my daughter, brooke's halloween costume

she is tina fey being sarah palin!

The Sacred Wood (near Rome)

just for Halloween.






BOO!





(the slanted house- looks like a painting - but its a photo)

OK i lied......

just a couple of more images.....(see the roman theater, circa 100 b.c. in the bottom picture?)
OK, i'm done.

the family farm........

here are a few pictures i have taken to try to show you just how big the farmland of my in-laws actually is. if you look at the end pictures you might see a couple of pinkish building on the far left. those are 2 of the family farmhouses. this time of year, the earth is churned up just after the sunflower harvest. now if you take a photo with the houses on it and join it end to end with the farmland without a house, that should give you an idea of the depth of the acreage.

But now, i am getting ready to say good-bye to italy on the blog, at least. i am sure i am beginning to bore you like a host who invites guests over just so he can pulled out the old projector to vacation photos. what? you say that's what i have been doing?!? well, you just don't appreciate the good life.

good-bye for now my Gubbio............ but don't worry, i will carry you in my heart until next year.

oh, before i go, i just want to say something to all you smartasses out there who corrected me about mentioning the swimming pool water was aquafina, yes, i suppose i knew aquafina is a water bottled here in CA, probably by coke-cola. i meant the swimming pool water is mountain mineral water like pellegrino or acqua panna which is actually bottled in florence, not too many miles from here. in any event it is actually mountain water from the nearby Apennine mountains.
the pool is heated to a constant 72 degrees with four large filter systems.

my article in somerset magazine...

check out the newest Somerset Studio magazine and see my article entitled "Bisquick Batik Technique" (nov. 08)----
i hope you like it.
(also see previous post may 17) when i first submitted the piece.
magazine work is interesting - if you want to get your work in a chirstmas issue you must submit in may. the first year i did this, i was on the lookout in stores for christmas imagery to do my project. i learned that that wouldn't work, so now i have seasonal "stuff" for art around the studio yearlong.

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gubbio delight

not everything in Gubbio was perfect - oh was it?
here they sell donkey, er, sorry, mule balls.
but, as my husband said - mules don't use them anyway!

(my daughter is a bit grossed out holding these things - and for that i'm glad)

umbrian landscape

god, how green is my valley?

for those who do not know - Umbria is located in the calf portion of the italy "boot" , or central italy. it is landlocked between tuscany to the west, marche (which has the adriatic coast) is to the east, and lazio (rome) is south.
This region is mostly hilly or mountainous. Its topography is dominated by the Apennines to the east, with the highest point in the region at Monte Vettore on the border of the Marche, and the Tiber valley basin, with the lowest point at Attigliano.

so,


how green is my valley? very.

teenage dating in italy........

my daughter rosie is about to turn 14. she is lucky to be half italian so that about once a year she gets to live with us at her grandparents home and be part of the village of Gubbio --- where her family line runs deep. Sadly, the ancient Bebi name ends with my husband. Gastone was the only son born of an only son.

rosie's father and grandfather were born with the help of a midwife in the very same master bedroom in their house in the city. rosie experiences deeply the meaning of her family ties. sometimes, i have to admit, i m jealous of her linage.

so the teenage culture is interesting from an amercian standpoint. The main corso or street in the walled-in village has this guy (pictured here) at the end of the block. He is a patriot named Giovanni Girabaldi. he is a magnificent statue on a pedestal on a hilly part of the end of the street so that he is very, uhm, looming, let's just say. in the middle of the corso which runs nearly the full distance of the town, stands a big church (also situated on the highest part of the street, probably for emphasis) named after saint Giovanni. on this street, the weekend evenings belong to teenagers who go to hang out, meet each other, have giddy encounters and so on. this is where rosie likes to walk. (strut) as the rest look on.
can you imagine your town having a place like this for teens to meet----between a church and a patriot statue, walled into the town? i can think of no safer place for teens than here. and the atmosphere is electric with the energy of a high school dance, a couple of girls whispering about another group of girls. and boys, 4 astride, walking down the street looking confident -only its very transparent they aren't at all confident, a group hanging against a house here and there, some looking into the shop windows. there are little bars along the street selling drinks and ice cream that teenagers are allowed to have. no cars on the road, there is no room on the road for the cars to pass. occasionally a motor scooter moving slower than walking, creeps through he crowd, greeting, talking and laughing the whole way through because the motor scooter driver is a kid too. The age range i would say is middle school through high school. a true youth group.
Rosie got lots of looks. she is beautiful but i would say it was also due to the fact that she was walking with her mom , a plump figure clad in a pink sweatshirt, jeans and white sneakers waddling the cobblestone streets grumbling that the walk' s killing her freshly surgeried knee......rosie was holding on my arm to help steady me along. yeah, and the other kids did not have their moms with them.
my physical "cut" and outfit screams "i'm american" .
let's face it, women in italy don't wear sweatshirts or pink, sneakers or jeans, not do they fashion hairdos that haven't been coifed since 1964. in this village they wear more conservative colors like browns and grays, go to the beauty salon once a week, wear wool skirts with matching sweaters, waffled jackets and clunky, all-weather pumps. in general, they are not fat.

