This Fall Immerse yourself in the Umbrian countryside with the bountiful harvest of olives and wine while painting and exploring artistic treasures with Jill. The all-inclusive experience, features: Saturday and Sunday Brunch with Prosecco; painting on Saturday with instruction from Jill, dinner off the grill on the terrace with regional wine Saturday Night, Sunday Morning Art Conversation, Tour of Assisi after Sunday Brunch, Transfer to Fiumicino airport (FCO) after breakfast Monday.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Again, your workshop package is all-inclusive and worry-free, providing departure services and airport transfer to the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), lunch and dinner on Friday, Prosecco brunch and grilled dinner on Saturday and Sunday. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
In the 14th c. Sicilian painter, Antonello di Messina brought the new medium of oil painting to Italy. In his travels, he brought the medium to Venice, where artists such as Giovanni Bellini, adopted, and expanded the expressive potential of the medium. Perhaps one of the most influential painting teachers in history, Bellini’s pupils included some of the greatest figures in the history of the medium: Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese. Their often huge, operatic paintings mark a kind of crowning achievement for the medium, and the processes they developed consequently influenced other great artists and schools of art that included Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Velazquez and countless others who have followed in their path.
This workshop will follow the oil painting methods of the great Venetian masters. Working from reproductions, participants will reproduce easel-sized works of the Venetian school of the 16th-18th c. They may also choose to copy a detail from larger Venetian masterworks. To as great an extent possible, students will use the same materials of 15th and 16th c. Venetian artists, many of which will be prepared by hand in class, according to traditional recipes.
Beginning on a uniquely coarse, stretched canvas (approximately 36” x 30”) prepared with rabbit skin glue and white lead, participants will apply a colored ground. This rich, colored surface establishes an overall, atmospheric tonality, that also functions as a very useful neutral color. This then, serves as the basis for the serendipitous approach to color and the remarkable atmospheric effects that are unique to this school of painting.
On this rich surface, participants will transfer perforated drawings with charcoal and a pounce as was done in this time. Afterward, earth colors, carbon black, and white lead ground in oil will be prepared by the class. With these basic colors, an underpainting will be developed using alternating layers of washes and thick impasto areas of white lead. Afterward, rich layers of transparent colors made primarily from pigments produced in in our Pigments and Paint Workshop will be applied. In the process, students will develop an unders
tanding of the important terms, glaze (a dark, thinned color over a lighter surface) and scumble (a thin layer of white lead) as they seek to reproduce the sumptuous color and dramatic brushwork characteristic of the Venetian School.
During the class participants will have the unique opportunity to see remarkable examples of work by the Venetian masters in person during our excursion to the Pitti Palace in Florence.
Throughout the workshop, participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes an excursion to Florence. Of course, throughout your stay, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Price of the workshop includes all materials needed to produce the painting described above, except brushes, which will be available for sale at ICA in Italy. While it is unlikely that the painting will be completed in the timeframe allowed by the workshop, our goal is to give participants a sufficient understanding of the Venetian process in order to complete the painting at home. As part of the course fee, participants will be issued a unique folding stretcher that allows the painting itself to be folded into a carry-on luggage-sized parcel, even if not fully dry.
This intensive workshop will be a hands-on immersion into the art and science of taxidermy for conservation and public education. Students will create taxidermy birds and mammals with techniques used in museums, utilizing custom forms and advanced methods for accuracy of any specimen they may work on in the future.
Students will learn to skin animals, prepare skins, read reference materials, create custom forms/armatures, pose animals, assemble specimens, groom and finish the pieces for realism. We will also be teaching advanced techniques such as creating death-masks and molding & casting head forms in order to make both 3D reference and provide an incredibly accurate facial structure.
Our goal is that students leave with both finished work and the ability to practice the craft of taxidermy themselves.
All specimens will be by products from other uses; hunting for food or non-native pest control.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
This is a 2 week class covering both birds and mammals.
Bird taxidermy is its own unique craft requiring anatomical knowledge, technical skill and an artistic sensibility. In this intensive workshop, we will be teaching students all of these fundamentals utilizing museum techniques. This class is recommended for both beginners and those with taxidermy experience looking to learn Allis Markham’s museum techniques. Birds are also a perfect way to start learning taxidermy because students can go from frozen to finished all in one course. We will be working on Magpies and Crows locally collected as part of abatement / pest control; their deaths are not exclusively for this course. These species also lend themselves well to learning taxidermy and can create beautiful results with a lot of character. In fact, Allis has had the pleasure of creating and displaying both species for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.
