ITALY 2025

Posted on October 27, 2025 by splashingpaint

The textures and colors of Italy have made it one of my favourite painting locations. We spent a few days in Florence before heading off to Tenuta di Sticciano, between Florence and San Gimignano, for an 8 day painting retreat. I had a small, enthusiastic group of artists, a spacious studio and beautiful surroundings right in the middle of some of the best Tuscan villages and landscapes.

Early morning light on the Ponte Vecchio is one of the treats of Florence

Florence Cathedral built in the 14th century without power tools, cranes, laser levels or computers – just a lot of hard working, skilled craftsmen with a hundred years to get the job done.

Plain air painting at Tenuta di Sticciano

Our chef spoiled us with some fantastic traditional wood fired Pizzas

The painting studio at Tenuta di Sticciano was a great room. It was good to be able to display everyones work on the last day and enjoy what we had achieved with a glass of local wine.

Beautiful Tuscan sunsets from our accommodation…

…and some heavy Tuscan fogs before the sun rose.

Hats off to Tori who managed to swim laps every morning – undaunted by fog and low temperatures!

We visited a number of wonderful Medieval Tuscan villages, sketching and taking photographs which formed the basis for our paintings back in the studio.

Always lots of geraniums.

San Gimignano – Amazing textures, wonderful earthy colors and the worlds best Gelato’s

Beautiful brick and stone wall in Castellina in Chianti

We couldn’t have a painting retreat in Italy without including a red Vespa.

After the retreat in Tuscany Dianne and I caught the fast train to Rome. We made our way slowly through the Vatican Museum and enjoyed wandering around the city for three days.

From Rome we headed up to the hill town of Cortona. The town’s history goes back to Etruscan times and it’s location, on top of a steep hill surrounded by flat plains is spectacular. The highest point in the town is dominated by a Medici Fort which is now a series of galleries presenting some fantastic photographic exhibitions.

View of the only level street in Cortona from our apartment window.

Breakfast with a view across the plains to distant mountains was amazing.

Not far from Cortona by train is the city of Arezzo – full of narrow winding streets and in the Piazza Crande is the impressive 12th Century church, Santa Maria della Pieve

Our stay in Italy was over way too quickly. Europe to Australia without a stop over is not a pleasant trip. We arrived back in Brisbane airport full of great memories but feeling like exhausted zombies.

SAN GIMIGNANO

Posted on September 25, 2016 by splashingpaint

After a great week in Cinque Terre we wound our way up over the mountains and on to Lucca to do some painting, then it was off to San Gimignano for the rest of the workshop. We painted in the the old town and also in the hill town of Volterra. We also managed a day trip to Florence to see the city and the Uffizi Gallery. We had good weather most of the time in San Gimignano, which was great for painting. The couple of wet days made the town look amazing with reflections, umbrellas and spectacular skies.

The proprietor of the “Best Gelato shop in the world” describes, with passion, the greatness of his product to a barrage of cameras

Savage market guard dog.

Ai Weiwei’s Exhibition in Florence

Street Juggler – Florence

Piaggio’s resting – Florence

Man talks to dog – Florence

Countryside around Volterra

Clouds Gathering – Volterra

The last day of the workshop we were treated to a typical Tuscan feast – plenty of Beer, Wine and Food and lots of stories of the adventures from the past two weeks.

Certificates were presented…

…and, of course, selfies taken to remember what was a great workshop.

CINQUE TERRE

Posted on September 24, 2016 by splashingpaint

A week in Cinque Terre is a great introduction to an Italian workshop. Great food and wine, beautiful scenery and friendly people. We spent our days moving between the villages painting and sketching. Villa Adriana, where we stayed for the week, provided excellent meals – although Antipasto, Pasta, Main and Dessert were more than most of us could handle!

Wine Delevery – Manarola

Manarola – buildings by the sea

Amanda – Watching Chickens

Painting in Riomaggiore

What I thought was an ideal place to paint in Riomaggiore turned out to be the only place wide enough for delivery vans to turn around, so lots of juggling easels in between washes.

Old Town – Monterosso

Monterosso – Small truck pees on sidewalk.

Fishing Boats – Monterosso

Manarola – from the water

Very Italian – National Park sign advising against stilettos for the walk between Monterosso and Vernazza.

Cliffs near Monterosso

Early Morning Vernazza

Blue Umbrellas – Vernazza

Vernazza before sunrise.

Between Vernazza and Monterosso someone has set up a feeding bay and shelter for stray cats. This guy hung around behind a mesh fence for a pat and a handful of dry cat food.

