Barb Baur

We’ve definitely settled into a routine now with classes and shopping, homework and wandering and of course, eating and cooking. I had my first Italian test on Thursday and although I’m getting along OK in the streets and the stores, I’m not so sure how well that translates to the grammar on the page.

This week the drawing class went to the Pantheon and had to draw the dome. Then outside to draw the front and the fountains. I’m not sure my drawings are very good, but who needs an excuse to stare at the Pantheon?

It was cold though and in our break Patty and I decided to try the cappuccino nearby. I’m not usually a coffee drinker, but I could get used to these. Then after we were done, Mario the drawing teacher took us to check out the three Caravaggio’s in the French church nearby. The next day my digital imaging class spent another session taking pictures in the Basilica of St Maria of the Martyrs and Angels, an interesting mix of old and modern.

My design class this week visited another Roman neighborhood, EUR, and went through an exhibit of the work of Italian fashion designers.

Check out my flickr feed to check out some of my photos and they aren’t even all on Flickr. There are more…and lots more… pictures. My Lightroom catalog has over 2000 photos added to it this month. I’m hoping my hard drive will hold out until May.

Gwen’s class was supposed to meet at the ruins of Ostia Antica this week, but was rained out. In the meantime, she is almost done the bottom layer in the prep for her fresco. Gwen’s classes were the perfect seque into our first overnight excursion outside Rome which included both subjects.

We hopped the fast train to Naples on Friday morning and changed to a local to arrive in Ercolano. This is the site of the town of Herculaneum, which, along with Pompeii, was buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Herculaneum is better preserved because of the way it was buried and the fact that it was hit with a flow of 800 degree hot gases and dirt flowing from the volcano. It’s a much smaller site, though, since it was harder to excavate than Pompeii, but was found a few years earlier.

We booked a room in Ercolano at the Hotel Miglio D’Oro I found online. It was just down the street from the entrance to the ruins and was extremely elegant for the price. Well, it is February after all. We had an ocean view and twelve foot ceilings. The grounds were like a park, with fountains and tangerine groves. I’d love to see the place in Summer, but I’m not sure what it would cost.

We hired a licensed guide at the entrance to the ruins. His name was Marco and before he became a guide, he worked for 30 years in fresco restoration in the area. He was a wonderful guide for us, with just the right mix of humor, education and plenty of interesting facts. He took us to the few places where the original frescoes remained. Most of them were removed to the museum in Naples and replaced with copies. We spent a couple more hours wandering the town after our time with Marco was finished and I took hundreds of photos. You can see some of them on Flickr.

Then we rested until it was time for dinner. We found a lovely little place on the main street. It just said spagetteria, pizzeria outside, no name. It was chilly evening with only a few people inside and as we entered the proprietor was very welcoming and said it would be nice and warm here. Then he went to the wood fired oven, filled a metal bucket with coals and placed it under the table. It was very nice to have warm feet.

A pizza bianca (pizza crust with oil and herbs) was brought to the table to munch on after we ordered. Roasted vegetables, meat and cheese for appetizer were followed by lovely pizza which was cooked as we watched in the same fire that was warming our feet. It was a lovely meal and we took our time eating and splitting a bottle of red wine. The place was getting busier as the evening went on, I keep forgetting that dinner happens much later in this country.

The next morning we took the train back to Naples and headed right for the archeology museum. First we had some cappuccino and snacks to tide us over until dinner. The bar where we stopped had the most interesting items including a ball of breaded and baked spaghetti. Weird but good. The cappuccino was also delicious.

The Archeology Museum in Naples is filled with all kinds of Greco-Roman statuary and artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum including the original frescoes and mosaics.

I was thrilled to find a couple of pieces that appeared to be Etruscan gold granulation work, but the labels in the cases didn’t convey any information other than “silver buckles.” It was still a thrill to see and photograph them. It was an amazing museum. By the end of the weekend I had taken over 400 pictures. Hooray for digital, I’m glad I packed a spare memory card and battery.

