About the holiday
'Painting in Umbria' — a participant's view
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About the holiday'Painting in Umbria' — a participant's view |
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Painting in Umbria — instantly I had a picture in my mind of long avenues of dark cypress trees, pale yellow-ochre buildings, drowsy afternoons in the shade by the pool, and me with a paintbrush trying to capture it all. Perhaps we all had a feeling of nervous apprehension as to what exactly would be expected of us, and whether we would be quite 'up to standard' compared with the rest of the group, but within half an hour of meeting at the airport and settling in for the bone-shaking bus-ride to San Donnino I for one felt I had made a good decision to choose this holiday.
This feeling remained with me throughout the week as we all got to know each other, as we got to grips with the challenge of painting outside in the heat (and the cold!), as we explored the beautiful countryside of Umbria and Tuscany and as we marvelled at the frescoes of Piero della Francesca tucked away in unassuming churches. The hotel was all we could have wished, apart perhaps from plumbing problems and the 'tablecloths' that were mysteriously supplied instead of towels. The service was always with a smile despite communication difficulties, and for most of the time it was as if we had our own country estate and giant swimming pool all to ourselves. And the FOOD! Four courses, twice a day, was a learning curve in itself, but we all coped admirably and it is quite disappointing to eat out at home now and find the wine is not automatically replenished when the bottles are empty... Even my worries about my artistic abilities were eased as the week progressed. Although everyone naturally had different levels of experience and talent, we were guided and encouraged in our efforts by John 'No pressure!' Booth in such a way that we all achieved something to be proud of by the end of the week. His patience and sense of humour never deserted him, despite being mistaken firstly for Sheila's husband and then for the hotel concierge. We also leant from each other, sharing tips and 'short cuts' and on my part at least discovering that 'art' was not such a closed book after all. We benefited for the first few days from the knowledge and insight of Alan Robb, whose enthusiastic explanations of the San Sepolchro frescoes left the taped audio-guide standing. The fact that Professor Robb had to return to his university duties was one of the few disappointments of the week, the others being the biting wind which managed to leave us sunburnt and chilled to the bone at the same time, and the question that haunted us all — where was Sheila? Having spoken to Eddie's wife several times, and being bowled over by her personal interest and unfailing helpfulness to everyone, she was the person we all wanted to meet! Maybe next year... We called this site 'No pressure!' because it was John's constant remark to us all through the week, and although we teased him at the time, it does in fact for me sum up what the holiday was about — there was no pressure, no stress, no tensions, just creativity and relaxation. Can't wait to do it all again! Alison |