Wedding Day in San Martino al Cimino

[by Fred Lynch in central Italy]

  While many of my fellow urban sketchers were spying the soaring skyscrapers of Chicago, I was teaching my annual journalistic drawing class in central Italy. Since then I’ve seen many posts of extraordinary modernity and cosmopolitism and I can’t help thinking of how my experiences were the very opposite. Most of my time was spent in tiny, old, quiet towns – drawing alone. There is no doubt that my sketching excursions are quests for a quiet escape.

On the Saturday afternoon of this drawing, I watched as a bar filled with locals mixed with the guests of a fancy wedding in the nearby church. Due the extreme heat, a steady stream of celebrants dipped into to the cafe for bottles of cold water. All the while, the chirping owner of the place perched at the perimeter, guarding his nest. He kept an eye on me, as well as everyone else. We spoke briefly and from then on he called me “Boston Man.” He checked on me and my drawing often. Later, he offered me a bottle of homemade wine. The day wasn’t as quiet as I would have liked, but it was a terrific show.