Then we headed back to the Naples train station, found some more local pizza nearby and took the train back to Roma. A journey of nearly 2000 years and back by midnight.

This week is full of accomplishments as we continue to meet the challenge of living in a foreign city. Patty and I took the Metro to the Coliseum and spent several hours in the Basilica of San Clemente drawing not only in the church, but in the church below it, the Roman Villa and the Shrine to Mithras that are below that lower church. We nicknamed it the Church of the Recycling.
I also took the bus to Trastavere for my digital imaging class. We took lots of pictures in the area and saw an exhibit of photos by Mario Giacomelli, a famous Italian photographer.
My Inside Italian Design class visited the Quartiere Coppede`, a neighborhood that was built between 1913 and 1928 in the Stile Floreale (Floral Style) as well as a museum visit to the National Museum of Modern Art.

I took the tram/trolley to this excursion. With each excursion, we get more comfortable with the public transit system here in Rome. We purchased the monthly bus pass for February so we’re unlimited in our choices in getting around Rome.
I didn’t have a day off from school this week because the sketchbook class went to the town of Toscania for an all day drawing excursion. We spent about an hour and a half drawing in the morning and then two hours in the afternoon. It’s a lovely town in the mountains north of Rome where there are many remains of Etruscan tombs. I tried to visit the local museum on my lunch break, but it was closed due to a power outage. I took plenty of photos and they can be seen on my Flickr page.

Gwen’s fresco class visited a museum to look at ancient frescoes and this week she begins laying the first layer for the fresco she’ll be working on in class.
My Italian language class continued to cover basic items like dealing with money, shopping and how to order in a bar. In Rome, a bar is where they serve espresso, coffee, tea, fresh squeezed OJ, sandwiches, snacks and pastries. Some of them also serve alcohol, but that’s not really a focus. Most Italians down their café` standing at the counter, pay and then move along. I haven’t seen a cardboard coffee cup since we arrived.
But shopping has been something of a theme this week. One night we headed to the Centro Storica, the historical area and wandered down a street with vintage shops and got a few treasures. We also had a wonderful dinner as well and walked through Piazza Navona on the way home.
On Saturday morning, we finally took a walk over to the Piazza at St Peters to gawk at the Bernini colonnade and take a few photos. I was surprised to see the Christmas tree and Nativity was still up. I guess the Vatican likes to keep it up until either Groundhog Day or Lent whichever comes first?

On the way back we found a kitchen store since we’ve been looking for a teakettle and I noticed they also carried Lagostina, the Italian brand of pressure cookers that I had researched. I had to think about it a bit, but I went back a few hours later and purchased one to bring home after the trip and use while we’re here.

This Sunday we decided to try the Porta Portese, which is a huge open-air flea market, which goes on for miles in the Trastavere section of Rome. We found plenty of little things to buy. Pat found another of the same brand of pressure cooker, but hers was used and larger. It needs an overpressure plug replaced, but it was a fraction of what it would cost brand new. Gwen got a nice vintage Italian leather bag for her iPad, we all got some scarves and a few other things.

We’ve been here for two weeks, time is passing and I feel like it’s already getting away from us. My classes started this week and I’m looking forward to learning and creating quite a lot this semester. In three of my four classes, we were out and about in Rome, taking photos, drawing and visiting a planned sports complex from the 1920s that is still in use today.

On one day, I was sketching outside the Ara Pacis building and then in the Piazza del Popolo, which is very close to school. I’m delighted to find out it’s OK for Pat to join us sketching around the city, we haven’t had an art class together since…..jeez, I dunno.

My other studio class is digital imaging. For all my photography experience, I’ve never taken a class. Spending lots of time with Jack doing photo shoots and darkroom stuff counts for something though. After a quick run through the manual camera controls in the classroom, we headed out again to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo to take photos. There was also a sketching class from Temple there at the same time. What fun it was to finally be allowed to take some photos in a church.

