"Hows your First Month of Italy been?"

It's felt like a whirlwind!

apartment-Florence- Italy-school-studio-homework-cooking-drinking-socializing

it just keeps going....

Last time i posted i mentioned getting a bike!

Biking through this city is the best way to see it. I have a basket, which makes grocery shopping and carrying materials a lot easier, and a bell to ring at annoying tourists who don't look where they are walking. also biking through the nearby countryside is a great and cheep way to enjoy the weekends.

some things i've noticed about Italians

- The women here age beautifully! I'm speaking about the majority here... Middle aged women just don't carry the same weight, and stresses they do in America. Their wrinkles form differently. Instead of sagging faces the lines recede around high cheekbones. Their wrinkles look like a timeline of their smiles. Also they dress and carry themselves with confidence and sexiness.

- They don't get out of your way. if your walking on a side walk and someone Italian is approaching you your going to get walked into if you don't move. They have a certain entitlement to their surroundings, very evident in their body language.

- They LOVE Obama

-Hand gestures and practically a language in and of themselves... use cautiously!

- The Italian men worth knowing.... don't speak English... guess ill be learning Italian after all ;)

Some fun things i've done that are worth mentioning

- Went to Cinque Terra ( 5 lands) it is on the coast of Italy (look for link to pictures at the bottom) it was a beautiful day, we floated in the sea which is the most beautiful salty water EVER. Cinque terra is made up of 5 cities and you can hike or take a train between them. my friend kate and i decided to do both. they are each very similar and very beautiful. it looks a lot like the coast of California with the mountainous roads.

- Stopped by a wine festival happening around Florence. Dont know much more about wine, however i had a great time drinking it and strolling along the Arno, wine glass in hand.

- Got a bit sick over the last week, so i've spent some quality time in my apartment getting better

- Found a weekly flea market and enjoying the fresh outdoor market down the street from my school.

Side note: in our school's courtyard we have lots of fruit trees. I've never seen lemons, limes, pomegranates, and peaces all growing!

- On a Tuesday night while strolling around Florence we came across a HUGE concert going on infront of the church Santa Croce. The joined into the crowd and enjoyed the Italian Rock. it was a very lively crowd and tons of chanting and dancing. the next morning in class i found out that what i had been to was a huge organized Fascist rally against the Mafia! its was ridiculously fun!

Art

-So i have entered into a new relationship. i know i know, "Julie don't get involved while your abroad!!!!!" but this time its different, because its with a piece of Marble.

I fell in love with a gorgeous piece of pink marble my first week of school and almost immediately came up with a maket and started going at it. At first the whole relationship was mostly physical. It was me, taking off large chunks at a time trying to find the form. As i spent more and more time with it, and started getting closer to the sculpture inside we started having issues... Somehow, i keep fucking things up between us. Taking off too much, making rash decisions, changing my mind. Marble isn't happy at the moment and neither am i. We are trying a break and will see how we feel about each-other in a week. I will keep you updated.

What's coming up?

This weekend i will be out in Chanti for the grape harvest, my teacher is having my class come out to the country where she has an apartment and we will meet her neighbors with vinyards and sketch and hang out in Tuscany! Its grape harvesting season so everyone is very excited!

I have booked flights for fall break! i will be in Barcelona and Amsterdam. Super excited!

I am also looking forward to seeing my parents next month when they taking a trip out here to see me!

If you haven't already seen them, here are some pictures

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154489&id=505318377&l=854809b40e

ITALIA-FIRENZE

I would like to issue an apology! sorry i haven't updated regularly. I Have limited access to the internet and it is very hard for me to sit down for long enough in a place where i do have a connection to write about my experiences. 

That said

Florence is the most incredible amazing place ever! 