We will begin with a discussion of Avian anatomy, how to obtain legal specimens and general techniques for working on birds. Students will be learning the skills of: skinning, fleshing, wiring, wrapped body creation, mounting, posing and grooming. All supplies, tools and specimens will be provided for your class. After the end of this course, students will be able to take their own Crow or Magpie home on a base. After the course ends, every student will receive a list of documents, including a list of steps, supplies, tools and video resources all to assist in gaining the knowledge to start their own projects at home.
The ICArts team will also assist students with the logistics of getting their final pieces home safely.
The nature of Mammal taxidermy is far different from that of birds. Students will find this course to be more sculpting-centered with a large attention to muscle detail. This class is recommended for both beginners and those with taxidermy experience looking for a way to learn mammal taxidermy and the art of creating custom-made mammal mounts utilizing museum techniques.
In this class, we will be focusing on the taxidermy of two common North American mammals, the Grey Fox and the Striped Skunk. These were collected in the United States as part of abatement / pest control; their deaths are not exclusively for this course.
While these specimens are native to the US, we have taken great care to make sure our materials are all commonly available in Europe and around the world. For instance, we will be learning the very custom technique of wrapping the bodies of the animals instead of ordering commercial forms which may not be available outside of the US, and are not nearly as accurate as creating a form for your specific specimen. This technique is used often for more exotic museum specimens due to the lack of commercial forms for them and the ability to create a more accurate form when custom-made.
We will begin with a discussion of each animal’s anatomy, how to obtain legal specimens and general techniques for working on mammals. Students will start with tanned specimens (due to the process of tanning which requires weeks) but will be given a tutorial and documents on skinning and tanning.
In class, students will learn the skills of: measuring and wrapping forms, posing the forms for behavior and anatomical accuracy, custom-carving heads, Earliner-creation, skin fitting, creating/setting paws, sewing, facial details, and grooming/finishing work. We will also perform a demonstration on how to mold & cast for the creation death masks in order to create incredibly accurate headforms. All supplies, tools and specimens will be provided for your class. By the end of the class, students will take home their own Grey Fox or Skunk on a base. After the course ends, every student will receive a list of documents, including a list of steps, supplies, tools, formula for tanning, and video resources all to assist in gaining the knowledge to start their own projects at home.
The ICArts team will also assist students with the logistics of getting their final pieces home safely.
This intensive workshop will be a hands-on immersion into the art and science of taxidermy for conservation and public education. Students will create taxidermy Mammals with techniques used in museums, utilizing custom forms and advanced methods for accuracy of any specimen they may work on in the future.
Students will learn to skin animals, prepare skins, read reference materials, create custom forms/armatures, pose animals, assemble specimens, groom and finish the pieces for realism. We will also be teaching advanced techniques such as creating death-masks and molding & casting head forms in order to make both 3D reference and provide an incredibly accurate facial structure.
Our goal is that students leave with both finished work and the ability to practice the craft of taxidermy themselves.
The nature of Mammal taxidermy is far different from that of birds. Students will find this course to be more sculpting-centered with a large attention to muscle detail. This class is recommended for both beginners and those with taxidermy experience looking for a way to learn mammal taxidermy and the art of creating custom-made mammal mounts utilizing museum techniques.
In this class, we will be focusing on the taxidermy of two common North American mammals, the Grey Fox and the Striped Skunk. These were collected in the United States as part of abatement / pest control; their deaths are not exclusively for this course. While these specimens are native to the US, we have taken great care to make sure our materials are all commonly available in Europe and around the world. For instance, we will be learning the very custom technique of wrapping the bodies of the animals instead of ordering commercial forms which may not be available outside of the US, and are not nearly as accurate as creating a form for your specifi
c specimen. This technique is used often for more exotic museum specimens due to the lack of commercial forms for them and the ability to create a more accurate form when custom-made.
We will begin with a discussion of each animal’s anatomy, how to obtain legal specimens and general techniques for working on mammals. Students will start with tanned specimens (due to the process of tanning which requires weeks) but will be given a tutorial and documents on skinning and tanning.
In class, students will learn the skills of: measuring and wrapping forms, posing the forms for behavior and anatomical accuracy, custom-carving heads, Earliner-creation, skin fitting, creating/setting paws, sewing, facial details, and grooming/finishing work. We will also perform a demonstration on how to mold & cast for the creation death masks in order to create incredibly accurate headforms. All supplies, tools and specimens will be provided for your class. By the end of the class, students will take home their own Grey Fox or Skunk on a base. After the course ends, every student will receive a list of documents, including a list of steps, supplies, tools, formula for tanning, and video resources all to assist in gaining the knowledge to start their own projects at home.