Wendy’s archeology course was also out and about this week and I followed her to Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio so I could take pictures for my photo class and gaze at the incredible bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius while she and her classmates were lectured about the surroundings.

I guess the artist of the week is Bernini. On my way back from the Campidoglio, I found myself taking photos of the captivating angels on the Ponte Sant Angelo, each holding some implement of the torture of Christ. So I’m thinking of them now as the sadistic angels. Of course, then I realized they were done by Bernini.

Italian is the only class that doesn’t involve some kind of weekly field trip, but that’s OK because the learning lab for this course is all around us. We’re definitely picking up more. On Friday morning, Pat and I had what could be called the beginnings of a conversation with the guy who sells breads and cheeses in the market. I know I won’t be fluent by the end of the semester, but I hope to be able to navigate more of daily life without  “Parla Inglese?” (do you speak English?)

Fridays I don’t have class so we’re trying to make that our museum day. We decided to head to the Borghese Gallery by walking through the Borghese gardens, which was quite a hike by the time we returned.

Pat and I were really looking forward to the Bernini sculptures, but I wasn’t prepared for the galleries themselves. In fact, I felt like I was picking up my jaw in every room. The walls, the ceilings, the floors…it’s indescribable and every inch is filled with astounding incredible art spanning from antiquity to Neoclassicism. Wendy enjoyed the frescoes as they relate to her fresco class and pointed out several interesting pieces that I completely overlooked.

But even so, Bernini steals the show. No question. Apollo and Daphne has to be the most well executed marble sculpture I have ever seen. I’ve seen it online, in video, etc. But nothing prepared me for the real thing. Pat and I must have spent at least 20 minutes of our allotted two hours not wanting to tear our eyes from it. Sadly I have no photos of the inside of the Borghese Gallery. It’s not permitted.

Rome is such a mix of old and new, fast and slow. I’m only beginning to understand why they call it “The Eternal City.”

Amazing that I have the chance to catch up on my blogging. I’m waiting for things so I write. Things like…work in the tumbler polishing and a repair on my bench waiting for epoxy to cure..stuff like that.

What have you been doing over the break, Barbara? Eating bonbons and twiddling your thumbs?

I’ve been very busy keeping up with the holiday sales in my Etsy store and some direct orders as well.  I was inspired to rework a bimetal casting idea from a couple of years ago and I can see expanding on this more when I return from Rome.

I also spent some time photographing my brother, Joe, at his shop and working on a website for his new business, Old World Instruments. He’s creating authentic Lutes and other instruments.

Somewhere in the Fall semester I lost the sterling silver, “idiots delights” bracelet I made back in 1986 or so. My wrist felt so empty without it, I spent a whole night just making myself another one. Funny how I love designing all different kinds of jewelry, but I’m a creature of habit when it comes to the jewelry that I wear daily.

Then there was the top secret project. A memory quilt in honor of David’s parents 50^th Anniversary. It was a surprise. We sent out the invitations in September for the event as well as asking if anyone would like to make a quilt square. If they responded that they did, we sent out a plain white square that could be decorated however they choose. A postage paid envelope was also included and we set a deadline of December 1 to return the squares. Allowing for any late arrivals, I scheduled the weekend of December 14-16 to assemble all the squares.

I used a strip assembly method and took over the living room and dining room for three whole days. I gotta say, the old Pfaff 1222 just cranked it along. The final result was packed and shipped to David’s brothers house in anticipation of the reception on December 29, 2012. You can see a photo album on my Flickr photostream of the assembly. I still have yet to get a good picture of the entire quilt because it is so large.

After the quilt assembly, I had a few days to prepare for Christmas and then our trip to Kansas. There was one day that I hadn’t scheduled anything. The choice was clear, we could make some dark chocolate raspberry truffles, I had all the ingredients and it had been about two years since I last made a batch.

