Denise has just returned from the most amazing 2 weeks on what has turned out to be a mosaics tour of Europe.
The following is from her 'newsy' e-mail:
As predicted June 6th did deliver summer to the region of the Languedoc/ Rousillion, this was gratefully received and so far the sun and heat has stayed. On the 8th I headed to Italy. Travelling on a budget airline is an adventure itself and required a 4 hour stopover in London. I arrived late into Forly airport and a long and expensive taxi to Ravenna.
Ravenna is beautiful and as expected the mosaics capital of Italy, I had 2 days to relax before the course started and so made the most of it. On Saturday I toured all the cathedrals and mosaic sights. This was breathtaking and raised the pulse for a mosaics enthusiast, I could not believe that I would be recreating some of these works in the same manner of artists of the 5-6th centuries in a few days time. Ravenna is quite a small centre and a day is all that is required to view the art and window shop...eye candy was all that the budget would allow. I was also informed and surprised to learn that it is right next to the coast and the adriatic sea. The tourist information I had researched was so full of information relating to art that they had neglected to mention this....I had not brought my togs!....thank goodness board shorts are in! Sunday took the bus with loads of teenage Italians to the beach...great value 1.50 euro return.....found a gorgeous spot and hired my deck chair and umbrella for the day....lots of eye candy here.....board shorts certainly not in the wardrobes of any of the suntanned and lithe Italians on the Adriatic.
On Monday the course started.....how exciting, met the team of artists and teachers and they were welcoming and generous with their knowledge and help. There were seven of us on the course. All girls ranging from 25years to 65 years, and from New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Italy and the US. We were to discover that the differences in age, language and culture were absolutely inconsequential, as we worked together ate and played together our common interest linking us all. We fortunately worked at steady and similar levels of competence and were apparently one of the few classes to complete the programme on time and together.
The studio we worked in was amazing, the works about us incredible, I took so many photos I filled my camera and Kayleannes cameras memory cards. Luciana Noturni leads the studio and has over 40 years of mosaic experience, both in creating mosaic art and in mosiac restoration...she was involved in the restoration of mosaics from a 2000year old Roman palace found in Ravenna whilst excavating to build a carpark...what a career! She and her team were incredibly generous with information on technique, supplies and photographs etc from their studio...they were also lots of fun. The technique we learned is the Byzantine technique ...used by artists of this time. For this we use a hammer and hardie to cut the small pieces called tesserae from glass smalti, marble and stone...I am pleased to say my fingertips
are still intact.
The hardest part was choosing what piece to work on for the week. These choices are all from historical pieces and I choose the 'Waves or Current" from the Mauseo Galla Placidia in Ravenna. I was very pleased with the outcome, and as my own small orginal piece created a small Cathar cross, to reflect our interest and life in the Cathar region of France.
On Wednesday Kayleanne arrived into Ravenna and took advantage of this opportunity to explore some of Italy....the art, food, beaches and shops. At the close of the course on Friday we took the train and headed to Venice.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Venice...what can I say ...we arrived and very easily found a hotel not far from the train station. This suited us as we only had 24hours to explore this fabulose city. Dropped our bags and our arrival was heralded by an electrical storm over the city. Fortunately this did not last, and we were able to start our exploration of the labyrinth of canals to St Marks Square. It took us several hours and arrived into the square as twilight was approaching. I have been before but had forgotten how breathtaking this spot on earth is...............We returned the next morning to tour St Marks Cathedral. This has the largest collection of Byzantine mosaics as the whole catherdral is covered as opposed to the apse only which is found in most cathedrals including those in Ravenna...the ambiance lost a little with all the crowds here and so purchased the book and moved on. The shops in Venice did not disappoint and surprisingly affordable for many things.....
Ravenna is beautiful and as expected the mosaics capital of Italy, I had 2 days to relax before the course started and so made the most of it. On Saturday I toured all the cathedrals and mosaic sights. This was breathtaking and raised the pulse for a mosaics enthusiast, I could not believe that I would be recreating some of these works in the same manner of artists of the 5-6th centuries in a few days time. Ravenna is quite a small centre and a day is all that is required to view the art and window shop...eye candy was all that the budget would allow. I was also informed and surprised to learn that it is right next to the coast and the adriatic sea. The tourist information I had researched was so full of information relating to art that they had neglected to mention this....I had not brought my togs!....thank goodness board shorts are in! Sunday took the bus with loads of teenage Italians to the beach...great value 1.50 euro return.....found a gorgeous spot and hired my deck chair and umbrella for the day....lots of eye candy here.....board shorts certainly not in the wardrobes of any of the suntanned and lithe Italians on the Adriatic.
On Monday the course started.....how exciting, met the team of artists and teachers and they were welcoming and generous with their knowledge and help. There were seven of us on the course. All girls ranging from 25years to 65 years, and from New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Italy and the US. We were to discover that the differences in age, language and culture were absolutely inconsequential, as we worked together ate and played together our common interest linking us all. We fortunately worked at steady and similar levels of competence and were apparently one of the few classes to complete the programme on time and together.
The studio we worked in was amazing, the works about us incredible, I took so many photos I filled my camera and Kayleannes cameras memory cards. Luciana Noturni leads the studio and has over 40 years of mosaic experience, both in creating mosaic art and in mosiac restoration...she was involved in the restoration of mosaics from a 2000year old Roman palace found in Ravenna whilst excavating to build a carpark...what a career! She and her team were incredibly generous with information on technique, supplies and photographs etc from their studio...they were also lots of fun. The technique we learned is the Byzantine technique ...used by artists of this time. For this we use a hammer and hardie to cut the small pieces called tesserae from glass smalti, marble and stone...I am pleased to say my fingertips
are still intact.
The hardest part was choosing what piece to work on for the week. These choices are all from historical pieces and I choose the 'Waves or Current" from the Mauseo Galla Placidia in Ravenna. I was very pleased with the outcome, and as my own small orginal piece created a small Cathar cross, to reflect our interest and life in the Cathar region of France.
On Wednesday Kayleanne arrived into Ravenna and took advantage of this opportunity to explore some of Italy....the art, food, beaches and shops. At the close of the course on Friday we took the train and headed to Venice.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Venice...what can I say ...we arrived and very easily found a hotel not far from the train station. This suited us as we only had 24hours to explore this fabulose city. Dropped our bags and our arrival was heralded by an electrical storm over the city. Fortunately this did not last, and we were able to start our exploration of the labyrinth of canals to St Marks Square. It took us several hours and arrived into the square as twilight was approaching. I have been before but had forgotten how breathtaking this spot on earth is...............We returned the next morning to tour St Marks Cathedral. This has the largest collection of Byzantine mosaics as the whole catherdral is covered as opposed to the apse only which is found in most cathedrals including those in Ravenna...the ambiance lost a little with all the crowds here and so purchased the book and moved on. The shops in Venice did not disappoint and surprisingly affordable for many things.....
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