The ICArts team will also assist students with the logistics of getting their final pieces home safely.
This intensive workshop will be a hands-on immersion into the art and science of taxidermy for conservation and public education. Students will create taxidermy birds with techniques used in museums, utilizing custom forms and advanced methods for accuracy of any specimen they may work on in the future.
Students will learn to skin animals, prepare skins, read reference materials, create custom forms/armatures, pose animals, assemble specimens, groom and finish the pieces for realism. We will also be teaching advanced techniques such as creating death-masks and molding & casting head forms in order to make both 3D reference and provide an incredibly accurate facial structure.
Our goal is that students leave with both finished work and the ability to practice the craft of taxidermy themselves.
Bird taxidermy is its own unique craft requiring anatomical knowledge, technical skill and an artistic sensibility. In this intensive workshop, we will be teaching students all of these fundamentals utilizing museum techniques. This class is recommended for both beginners and those with taxidermy experience looking to learn Allis Markham’s museum techniques. Birds are also a perfect way to start learning taxidermy because students can go from frozen to finished all in one course. We will be working on Magpies and Crows locally collected as part of abatement / pest control; their deaths are not exclusively for this course. These species also lend themselves well to learning taxidermy and can create beautiful results with a lot of character. In fact, Allis has had the pleasure of creating and displaying both species for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.
We will begin with a discussion of Avian anatomy, how to obtain legal specimens and general techniques for working on birds. Students will be learning the skills of: skinning, fleshing, wiring, wrapped body creation, mounting, posing and grooming. All supplies, tools and specimens will be provided for your class. After the end of this course, students will be able to take their own Crow or Magpie home on a base. After the course ends, every student will receive a list of documents, including a list of steps, supplies, tools and video resources all to assist in gaining the knowledge to start their own projects at home.
The ICArts team will also assist students with the logistics of getting their final pieces home safely.
Oil painting developed in Northern Europe early in the 15th c. and Italian painters of the next generation quickly adopted the medium to their own unique vocabulary. Antonello di Messina is generally credited with the introduction of oil painting to Italy and more specifically, to Venice. Artists such as Giovanni Bellini, as well as Leonardo further expanded the expressive potential of the medium. The processes that these artists developed consequently influenced the whole history of Western Art.
This workshop will follow their methods. Working from reproductions participants will use materials of the time, prepared by hand in a traditional way. Beginning on a wooden panel, prepared with rabbit skin glue and chalk gesso, participants will transfer their perforated drawings with charcoal and a pounce, then develop a wash drawing with genuine sepia ink, followed by an imprimatura – a colored “veil” - that establishes a tonality and a very useful neutral color. From here, oil paint ground in class will be used to develop the underpainting. Afterwards, rich glazes of transparent colors made primarily from pigments produced in in our Pigments and Paint Workshop.
Throughout the workshop, participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop
package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino,Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes an excursion to Perugia. Of course, throughout your stay, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Price of the workshop includes all materials needed to produce the painting described above, except brushes, which will be available for sale at ICA in Italy. While it is unlikely that the painting will be completed in the timeframe allowed by the workshop, our goal is to give participants a sufficient understanding of the Northern Renaissance process in order to complete the painting at home. As part of the course fee, participants will be issued a unique case for the painting that allows the painting itself to be folded into a carry-on luggage-sized parcel even if not fully dry.
In this course, we will explore surfaces and forms that are enhanced by a decorative Maiolica surface. We will start with making tiles and learn a variety of making techniques. They will be fired and glazed with maiolica. Then, we will have a brushwork lesson, and learn about the brush shapes, and uses.
Participants will make pots and forms to decorate after the bisque firing. Karin will demonstrate a variety of painting and patterning techniques. Then we’ll paint, paint, paint, and glaze fire at the end. Karin shares all her recipes and tricks for making the Maiolica work well. Historical and contemporary maiolica art will be shown to inspire us.
The Tiber Valley below Monte Castello, is rich in clay deposits, which have fostered ceramic traditions for millenia. Since the 14th c., the nearby town of Deruta remains one the world-centers of majolica technique. We will visit Deruta to see traditional artists at work, get to know their techniques, and experience their wares. We will also tour the outstanding, Museo Regionale Della Ceramica, one of the oldest ceramic museums in Italy, with over 6,000 works in the collection! Remarkably, the museum is connected by an underground tunnel to the San Salvatore Kilns, an ancient network of kilns and ceramic facilities dating from the late 1200’s. It is a fascinating and inspiring site to see and experience the rich history of the medium - the perfect setting for our workshop! On our way back to Monte Castelo, we will stop at one of the famous wineries in the Sagrantino zone and sample some of the incredible wines of the region.