Or…

I suddenly realized that we finally had all the supplies to do some glass flameworking with the glass supplies that we gave Gwen for her birthday. I gave her the choice. Make candy or make glass? Yes, my artist kid chose glass.

We had a lot of fun and I started to get a feel for the material. It was a short day, Gwen made three pieces and I made two. I’m looking forward to doing more of this when we return from Rome.

Then it was off to Kansas and a lovely Christmas with David’s family. Followed on December 29 with the long awaited 50^th Anniversary reception and performance at the Quality Hill Playhouse in downtown Kansas City. David played the piano as part of the special performance just for Chuck and Betty. He was followed by several of the regular Quality Hill players performing special requests from the happy couple.

We then drove back to Philadelphia via Floyd VA, with an overnight stop at the Green Man Inn and rendezvous with good friends to round out our busy holiday. Since we returned, we’ve been busy with all the preparations for going abroad. I’m hoping I’ll be able to keep this space updated as we begin our newest adventure of 2013, studying abroad.

Another rocking semester at Tyler School of Art comes to a close.

I’ve been swamped since the semester ended in early December, but I wanted to put out a summary before I’m whisked off into the next adventure.

I took three studio courses and two gen eds.

One of the GenEds was Intellectual Heritage II. Interestingly enough I took the first half of this in Fall 1984 and it was nothing like this one. At least, from what I remember anyway. We covered a ton of material, many of which were books I’d been planning to read for years but never got to. The Origin of Species by Darwin stands out as something I think everyone should wade through at some point in their life because nature is not so organized, but much more persistent than we think. I could have done without Homer’s Illiad, a bit bloody for me, but now I’m hoping to get to the Odyssey sometime. More’s Utopia was kind of ridiculous and interestingly enough, was kind of meant that way. I had no idea that Marx’s Communist Manifesto had such a glowing opinion of capitalism. The Art of War is what I would call deep, light, yet succinct, reading and should be required reading for everyone who votes. Walden was surprising to me in that I believe it’s a call to wake up and live right where we are. I had expected something completely different. Although Intellectual Heritage was a lot of reading and work, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

My other GenEd was a digital mapping course. I love maps and I guess I figured this would be fun to update my knowledge on maps. Sadly for me, it was geared to students who are less familiar with mapping and mapping technology than I. But I did very well and had a lot of fun.  The final project involved mapping something we have an interest in. I chose to map handicapped houses in Philadelphia.  The professor pointed out an event that was happening as part of the Center for Disabilities at Temple which enabled me to make some connections there as well as attend the event.

Which leads me into my studio courses. I took Sophomore Metals and the first project was an iphone holder from PVC, elastic and brass. It was inspired by the fact that we never did find one that worked for Jack. I’m happy with the final result, but feel that I will have more to say in the field of design for the disabled or more perhaps universal design that can make things easier for all of differently -abled. My second project in metals was an object for the hand in which I created a suspension bridge between rings on two fingers. I’m finding myself thinking of more ideas of architectural jewelry. We shall see.  One of the best things to come out of my metals class is learning to work with plastics, I can see a lot more of that in the future, especially as I go into CAD/CAM.

My Sophomore Sculpture studio was interesting in the approach of the professor.  My first project was a stop motion video that I projected in the big green hallway. It was created with salt painting and a pair of clock hands I created from sheet brass. My second project was a three seat couch that featured USB and power plugs to charge your devices while resting between classes. It was a hit with many students and I got a lot of compliments. For the third project we finally got to work in the metal shop. I created a small twisty fence to match my contorted hazelnut bush in my front yard. It was fun to forge, but I’m not sure that the metal working tools in the sculpture department are compatible with my style of working.

