Lessons Drawn From Italy or Don't Try to Post with Jet Lag

My demo painting

 We arrived home from Italy late last night and found the house, the dogs and our child still here. I thought about what to write on the blog today and some really great ideas came to mind, like reporting with photos on the great shoes I bought in Italy or what I learned about renaissance art or fresco painting. However, I was too jet lagged to try to impress you. So I thought I might show you the first lesson I taught at my workshop in Tuscany. I brought a drawing I had done before the trip in order to begin teaching  Tuscany travel painting concepts like textures, colors and shadows.  Everyone in the workshop picked up the concepts quickly and did a great job. I concluded they were fully trained in Basic Tuscany painting. 

For this week's Tuesday Art Skool post, I will teach you these things.

My door I painted this morning, but couldn't find my  other colors, I think they are somewhere under the souvenirs in my suitcase.

My door I painted this afternoon after eating my first burrito after  17  days  of pasta eating.

Paris Airport Shopping

We are delayed in the Paris airport for a couple of extra hours. This delay is not a problem for me as how could I have a problem with spending extra time in the Paris airport which is filled with duty-free shops and excellent people watching opportunities. After purusing the shops I have decided I don't need a ring from Cartier, a scarf from Hermes or a purse from Prada, but they are fun to look at. I did my shopping in the little shops in Tuscany.

Florence, Italy and Gelato

Today we are in Florence and have spent our day walking and visiting Gelato Shops.
Speaking of gelato, Polly asked me to report what flavors of gelato I tried. The answer is Tiramisu and coffee, Tiramisu and crema. Today my husband tried coffee and panna cotta and he reported it was very good.
This summer I will be teaching some watercolor classes at our local libraries. The subject of my paintings will be based on the summer reading theme, "Reading is Delicious" and we will paint pictures of ice cream and desserts. So actually my Italian gelato tasting was research for these classes...

Italian Breakfast Watercolors

Today my breakfast is the subject of my paintings. I was very inspired by Cafe Polizano where we had breakfast. It was built in 1868 and the interior is very art deco and the view from the terrace is a panorama of Tuscan countryside. The breakfast we were served is a typical Italian breakfast. Anyone think I should change the name of this blog to "Italian Breakfast?"

Shopping and Painting

Today in Italy I kept busy. I bought some things and then I showed a new friend how to use watercolors.