There are some magnificent Victorian buildings in Manchester including this one, the Manchester Corn Exchange. I like the contrast between these old buildings and the new contemporary ones, making Manchester a lively cosmopolitan city.
Last night we sat watching the very exciting football semi-finals with Italy and Germany on a big outdoor screen on the Corn Exchange building in Manchester. Italy won the match so will see the final when we get back to Italy on Sunday night. If Italy win, the whole of Barga will go mad!
Yesterday I was in the County of Shropshire, middle England. It is an area I know little about except my brother lives there now. Red brick quaint cottages, millponds, hedgerows and narrow country lanes. Americans and Japanese tourists would love it but it is not as nice as the county of Yorkshire, but I am biased - I’m a Yorkshireman!
Between Manchester and Sheffield is the stunning Peak District National Park. This is where I spent most of my teenage years walking and it is the landscape that inspired me to become a landscape painter. Even though I live in Tuscany, I still paint this varied landscape because it holds so many lovely memories of my childhood.
Manchester Town Hall is a Victorian Gothic masterpiece in the heart of Manchester. The building is very complicated and I would have had to spend a few hours to sketch all the details. My time was limited so I created an impression of the form in pen and particularly as the town hall is just an iconic building a quick sketch was possible.
This is my first pencil sketch so far in the series. Blustery day today so by working quickly and cross hatching I managed to achieve some movement in the sketch. I liked this barn that is now a house conversion on the hillside before you come into the small town of Holfirth famous for the filming loaction of the BBC long running series Last of the Summer Wine.
A day of contrasts in many ways. This lunchtime we were in Pisa Airport, probably 35 degrees, sunny and bright. At just past 4pm we were in Northern England, 17 degrees, dull and very little colour. Driving over Saddleworth Moor between Oldham and Holmfirth, I stopped the car and quickly captured the drama of these moors. You cannot get any more contrast between this moorland landscape and the landscape of Tuscany, but equally just as beautiful.
Too knackered with this heatwave to talk about this building in Barga except it is called Villa Buenos Aires as it looks like a building that should be in Buenos Aires, not Tuscany! Again, simple line drawing works well. Off to the England tomorrow for several days so expect half the temperature and grey sky. Goodnight, now off to pack and bed!
The vines are now in full leaf with the little grapes just starting to grow. This low vantage point, looking up to the house adds dynamism to the sketch and the angular shape of the building contrasts with the organic soft shapes of the vines. No colour required on this sketch, pure line works well.
A little milestone today - my 100th Daily Sketch! Silhouetted against the late afternoon sky is this fortress just a short walk from the village of Verrucole, a few kilometres from San Romano. Very picturesque but no shop, not even a bar now. The last time I was here, the bar only switched the coffee machine on at weekends and only a few bags of nuts and crisps available. Today, a for sale sign on the door. Sad that these local village bars are closing but not enough trade to keep open.
We are in the middle of a heatwave, around 38 degrees midday. Have been gardening for a friend up in San Romano (half hour drive from Barga) past few days but managed to do my sketch today during a break. This is the view from his house - not a bad view to wake up to!
As you go north of Barga, up the valley and eventually towards Aulla and into the county of Lunigiana you notice the churches are architecturally different. For example the village of Sillignana is only a 25 minute drive from Barga but the church has an unusual shaped dome.
Where gardens are very rare in medieval hilltop towns and villages in Italy, the only way you can dry your washing is by hanging them from your window by various pulley methods. In summer, they dry quickly especially if your window gets some sun but many houses do not get the sun, the buildings being so close to each other but the washing eventually gets dry. But come the cold winter, washing must takes days to dry. In Liguria they put plastic sheets over the washing to stop the rain but never seen this method in Barga. On the French Riviera very little washing is hung out - maybe they think it doesn’t look good but I like the washing out. At least you know someone is alive and living behind those closed shutters!
Today I had the opportunity of visiting Pruneta di Sopra, www.pruneta.com just outside Castelnuovo. Run by Allessandro Guaspari and his family, the location of this country villa, surrounded by open parkland and woods is magnificent and a swimming pool makes it a perfect place to stay and relax.
