paint

This is one of the first paintings I finished when I got to Rome... its kind of small about 24x32

Here is a poor quality image of some sketches.

I finished this one today... its about 5 ft x 3 1/2 ft

Vino Rosso

For some reason... I can't really figure out how to get my cut/copy function to work on this post so just pretend that the text after all the photos come before it.

Here is the crowd in the streets of Marino

View from some place in marino

the fountain full of wine

pouring wine into cups from the fountain

lots of meats

  Today I went to a wine festival in Marino. It was awesome and made me feel really Italian. There we speakers all over the town playing Italian folk songs and people singing along and dancing in the streets and eating lots of panini. The fountains in the city were filled with wine and at 530 they were turned on and the town was packed with people trying to get free wine. People fed us grapes and shared their wine and everyone was really friendly and happy and it was sort of how I had imagined/wanted Italy to be . The train ride back to Roma was so so so packed. Every seat was filled and there were tons of people in the aisles and sitting on others laps and some sitting on top of the seats and clinging to the luggage racks.


I'm starting to understand what people are saying when they speak in Italian... at least in Rome.

From what I've heard, Florentine Italian is different than Venetian Italian which is different than Sicilian Italian...

Here are some pictures from the wine festival:

not italian at all

this is in no way related to Italy. But it's very important.

ciao belli

buongiorno...

Roma still is not my favorite city but I am trying to find more ways to have fun here.

The other night, after unsuccessfully going to a Basquiat opening on Via del Corso,  some friends and I sat at the Piazza del Santa Maria in Trastevere at a fountain. It seems to be a meeting place comparable to Rittenhouse Square. A drunk toothless man told us stories of his life in Italian (and I understood him!). There was some street performers juggling fire and a bride-to-be having her bachelorette party which included making and selling crepes on a small burner and riding around on a rose covered razor scooter. We ended up meeting two italian college students named Marco and Antonio. We stayed up talked to them at the fountain until 3 am and then they helped us take the really slow night bus home. 

It made me happy to finally connect with people who I don't go to school with. 

Last night I tried to go to Circolo Degli Artisti ( a co-op just outside the walls) to go dancing but we got really lost and wandered around and met lots of people which ended up being just as fun as dancing would have been.

Tomorrow I'm going to a wine festival in Murino where there are allegedly fountains of wine for free. 

I am still painting a lot and still really happy to have a studio. I'll post some pictures of stuff I've been making in the very near future.

staying places.

here is a picture of rain coming through the occulus in the pantheon! 

this is the view from my bedroom window
this is where i bought my neon bicycle

I think all major cities can feel the same. Similar routines can be established anywhere. The Vatican has replaced Rittenhouse square as the meeting place for friends. Young people line up outside the only 24 hour bakery in Rome rather than the Pretzel factory at 4am. Public transit still leaves residents stranded after midnight.

I only notice how spectacular my surroundings are when I look at pictures. I keep having to remind myself where I am.

My friend Matt, who I met on couchsurfing in May, is here visiting this week. We have lots of adventures planned, including attending a Roman hardcore show tomorrow!

The other night I saw a bunch of contemporary art exhibits. Some were really boring and some were fun and one was really great. I got to meet Franko B. who is this crazy performance artist who uses his own body and his own blood to make art. This specific show was toned down and was a blood-free installation. Above is a picture of Franko B. in his performing days but now he has an underbite and a grill on his lower teeth. He is great. 

I saw a Baselitz show at Gagosian that was a little disappointing.

I also saw this show by Pierre Louis (I think thats his name) that was really great also but not worth explaining. It was kind of like first friday but it was the 3rd thursday of the month.

all my clothes smell bad because our washer doesn't work. I'm going to go buy some pants now!

We have discovered this lady at the market that has about ten huge vats of wine that she sells for 1.50 euro or less per liter and it tastes really good! We go there most mornings.

Going places.

I'll try to update this weekly? maybe???? Please don't stop sending me e-mails and stuff because I like that better than this stupid blog.

I went to London and it was the first time I've travelled completely alone. I felt a little lonely at times but it forced me to meet people and explore on my own and rely on myself a lot. It was really nice to not have to compromise or worry about how my decisions affected everyone around me. I couchsurfed with this house full of brazilians and they were so so so nice and hospitable. I hope to stay in touch with them.

I spent most of my time in London riding the tube and getting lost then finding my way home.

I went to the Tate Modern of course and fell in love and i wish I could go there everyday.
Here is a picure of the wall facing the river at the Tate.

London had really great street art and most of the pictures I took there were of the street art. Here is one in the East End... near Brick lane... my favorite neighborhood in London.
Here is a Banksy piece on a wall in camdentown, very close to the house i stayed at.
A blurry picture of this huge park on top of a hill nearby. You can see all of London from the top of the hill.

After a week in London I had to spend the night in the Heathrow airport in order to catch a really early flight to Rome. I ended up meeting this Syrian guy named Akhmed who was about my age and I spent most of my time talking to him about how different our cultures are and about gender roles in our respective societies. After he found out that I painted he asked to see my sketchbook. I showed him and he quickly replied "I don't like this at all!" which made me laugh. He also told me painting was a hobby and not a career. He plans on being married within the year and having tons of children but we exchanged e-mails and perhaps if I ever go to Syria we will be in touch again.


I've been in Rome for 3 weeks now and I feel like I've settled into a routine. Classes are going well I have a studio which is fabulous! Here is a picture of it with some unfinished paintings ( that you should probably ignore) hanging up.


Rome is beautiful but it is my least favorite European city that I've been to. Perhaps I don't love it because it is not very progressive. Not much is happening in the contemporary art scene here. The "kids" here are really into dressing like Hot Topic shoppers and people love europop and house music. All fine things, but not my style. Most Italians don't really speak English so it is difficult to make friends with them so I spend a lot of time with people I go to school with.

My apartment is really nice and I live right next door to the biggest open air market in Rome. The produce is so fresh and cheap! There is a coffee roaster downstairs so I can have really good coffee all the time. Although there are no vietnamese hoagies or indian food place, the food tastes so much better here than in the US.

The other day I saw it rain through the oculus in the Pantheon and it was really amazing and made me really happy.

I'm sure there are plenty of cool things that I'm leaving out but this is a really really long post and your attention span has probably run out by now.

ciao!

foreverrrr

since so many people read this im sure said people are dying to hear what i have to say.

1. springtime makes life so wonderful.
2. does anyone know where i can gain access to the movie "life can be so wonderful"
3. I'm terribly excited for a certain trans american tour this summer and I'm excited to be making proogress a feeling better and i can't wait to have all of these paintings done. I'm feeling more optimistic than normal.

I wish i could be a little bit more organized but i cannoot bring myself to clean up everything. not enough energy or motivation. blah blah blah.

im going to a bbq tonight. not a humna bbq. just a normal one. nrmllv. blegh. Ill bring the vegetables and the fake meats. probably no one will even let me eat them but i dont care. not one bit.

im going to go get a haircut (feeling nervous) and buy some moleskine sketchbooks because i love them and maybe some groceries and maybe not my homework. oops.