I arrived last week and from the first day on i have done nothing but walk around and get lost in this beautiful city. I have two room-mates and a gorgeous apartment in the heart of the city. To give you a sense of where that is it is two blocks from the Arno (the city's river) three blocks from the Ponte Vechio (a famous bridge that crosses the Arno that is wonderfully gorgeous), most literally across the street from the Ufitzi AS WELL AS 4 blocks from the Duomo. Also right near my house are countless other sites like Dante's house and a grainery that has the most elaborate architecture i could imagine. I am surrounded, engulfed and i have to say, almost drowned by history, sculpture and art. You don't even know your next to one of the most beautiful buildings or piatza's until you turn a corner. its EVERYWHERE . Sometimes even looking up is even more interesting than looking forward because it appears that the buildings all connect. I've had two most memorable visual experiences SO FAR 

1. When driving from the airport to my apartment for the first time.-Obviously i didn't know what to expect! I was put into a cab with an address and three keys. From the airport the city just kept growing older and older until before me was a huge gorgeous building with many different colored marbles and geometric shapes all over it. I could only assume that i was driving next to the Duomo! I had only seen pictures of the Dome part, which don't nearly describe the gorgeous architecture of the different colored marbles. It is so far my favorite building in this city. Not to say others haven't come close. 

2. Seeing the city from the Biboli garden up on a hillside across the river- again, breathtaking! 

I've been enjoying the city both night and day, and i have to say there are a lot of American's doing the exact same thing. Being a foreigner is normal here and mostly expected. While i am amongst the most historical parts of the city i also see the most touristed parts of the city as well. While exploring the streets at night you see large groups of travelers running around from bar to bar. The clubs in the city seem to cater to this american tourism and put together "bump and grind" clubs that american are used to complete with bad american pop from two years ago.  This allow greasy Italians to get in on the drunk american "grind" action. American students are notorious for slutty drunken hook-ups with non-english speaking Italian men. Factoid provided by our school that stuck with me: 80% of all rapes reported here are by american girls who got drunk... 

That said, i have been witness and partook in some nights out with the gals. However we have had tons of fun trying to find the Italian bars and speaking, maybe briefly kissing some Italians. I find the language barrier the most frustrating. Men will come up to you on the street spouting how gorgeous you are, however, thats where their english vocabulary ends. I spent one evening with my room-mate and two Italians who met us at a bar, they spoke little English but were charming enough to keep us interested. We walked along the Arno and they showed us a place void of american tourists and full of young Italian natives. Along the Arno all the real Florintines hang out and enjoy drinks to reggae and house music almost every night!  Then you can walk up the side of a mountain and get a view of the entire city... yes it was cheesy and romantic but every girl who goes to florence has to do something like that right? and no we are not continuing to hang out with these boys, but they did show us a beautiful night and some great places to hang out in Firenze (Florence)

I bet your dying to know about my classes right? 

well i have 4 

Sculpture advanced- also known as my stone carving class. Being in the advanced class gives you the freedom to do practically what ever you want. I'm getting right in on stone. I've picked a beautiful piece of pink marble that was hanging out in the SACI gardens, I'm working on sketches and macketts at the moment and will start carving next week. im very excited to get back into that zone. 

Restoration Painting- the teacher is very very experienced, she is called to work on project all of Italy , as that is her specialty and they are always pretty high profile works.  however i'm having some trouble understanding her. She speaks with a very heavy accent, and very fast. it almost sounds like she is speaking in Italian when she is speaking in english. i think this might be my most challenging class because i am truly a beginner. Restoration is what i have always thought i would end up doing and now i see that it is a very demanding profession. I am up for the challenge but it is going to be a really big challenge. In our first lecture she explained how restoration is very similar to being a surgeon. in its completion is takes about the same amount of time as medical school. 

Fresco- My Most Favorite Class

I just had it today and its going to be amazing, our class is held in a separate Fresco workshop in another part of Firenze. it is very small, there are only four of us and the teachers are amazing! they don't even consider themselves our teachers. they are artists and so are we. but we are learning a technique. from one artist to another. Here is the BEST part, there names are Mario and Luigi!!!!! -no lie! and they are these cute old men with huge mustaches! this ha nothing to do with the video game- they are real! i can't  get over it ! 

