P.I.P. PAINTING IN PERPETUITY ( week 6)

STILL LIFE WITH THREE GROUPS OF FLOWERS
( And even more stuff)

Painting In Progress
week 6

JAMES APONOVICH

" Oh, It' you again"

Remember that old cartoon of a prisoner scratching six lines on the
cell wall and the seventh line through them.... One week down...
Let's just say the bloom is starting to fade with this painting.
'Chained to the easel', all day, everyday.



" Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, 
but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
-Winston Churchill 



IT'S A MATTER OF VALUE

So far I have been thinking a lot about color and it's effects,
but value ( light /dark) comes with it and it's starting to raise its head.

To counter the brilliance of the yellow ( light), I have introduced
another cloth underneath which is blue (dark). So, as the yellow can
soar to great heights, blue can descend to almost black. There is a
reason ( I think) for all that pattern, but I will get to that later.          

As deep in value as blue is, it can also ascend to be light and
celestial. Blue can move around quite a bit, but yellow
doesn't want to.

So, aside from some final fussing, the bottom third of the painting
is finished, like a massive chord of music...full and rich.
Now, I must try and compose the melody with the ever-present 'stuff'.
....It is a Still Life after all.

Still Life with Three Groups of Flowers ( in -progress)
James Aponovich
oil on canvas, 40"x 52"




Until Next Week.....................

WHY ITALY? PERCHE NO! ( Part I, March& April 2015)

It is late December and the first snow has created a landscape of white out my window. The winter has been kind so far, but we still have January and February in front of us to trudge through.

Memories of Italy fill my head and heart as I hear from friends and go back through photos from our spring months spent in that beautiful place, Italy.

So, if you don't mind I am going to share some of the riches of our time in Panicale, Florence , Rome and places that fall between....oh yes, and  friends too.

Our "home" when we are in Italy is Panicale (Umbria), a medieval hill town that looks over Lake Trasimeno.

Looking down from Panicale to the white road 'strata bianca' that cuts its way  through crops of wheat, across the plain. This is what early spring looks like, a welcome carpet of green.

Up and out early, here we are ready for a day out, but first cappuccino Bar Gallo....always!
"Ciao Daniela"!  "Buon giorno Aldo!"

Bar Gallo 

DESTINATION: DERUTA

Deruta Workshop

Handmade. James watching  as a craftsman in this workshop carries on a tradition in ceramics

I love driving down this road under the pines back to Panicale.

Aldo makes a killer Aperol Spritz!

OFF TO FLORENCE TO MEET FRIENDS

Ponte Vecchio on a clear and still spring evening.

Alberti's stunning facade on Santa Maria Novella, which contains numerous masterpieces,one of which is Masaccio's groundbreaking Crucifixion.

Ghirlandaio's masterful fresco with this  procession of women.

a detail from the Spanish Chapel

time for refreshment!

Le Volpi e l'Uva

A favorite enoteca in the Oltrarno and  we  always know ( at least hope)  if we hang out here long 

enough the doors of Santa Felicita will open and a wonderful Pontormo painting will be there for us to see.  But while we wait.....

 SHARING ITALY with FRIENDS

Here are the friends James and I are meeting.....Mark, Andi and Giuletta!

Knowing we would not have time for dinner in a ristorante  before a concert we were all attending that evening, someone suggested room service. Perfect and luxurious. Ah , so it was burgers.

The evenings entertainment was very American....James Taylor in Florence !

Getting a taxi home afterwards was a bit of an ordeal, but with Mark's phone and James' Italian , we all made it back to our hotels!

Meantime, back in Panicale....

a foggy morning walk

and the artichokes are in season!

That is late March and April in Umbria and Tuscany.

Are you seeing any common elements running through these memories. It is becoming clear it has something to do with, art, people, food, wine and a beautiful landscape.

May  2015 will be next, we  will see if that trend continues!

THE COOKING LESSON { Tuscany}

A cooking lesson in Tuscany, maybe not an original idea, but, certainly something I thought James would love, an ideal Birthday gift for him. But where?  I did some research and came up with
Il Falconiere in Cortona. On a clear day we can see Cortona (Tuscany)  from here in Panicale, built on the mountainside beyond Lago Trasimeno.
Il Falconiere is a one star michelin restaurant along with being a lovely wine estate and hotel, so as part of his gift a night over seemed ideal. I knew that wine would be involved in our lunch and who wants to or should drive after that.
I also took the class, since with 2 we could have a 'private master class'......how good is that!

Our teacher was one of the two head chefs at Il Falconiere, Chef Richard Titi.
After some chatting and showing us around the kitchen we got right to work.
No, first, wash hands, then we are presented with our aprons.
Let's get started.

We were to make four courses in three hours.
First in the order was biscotti, get that made and put in the oven for first baking.
Next up, pasta. We were both hoping we would have a chance to make pasta in Italy and now here it was. The pasta we made is called pici, a typical fresh pasta of Tuscany. The only ingredients are flour  ( single zero flour), water and salt.

Pici is like a thick hand rolled spaghetti. Chef Richard was  very patient and worked with us until we were able to roll it out the pasta strands just thin enough.

The pici waiting to be cooked .

A sauce of fresh cherry tomatoes and herbs, from just outside the kitchen door was made for the pici. In the meantime....the biscotti came out of the oven to cool. 

James readies for a taste of the pici in the tomato sauce. It always stuns me how a few fresh ingredients can taste so heavenly.

Ingredients for stuffed zucchini flowers are assembled on the work table.

Again, everything is fresh and local.

More conversation about food and the recipes we were making.....all in Italian, as we requested.

Then, we were each poured a glass of wine, Baracchi wine from the Il Falconiere estate.

A taste, then it was back to the zucchini flowers. The ricotta on the table is farm fresh made from sheep's milk, very typical here in Tuscany and Umbria, and the basis for the filling along with herbs and other ingredients......I can't give away all the secrets!.

You are going a good job there , James!

The word to 'stir' or mix in Italian is 'mescolare".

This class is a real hands on experience....and hard work!

We filled the flowers and prepared them for baking, a drizzle of real good olive oil before they go into the oven.

A sauce, or pesto is made from herbs, a few other ingredients and of course, the Baracchi estate olive oil.

A pesto type green sauce is made to accompany the zucchini flowers, made from herbs, etc. and of course, the olive oil.

A drum roll, please.......the plated stuffed zucchini flowers....which we also sampled.

 Simply divine!

In the meantime.... the biscotti were sliced and returned to the oven for a second baking.

Now, the main course , or secondi  as it is referred to in Italy.  The meat ( pork) is stuffed and wrapped and held together with a spring of bay, then sautéed.......the other secrets i will not tell, you have to go take the cooking class for yourselves!

The meat is all prepared and while it is cooking the zucchini flowers are baked.

 The kitchen at the end of the class.

James and Chef Titi when all the work is complete. Thanks Chef for not only your cooking skills but your teaching skills as well.

It was hard work, as I said, but fun and we learned new things. What could be better. And see, I am here in the kitchen too, stirring, making pasta and stuffing zucchini flowers between photo taking.

Pranzo.  There is lunch to follow? How about all the sampling we did during the lesson?

Aprons off, we go back to our room and freshen up. A table on the restaurant terrace will be waiting for us at 1:30..................lunch, Il Falconiere style.

See you at lunch................................!