FORTY-THIRD DAY
WORKIN’ IN ROME
October 25 and 26
Monday was a down day. Oh well, they happen. I did get to the gym and we did make a great
dinner in our communal kitchen, but even the wine tasted spritzi. I spent part of the time getting ready for my
paper making class at Temple U. Italian
class is Kim’s new love and she is in overdrive trying to get it all.
We exploded into Tuesday. Kim has decided she is not getting enough of
Rome so she is taking Tuesday morning tours with a wonderful guide, Nancy, who
has been recommended by lots of different friends. She is off to see a church in Trastevere and
I beg off in preparation for my one and only classroom experience with Temple
students. I first go to my secret gym to
work out. It is like a salvation for me
to be there. It is amazing to me that I
still speak almost no Italian, but the people in the gym are very nice and the
place seems comfortable and sort of like an old shoe. I think I am a little nervous about
teaching the class. I come back to the Academy and review my
notes and gather all the papers that I have been collecting - my own hand paper
and the paper we bought from Fabriano.
Because I am on the scooter I find a way to roll up the paper and put it
in the backpack. I hit the streets and
once again central Rome is closed due to something or nothing or whatever. The traffic is intense on the Lungotevere
(how about that, the roads that run along the river are called Lungotevere even
though the names change every couple of blocks) due to the shutting down of the
city. Thanks to the Roman Gods for the
motorino, which allows me the chance to cut in and out of traffic, like the
rest of the Roman lunatics. I get so
involved that I drive by Temple which necessities a complete circle into
Borghese Park and Villa Guilia. I look
behind me and me backpack is open. My
valued paper is coming out. In the
middle of heavy traffic I am able to stop and get myself back together but it
almost got away. Back for another run on
Temple U. and I find it. After trying to
find a place to park my scooter, I look behind me and the paper is gone. Another causality of the Roman Wars! I can’t believe it; my whole lesson plan is
based on showing the paper. I was going
to compare my simple efforts to the hand made paper I bought at Fabriano. Not to be the case, but one must muddle
on.
It turns out that the kids were great and we made
some nice paper even though we had no Hollander beater, no sizing, no felts and
no real vat or couching table. All of
the above are part of the whole paper making enterprise. The man who teaches
the class, Mario Tellari, is such a lovely guy and everybody participates. Every student made some paper and I gave a
short history of paper that I had condensed down to half an hour. Nobody fell asleep. The Dean came downstairs for the last few
moments. We had fun. I was exhausted, but our day had just begun.
We went to a friend’s house for dinner. Christine is from SF and Gerry and Bill
Brinton from Sonoma let her know we were coming. She has a small flat near the Campo de Fiori. It is charming and would have been ok for us
but way too small. Her friend Valentina
is the major contemporary art dealer in Rome and knows the big guys; she
represents Sol Lewitt and lots of others.
It was all very civilized and fun, when we leave it is close to
midnight. We walk to a bus stop (Kim’s
rule – no motorino with alcohol) and sleep is welcomed.
This morning I took a group of fellows and visitors
to Mario’s private studio to make monoprints.
This has been an exercise in organizing and planning. Our group was made
up of seven and we took the Academy van.
I had to take a driving test from Giovanni in the early AM and I got an
international driver’s license for the trip.
His studio is very like Sonoma and feels good. People start making art and everybody made a
monoprint. I think they had fun. It has been a busy couple of days. We took some of Kennedy and Kelsey’s friends
out to dinner a couple of weeks ago and they are back and want to go to
lunch.
We meet them at a place in Trastevere that we think
we like and eat way too much. I do
recommend Checcio on Benadetta as the place where you can gain 20 pounds in any
one sitting. We drink the wine, we eat
the food, they send more, we eat it. I
feel like a stuffed animal. We stumble up
the hill just in time for a nap.
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