Tuscan Landscape

China Ink and Watercolor
a workshop with Simo Capecchi and Caroline Peyron
Volterra, August 28 – September 1rst
In this fourth Volterra’s workshop, participants will be guided to discover the city and its surroundings that offer a variety of subjects, guided by Simo Capecchi, an architect that likes to paint, and by Caroline Peyron, artist and experienced art teacher.
We will enjoy a broad view on the city medioeval skyline and its architectures and practice drawing Tuscan landscape from the hills around Villa Le Guadalupe, learning how to be accurate but selective. Dealing with the artistic heritage of the city, we will sketch fragments of statues and sarcophagi in Museo Guarnacci, one of the best Etruscan museums of Italy, or sketching in the area of Teatro Romano. 
Ancient statues are fascinating for us today also because they are incomplete, because they are fragmented. What is missing allows the mind to integrate and elaborate. Drawing interrupted lines let us free, portends what is not there. We will draw statues in the Etruscan Museum Guarnacci – like the famous “Ombra della sera”, and in the area of Teatro Romano, searching for significant voids. 
In fascinating Villa Le Guadalupe and its gardens we’ll draw a XIX° century interior and descover hidden naturalistic details. Participants will be encouraged to reinterpret reality and historical remains in a personal way. The addition of texts and annotations on the page will complete our sketched reportages with a narrative value.
With Simo Capecchi participants will focus on watercolor technique and with Caroline they will mostly use China Ink with chinese brush and bamboo nib. 

Photos of previous workshops 2010-2012.
Have a look at last year’s photos in a reportage by Teri Nye (Atlanta, USA)

Workshop Schedule

Wednesday, August 28
6 pm: workshop introduction followed by dinner at Villa Le Guadalupe

Thursday, August 29
10 am -1 pm: Sketching inside Villa le Guadalupe and in the garden

2 pm: lunch at Villa le Guadalupe

4 pm – 7 pm: Sketching panoramas from Villa le Guadalupe and surroundings

8 pm: dinner at Villa Le Guadalupe

Friday, August 30
10 am – 7 pm: Sketching in the historic town of Volterra. Etruscan Museum, Roman Theatre and alabaster artisans (lunch on your own).

8 pm: dinner at Villa Le Guadalupe

Saturday, August 31
 10 am – 1 pm: Sketching in Val di Cecina

 2 pm: lunch at Villa Le Guadalupe

 4 pm – 7 pm: Panoramas from Badia Camaldolese
 and Le Balze
 8 pm: dinner at Villa Le Guadalupe

Sunday, September 1rst
9 am – 12 am: Open Sketchcrawl in the historical center of Volterra

12 am: Workshop’s public exhibition in Sala Docciola, Volterra

Hosting institution
Le Guadalupe. Spazio per le Arti is an association dedicated to arts by germans dramaturgs Wolfgang Storch and Klaudia Ruschkowski that hosts workshops in arts, theatre, design and music, with an international program. Le Guadalupe is located in a XIX° century villa, with a view on the southern hills of Volterra, with beautiful gardens around and interiors covered with frescos.
Workshop in Le Guadalupe web site / german and italian translation

Participants
Maximum number: 15 (min. 6), each level of drawing experience is welcome.

Supply list 
Any supplies participants normally use are fine, sketchbook and loose papers included. We’d like to use pastels, pencil, ink pen, watercolors, China ink and bamboo nib.

Registration fee 
200 euro, including 21 hours lessons and a Moleskine watercolor sketchbook.
Plus 120 euro, including 6 meals in villa Le Guadalupe.
To apply, please email before July 15: simo.capecchi(at)gmail.com

Accommodation: 3 double rooms available inside the villa (shared bathroom, breakfast included). Other suggested hotels in our workshop map.
Contact Klaudia Ruschkowski for more info and helps for travel:
Klaudia Ruschkowski  – tel: +39-0588-86541

Email: info@villa-le-guadalupe.com
Travel: You can reach Volterra from Florence (2 hours): bus to Colle val d’Elsa + Volterra / from Pisa (2 hours): bus to Pontedera + Volterra / from Rome (4.30 hours) : train to Cecina + bus to Saline di Volterra. We’ll help with bus timetables and we’ll pick you up from bus station. Map here.

Sponsor
Moleskine will provide sketchbooks.

About the instructors

Simonetta Capecchi completed her PhD degree at the University of Naples (Italy) in Architectural Drawing and she works as an illustrator. Since 2006, she has curated four editions of “In viaggio col taccuino”, an exhibition on travel sketchbooks with conferences and workshops. A selection from this exihbit has been published in book form (Sguardi su Napoli, 2009). Simonetta’s sketchbooks have been included in many international exhibitions and featured in edited collections such as Danny Gregory’s An illustrated life. She contributes to Urban Sketchers from Naples, where she lives and has been an instructors in three past Urban Sketchers Symposiums.
Blog: www.inviaggiocoltaccuino.com

Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/simocapecchi

Caroline Peyron is a French artist living in Naples. Personal exhibitions of her works have been held in Naples at the Grenoble Institute, Biblioteca Nazionale, Castelnuovo and Museo Archeologico Nazionale and in Rome at the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica. She has been an art teacher and has held workshops for private schools and public institutions for over twenty years. She gives art classes for children, adolescents and adults both in private schools and in cultural institutions like the Museo di Capodimonte and Museo Archeologico Nazionale of Naples. Watch a video of a recent performance.

Meet the instructor.