SACI independent studio 

This is My school's way of making sure we are still doing the enormous amount of work they would require if we were on campus. Not to diss. SACI, but it is sort of like a summer camp for college students. A lot of the students are rich kids from large universities with general fine art studio majors. This is there chance to romantically-"be and artist in florence." MICA understands that SACI provides a wonderful space( it is located in a palace) and has some genius instructors, but it doesn't offer a competitive atmosphere of peers the way MICA (apparently) does. so i have 6 credits of independent studio which means 12+ hours  week working on something i get to dream up. I will be studying Color and im very excited. ill leave it there until i am more concrete about where i am going but it will involve. The light and  the surrounding antiquity, the human body, and possibly some inspiration from the artist Susan Seddon Boulet. Not for her use of color but her subject matter. - just wait and see. I'm excited! 

Other awesome things

- I rented a bike! i don't live suuuppperrr close to my school so this will make running around a bit easier, as well as making grocery shopping much easier. Im also excited because i've been getting lost in this city on foot, and it been wonderful! So getting lost on a bike will take my wanderings even further! Its a great city for a bike! everyone here has one. 

- i might be going on  a day trip to Ravenna tomorrow. 

- you can buy birria (beer) at the 99 cents store!

- you drink with every meal here

- my Fresco teachers gave us Wine with lunch

- i love Tuscan food! we have a little cooking class and i have learned how to make some great cheap fresh salads and foods, very exciting! the class is taught by the cutest Italian woman ever! i love the Mama- like figures I'm encountering 

-You can't get coffee the way you would in the US. We like to get out extra large coffees and drink them on the way to something else. Not here! you want coffee in the morning? great! but be prepared to stop for 5 minutes and slug it down at one of the many little snack bars, cafe's, or Gelateria's 

- Gelato and wine are more available than water- and the gelato guys are very friendly ;)

- i live right across from the Ufitzi and every night there are musicians who set the mood taking advantage of the wonderful acoustics of the old buildings. Its lovely to walk by, everyone sits around with their friends and lovers and listens while surrounded by the history of the Renaissance.

- walking along the Ponte Vecchio at night is so incredibly lovely pictures coming soon if you don't know what that is 

Factoid: there used to be many bridges crossing the Arno full of architectural beauty. However, that asshole Hitler bombed them all down to prevent the American's from crossing the river during the war. But he left the Ponte Vecchio because as a painter himself, he always enjoyed painting those buildings so he left it as His gift to the arts! ugh , JERK. 

for all those who haven't already seen on facebook the first of many batches of photos are up- more coming soon!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149945&id=505318377&l=57dfe97746 

ok, i think we are more-or-less caught up. i will keep posting more regularly soon, i get internet hooked up in my apartment sometime this month- its italy, everything runs on its own time  ;)

The Beginning of Goodbye

The picture is of a portion of the mural, this will be in the center at the very top of the wall. Its only about 1/4 of 1/3 of the entire project...... yup! its big!

Italia!!!!

My trip to taly is officially SOON! however, i still have not gotten my Visa back yet (pressure) all i can do right now though, is have faith in the system. 

20

My birthday was last week, it was a very interesting attempt at a celebration. I did have about 10 of my closest and dearest friends all come out for the event. It was strange to have people from such different parts of my life in one place, but it showed me how loving and giving all of my friends are. I really appreciate how far people traveled to be with me. 

Such a strange age! i didn't expect this age to be as eye opening as it has. Their really is a lot to adulthood, and right now it looks like a big mountain of responsibility, but also excitement, because if i get that responsibility thing down then i can travel and have amazing experiences to positively influence what is to come later. Its here guys... life really has begun. 

