It is January, and rather cold, blah, and sleepy, so I thought I’d continue to share some images of my trip to Italy in November, as a brief mental “winter getaway”.
The Gordon College in Italy program is housed in the convent of San Paolo, one of several convents that ring the perimeter of the volcanic mesa on which the ancient city of Orvieto sits. San Paolo has been a presence in the town for hundreds of years and has a fascinating history. It was magical to wake up to a view of the clouds over the valley some mornings:
I actually preferred the view from the bathroom:
The building itself tells stories in its cloisters and hopefully, with Gordon College, will have many future stories as well. Part of the building you can see in the above photo is completely unused, and has a great deal of potential. For a full photo tour of the convent of San Paolo, including classrooms, living spaces, and the wonderful chapel with new paintings by Bruce Herman, visit Palimpsest, the blog for the Studio for Art, Faith and History. From the little courtyard below I painted my own version of the panorama — unfortunately the only real painting I did while I was there, I was very occupied by teaching every day and reconnecting with Italian friends.
“Umbria Landscape”, Oil on Canvas 5″ x 7″, ©Michelle Arnold Paine
Well, I feel slightly less wintery in spirit after this return jaunt to Italy. Thanks for coming along!
