lardo di colonnata

As a confirmed vegetarian, I was delighted to be whisked up in to the mountains to watch the final layer of lardo di colonatta being laid down. We were in the old family home which is built on the side of the mountain. The ground floor where we were, originally housed animals and the family lived above. Thank you Fabriccio, it was fantastic.

 The smell of the herbs when the lid was taken off the hand carved and ancient marble box was wonderful,

Fabry salting the pork fat

 Adding the next layer of pork fat

 Another thick layer of salt

 a secret recipe of herbs added

 more herbs


















and wait 6 months before eating. I will be at home by then.

sculpture at mariani

My original sculpture in paper was slightly modified and reduced

got dipped in wax and was worked on, days of refining the surface. This is work in progress and not quite the same viewpoint. 

 and then eventually transformed into bronze

bamboo

Just before I came to Italy

I was cutting up some bamboo, still green, so I could cut differently than just straight up and down, diagonally for example.
I arrive in Italy and I find bamboo growing everywhere, this lot in the garden attached to the flat

and when I get the the foundry I find it is used as runners which allows the molten bronze to get to all parts of the sculpture.

an ample bosom

I spent Sunday pottering around Pisa and found this extraordinary building, the Superiore University on the Piazza dei Cavalieri. On closer inspection the bosoms were rather more ample than I expected, for men and women.

and then we found this......

pietrasanta and the dentist

I was dentally challenged last night and needed to see a dentist with some urgency. This was arranged really fast this morning and I was delivered to the dental surgery at noon. I thought I was in the wrong place but no, the waiting room really is a sculpture gallery and it is the only dentist waiting room where the reading matter is .........sculpture catalogues

Pietrasanta the first

Day 1 in Pietrasanta and I have made a start on a small sculpture. Tomorrow is a bank holiday so the foundry is closed

Mariani foundry 

The view from my flat