Mural

Plugging along, we have had two more paint days, both went well, on one we got to meet an interesting group of ESL kids from Drexel. It was nice to meet some foreign exchange students as i am about to embark on a similar journey. I will be immersed in a culture without knowing the language. I assume i will face many annoyances, like idioms! i forgot how frustrating that inside joke between languages is. Also explaining things that we have that they don't, or vice versa. Talking about myself and what i do might actually be difficult, and force me to ask more questions when i am so used to answering them instead. 

The mural is 2/3 mapped out and we will be starting the last third next week. i hope that by the time i leave this summer that we will be all done with the prep work so that James Burns and his remaining staff can really get going on the finalizing painting process. i' m trying to remain as organized as possible so that when i'm gone things will be easy to find. 

Mural Thoughts

This image is contains a couple of details of James Burnes' murals. On the lower right is a detail from The Heritage Mural that i worked on when i began with MAP two years ago. 

As you all know i work for MAP (Philadelphia Mural Arts Program) the beginning of the summer was a frustrating battle trying to figure out who and where to work,under what contract and when i would start. BUT! the frustration has payed off! 

I am working with muralist James Burns on one of his three current Philadelphia murals. This one is called "Personal Renaissance" (i'm a fan of the name) it is at Fourth and Berks in the Fishtown area.  It happens to be on the side of a methadone treatment facility. The mural has to do with overcoming the selfish ways of addiction and finding treatment and healing in community and companionship. 

Today was our first community paint day. up until this point i have been helping with prep work for the mural. for those unfamiliar with the process, many murals are done "off the wall" on large sheets of parachute cloth which are then applied to the wall with a special type of adhesive called Nova Gel. On a community paint day we organize a "paint by numbers" system for people to lay down a base coat of the mural. In preparation for paint days i have spent the last week priming, griding, and sketching in the design on large 5ft by 5ft pieces of parachute cloth. 

Paint days are one of my favorite things about mural arts. I enjoy meeting and talking with the community and watching the process transform their expectations about art. In this case we are working with clients of the clinic. It is a very different group from what i am used to ( i have mainly worked with children of the community) but it was different in very positive ways. i found myself very proud to know that these people had found a path to recovery. I also saw the painting as a therapeutic additive to their treatment. 

These paint days always make me seriously consider going into art therapy. I know, like every young adult i have only a biz-zillion goals currently, but I'm officially adding "Art Therapist" to the list of things i want to be when i grow up. 

 I am thrilled to be working for James agian, i worked with him two years ago when i started with MAP and he continues to be a great teacher and source of inspiration. I also really enjoy working alongside his large staff, many people to talk to and learn about as well as connect with for later. 

In Other News

I am continually building up excitement for my trip to Italy. I keep learning about more and more people who are also going to be in Europe this fall. My mother also keep finding friends of friends that live over in Florence that she is putting me in contact with. By the way it looks now i wonder if i will even find time to visit all of the people i am going to know over there. This is one of those six degrees of separation things if i've ever seen one. 

The Beginning of Recorded Time

Thank you all for coming to be witness of my first blog entry!

 I will be using this space to keep everyone near and far updated on the excitement of my world 

What could be so exciting? 

....My artwork of course!

I was just gifted by my amazing parents a brand new Nikon D60, This is my first and only digital SLR camera, and i am very excited to explore this medium that is so different from the mediums i usually work with. 

I am currently working on putting together a portfolio of Body Paintings  for use in obtaining theatrical make-up jobs,  and the ability to collaborate with other photographers, fashion designers, and installation artists who are interested in incorporating the altered human body in their work. 

This project has led me to an Internship with the band TELESMA.  This opportunity has provided me with unforgettable experiences, and life long friends. 

And again this summer i am assisting for the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, this might be considered my day job.  i will be updating as we make progress on the wall i am Currently working on, on Germantown Ave alongside Philadelphia Muralist John Lidaquer. 

Also! Stay tuned for updates and blog entries on my upcoming trip to Florence, Italy!