[Editor’s note: Austin-based calligrapher Sharon Zeugin led the the 2012 “Painting Umbria with Words and Images” La Romita session this year, her second workshop hosted by La Romita. Find more of Sharon’s work, and read her blog, at http://www.sharonzeugin.com/]
Impressions of my time at La Romita
A star-lit evening musical performance in an Umbrian hilltop monastery;
Using a wash basin for Impromptu suminigashi painting sessions in the La Romita courtyard with Enza;
Demonstrating the “bones” of Roman Capitals with pencil in one hand and a cappuccino in another, in a hilltop cafe in Labro;
Watching the full moon rise and then linger over the La Romita Garden, feeling the welcome respite of a cool, late evening breeze after a sweltering day in a large city;
A special pre-arranged visit to the Perugia library (accompanied by Ben and Enza) to view a collection of early illuminated manuscripts;
Dining on a series of extraordinary dishes in the dining room, followed by long wine-fed animated conversations over the red-checkered tablecloths;
Late night art sessions in the chapel studio with the i-Pad musical accompaniment of Lyle Lovett, Arcade Fire, KD Lang, Mozart;
Sketching in the La Romita garden at dusk, mixing colors to match the colors dimmed by the fading light;
Smelling the clean laundry just plucked from the clothes line in the La Romita olive grove;
Filling sketchbook/art journals with our responses to the rich array of sights, smells and sounds of Umbrian villages, cities and rugged countryside;
Integrating calligraphy, sketches, paintings, personal musings to create a unique art journal of our time at La Romita;
Leaving La Romita with tears in our eyes, hugs all around–and vows to return to our “home away from home.”
Thank you Ben, Enza, Edmund–and the whole staff of La Romita for the opportunity to really live in Umbria for two weeks.
Sharon Zeugin
Austin, Texas
