Typically Umbrian

We picked Kim and Bill up bright and early on Monday morning and drove to Deruta.  We knew Marco and Valeria's day started early, and we were anxious to spend as much time with them as possible.  Introductions were made and Kim was overwhelmed - where to look first?  What to ask?  What to discuss?  The fun had begun!

Marco's English is excellent, so he was able to answer all of Kim's questions.  Valeria understands some English, so she usually understood what Kim was asking, and was happy to let us all watch her paint.  I hate having someone look over my shoulder when I'm typing, so the idea of having people watch while I paint is terrifying - but of course Valeria, as well as Sara, took it all in stride.

Kim had questions about preparation, technique, brush strokes, types of brushes, and more, most of which were complete Greek to me.  The time Marco and Valeria spent with Kim was amazing - never a hint of impatience, simply joy to be sharing their passion with another artist.  If you stop in Deruta to buy ceramics, I highly recommend visiting a shop like Tassi where the artists will show you how your piece was created - they'll even custom design a piece just for you, using specific colors, or maybe even a special design.  Working directly with the artisans is definitely the way to go for a piece that will last a lifetime.

Here's a short video of Sara painting a cake plate:

The finished plate will look like this:  

After watching and learning about how the terracotta is transformed with paint, glaze, firings and a little luck, Marco asked us if we'd like to see the pottery being thrown.  Tassi doesn't throw their own pottery, they buy it from their neighbor Roberto Barcaccia, whose shop is just two doors down.  

As we walked in Roberto was just finishing up a large urn, which we later decided would become a lamp.  (Well, it was Kim who figured it out, I never would have guessed!)  Roberto's been throwing pottery for 40+ years, and makes it looks so simple.  

Amazing, right?  And all this before noon!  

I bought this beautiful bracelet from Roberto,  

 but I haven't yet decided which (or how many!) pieces we'll take home with us from Tassi.

You can see all our photos from that day by clicking on the Flickr link in the right-hand column."Albums" to find the ones you'd like to view.  The videos are on our YouTube page, also accessible via the link on the right.