Tuscany 2024
paint | live | relax
September 09 - 23
$6500
Venue
Frattoria di Fubbiano
The DETAILS
live, paint and relax at an historic olive oil and wine producing farm dating back as far as 1694
taught by Alison Woolley
This course is suitable for people who wish to create decorative fresco paintings or panels, or to understand how to restore fresco paintings. Lime is a beautiful and flexible material with a long history in the art of interior and exterior decoration. Painters with experience in other mediums will be thrilled by the versatility of the fresco medium and the luminousity and purity of the colours. This course is an intensive study of this very versatile material.
Course objectives:
• Understand the properties and uses of lime paint and plaster to get the most from the material.
• Learn the historical techniques of true fresco painting and sgraffitto.
• Produce sample panels in the techniques of fresco painting and sgraffitto.
This course covers:
• Chemical and physical properties of lime plaster, basic information about the production and aging of the material.
• Which pigments are stable and compatibile with lime.
• The use of pigmented mortars to make textural decorations or paintings on any type of ground.
• Production of graphics and their transfer into suitable cartoons to be used for the two major types of 'al fresco' plaster work, a "buon fresco" and "graffito".
• The production of two painted frescoes and two sgraffito works on small (transportable) panels.
WEEK 1
Historical Lime & Fresco
Examples from previous classes by Alison Woolley
taught by Lori Le Mare
This course will be spent with your host, Lori LeMare, learning aspects of Italian painted ornament in the style of the “Grotesque”. This style of decorative painting includes fanciful floral images intermixed with human and animal elements arranged in symmetrical and often vertical formations. These designs can be seen in the ruins of Pompeii and the historic palazzos of Florence decorating many architectural surfaces and objects of art.
Course objectives:
• Understanding elements of preparation and the water base mediums used.
• Learn techniques in shading and highlighting to create depth and shape to the decorative elements of the oranament.
• Produce a painting in the techniques of hand painted ornament.
This course covers:
• Information on preparing surfaces (in this instance we will paint on canvas).
• Information on mediums used to create and paint the design.
• How to transfer and enlarge your design from the reference used.
• How to paint using colour and shading methods to create depth and movement.
• Producing one canvas painting to transport home and frame.
WEEK 2
Florentine Hand-Painted Ornament
Detail of grotesques from Palazzo Vecchio
THE DETAILS
ARRIVE SEPT 09 | DEPART SEPT 23
TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATIONS
Fattoria di Fubbiano is situated in the Tuscan hills near the town of Lucca. The estate is large with a villa, two houses and apartments that are rented out to tourists and a pool. Horses graze in the surrounding olive groves and vineyards. You can purchase wine directly from the estate and enjoy wine tasting. This is a working farm and you will encounter many cats and a dog or two.
It is about midway between Pisa and Florence. We recommend flying to Pisa which is a smaller airport and easier to manage driving in and out of compared with Florence. Lucca is a beautiful walled city with many high end shops/restaurants, art stores, museums and churches. It has a lovely promenade built on the top of the surrounding wall by Elise Bonaparte. You can rent a bike and ride around and through the city or walk it. It is 30 minutes from the estate.
Accommodation: Stay in one of the 2- 3 bedroom apartments on the Fubbiano Estate. All bedrooms are private and will have a double or twin bed. Bathrooms will be shared between two people. These renovated apartments are quaint and cosy and were the original dwellings for the farm workers. Each apartment has a stocked kitchen for breakfast and lunch. 10 dinners will be prepared by an Italian Chef. The main large grocery store is about 30 minutes drive but there is a small local grocer that is about 5-10 minutes drive away. San Gennaro is a lovely small village that is a hike away. If you like a good hike up the hill, you will be rewarded with a small café and a 12th c church.
Transportation: Transportation to and from the airport (Pisa only) will be provided. If you rent a car please let us know and we will send you directions on how to get to the estate. The estate is not within walking distance of any shops. We can recommend a driver for hire who can take you on any excursions you wish to go on outside of the ones included.
Excursions: 1 excursion into the town of Lucca and 1 tour of Villa Torrigiani.
COST
$6500* CDN
Price includes 2 courses, all class materials, 14 day accommodations, most meals,
transportation to and from airport (Pisa or Florence), 1 excursion into the town of Lucca and 1 tour of Villa Torrigiani.
Early Bird Price: $6000* CDN - book by March 15, 2024
TERMS:
$1500 deposit required at booking, balance due by July 15, 2024. Full terms and conditions available on registration form.
*does not include CDN taxes if applicable
Meet the Instructors
Lori LeMare will host the Tuscany Experience and teach week 2. Alison Woolley will teach week 1.
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Host & Owner of Lori LeMare StudioLori Le Mare has been a leading international figure in the crafts of decorative painting and historic restoration for more than 30 years.
In 1988 Lori studied decorative painting in the south of England from Master Painter Don Gray. She worked and taught extensively in her business, Ritins Studio with then partner Andrejs Ritins for 12 years. In 2000 she opened her own studio and school in Toronto and worked closely with Modern Masters Inc. in California helping to develop and test their decorative paint products. In 2010 her studio moved in the direction of decorative paint restoration with several contracts for restoration and replication in historic museums.
In 1998 Lori took up aerial dance as a sideline to her decorative painting and in 2010 started the aerial performance troupe Hamilton Aerial Group. She paints and restores by day and climbs and performs trapeze and aerial silks by night. She is also a professional stiltwalker and artistic director of HAG.
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Alison is the owner of the FlorenceArt.Net studio. She is a Scottish born, ex-pat Canadian with more than 25 years experience as a decorative artist in Florence. She is a master artisan recognised by the region of Tuscany. Alison started her career as an apprentice in a traditional Florentine ‘bottega’ decorating furniture in the Renaissance style. Over the years this specialized work blossomed into an expertise in creating luxuriously decorated surfaces of many kinds, from interior murals to fabric and stencil design. Today, you can see the artist’s refined and meticulous hand on works such as two hand-painted harpsichords for the Opera of Versailles and designs for Salvatore Ferragamo. Alison also teaches artisan techniques and makes original works of art and decoration. Decorated harpsichords are her speciality. You can browse through her courses, gallery shop offering hand painted scarves and works of art, or her archive of commissions.