate, read, and find your "duende", after Federico Garcia Lorca's definition of your inspiration, your passion for creation, your losing yourself in something new, exciting, inviting, the joy of discovering a connection between what's inside yourself and how to express it.