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Italy: Find it in your art
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| Laura-Jane Filotrani with her art group |
As holidays go, an art trail through Italy is something a little different. It's not the regular two weeks on a beach smothered in sun screen.
This is a holiday for sensualists. It is a feast for the eyes, for the heart, for the brain, the palate and the soul. It is a sensory onslaught - totally consuming and totally indulgent says LAURA-JANE FILOTRANI
I couldn't have been more excited at the prospect - food, wine and the chance to paint - pretty much a perfect combination for me.
The trips are organised by Point101 - a vibrant company based in London, which promises to dispel the stereotypes of the frumpy art holiday where painting is by numbers and offer instead the chance to really engage with the environment.
The art trip in Italy covers the three main provinces of Abruzzo - Pescara, L'Aquila and Chieti. Abruzzo has been picked by many as the new Tuscany. It is located midway on the east coast, almost opposite Rome (which is only a two-hour drive away) and provides a landscape of variety - patchwork hills, dramatic mountains, sandy beaches and sunsets which make your heart sing.
The idea of the Point101 holiday is to draw and paint the landscape while submerging yourself in the Italian culture and cuisine and to come away with something you have created.
There was lots of light trekking up mountains and positioning in front of the breathtaking mountains on artist stools and sketching and smudging and generally getting messy.
At all times there was a glass of proseco, chilled and bubbling, on hand to lubricate the creative flow.
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| All art materials are supplied by Point 101 |
We stayed first in Santa Stefano di Sessanio, which is an incredibly exciting location. Set high up in the mountains, it is a medieval village which has been restored into a spectacular town hotel by a visionary Daniele Elow Kihlgren. His driving ambition to maintain the evidence of the lives lived in poverty while at the same time introducing the luxuries of contemporary living, gives the place a strange juxtapostion of old and new, poor and rich.
The attention to detail gives the feeling you are an invited guest in someone's home. The interiors are furnished in the Arte Povera tradition - the folk arts and craft of the Abruzzo mountains - and the modern-day conveniences such as internet access are discreet but present in every room.
It's all dark wood and white linen, baths which are sculptures and showers which are like waterfalls. Inside you are quiet and hidden - such a contrast to the brilliant blue skies and sunshine outside.
The restaurant which belongs to the hotel has it's own agricultural farm so the menu offers all the pleasures of homegrown produce. In fact everywhere we went there was an emphasis on using local produce, local materials and local knowledge.
Having a common focus - the art sessions - our group of 10 bonded in a way which I don't think would have happened had we been on a sight-seeing trip. We shared our ideas, our drawings and our frustrations. Also the thing about drawing something is you look at it in a more critical way.
The result was we all came away with a lasting impression of the Abruzzo countryside. We drew and painted on the tops of mountains, in among ruins and on the edge of a plain, using a variety of materials, from chalk to gouache.
I found the art sessions an emotional roller coaster. I felt joy and frustration. I could have done with a few extra days (I was on a short trip rather than the full seven days).
Trying to capture even a tiny part of the immensity of the mountains was a challenge. I have never painted landscapes so it was all new to me. I was so overwhelmed by the differing textures and shades and tones at times I could do nothing but look. But these holidays are not about being an accomplished artist - they are about exploring possibilities, experimenting and having fun.
One of our art sessions took place in the grounds of a restored Baron's castle. Sitting under a silver birch, trying to capture in oil pastels the dapples of sunshine across my paper, it was hard to imagine time better spent.
The lunch at the Baron's castle was sumptuous. Dishes of meats and cheese - a particularly tasty roulade of mixed meats, parmesan, beans dressed with garlic all laid out on a grand oval table and lit by an enormous chandlier laden with crystal.
We were also treated to some gorgeous wines by the Masciarelli family. In particular the Marina Cvetic Chardonay - named after Gianni Masciarelli's wife. It is a deep yellow which usually signals something far too fruity for my palate but because of the long ageing time (23 months) the flavour is oaky and deep and complex and thick.
Chandeliers and secret chambers, stone and glass, heavy wood and intricate tapestries - we were drinking in the past.
The days followed a similar pattern eat, draw, eat, draw, eat, accompanied by plenty of laughter. We were treated to the most delicious cheese, meats, pasta and wines - all totally Italian.
We were invited to eat with the locals on big long tables where everyone chatted, in both English and Italian and shared many dishes and so at all times we were surrounded by the language and the culture. One last dish I need to mention was of fresh pasta with porcini mushrooms, Parmesan and chilli oil from the second hotel we stayed in, in Torricella - heaven.
It was one of those magical trips you want to continue on and on with. Our art tutor Selwyn and the director of Point101 James were lovely, supportive and encouraging and really good company.
We left with our artwork (and five litres of olive oil) having made friends and shared an experience to continue long in our memories.
Visit point101.com/artholidays/
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