Italy, the beautiful, Part III

Grandeur revisited,

and life goes on in the small town of Suvereto

and in the large metropolis of Livorno by the sea.  

Where the Grand Hotel Palazzo provides just the right amount of old world glamour and luxury. 

Where old and new live happily side by side.

And where a stroll along the promenade at evening time, takes advantage of the gentle evening breezes.  

Two days of splendor and luxury is just about right for I gladly give it up for a visit to Maestro Mario's factory. 

I asked the Maestro if he would paint an Arlecchini for me.
He let me select the design.  Maestro Mario begins by transferring the design on to a plate by brushing charcoal through tiny holes.  

Martina, Mario's daughter, who is also a fine ceramist, tells the story of the Arlecchini in her blog post of 2013. 
See below:

http://ceramichemori.blogspot.com/2013/01/arlecchini-from-montelupo.html

 No trip to Italy is complete without my taking a few painting lessons.... there is so much to learn.  

  

The designs are painted with powder pigments mixed with water.  
They have a chalky appearance.  

Mario in his studio when I visited with him in 20014

http://ginaceramics.blogspot.com/2014/11/it-doesnt-get-any-better_1.html

Maestro Mario paints with pigments first and then completes his design by outlining it with a very fine brush.   

Once the designs have been fired in his large kilns the colors become vibrant and permanent.  

Montelupo is only a 30 minute drive west of Florence.  It has a very fine Museum of ceramics with a large collection of Arlecchini.  

 http://ceramichemori.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-pottery-museum-of-montelupo.html

The Maestro tells me that this particular design, the Arlecchini (Harlequin), is his favorite subject to paint.  He has designed more than 500 different scenarios. 

The Mario workshop is one of the only studious left who still produce the Arlecchini designs.  

Maestro Mario loves his art.  He even goes to his shop on Sundays. where he happily works by himself on whatever pleases him. 


Thank you for stopping by.  

Have a great remainder of the week, dear friends.  

Gina  

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/