what's that you say? neither do women my age in america dress like me? oh well. poor rosie.
rosie didn't need me to be with her as i felt it was safe, but she didn't want to be alone.


one saturday gastone and i went with friends to another town and left rosie with her 17 year old "learning to speak english" cousin named Erik in Perugia. actually he understands english better than i do. anyway, they had a great teenage time, walking the town, (the chocolate festival was on), going to an arcade, reading and writing emails or facebook or myspace or whatever. she had a blast - seemed that all of her cousin's friends knew she was coming and wanted to know all about her.
it was nice that she didn't have to walk around with some old woman dressed in a pink sweatshirt on her arm all day.
Erick was sweet he bought her a soft teddybear filled with Perugian chocolate, a happy and nice surprise for rosie. her time with Erik put her in a happy mood for days.

well, today she is up already (5:45 a.m.) getting ready to go back to school after a 3 week break. she is eager to be back. she has a lot of makeup school work to do, poor thing.

beautiful tuscany....

do i need any words to go with this photo?
not really. do you see what i mean about tuscany having a warm yellow - golden atmosphere? ( i mentioned this in an earlier post about the atmosphere of an area having a distinctive color - for instance many people say san diego's is golden) so that if you were to paint in the field, you would want to be sure and bring along you warmest yellows and earth tones.

i have a photo of my daughter when she was 6 years old lying on top of one of these hay rolls that was on of my family's farm.

now this photo makes me want a long afternoon with a full litre (or so) of chianti........i will think of this tonight as i drift to sleep.

parrrteee girl!

i just got back from italy like, an hour ago and wanted to drop by the blog to let you know that i'm baaack! i can't wait to post the pics from the lovely tranquil, god kissed earth of Umbria -mother nature's greenest valley, so much richer than the soil of tuscany....if you could even imagine that!

Thinking about some getaways on our trip, I just wanted to post this picture of one of the "goddesses"(?) from Bomarzo (north of rome) The Sacred Wood, constructed in 1552 (see my earlier post, oct. 11 for a description of this crazy park).

and my, my would you look at that splits this one is doing?!! and just for laughs, she has a little doorway, positioned, well, just wear it counts! nutty italians, and this is a family park, too! oh, i guess my puritan background is showing.
but is she cool, or what?

more reporting on the family's little (big) farmhouse tomorrow.....zzzzzzciaobabyzzzzz

i'm not home from italy yet, but look what we did!

PRESS RELEASE:

The second edition of N Art Magazine, the new monthly series featuring highlights of San Diego’s vital and varied art scene, will be broadcast Sunday, October 26 at 4 p.m. on KGTV, Channel 10. This episode features Diana Duval, who reflects on how she tells her life story through her compelling art. Enjoy armchair tours of The Artists Guild of the San Diego Museum of Art’s Festival of Fine Art and the San Diego Watercolor Society’s International Exhibition. The program also visits the “crossroads between digital technology and new art forms” at the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts, Calit2, at the University of California, San Diego. Guided by Technical Director Todd Margolis, viewers will see scenes from exciting videos in 4K, the step far beyond HD, including CRCA Director Sheldon Brown’s “Scalable City” and Mike Toillion’s “Beatbox 360”. Post-doctoral researcher Jeremy Douglass demonstrates cultural data visualization techniques on the 286 million pixel HIPerSpace video display. Renowned Composer in Residence Roger Reynolds discusses his innovative percussion work, “Sanctuary,” and researchers William Brent and Adam Wilson present Ludbots, simple mechanisms for playing acoustic instruments with digital precision. This may be the most mind expanding television in recent memory. For further information, please contact Patricia Dillard at (619) 463-2235.

Luca Signorelli

yesterday we went to see the cathedral of Orvieto, Umbria, high on a hill over looking the fairytale farmland that rolls on forever-that God must love more than any other- and that me as a mere mortal felt humbled to see. Inside the Cathedral is the jaw dropping, overwhelmingly significant and informative artwork of Luca Signorelli. We happened upon the church by driving onto the piazza, entirely by mistake, but as the carabinieri (police) slowly turned their heads to see us poised in our car in the middle of the people's plaza, they without apparent shock, turned their heads away again, i suppose, it was no big deal. no one else had ther car there, but the police didn't seem to notice us.....what can i say? this added to the weirdness of the place....i felt close in proximity to heaven.

