Category: Italia

  • A day in Milan

    I started my Italian Adventure in Milan where Elena works. We left Podenzano at 6:30 in the morning and were on a train heading to Milan shortly after 7. Next we had to take two subway trains the last of which deposited us close to her office. Her coworker drew me a quick map and…

  • Italian Vacation

    On Sunday I will be leaving for a two week vacation in sunny (I hope) Italy. I will probably not be blogging from there; I will not have much free time. However, I will be sketching and casing out some future paintings. This painting is of the door that used to be on the house…

  • Silvana – time for a break

    Italian women pride themselves on their clean, orderly homes, their freshly ironed linens, and of course the food they cook. This painting was inspired by a photo of my cousin Silvana, who lives in Sersale, a small town in Calabria. Many times when we spoke, she told me she was cleaning her house or ironing…

  • Giuseppina – incredible lady

    When my grandmother, Lucy Melino Fressola died, she left each of her descendants; children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren some money. With part of mine, I took my entire family to Italy; my husband, my two young adult sons, and I. We decided that it was about time to go visit my grandmother’s home town, Sant’Agata…

  • I Gatti Randagi – Alley Cats

    One of the pleasures of being in Italy for me is getting to know their cat populations. I think you can learn a lot about a town by the condition of their cats. Towns with lots of healthy cats seem friendlier to me.  Although Italian cats are usually smaller than our cats,  don’t eat as…