presentations

coming soon, drawings from the courtyard study...

Steamed Clams and Linguini

Made this dish on Friday night, with a capri salad to start.

1 kg fresh and live Littleneck clams, or others.
white wine.
half stick butter.
one lemon.
fresh shallots.
garlic.
half tomato.
salt, pepper.

1 pack (500g) linguini
oil, salt.

Steam clams in white wine, butter, lemon juice, shallots, sauted garlic, sauted tomato, salt and pepper, until the clams open wide, no longer than 10 minutes. Don't season too much, less is more with this dish.

At same time, boil pasta with salt and olive oil, to al dente (not fully cooked).

Strain pasta. Place linguini in shallow bowl/lipped plate. Place clams on top, and spoon the hot white wine butter "burre blanc" sauce over the hot pasta.

Serve immediately!

Insalate Capri

1 ripe Tomato.
Mozzarella di Buffalo, about 200g.
Basil.
Olive Oil.
Balsamic Vinegar.
Pinch Coarse black pepper, and sea salt.

light, easy, delicious lunch.

sketches

Sunday, April 19. It is a rainy afternoon here in Rome, and I am in my studio working on the project. The rain is pouring down in sheets, and the double casement windows are wide open. I hear people scurrying back and forth on the cobblestones below my window, dodging puddles, and hiding under their little umbrellas. Quite chilly as well. A good day to be in front of the fire with a long book in hand, and a warm blanket. Its nice to have a change of weather though, after all the blue sunny days we've been having lately.

Drawings

Il Mare

Coming Soon... Pics from the coast! Went to the Amalfi Coastal region last weekend, and it was beautiful... indescriable. Sorrento and Capri. Packed my bag 10 minutes before i left Rome, and ofcourse forgot my charger to the Nikon DX40. So, no pics from my camera.... However, we designated other photographers for the trip. Included will be shots of me diving off a big rock out into the mediterannean. It was sunny and warm outside, but the water was definitely cold... and crystal clear, blue aquamarine, and irresistable. Had to do it. Had to be there...
Stay Tuned!

Tuscany

Coming Soon... Pics from Tuscany; Siena and Montalcino! Stay Tuned...

Pope Sixtus V Urban Plan, 1585-1590

With a detailed study on his chapel at Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, which aligns his tomb directly on axis with the Forum, and the Lateran... symbolically Placing himself as the focal point for his new urban vision. He is the new rome, the NEW center for economy, politics, and religion in the eternal city.

Mixed Media: Graphite, Watercolor, Ink, Photography, Acetone Transfer. 22" x 30" (56 x 76 cm)

More Studies...

More diagrams... more studies.... we had the 3rd and final apartment tour tonight, starting with Via Natale della Grande, 51 e 12, and ending with my apartment at Via Carlo de Tavalocci 5. Cooked a delicious bruscetta, for all 23 of us (21 students and Scott and Karen), which was gone in under 60 seconds... many compliments. tomorrow I begin to draw... seriously draw.... its going to be incredible. John and I served bruscetta with vino rosso e bianca, and it was a big hit. Nice dinner afterwards at Via Agostino de Bertani.
Bruscetta:

*Baguette, or other long slender loaf of bread, this time whole wheat.
*slice on a 45 degree angle, 1" thick.
*clove garlic, whole, cut cloves in half, rub onto perimeter of crust. center of bread is too soft to hold the garlic, so it must be rubbed to the crust.
*spread baguette slices on oven pan. Preheat oven to 180 celcius, or 350 farenhiet.
*drizzle olive oil ontop.
*slice pomodoro (tomato) into slices, then halves of slices. Place on Bruscetta. Think presentation, scale, proportion, off-centering slightly...
*Fresh Mozzerela di buffalo. ontop of pomodoro.
*sale del mare. sea salt, corse ground. pinch and sprinkle.
*pepe nero. Black pepper.
*Rosemary.
*finish with one olive per bruscetta. place in oven.
Presentation... always.
*5-8 minutes, depending on desired texture.
serve on small plates to il gruppo, 5 per plate.

Eat It Up Baby!

