Florence Academy of Art

I couldn't be happier living in the magical city of Florence, Italy. I'm overwhelmed with the beauty of the surrounding Tuscan landscape, yellow city, and incredible artwork. The Florence Academy has proven to be a rigorous academic school, which has only heightened my understanding of why it's considered one of the best art school's of the world. I'm surrounded by emensly talented artists, all of whom are driven and inspired by the classical techniques of the Realist masters. My teachers are demanding of hard work, but are truly dedicated to helping every single one of us reach our potential. I couldn't be more excited and inspired, obviously. I just can't stop singing my praises about the school and this amazing opportunity to be a student here!!

On a more casual level of conversation, my schedule is also completely taken up with school work. My daily schedule consists of morning Model drawing from 8:30-12pm, Barque drawing from 1-4pm, and evening lectures and classes from 5-7pm, 5 days a week. Human anatomy, art history, and additional hours drawing from a model alternate as my evening studies, sometimes with portrait club afterwards until 9:30!! Rather exhausting, to say the least!

The great news is that the weekends are an excellent time to catch up on exploring the city, or traveling to nearby cities. This past weekend my friends and I hopped on a train and travelled to a Perugia, a small town about 2 hours away in Umbria, an area on the outer parts on Tuscany. This weekend was their famous Chocolate Festival, which I felt I had an obligation to attend. It was tons of fun, but a bit overwhelming (coming from a chocolate enthusiast). After a cup of warm melted chocolate with pepper, a chocolate coated apple, some nibbles of my friend's chocolate kabob, and a dark chocolate horse shoe (life size) I was on the brink of illness. What a great weekend though! Now that it's Sunday, I'm back in the studio working on my Barque for a few hours. Back to the grinding board. :)

Model Drawing

My Barque drawing

Evening model drawings

Strolling the streets of Firenze

Perugia for the chocolate festival