Thursday, July 2, was our free day: Laura went to Siena with her family to take in some of the pre-Pallio pagentry; Nancy, Christy and I first went to a local spa for a mud treatment, then lunched simply but amply at Eraldo's in Lucignano d'Asso, and then we skirted a mean thunderstorm by visiting Montalcino, Castiglione d'Orcia and Montichiello, before landing again at La Palazzina.
July 3 was the day when both Nancy and Christy really got a handle on using pastels, so it was definitely a good day. In the afternoon, there was a critique of all work done to date. Twas interesting to see the gradual improvement curve of our work.
The facade of La Palazzina turned out to be an extreme challenge to paint.
Here Nancy sits by the pool and paints in familiar acrylics, to restore her artistic confidence. It worked. The next full painting day was her breakthrough day.Christy did a marvelous drawing of the steps to the pool area; I don't yet have a photo.