In case you are not familiar to Luca Signorelli's work....
(this painting is of Madonna with the Saints in Perugia) Orvieto's cathedral's vaults and on the upper walls represent the events surrounding the Apocalypse and the Last Judgment. The events begin with the Preaching of Antichrist, and proceed to the Doomsday and The Resurrection of the Flesh. They occupy three vast lunettes, each of them a single continuous narrative composition. In one of them, Antichrist, after his portents and impious glories, falls headlong from the sky, crashing down into an innumerable crowd of men and women. These paintings fill the vaults and the space around the altar.
There is Paradise, the Elect and the Condemned, Hell, the Resurrection of the Dead, and the Destruction of the Reprobate.

Signorelli also painted the Madonna leading the Apostles, Patriarchs, Doctors of the Church, Martyrs, and Virgins. i love the involvment of these lesser considered spiritual people - not well noted in other churches.
and if you can believe the history of art is included; and even included is h Dante, specifically the first eleven books of his Purgatorio, and with the poets and legends of antiquity.

Michelangelo is claimed to have borrowed, in his own fresco at the Sistine Chapel wall, some of Signorelli's figures or combinations.

i also read that he was paid along with lodging and two measures of wine every month. he was ordered to consult the Sacred Pages of theological matters.....to complete this masterpiece. it took him about 2 years.

When Signorelli painted the dead Christ, he used the image of his dead son, who had died of the plague during the 2 year period of execution of the cathedral's paintings.

gubbio home

today we go to Umbrian city Orvieto for a nice look at Signorelli art work! i'm taking the camera and only hope i wil be able to upload later!
ciao baby.

acquafina

turns out the swimming pool water is acquafina! i'm not clear as to how they clean it, i think they simply filter it with clean water. i never smell chlorine or any chemical for that matter.

as for what we have been doing yesterday we spent the entire day pilgrimaging at Assisi. just like saint frances. I love assisi, i'm not even a very religious person, but i do feel peaceful and pure in the town. of course the art is wonderful, frescoes in the bascilica were created by giotti in the 1500's.
we also visited a photo art show and a museum of the martrydom.
today we have visitors from california. its nice to show off the town as though it is our own. the town being gubbio.

swimming

i have gone swimming that last couple of days at the pool where rosie is working out and all i can say is, the pool must be filled with "acquafina" it is so clean and pure.

i wish i could post my photos but i need my own computer that has photoshop so that i can get them downsized to fit here.

yesterday we visited Cassia, a small Umbrian town noted for the patron saint Rita - it is a mountain town that snows during colder months. the tiny winding road we took to get there, i found out was the "new" road. breath taking beauty, although i did worry at times we would fall down a cliff.
(i am able to post some photos on NARTMAGAZINE.typepad.com.....if you are interested).

visiting

i thought i would write a quick note to tell you we have been busy visiting with what seems an endless amount of relatives on my mother-in-law's side of the family. most of them live here in gubbio, but they also have their summer homes, er, farms here (these homes are able to sleep a dozen people at least each) who live in rome and elsewhere the rest of the time.
i will be writing later on this score.

meanwhile our daughter rosie, has been swimming for the italian team here in gubbio each day - i love the coach and wish we could bring him home with us.

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monster love in italy.

Bomarzo's weird Monster Park, also known as The Sacred Wood, is 10 miles from Rome.
We went there today, it was a 2 hour drive from Gubbio, but it was such a perfect, beautiful day, that we only enjoyed every minute of the drive.
this monster park is very fascinating, but hard to find. it was constructed in 1552 under the command of Prince Orsini who was in love with a woman who died, in her honor he ordered the construction of this haunting garden. it was then created by Vatican architect Pirro Ligorio,. The place is a tranquil, beautiful and bizarre escape from busy Italy, with trickling streams, waterfalls and shady walks interrupted by vast mythical creatures representing the union of death and nature. Statues include Cerberus [guardian of the Underworld]; a full-size elephant killing a Roman legionary, a dragon fighting a dog, lion and wolf; Pegasus the flying horse; Neptune talking to a dolphin, a leaning house and this weird face that you can walk into and have dinner if you liked, it has a table built inside.
some people think that creating ugly statues couldn't possibly be imagined from someone in love, but for Orsini, it had to be monsters.
this place is delightful and romantic, i can't say for sure why it is romantic, but it just is. perhaps because it is so exotic.

worlds largest christmas tree.....

this time of year the people of Gubbio start to get ready for christmas -- they begin to put up this christmas tree. these lights on their hillside take 3 months to erect. the lights turn on december 7.
The Guiness book of world records claim this is the largest christmas tree on earth! it is something like 21/2 miles high and 2 miles wide. we won't be here to see it lit, but we can see the wires being put up.
as for the temperature this time of year........, the weather is still warm enough for short sleeves and only a sweatshirt at night!

