Monday, May 26, 2003
Well, it's nearly two in the morning here, and obviously I can't sleep. I woke up around 12:30 and could not fall back to sleep thanks to the cries of some bird outside my window. Very irksome, especially considering I have to be up at 6:00 this morning in order to go to Florence.
I had my first class day yesterday. My literature class is going to be more fun than I thought: we're going to be reading poems and selections that tie into the places we are visiting, including writings by St. Catherine of Siena and St. Francis of Assisi. As for my art class, I can't help but enjoy it because I find everything around me so inspiring; I want to sketch all of it. My professor is very laid-back: he's here with his family and to do work of his own as well as teach. I spent the afternoon yesterday walking about Santa Chiara and Castiglion Fiorentino, drawing different things from narrow streets to expansive landscapes to a rose from the courtyard, all in conte crayon -- which has to be one of my favorite drawing tools ever. The people here become very, very interested in you once they see that you have a sketchbook in hand; they like to lean over your shoulder and see your work. Since all the streets are so narrow I sometimes found myself in the way of people coming and going, but everyone is very friendly and more than willing to grace you with compliments on your work. Apparently all of my sketches are bella, no matter how rough and untidy I may think them to be. :)
Tomorrow is our first group excursion, to Florence, or Firenze as it's known here. We have three scheduled trips to Florence, plus many of us will probably be going on private weekend excursions since it's so near. We'll be visiting some of the main churches including the Duomo tomorrow, as well as procuring our art supplies. I'd like to get some nice watercolors and do a lot of watercolor painting; I'd also still like to do some oils, but they will be slightly more difficult. I'm thinking about perhaps going in with a couple of other people on the oil supplies, since they'll be the most expensive (and probably the ones I'd use least frequently, since I'll have to work small and oils take forever to dry). If we have time I'd also like to search out the bookstores and see what my chances are of procuring a copy of Order of the Phoenix; my pre-order idea went down the drain when I discovered Amazon.co.uk wasn't offering a release day delivery guarantee.
I suppose I should go back to attempting to go to sleep -- I do have to be up again in a few hours, after all. More later.
| 7:13 PM |
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