Brown Bag Lunch Presentation by Sara David Ringler
October 21, 2009
Every day I was greeted by the ochre wall outside my studio at 41 Santa Reparata, in Florence, Italy.
Sabbatical / part 1 Florence, Italy
September 2008-December 2008
West Meets East A Visual Journey / Traditions in Paper, Print and Book
It is my goal to use my sabbatical to engage in a variety of experiences in paper making, book arts and printmaking using Eastern and Western techniques and sensibilities. What I learn and experience will be integrated within the diverse variety of subjects I teach.
Over the span of this past year I took courses in three dimensional paper making, monotype construction, reduction woodcut, Japanese woodcut, photo etching, letterset printing, book arts, Japanese calligraphy and Japanese paper making. I participated in several group artists projects. I attended the Global Implications Print Conference in Chicago 2009 and participated in their exchange portfolio “Mind the Gap” In addition I was accepted into the Paper and Book Intensive at Oxbow, Michigan for a two week intensive in making books and handmade paper. I traveled to Florence, Italy as an Artist in Residence to the Santa Reparata International School of Art. I went to Shikoku, Japan to make paper with a master Japanese paper making.Today , I will just focus on my experiences living and working as an artist in Florence, Italy.
The first time I was in Italy I was twenty years old .I was the recipient of a travel scholarship given to an art student for the purpose of European travel and study. This scholarship allowed me to travel in Europe for three months. I went to seven countries, countless churches, museums and historic sites. It was a life changing experience for me which expanded my world and shaped my art. At that time I wrote in my journal“Of all it is Italy! hopefully at the end of this talk and presentation you will see why I love Italy.
And now all these years later I was given the gift of time having the ability to explore, to revisit and this time to make art. I was connected to Santa Reparata International School of Art which had excellent facilities and faculty. I had a studio with a printmaking press and I had access to printers, vacuum press and a dark room. I bought a museum pass which gave me three months entrance into museum and historic buildings. I found that I had to balance seeing art with making art.
Before I left for Italy I had a chance to learning some Italian, thanks to Lore DeBower’s encouragement and to Rozanna Preziosi patience I could communicate.
Small daily events became adventures; Getting lost and finding my way, obtaining the right phone service, learning to use my espresso pot, tackling the washing machine, or figuring out how to keep my laundry from landing in the courtyard. I mastered the trains, buses, and how to negotiate walking in the narrow crowded streets. I got to know my service Internet provider Christiano, on a first name basis because he had to come to the apartment four times the very first week I was there.
I found the contrasts of contemporary life and Renaissance Italy fascinating. Florence was filled with a mixture of ordinary in the midst of these spectacular surroundings. Every morning I walked out the door of my apartment and I passed the Medici Chapel, or I would go past the Duomo to get groceries. I would go to my studio or school and I would pass by the 100 year old carts where the vendors sold leather and everything else you wanted. (I limited myself to one scarf a week). In the morning I could see the ritual of the vendors setting up and when I came home, the ritual of putting the carts away. Every night the street washing machine clanked by my windows. Each hour the bells rang. There were contrasts of old and new everywhere. Weathered surfaces, massive wooden doors, peeling paint, stone walkways, all contrasted with young students, mobs of tourists and the well dressed and well heeled Italian women.
When you live in Florence you can feel its history. Certain spaces such as the Medici Chapel, the Cloisters of San Lorenzo, or the Brancacci Chapel speak to a sensitivity to man within a space. The forms and shapes which are based on squares and circles are balanced and serene. To climb inside the dome and feel the curve of the double shell construction gives you a profound experience of the architecture. Then to get to the top and view the city’s orange rooftops and surrounding mountains is a magnificent experience.
I was constantly inspired by the order and balance I saw around me in the grandeur of architecture and the weathered surfaces that spoke about the passage of time. I was drawn to the shapes of the domes and arches on the buildings which created a sense of envelopment and stand as testimony to man’s great achievements. I loved the simplicity, order and soft color palette of the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel , and I responded to fragments of illuminations and textures of ancient manuscripts. I was inspired by the color and shadows and the play of light on the old stone buildings or wooden doorways which led to hidden courtyards. At times the Arno river was an exquisite mirror of the ochre buildings on its banks. These are the some of the visual inspirations that influenced my printmaking and shaped the direction of my art while I was there and will continue to inspire me.
When I was in my studio felt I could not work fast enough to keep up with my ideas. then I started to worry about how I was going to get my artwork home. Now back home I will continue to develop and explore my ideas and to incorporate the concepts of Renaissance balance, proportion and harmony with my art and my classroom teaching. I feel the enduring nature of my accomplishment; I have a lifetime of experience and inspiration which will continue to influence what my art becomes and how I can inspire my students. I am looking forward to my exhibition next January at the Higgins Art Gallery in which I will show work from the entire year of study. I appreciate all the support I was given by my colleagues, the committee that approved my sabbatical, the administration and the Board of Trustees at Cape Cod Community College.