But the course I have been waiting for was CAD CAM. This was taught online and I worked independently for the most part. The coursework is all online and every week an assignment is submitted. I ran into some rough water when we started rendering our designs using a separate software package. Since I was working at home, I bought all new versions of the software and the course work was geared towards the old version. It was a ground up rewrite, so the new version works quite differently. I spent a lot of time on it and finally got it together. But truly the best part of learning this software is that I can finally use a computer to work out many of the three dimensional ideas that I have. I even used it to work out the parts lists  for my Bauhaus sculpture project. My final project was based on the pennanular pin form I’ve been using for a few years now, but in a square. Even though I’m not taking CAD CAM again until next fall, I’ve not stopped using this software. In fact, I’m working on designing some tooling for my brother who makes lutes, but that’s for another post detailing what I’ve been doing since the semester ended.

Tomorrow I’m back to classes at Tyler. I’m very excited about the beginning of the semester since I finally get to the courses that I enrolled for- CAD CAM, sculpture and jewelry along with a couple of Gen Eds.

How did I do on my giant to do list I assembled back in May?

Well not too bad. I got a lot of things done.

I made lots of jewelry and it seemed like my Etsy store exploded right after school ended. It’s like my customers knew somehow. On the wholesale front I filled a couple of orders for a decent sized customer and I think this is going to be a good relationship.

I didn’t finish the book. I was really disappointed in that around the beginning of August since I was hoping to have a first draft done this summer then finish it next summer. But I’m making peace with the fact that it’s just a much bigger project than I originally envisioned. I’m just under 300 pages as of today and I’m hoping to keep working it into my schedule.

I’ve been having a ball taking pictures though. Both on our travels and here around the house. I took a three day online course in photo shop taught by Ben Willmore, who I met in 2010. I learned more in three days than I did from the quick intros we got at school over the last two semesters. Usuable information too.

And then there was a one day light painting class yesterday also taught by Ben. I was up really late trying it out after class. I really really want to do more of this.

And there was travel.St. Louis to catch up with Cherie and Chris of Technomadia. Then it was on to Kansas to be with David’s folks as his mom recovered from her ankle replacement.

When we returned it was my turn to go the rounds with the medical doctors. The rheumatologist, who is retiring any minute now, just confirmed the diagnosis of the last one. He had nothing to offer that was going to help with my stiffness that’s been going on since spring except some kind of shot that I would have to get from now on every three months. I said no thanks, left the office and decided ti was time to take things into my own hands. So I’ve been enjoying more success on my own with dietary changes and herbal supplements than with the prescriptions the docs were giving me. Fingers crossed this continues.

My tomato plants are taller than I am, I’m starting to lose one, but there’s still plenty. Plenty of dried little tomatoes and fresh salsa. Lots of basil for pesto as well.

It was a quick summer, but certainly a good one.

I was harvesting some of my tomatoes this morning and came across the strangest thing. Two caterpillars with these white ovoids stuck all over them. I ran for my camera and hit the internets.

They appear to be the victims of parasitoid wasps, which inject their eggs into the caterpillar. They burst out of the skin and when the eggs hatch, the wasps suck the life out of the caterpillar.

Ick! Gross! But I was still fascinated enough to take pictures. I then found a third caterpillar on another plant which had already been through the process, it was quite dead. A grusome end for the poor friendly caterpillars.

I’m tempted to cut off the tomato branches where they are clinging to dispose of these wasps before they are even born, but would that be interfering with nature?

After all, I’m growing these plants and enjoying the fruits. I’m sharing with the bunnies and squirrels (reluctantly, yes..) Should I do away with these wasps before they reproduce via this gruesome life cycle again.

I dunno. In the meantime, take a look at the gross photos on my flickr photostream.

I love roller coasters. Maybe it’s my personality or something, but the thrill of the twists and turns, the slight fear, the rush of wind. They’re great.

