Italy

Dear Adele,
Thanks for asking me about Italy.
It was a great trip. There was so much to experience and the solo travel - which I have never done before - was important. It was a time to be me the woman and the artist, at a time when my son is growing more independent and I begin to have more time for the artist self.

Self-reflection in Saint Phalle's mirrors

During the trip I viewed historical and contemporary art, enjoyed meals and explored cities. I took a mosaic course in Ravenna, from an admirable, inspiring and warm woman who runs her own mosaic school and is a grandmother of four. I created a mosaic sculpture while there, as well as taking many photos, embroidering a bellydance hip scarf, drawing and doing a lot of bellydance in the evenings.

It took a special expedition to get to the Tarot Garden, a great under-celebrated sculpture park by artist Niki de Saint Phalle. I had to rely on strangers who spoke no more English than my Italian, and they helped me get there and back.

view from the entrance

the side of "The Empress" (the big bosomed Nana you see above) with tiles showing goddess figures

Inside "the Empress", Saint Phalle's home for several years. See her dining table and chandelier in foreground, with mirrored kitchen with built-in dishwasher in background.

In Florence I stayed in a shared room in an artist/architect's apartment. I shared a bit of her life and that of several other women in this open-concept, ancient, well-lived in place. I spent three hours or more in the Ufizzi gallery looking at famous artwork from my history books, such as Boticelli's Primavera... and taking pictures of some less well-known works.

my shared room at Franchy's

Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith and Holofernes

I climbed the Belvedere and ate a breakfast of olives, almonds and cherries, then caught the city view along with Antony Gormley's "Human" installation.

In Ravenna I spent a week learning antique mosaic technique with an international group of women. In the evenings a few of us went out for aperitivo and/or supper and explored the night life on the piazzas. We saw some of the very ancient and lovely mosaics which Ravenna is still famous for.

tessera (mosaic cubes) made from smalti (special tempered glass)

using the hammer and hardie to cut marble

inside the tomb of Galla Placidia - mosaics from the year 432

Luciana Notturni, our mosaic teacher, with a local mosaic sculpture by Marco Bravura. She is accomplished master of antique mosaic technique, an artist and a grandmother. Mosaic is super important here and she gets called up by the government to restore this or that ancient site.

floor of Saint Vitale (a famous ancient church)

The tomb of Galla Placidia on the left - tiny! - oleander and sycamore

In Venice I attended some of the Biennale and got a good fix of of contemporary art after wandering the pedestrian labyrinth to get there. Then my mom and son arrived and we began to hunt gelato in earnest.

"The AK-47 vs the M16" by the Propeller Group: ballistics gel and video... I ran into friends from Montreal in front of this so we went out for a wonderful dinner with the best warm octopus salad ever.

(Greek title I can't translate) by Danh Vo - with cochineal dyed silk in the background

"The Key in the Hand" by Chiharu Shihota

My favourite work was actually video installation with sound, which  I could not take a picture of.

My son, my mom and I explored Venice, Florence and Rome for a couple of days each before returning home. It was just the right amount of time for a 12 year old traveler just about to become a teenager, most interested in eating and sleeping, with limited patience for his mom's weirdness. Here we are enjoying sunset above Florence, at least according to me.

Back in Florence, I found this odd sign... what exactly is this police officer doing? Captions please!

Thanks for sharing my travels!