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.

NEW FRIENDS AND OLD PLACES

Our new friends, Kim and Bill, spent a few days in Rome before taking the train to Orvieto one Sunday morning.  Perhaps this is the time to talk about how we first met them.

One of the most difficult things about moving is that you lose all your history, all the moments you've shared with friends over the years, all the secrets, all the pain, all the joy.  We've met a few wonderful people since we've moved to Florida, but like many people of a certain age, most of them already have their circle of friends and their routines.  True friendships are formed over time, involving multiple interests and shared memories.  Just because we share a love of food, or a love or Italy, or even agree on politics, building friendships takes time.  But you gotta start somewhere, right?

After the Women's March in January we wanted to continue to do something physical like marching and demonstrating.  I was a little too young - and a little too clueless - to march back in the 60s for civil rights and women's rights, but I was ready to make up for it.  Our Republican Senator, Marco Rubio, had gone into hiding (after failing in his presidential bid, he'd returned to the job he'd said he hated) and hadn't held a town hall meeting in well over a year, Indivisible Tampa decided to hold a demonstration outside of his Tampa office and Art and I showed up the first week - and every week thereafter.  Needless to say we saw many of the same people week after week, and we struck up many conversations.  

One day while demonstrating, Art found me and said,"Hey, you've got to meet this woman!"  That woman was Kim.  She'd arrived that day wearing a Beatles T-shirt, and Art had on a ball cap with "Italia" on it.  They'd struck up a conversation and discovered that she and I shared a love for Paul McCartney AND Italy, AND that she and her husband (that would be Bill) would be in Italy at the same time.  Email addresses were exchanged and we visited each other's homes for planning sessions, trying to figure out how best to maximize Kim and Bill's time in Italy.  

Kim is a potter - she throws her her own pieces, then paints and fires them.  Her work in incredible!  You can see some of her pieces here: Kimberli Pottery. One of her must-sees during her time in Italy was Deruta, where they've been making majolica for centuries.  (If you're wondering about the term "majolica", That's Arte.com has a great, easy-to-understand definition HERE).  My last post was about our search to find studios for Kim to visit. You can read it HERE.

So - back to Orvieto.  Art and I drove up and over Monte Peglia to Orvieto on a Sunday morning to meet Kim and Bill at the train station.  We'd made reservations for lunch Trattoria del Moro Aronne,  and we had plenty of time to wander through town, visit the cathedral and absorb the charms of Orvieto.  The views, the architecture and the many ceramic shops were as enjoyable for Kim and Bill as they always are for us.  Click on the link to see our ORVIETO PHOTOS.

After a wonderful lunch - and if you plan to go for Sunday lunch at Trattoria del Moro Aronne, be sure to make reservations! - we drove back over Monte Peglia, drove through San Venanzo to show Kim and Bill where we used to live, then went on to Todi where we enjoyed the flower show - dozens of stalls selling all kinds of plants, from roses to bonsai. Much like Orvieto, the views OF Todi as well as the views FROM Todi are spectacular.  You can see our TODI PHOTOS by clicking on the link.

At the end of the day we drove Kim and Bill to La Locanda del Tramonto Infinito, their home for the next two nights.  We had promised Bill the best pizza he'd ever eaten, and he was not disappointed!  Marco and his family greeted Kim and Bill warmly, and they instantly felt at home.

We continued to share stories and learn more and more about each other over dinner.  By the end of our first day together it had become obvious:  this was indeed a friendship that would endure.  Our common interests were the beginning, but the time spent together over the next several days would be the beginning of the kind of shared memories that all friendships must have.  I know Kim was inspired by her time in Italy in general, and in Deruta specifically, and I can't wait to see what new pieces she'll create.  I also can't wait to start planning for our next joint trip to Italy, hopefully in September, 2018.  I guess I'll have to title that post "Old Friends and Old Places"!