Back in October when Jack passed away, it was like the end of an awesome roller coaster ride. Jack, Patty and I have always had adventures together and the last eight years was no exception. Our decision to step up and take care of him, our continued respect for his wishes, even when everyone, heck even us sometimes, thought he was out of his mind. The joy, the jokes, the trips, the hospital visits, the lessons learned…..what a ride.

I said many times to Jack that I would be writing a book when it was all over. We laughed until we cried sometimes, Jack and I, thinking how much fun it all was. And the idea of telling these stories again scares me to death sometimes. I have a great memory for the details, but will everyone else see it the way we did, the way we do?

I guess it doesn’t really matter. It’s all point of view anyway. I’ll put out there what I see and you’re going to see it through your own lens. Or lenses in Jack’s case.

I’ve been trying to get the book started since school ended. But jewelry repairs that had been piled up and ignored during school, several wholesale orders that came in right after school and some custom work all pinned me to my workbench for a couple weeks.

I finally found the groove in the last few days. It’s begun for real and it feels like I’m riding my favorite roller coaster all over again. And Jack is sitting in the seat next to me laughing and screaming, too. Right now I don’t want to get off, especially not before the loop and my favorite corkscrew. And getting off for a break right now would mean I’m no longer sitting next to one of my best friends. A friend who left me in body, but is here in spirit. I’m begrudging stopping to eat and sleep. Even stopping to write this post is delaying me from returning to the story.

I had no idea that writing this book would bring me right back to these places we had been together. I feel like it is a gift I get to cherish as I write it down. I’m hoping that it is good enough to share, but even if it isn’t, I feel like I am finally getting a chance to process what it all has meant to me.

So I’m stepping away from the internet, facebook, twitter, etc to stick with this ride. I don’t know how long it will take the second time through. It took me almost 30 years the first time through with the last exciting bit taking about 8 years. See you in the gift shop at the exit.

It’s hard to believe I’ve only done about two posts on here in the last year, but sometimes that is the way life rolls.

The semester is over and I have actually completed my Foundation year at Tyler School of Art. That’s freshman year for you folks who don’t know about art school.

It was challenging, eye opening and did I say challenging? I’ve done a lot of hard things in my life and this one has to rank up there in the top five. But I feel like I made some good work. I certainly learned a lot more about my own work as well as others. I met some awesome fellow artists and some great teachers as well. I found myself thinking about other art I want to make besides jewelry.

I don’t have a favorite piece from this year, or even from each semester. Each course and each project demanded a different way of seeing and problem solving. I’ve uploaded a selection of my stuff on my Flickr if you would like to see some of it.

I’m really looking forward to the Fall semester. I’m registered to take CAD/CAM, Metals and Sculpture as my studio courses. It’s going to feel great to be in my field and back in a classroom on the other side of the instructor line. Even though my metals credits transferred in from 20 years ago, I still get to take the Sophmore course, however I was told I will work at my own level.

One of the skills I had to pick up this year was working with video.  There’s a cheesy video I made about Smaug during our Spring Break trip that really taught me to respect people who make real movies.

I was really glad to get some video experience this semester because I’ve been meaning to get some instructive jewelry videos on my YouTube/Website for a while. I even have tons of stuff that was shot during a couple of day lost wax casting workshop I did, but never got around to editing it. I put up a video of my puzzle ring solution on my YouTube.  I’m hoping to get the lost wax casting series up over the summer.

It’s astounding to think here it is, the end of 2011. What an eventful year it was.

I organized and executed an amazing trip for Jack and friends to the Mediterranean in May and early June. I exhibited my first major wholesale show, the Buyers Market of American Craft, in July. I returned to school as a full time student this Fall at Tyler School of Art.

But by far probably the most far reaching event of 2011 is the loss of Jack. He passed away from a rare form of cancer in October and the changes to our life are many.

The house is so quiet and every where I go I am reminded of him, what he liked to eat, where he liked to shop.
I hope where ever he is, there are model shoots and cheese steaks and most of all, both hands to hold his camera.

Vanya Sulie, Jack!