White truffle

(exerpt taken from my blog entry at nartmagazine.com, which has an accompanying photo) we drove to Citta' di Casttello today in lookout for some fine food and wine. Of course in Italy, it is almost impossible to eat badly, and there is no bad wine. last night my father-in-law at dinnertime presented a bottle of merlot that cost $2.50. HA! It was excellent, grown and bottled right here in Umbria.

The way to Citta' de Castello was all rolling green hills and vineyards. We have an American speaking GPS system, but happily got lost along the way down a one way road that took us past many privately owned vineyards. I have been to Napa Valley. Napa is beautiful, but not near as beautiful as Umbria.....Umbria is Italy's green spot. Prettier than Tuscany, hands down.

I have always had the belief that God loved the Italians more than anyone else on Earth. How do i know that? The evidence shows it, wonderfully fertile earth, beautiful to the eyes as well as healthy to all the vegetation and animals. Take for instance this picture Ive posted here. If you don't know what it is, you might think it is something a dog left along the road or a dirt clod. No, this, my friends, is a white truffle, a root found in Umbria's rich soil that tastes like heaven. It has a wonderful earthy taste that is outrageous in sauces; in pasta and cheese. It is nearly impossible to buy this in the US. Once you have tasted it you would never forget it and you will thank the good lord for producing it.

I realize I am in Italy representing N Magazine which is about art, but I find it hard to separate the pleasures. In Italy all senses come to life, and all senses run over the top. That is perhaps, why Italy has so much fine art, another means to express and share it all.

Tuesday morning...

i can show images on my other blog at typepad.com N Art Magazine's Daily Dish. if you happen to go there, you will see the image of Gubbio, the tall building houses one of the three houses of my in-laws. their other two are outside(not pictured) the medieval wall in what they call the country. this year they had a sunflower farm, but by the time we got here, they had already harvested it - 6 1/2 acres of it. Gubbio, Umbria is a secretive beauty in rolling hills. On one side of the city is a range of fairly tall pine tree mountians that get snow during christmas time. The other side of Gubbio leading to Perugia has gently rolling hills with castles and monasteries.
We went to the flea market today and got loads of delicious food including my favorite, truffle cheese, for our meals for the rest of the week.
Later this week we will visit a ceramic artesans studio for instruction on creating this old craft.

N Art Magazine's site

www.nartmagazine.com

try this site to get a load of our show. the gallery section of the show needs a lot of work, we know that.
our mission statement is good - we want to focus on area/regional arts and passion for the arts, to stimulate interest and economy for all.

greetings from Gubbio:

i am writing from my mother-in-laws computer as our trusted wireless service, namely expensive AT&T international, does not owrked as promised by the At&T salesgirl, who represented her entire company when she said she absolutely knew for a fact that it would work.
so, i don't have acces to my computer's images. until i can figure out my mother-in-laws computer (everything is in italian), i will postpone submitting images. which is too bad as it is so beautiful here.
i was able to post pictures on my other blog, N Art Magazine's blog, so you may see them there.
just google N Art Magazine. i'm not sure the exact URL.

we are still suffereing from jet-lag, sleeping during the day and wide awake at night - starin g up at the ceiling in our bedrooms, wondering why. why didn't we try harder to stay awake during the day. but after our humungous lunches of soup, meats, pasta, salad, cheese, fruit and then gelato, its hard to stay awake. did i mention the wine too.
just to let you know that we made it safe and sound, and are eating well....sleeping well albeit the wrong hours.
i will try harder tomorrow to post images. but meanwhile try N art magazine.

tomorrow rosie will start swimming with an italian swim team.
ciao

packing, part 2......

i also included a new set of small bottles of golden's fluid acrylics, journal, raw canvas sheets without supports, charcoal pencils, small watercolor set, ink pen, matte medium, gesso, scissors, paintbrushes....allergy medicine.

did i mention 4 pairs of shoes (see previous post) ...and clothes, etc.

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packing......

i just finished packing - i have 4 pairs of shoes and this guy in my suitcase.
do you think anyone like either my husband or the airlines would notice?
its gonna be a long flight.