Participants in the workshop will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
When we think of Italian wine regions, most often, we think about Tuscany and Piedmont but instead, this boot-shaped country has so much varied landscapes and oenological culture to discover. One of the least-known regions but with outstanding wines is Campania, the region of Naples where the tradition of gastronomy is supremely important.
It’s a volcanic territory where the mighty Mount Vesuvius reigns but little do we know that there’s a super volcano sleeping quietly very close to it, underneath the ground, sandwiching Naples in between. The locals are actually living on top of the underground volcano! Referred to as a super volcano, Campi Flegrei or Phlegraean Fields in English (also known as burning fields), is comprised of 24 craters and edifices, many of which are underwater in Pozzouli Bay. Rocks, pozzolans and lapilli born from fire are scattered about which make the soil for viticulture extremely special. The wines are born with great personalities, imprinted with deep expressions of minerality, marked salinity and bright acidity influenced by the composition of the soil where they are planted. The white variety Falanghina and the red variety Piedirosso express excellently in this territory.
Then there are the 10 to 20-meter high old vines of Asprinio d’Aversa. These are vines climbing around tall poplars or elm trees which act as guardians. On their full vegetative cycle, you find yourself in-between tall green walls of grapevines with treetops poking out like at regular intervals. The wines produced from Aprinio d’Aversa has its own peculiarity with its crispy acidity and refreshingly dry character giving out aromas of white jasmine and fresh herbs.
Campania has lot of indigenous grapes that thrive well in its characteristic soils. Coda di Volpe, Coda di Pecora, Casavecchia, Falanghina, Biancolella, Greco, Fiano, Aglianico, Piedirosso, and more. These are excellent wines to drink and when they are aged, they evolve deeper with beautiful complexity, but they are not as diffused outside the region as we would want them to be. This is a great reason to see and taste Campania on your next visit!
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Autochthonous refers to a variety of grape from a specific terroir. In other words, a particular type of grape adapted to a specific soil and geography, as well as to tradition. Italy is one of the countries with the most autochthonous grapes in the world - and there are 545 registered varieties for making wine! Each one has its distinguishing quality and story. The Italian producers have started to revive these vines, some of which were almost extinct, and produce wines from them, just like the old times.
In this workshop, we will learn about some of these grapes, and their traditions – we will taste the wines, and meet the producers who make them. Printouts will be handed to help facilitate learning during lessons, wine will be tasted and there will be visits to wineries. Let’s dive into the wine world of Italy and see and taste why this country is so special!
Additionally, our workshop dates coincide with the annual Cantine Aperte festival, which is one of the most important wine events of the year! At the festival, the seasons new wines are unveiled and vineyards open their doors to all who are eager to taste the new vintage. It is the good fortune of this workshop that the event falls of the first day of our activities – and we will attend the event! It is an amazing celebration and will be a great way to kick off the workshop.
Throughout the week-long experience, participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. The workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo daVinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with spectacular views, 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday.
The workshop includes daily tastings and winery visits as well as lunch at a Michelin-recommended restaurant, Il Frantoio, in Assisi and other meals at noteworthy vineyards. Finally, our “off-campus” meals will include a dinner at the renowned Torre a Cona vineyard, where we will be treated to a tasting of their wines and an extraordinary 6-course dinner!
Of course, throughout your stay, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Those who have time might also consider the adding the additional 4-day tour: Little-known Wines of Campania, June 4 – 7, which will commence at the end of this workshop.
Living in the Play: nido residency, brings together an international consortium of artists to Monte Castello di Vibio, Italy, for a two-week artist residency that culminates in an exhibition of artworks and corresponding catalog.
During the residency, our goal individually and collectively is to explore the social historical landscape, use of land resources, and the hidden histories of Monte Castello di Vibio and the surrounding region. This will inform and guide our conversations and contribute to the making practices of each artist amongst Living in the Play: nido.