Getting Settled

Okay... Deep Breath... things have been wildly fast paced, lots to do, see, study, learn, ideas to explore, a whirlwind and tangled mess of classical, medeival, renaissance, baroque, neo-classical, fascist, and modern urbanism. Large open spaces terminating long grand-manner axes, monuments. Cafe Macchiato is great, just like the illy im so fond of at home. This is better, because of the atmosphere, the accent, the flair... and because i get it more frequently... in true italian style, which is uno zucchero, three stirs, bottoms up, ciao, giorno, out the door. Studio is great, it isn't really a class, per se... it's more like a fostered environment for encouraged exploration of ideas. The art exists at every level, on and in everything. The people are wonderful and exiting to be around. Everyone holds such a higher value on art and beauty, from the way they dress their feet with pointed square-toe loafers and knit woolen scarves, to the way they dress their buildings in grafiti... its everywhere, on everything, old and new alike. Centuries and Millennia of architectural history and layering exist here... the palimpsest that is ROMA.

I had the privelege 2 days ago, to attend a lecture by Dan Jordan at the American Academy in Rome. Only 30 prizes are awarded each year for people to participate and study for months-on-end at the academy, experts in their various fields, art, history, architecture, music, sculpture, literature, etc. These prizes are are HIGHLY sought... I felt very fortunate to be present, if only for the evening, surrounded by such brilliant people. Atop the geniculum hill, overlooking all of rome, sunset views from east back to the west before us, and afterwards a reception, a glass of wine, alfresco, on the balcony adjacent to the courtyard of villa aurelia, looking over the entire city...

My studies this semester are the most exiting ive ever undertaken... Perhaps its this place of such great inspiration that gives rise to my enthusiasm... Designing a "mini-thesis", focusing on courtyard spaces, particularly in residential appliactions, relating them to the overall urban fabric of the city, studying plan, entry, sequence, procession, scale, proportion, volume, shape, light, furniture (?), fountains, gardens and landscaping, axes, mass and void, etc... Hopefully also studying the use of sculpture within courtyard spaces to set nodes, indicate points of termination, and hierarchy within these incredibly complex and powerful "inside/outside" hybrids of urban space. Also, probably a mapping exercise, trying to locate patterns within the context of pope sixtus v's urban plan from the late 16th century (1585-90).

Enough about that. Next post will possibly be a recipe that i dreamed up, impromptu, on sunday night. Complete with photographs for the effect of presentation. But for now, here are a few photos (havent had time to scan yet) of some quick "pre-roma" and "in-roma" sketches/drawings/watercolors. These are just a quick sampling, a handful. I have already filled one 262-page-sketchbook with about 65% drawing and 35% writing. Am just now starting a second sketchbook of equal size, which i hope to have filled by the time I return to the States. Sculpture has SERIOUSLY captured my attention, so you'll see some evidence of that. I find it intriguing, dramatic, remnants of the most powerful society on earth, to which nothing can compare today... the Roman Empire.

What a place... its 1:15 a.m. now.... Buono notte. Ciao.

Welcome friends and family. Landed in Fiumicino on Thursday afternoon. Its now saturday, just finally getting into the pace of things. Roma is beautiful, my apartment is something like 200 years old, which is considered new. It is in the heart of trastevere, across the river to the south west. John and I each have our own bedrooms, there is a living room in which I am typing right now, with a computer, Internet, and telefono, sofa, chairs, etc. The kitchen is narrow, galley style, but with ample room. Bathroom has, of course, the two toilets, shower, and there is also a large storage room. Organized off of a long axis on the plan-right, with rooms organized in succession down the left side. There is a lightwell on the right of the hallway, which allows some cross-breeze when we have all of the 10 foot tall casement windows flung open to the narrow cobblestone streets. Our Shutters are amazing, and so is the simply detailed iron hardware which makes their use possible... everything, everywhere is detailed perfectly. Scale and porportion are always correct, exact, perfect. I'll post some drawings soon, and maybe some photos. I spent all day today in the roman forum behind the capitaline hill, and michelangelo's campidoglio. Stay tuned for a few drawings from that, as well as some other sketches, watercolors, and photographs.