Small bridge on path between Vernazza and Monterosso

Old Town – Monterosso

TOWNS AND VILLAGES

Posted on September 16, 2016 by splashingpaint

The towns and villages of Puglia are similar in style to the villages of Northern Italy, but the earthier colored sandstone and marble is replaced by lighter, often whitewashed surfaces. The most obviously different architecture is found around the town of Alberobello in the Itria Valley.

Martina Franca – a labyrinth of pale marble and white walls.

Autobianchi

Main Square – Martina Franca

Dry stone walled and conical roofed Trulli buildings of the Itria Valley

Immaculate old Fiat.

Trulli houses, Alberobello.

Well worn stairs – Alberobello

Rain in Lecce

Lecce Piazza

Cruising the hills around Pisa in a Fiat 500 driven like a Ferrari – What a lot of fun.

Barga – back street bikers

Herbs and spices and a blue Vespa.

Retired Fiat Fire Truck

Down the mountain to Monterosso

PUGLIA, ITALY

Posted on September 7, 2016 by splashingpaint

Our workshop in Cinque Terre doesn’t start for 10 days, so we flew from Rome to Brindisi then caught a train along the east coast to Polignano where we met up with Amanda and Gordon for a week by the Adriatic.

I guess some people have trouble remembering which door to drive through and which door to walk through

Our balcony in Polignano – Balmy breezes, local meats and vegetables, Birra Moretti and Limoncello.

Polignano is built on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the Adriatic

We were luck enough to coincide our visit with the Red Bull world Cliff Diving Championships. These towers are almost 30metres above the sea.

Competitors jump from the towers, perform a series of twists and somersaults to slow their decent, then land feet first in the water at over 80 kph.

Water entry can shatter bones and damage organs if not done correctly, so there were a lot more spectators than competitors.

Fishing Village just out of town

Small black snake catches a lizard

Cave opening to the sea 100 meters inland.

Polignano Cats

TUSCANY, CINQUE TERRE, CHIANTI

Posted on September 17, 2013 by splashingpaint

A few days in a villa outside San Gimignano exploring the countryside and villages is a great prelude to a painting workshop.

Amanda and Gordon, our tour guides for the workshop, chauffeured us through the vineyards and olive groves of Tuscany, exploring the countryside to discover the best painting destinations, vineyards and restaurants.

Early morning in the vineyards surrounding San Gimignano.

Cinque Terre Coastline from Montorosso

Painting in Riomaggiore

Regular critique sessions were a lot of fun in the Hotel Courtyard.

Dry flowers on a San Gimignano window sill.

Washing Day – San Gimignano

San Gimignano as the sun rises

Old lady carries flowers to one of the Saints in San Gimignano

Early morning mist in the valleys

Two Cats – San Gimignano

San Gimignano before bus loads of visitors arrive.

A rare event – these little things run for years on a tank of fuel.

A window in Castellina in Chianti.

Religious ceremony in Montorosso.

Spectacular mountains between Pisa and Cinque Terre.

Castello Di Meleto in Chianti – our home for the second week of the workshop.

Castello Di Meleto

Great views of the Chianti countryside from Castello Di Meleto.

Our one shower of rain for the entire workshop as we head to the castle cellars for a wine tasting and tour of the castle.

Strange leftovers from the 12th century still dangle from walls in the bowels of Castello Di Meleto

A happy man with a nice bottle of Chianti Classico from the castle vineyards.

Fine Dining at Castello Di Meleto

In Florence, a small yellow car the width of a refrigerator.

Leonardo da Vinci’s attempt to breathe under water.

Descendants of Michelangelo and Leonardo still decorate the walls of Florence.

Large flocks of Vespers gather in the back streets of Florence.

In Florence you can hold up your trousers with a Real Python for just 25 Euro

Pigeons fight for crumbs outside the Uffizi

Botticelli clouds drift over Florence

Two streets meet in the small town of Greve in Chianti

Castello Di Meleto vineyards

Castellina in Chianti

Castello Di Meleto’s pool disappears into the Chianti hills.

Souvenirs – Florence

Markets – Florence

LAKE COMO

Posted on October 9, 2012 by splashingpaint

Lake Como is a long V shaped lake set among steep, mist covered mountains in Northern Italy.

It is fringed with small villages accessed by a winding maze of roads or a busy network of ferries.

The town of Como is the main Ferry hub and has a Funicular railway to the village above. The views from the mountains are spectacular and from the water the lake takes on a mysterious, fairytale quality with imposing villas and castles and small picturesque villages set at the bottom of steep, dramatic mountains.