Day 3: Picnic Day

As usual, most of us wake early, some earlier than others, to paint outside in the morning light. The paintings that people started Monday are continued and finished or new ones are begun. Some of us most be reminded that less is more; that too much fussing defiles the original spirit of the painting. (The early painters are also served coffee outside - a nice touch.)



Nancy at the big olive tree.

Larry's Geraniums

Breakfast follows. The morning buffet is laid out with fresh yogurt, fruit, ham, cheese, toast, fruit tarts, cakes, croissants, boiled eggs, juice and more that I'm forgetting. We are served capuccino, tea or "american" coffee.

After breakfast, the first real class takes place. Today the topic is observation, looking, painting what you see, not what you know. I didn't get photos of this session, but Larry's first start at the tractor is an example of what not to paint: Laura said it looked like a diagram in an repair manual. Georgio's tractor now exudes the spirit of Georgio, the gardener or maybe Tommy the Locomotive.

Then the post-breakfast session begins, each person taking up his or her place again in the hay field across the road to finish the painting started there on the day before. For some, the rolls of hay are hard to capture; for others tis the sky that's difficult.


Larry's Field with Hay Bales (for a well-rounded diet rather than a square meal, attributed later to George O'Connor of the Wicked Pickers.)
We break; tis getting really hot now. Ask Ellen: she's our thermometer. After the clean-up, we gather our secret picnic lunch from the fridge, cram into the cars, and drive towards Sarteano on Route 478. Only about 10 minutes away, after many curves and hills, we pull into the picnic table area with beautiful panoramic views which unfold from both sides of the road. Billy and Laura unpack their loot: salamis, cheese, olives, cherries, apricots, peaches and a melon, all of which taste so wonderful, as we throw the pits into the trees below. We go through a lot of water in the heat.

After this fine repast, we divide up into 3 groups: those staying on the hill to paint the view, those going back to the villa either to paint in the shade or to slip into the pool, and those going on a little hill town excursion.

We meet back at the villa for critique of work done so far.

Then we have an "early" dinner that starts between 7:30 and 8, so that we may wake up early for our early departure to Florence tomorrow.