Waking up for my first day in Florence was exciting and surreal!   Today was all about getting some shopping done and settling in.  It's great where I'm staying because there are a few different supermarket/grocery stores all within walking distance.  I went to two different ones today because I wanted to see which each one had.  There's one which is a five minute walk away and it has great products and living essentials.
  Living in a foreign country is always sort of an alien experience because the products can be very different from what we have in the US.  And it's also interesting trying to decipher what the products say on them.  For instance, I was trying to buy grape jelly and ended up with blueberry.  I like many of the European products better; such as the yogurt, I normally don't like yogurt, but I like the European kind.  It's just a fun experience to explore and I've barely scratched the surface here.
  I was thinking about how last summer in Giverny taught me a lot of lessons and made it less intimidating to live in a foreign country.  That was my first time living abroad and it was 3 months so I learned a lot and I gained a lot of confidence.  But it's still intimidating to really be living in a different country--especially when there's a different language.  I was in Edinburgh before flying to Florence and it was great because I could talk to anyone because it's all English (although some of the Scottish were a wee bit hard to understand).  For Italy, I've been practicing my Italian in a language workbook, but actually speaking it in a store to ask someone "Where is the butter?" is a different experience.  I guess it's about theory Vs. practice.
   Anyway, I've included some photos which just show some local buildings and my trip to the grocery store.  The last photo was my dinner which I cooked tonight.  As a side note: I wanted to be a chef when I was younger and I still love the process of making a nice meal; there are actually a lot of similarities between cooking and painting because they both require good materials combined with skill.   Spontaneity and creativity is integral to both, I could go on and on, but they both give me a real sense of satisfaction and reward.
  That's all for today as I'm still settling in here.  And I'm just going to relax the rest of tonight because my work begins tomorrow as I begin my final semester at the Florence Academy of Art.  I'm really excited to meet more people and to learn more about the art that I love.
  I'll try to post as often as I can to document this journey and to share it with everyone who I miss back home.  Ciao!

  I'm getting some final things ready because I am leaving for Florence on Friday!  I'll be gone for 7 weeks and will be back in the US in mid-August.
​  My reason for going is to finish my MA degree from the Florence Academy of Art; I was actually supposed to graduate last year, but I postponed it for my Giverny residency.  Once I'm back in the US, I want to write a review of the whole program for anyone else who's considering it.  In a nutshell, the program has been wonderful and has given me the academic training that I've always yearned for.
  Like last summer in France, this isn't a vacation since I'm going to be very busy with my schoolwork, but I am planning to share my journey on my blog.  I'm planning to explore Florence as much as possible and to also visit Venice, Siena and Rome.  Many people have been telling me how great the food is so I can't wait to taste various dishes.  I've also been studying Italian so that I can embrace more of the culture.  (learning Italian has been much easier than French so far haha)
  For me, the three major European countries which have influenced my Art are Spain, France and Italy.  I've been to Spain and France, but I haven't been to Italy before so I'm pretty excited to see these works that I've read about for years.  The Statue of David alone is something that I absolutely can't wait to see.  Florence also has the Boboli Gardens which were a favorite painting spot of John Singer Sargent (Sargent himself was born in Florence).  
  I never thought that my artistic journey would take me to all these amazing places.  I've loved painting for more than half my life now and I'm still obsessed with the ideas, techniques, materials, history and especially the feeling of it.  And  I had the same fascination once I began teaching and was able to share this feeling with others.   I've always worked very hard and pushed myself as a painter and teacher, but I'm still amazed by what painting has given me and taught me.  I'm very thankful and now I can't wait to see what's next!  Arrivederci!
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  Please Note: my SHOP will be closed during this time since I won't be able to ship work.

  There are still spaces available for my upcoming floral watercolor workshop at Stems Brooklyn. Tickets are currently on sale for $75.  All skill levels are welcome and materials are provided!
 If you are interested in this opportunity to learn with me then please follow this link to purchase your tickets: https://stemsbrooklyn.com/product/painting-florals-with-watercolor/

  A small oil sketch of our taller irises.  I've been working on some smaller studies which have been a lot of fun and it's been helping me to simplify and focus.  I've included two close-ups to show the paint thickness.  You'll notice some rain drops on it because it started to rain!