Adorned with Baroque architecture and rich in culture and beauty it stands proud and sure that it will remain forever. A stark contrast to the lazy, pastoral and fragile Ferruzzano from where my mother came. Click on the play button in the middle of the screen below and enjoy the trip!

You can also watch directly on You Tube here.

Wan’t to experience more Sicilian delights? Visit one of my very favorite blogs Baroque Sicily where Jann Huizenga writes about her life and experiences while living in Ragusa Ibla. And by the way her photographs of the people, architecture, colors and beauty are exquisite. Well worth a look! Enjoy!

The Mourning Dove is a favorite as they are a reminder of a rite of passage I went through as a young adult. Now 13 years later they have come back and 2 doves have “woven” a nest by my dining room window.

Look closely! Here’s Lucy!! (as I call her) patiently sitting on her clutch within the Bougainvillia.  It  has been a full week now, and I understand 1 more to go before the tiny eggs hatch….how exciting!!

So here it was, the final sign I needed to follow a dream I have had ever since acquiring my grandmothers hand woven linens a long time ago. “I will try and learn how to weave!”

A humble beginner’s class will be my first foray into this ancient craft. I am unsure of how I will fair so I will begin the journey as a tribute to my heritage, a continuous attempt to forge a stronger connection to my Italian roots, and I will  try and just ‘trust’ where it leads. I will trust the path and enjoy the journey…wanna come for the ride??

I am transported back to a trip to Calabria in the summer of 2008 where I was astonished by the quality and abundance of hand woven linens within the drawers and cupboards of this one household consisting of 4 special women.

Carefully preserved in darkness and an abundance of moth balls I was treated by a private viewing and colorful display I will never forget!

I make a new friend, her name is Vittoria after her grandmother. She will be the proud beneficiary of these fine linens as they are part of her trousseau…how lucky is she??!!

As a special treat I was able to watch some linen being woven on an antique loom still in operation.

The linen was not only hand woven, but also, hand picked AND home spun as can be seen below!!

My biggest challenge was how to acquire a small piece for myself, in a culture where money is not of the utmost importance I eventually traded a small fresco for 2 pieces of linen…a fair trade???

The fresco painting on this antique roof tile depicts the ancestral home of  my new friend, Vittoria, her mother and aunt. They are all pleased! Although the home is abandoned it is now immortalized in fresco!…Transaction complete!

As always an added bonus to travelling in these quaint Italian villages are the charming photo ‘opps’ that abound…every nook and cranny is full of delight and may make a fine fresco one day! Any takers out there?

So I will see where this journey takes me and I am already inspired and awestruck at the connections that have been made as a result.

So far I have found 4 blogs and 1 website of special interest! My nephew and his girlfriend have been blogging about their travels throughout South America and I found it poignant  that they would post about weaving on their blog “Birds of a Feather”. It became even more wonderful when a link was forwarded regarding Calina’s volunteer work with “Threads of Peru” an organization that helps woman improve their quality of life through , what else? …weaving!

I found Mary Tacconi’s writing while “surfing” for references to Italian weaving. Mary is a native to California, but she lived, married and raised 2 children in Umbria. Read her “Reflections on my 40 years in Umbria” for a taste of authentic Italy. I was mesmorized by the writing and the “reflections” as they matched many of my own and they led me to the beautiful works and website of   Giuditta Brozzetti a handweaving laboratory in Perugia, as well as  Michelle Fabio’s “Bleeding Espresso”.  Another gem of a blog…Michelle is an American writer and attorney who left Pennsylvania for her family’s ancestral village of Badolato in Calabria! Inspiring!!

I am sure you will agree, this has already been quite a journey!  Could there be more to weaving then just thread? Stay posted!

From my mother’s village in Calabria, Ragusa is “close but yet so far.” You can take a bus or train to Villa San Giovanni in the city of Reggio, where a 45 minute ferry takes you across the strait of Messina.

Above is the view towards Calabria from the ferry, below is the view towards Sicily.

From Messina the bus or train continues on to Catania where you need to board a bus to Ragusa….a 12 hour venture. By car it could take as little as 4 but there is some lovely things to see on the way.

Places like Isola Bella above, Toarmina and Castelmonte below.

Upon arrival to Ragusa and the ancient town of Ibla, a Unesco world heritage site, you are faced with the beautiful facade of San Giorgio in a most beautiful piazza.

Navigating through the cobblestoned streets and many stairs throughout the town I came across this lovely scene.

I became inspired to take over 1000 photographs during this 4 day visit. These were both taken from the stairs of Santa Maria delle Scale of which there are over 300!