Our daughter Mariella has been doing some work experience at the museum of the poet Giovanni Pascoli (1855 - 1912) in Castelvecchio just outside Barga. This late afternoon we went for a private guided tour taken by Mariella and her friend Veronica, both excellent and very professional! This gave me a chance to do a quick sketch of the beautiful garden and stunning distant mountain views.
Electricity went off yesterday, only got it back on this morning so uploading yesterday’s sketch now! A lovely summer day and a clear warm night, summer has arrived! This sketch was done just after the sun had set behind the distant mountains. A reminder of a beautiful day.
This afternoon I went to see the editor of The Grapevine Magazine, Norma Jean Bishop to chat about featuring my daily sketches on the front cover of the magazine together with an article. Norma lives several kilometres south of Lucca, a very different landscape to the area around Barga. Lots of vines and especially olive trees which produce the famous Lucchese olive oil.
About a half mile walk past the hospital of Barga, the landscape opens out to pasture land with some terrific views of the distant mountains. I liked the reddish coloured rendered house with the telegraph poles leading the eye to the building.
Many people in this area keep vines, making wine mainly for personal use. You have to go to the central region of Tuscany where wine is produced on a grand scale. I liked this building on a terrace nestled within vines.
There are many alleyways that criss-cross Barga Vecchia. It can be almost like walking around a maze but as Barga is very small you will not get lost. Depending on the time of day, the light and shadows created can transform an alley like this one I sketched this afternoon.
This view of Barga Duomo from about a mile away as the crow flies is a lovely example of how warm and cool colours give depth to a scene even though they are tonally very similar. Mixed weather for the next few days.
Just over a 5 minute drive south of Barga is the hamlet of Ponte di Campia. Nothing really interesting about the place apart from our lovely friends the Gillies family live here with their many pets including a micro pig (Squidgy) who is now several times larger than a micro pig! Whilst doing my daily sketch from their garden, Squidgy was happily grunting around my feet so for this reason, it was what was happening around myself that made this sketch memorable!
I drive this road at least a few times a day so this time I stopped the car, and did this sketch late afternoon when the shadows are long and the light takes on a warm glow. Just past the house, the Duomo of Barga and the mountains beyond can be seen which I have sketched several times already.
The village of Albiano just across the valley from Barga has some lovely views particularly the view up to Sommocolonia. I liked the terracing in between the trees adding some contrast and horizontal linework.
All the sketches so far have generally been in glorious colour. Today, as I completed the linework on the sketch I felt that no colour was required. This view is looking down from the top of the municipal museum in the centre of Barga. I liked the old lamp and the exposed wires. Telecom engineers in the UK would have a health and safety issue, in Italy no problem. Haven’t seen a builder yet wearing a hard hat!
What a contrast to yesterday. Heavy rain this morning and very little colour so today’s sketch is almost monochrome - better weather tomorrow forecast!
Tuscany is now full of wild flowers which add colour to a very green and lush landscape although it is hard for me to spot red poppies as I’m colourblind in reds and greens but these poppies in the foreground were tonally lighter than the darker green grass so thankfully no problem.
At last we are getting some decent weather. Tonight there was a summer evening feel in Barga, people strolling around in light clothing, restaurants busy with visitors and that beautiful evening light that bathes the buildings with a warm glow. The long summer days have arrived!
Arrived back in Barga late last night to discover there had been a thunderstorm whilst we had been away and the electricity had gone off and freezer full of food had gone off as well - literally! Veg are doing well at last, and grass needs strimming. Weather still not settled and today the sky was a dark grey, impending rain but did not materialise.
Just above San Remo is the old village of Bussana Vecchia. An earthquake struck in 1887 totally destroying the village but in the 1960s it was taken over by hippies from several European countries, repairing the houses to a reasonable state and creating an artist colony. There have been several attempts by the Italian government to evict, the last being in 1997 but so far they have succeeded in staying. I like the village a lot. It has a creative atmosphere, lovely to stroll around and see what these inhabitants have done with very little money on improving their homes.