This residency is in partnership with The Poor Farm Experiment in rural Wisconsin, USA, which has hosted Living In the Play since 2018. We are invested in creating spaces that uplift and connect fellow artists. Our goal is to gather artists through intentional actions that foster community. With a focus on inviting multi-generational and diverse pools of artists, we aim to offer art practitioners ways of engaging their practice with a focused depth of ideas around site, play, and community.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Unlock your imagination and develop coil-building and figure modeling skills in this two week human and animal hybrid ceramic sculpture workshop. Much of ancient Italian art is rich in mythological creatures and transformation that continue to speak to us, often on a visceral level. During this course, we’ll delve into the stories behind some of these beings, and create contemporary interpretations and invent new amalgamations that possess compelling personal narratives.
Through live demonstrations, slide presentations, and time lapsed videos, Adrian will impart a wealth of technical information based on 40 years of working with clay. Human and animal anatomy will be covered, with special attention to heads and faces. We will create medium size pieces, approx. 18” tall; the techniques covered will be useful for building large scale sculpture in the future. This includes sectioning, internal supports and the use of a base and rod for tall sculptures. In addition, we’ll make small sprig molds for surface texture and embellishment. Presentations on contemporary ceramic sculpture, as well as mythology will also be shown as time allows. Each Friday we’ll venture out of the studio to nearby sites, cities and museums for a full-immersion experience.
*Participants are encouraged to take good documenting photos of the process of building their piece and the final sculpture. Arrangements can be made to have work fired after the workshop. Packing and shipping will be at participants expense.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
A hands-on workshop on producing painting and drawing materials according to historical methods. The intensive, week-long workshop is ideal for painters interested in gaining greater familiarity with their materials, academics and teachers interested in curricular development, art historians, and people interested in developing a deeper understanding of traditional works.
Born in 1360, painter Cennino d’Andrea Cennini, left a remarkable legacy, beyond that of his surviving works.
A student, of a student, of Giotto, Cennino left of us a remarkable and intimate record of the life and working processes of a painter in his time. His book is called, il Libro del’Arte, simply, “The Book of Art.” It provides insights into the training of the artists of his time, as well as that of the next generations of artists in Italy. Incredibly, this included some of the greatest figures in the history of Western painting: Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Leonardo, Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Raphael among others. To the reader of today, Cennini’s text provides the remarkable opportunity to participate in this legacy.
On a practical level, Cennini’s book is also a very useful guide to the production of pigments, paints, painting surfaces, and other materials of the medieval and Renaissance artist. In this however, it also reveals something larger than that of a recipe book. It speaks to a very special connection between artists and the materials they choose. Often, that connection resulted from artists making their materials themselves, by hand. Indeed, Cennini refers lovingly to the rare, almost spiritual beauty of, ultramarine blue to the easy, sensual qualities of a charcoal black as well as to their sometimes, tempestuous personalities of materials like, dragon’s blood!
What is revealed is a unique connection to the materials of the artist, in which all elements have significance. As translator, Daniel Thompson describes, “A very choice black was, and still is, made from peach stones; and almond shells were sometimes charred to produce another sort. To the outsider all these blacks would seem very much alike; indeed, they would probably be quite indistinguishable. But a painter of the medieval kind becomes familiar with the little quirks of personality in his pigments, and is affected by small subtleties which it is hopeless to try to define, subtleties not so much of color as of working quality, how the pigment feels, how it mixes, whether it tends to settle out of a color mixture, or stays nicely in suspension, and little things like that.” These “little things” can indeed have big effect to the artist who remains sensitive to the qualities of their materials, creating a bond that becomes a language of its own.
We will use Cennini’s book as a basis for our exploration of making pigments and paints. Guided by the experience of our staff, in collaboration with our long-time supplier, Kremer Pigmente, and the advantage of modern chemistry and production methods, we will embark on a historical overview of pigments used by artists throughout the ages - actually, making many pigments from raw ingredients. We will observe sometimes miraculous transformations in color, creating beautiful and luscious pigments that will last …forever. We will then turn these colored particles into a variety of paints, pastels, and charcoal. Our goal will be to produce the following materials which participants will take home with them at the end of the workshop:
20 g. Jars of pigment as follows:
3 ml. Jars of pigment as follows:
Inks as follow:
50 ml tubes of oil colors as follows:
20 ml jar of
Watercolors in natural mussel shell, as follows:
Pastels as follow:
In doing so, we will understand the processes of levigation, grading for optimal particle size, grinding, precipitation of lake colors, and many other processes. We will also make surfaces to be used in a variety of aqueous, solvent-based, and dry applications. At the end of the workshop, an excursion to the National Gallery of Umbria in Perugia, will provide real examples from Cennini’s time and later, which will illustrate both the beauty and the permanence of these materials.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
All materials for the class and the excursion are included in the cost of the workshop.