This fresco on a rustic limestone tile has a 1941 5 centessimo coin inserted into the plaster.

View this and more at the upcoming Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale Arizona. www.celebrateart.com

Let’s see, I will have cioccolato, nocciola and “Rocher” the name of this flavor says it all!!!

After making your selection your brioche (an egg bread that is soft and not too sweet, similar to easter bread) will be filled with gelato and served with  a wink!

Thankfully you are furnished with a spoon… even still this is a messy endeavor but worth the effort for sure!

So you’ve caught me taking a break in beautiful Italy!  I promise I have been working as well and may offer a “sneak peek” soon…until then Buon Appetito once again!! And remember to visit www.celebrateart.com for updates on the upcoming show.

p.s. Why are all these posts about food???

Soon the ladies of the house prepare dinner of “Fagiolini” ( a flat green bean prepared with fresh tomato, garlic and olive oil) and sardines, rolled up and breaded with their little tails sticking up like a frill.  By 9pm “the boys” are a little late for dinner but they don’t come empty handed. Fishing for the last few hours they come home proudly with their catch… a bucket of these little silver fish that are sure to be part of tomorrows menu.

The next day warrants an early trip to the village, the one many of you know through my frescoes of Ferruzzano. There are three sisters, part of a handful of families that still live in this quaint mountain town, that still make bread in their wood oven up there.

We arrive and are quickly invited in and we enter a small kitchen. An older gentleman sits in the corner by a sunny window with a sweater over his shoulders. He wears a woolen cap even though it is June, and rests his hands on a wooden cane. His eyes sparkle as he greets us and we sit with him.

On the table were three brown paper packages, the bread we were to take with us. In one package there were three round loaves of a very rustic type, split lengthwise and filled with fresh anchovies and extra virgin olive oil of their own production of course!. This is a specialty called “schiacciata” (meaning “pressed” so it is kind of a flat-ish bread.) When the bread comes out of the oven and while hot, it gets split and drizzled with olive oil. It is then that it is either sprinkled with oregano, or filled with anchovies. I have also had it with an aged goat cheese, a personal favorite! Another package contained plain loaves, and on the window sill there is a third package for us, a container of fresh eggs from the chickens of course!

“Do you drink wine?” was the next question…

The small man in the corner utters, “our wine is no good this year!”

His sister disagrees with him and insists that it is because he doesn’t taste like he used to.

she quickly leaves the kitchen.

“Where did she go?” I ask,

My compare replies, “go follow her and you will see”

Out the front door there is a set of stairs with no bannister, just a very old grape vine that follows the incline of the stairs so perfectly it acts as a bannister! Around the house to the back is the wood oven and beside it the cellar door…our host is crouched down filling a bottle of wine from the cask, it is cool and dark but the sunlight spills in from one tiny window and the open door…her sister quickly approaches with 2 glasses so we can taste, it is only 9 am but it is good!

We leave the cellar and enter an adjoining room where the bread that was made that morning rests on a bed. There were at least two dozen loaves. Big, small, round some with a hole in the middle and covered with sheets.

Hanging from the ceiling were a dozen salami’s of different types tied up with string to cure. This room was also cool and dark and filled with the remnants of another life. A life disappeared except for these few people that are keeping parts of it alive. But for how much longer?? I feel sad but look around in amazment! It has been a beautiful morning and I feel lucky to be here.

On the way home we must stop to check if there are any ripe figs on the trees. It is only mid June so still early for fig season, but if you are persistant and patient you can get lucky! We stop at the side of the road, enter through a gate and traverse the uneven tilled earth beneath our feet. My father, on a mission a forges ahead, my compare however stops at the sight of a plum tree, picking and eating them like large grapes, I take a picture before I join him.

No figs from these trees today, “But with this heat they will need only another week” my father shouts.

Ok, back to the plum tree for another feast but I soon hear the sound of bells…”clunk clunkity clunk”, Alas a small herd of goats, white and tan and a small  black one with the big bell around his neck. They become aware of me and start to run, most on the hillside a couple on the road in front.

The sound of the bells waining in the distance brings this morning to a close and  down the mountain we go. Now with a trunk filled with fresh bread, fresh eggs,  a bottle of homemade wine and a bag full of freshly picked  plums! no money required!! I am not sure, but this could be heaven!

O yes, by the way, I think admist all the excitement I think I found a subject for my next fresco. What do you think?

Until next time,

Arrivaderci and Buon Apetito!! and remember you can view my new body of work inspired by “My Italy 2009″ at the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale Arizona. Visit www.celebrateart.com for details on next years 20th anniversary exhibit. 3m9ar78jux