Spring Newsletter from Quattro Archi Tuscany
- micric2020
- Mar 14
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 15
One minute we have a downpour of heavy rain and then suddenly the skies clear and we are bathed in warm spring sunshine and the beautiful view of the Apuane mountains emerges in the distance. Such is the weather at this time of year in northern Tuscany, but it's always such a feeling of optimism when we have the first signs of spring. Our garden at Quattro Archi is modest and the grass takes a hammering with lack of rain in mid summer, but in the spring it is absolutely covered in beautiful flowers. The light blue Birdeye Speedwell are my favourite. But this time of year is also a busy time to get ready for our summer season.....read on for the latest updates.....
The Hidden Gem Emerges
We have been really fortunate to have such a fantastic building for Quattro Archi and particular thanks go to Massimiliano and Moussa for their great work on the restoration. People are always impressed with the large but largely hidden gallery space. So, prompted by one of our recent Artists in Residence we commissioned a new sign from the local blacksmith Daniele. He came up with a great solution which is sympathetic to the style of the historic town centre but which can be seen from a distance. And it was a nice touch that he echoed the design of our windows and logo in the sign's structure. But Daniele is a blacksmith not a signwriter, so it fell to Jane with some assistance to add the finishing touches. And the result looks great. Ready for an exciting exhibition of Carole Waller's 'Wearable Art" in June.
New Wines for 2025
We don't really aim to sell wine but our visitors do appreciate us having a few bottles available to save them having to carry them from the shops (we are in a pedestrian town). Last year was the first year we tried it and it seemed to work well but I thought we could do a little better with the red. So we arranged a small tasting team and visited the helpful Francesca at Cantina del Vino to see what was available. As you may know, the trouble with wine tasting events is that the more you taste, the better they are and eventually they all merge into one. So we restricted ourselves just to small sips! We chose a lovely Prosecco which will be perfect for our exhibition openings, a nice red from Tuscany which is a little less sharp than last year and a very moreish white. Each will be bottled with a piece of Quattro Archi artwork as the label. Looking forward to the delivery in May.
Spectacular Silks on the Streets of Barga
We were delighted to host Carole Waller (carolewaller.co.uk) and her team for a photo shoot at Quattro Archi. There was a team of five people and in the course of a day they managed multiple photos of nearly 50 new items from Carole's collection inspired by Barga. Carole was an Artist in Residence at Quattro Archi last year and since then has
been super busy creating her latest collection of 'Wearable Art'. They are truly gorgeous flowing silk garments...scarves, tops etc..... all with a little bit of Barga. The colours are fantastic, a testimony to Carole's special techniques for printing and painting on the fabric before being made into a garment. Each piece is unique. Her collection will be on show and available to purchase at Quattro Archi gallery from 6th June this year. We are a bit limited in what the model would let us post online, so Quattro Archi staff had to step in and help!
Artist Book....ready, steady.....coming soon
We're so excitied to have Victoria Bucca, the bookbinder from Florence visiting us this summer. She is first doing a bookbinding course during which she will show participants how to make 10 different types of bookbinding to take home with them. The following week, she moves on to a collaboration with Jane Richardson, our resident printmaking expert. Jane will help people print their own papers for inclusion in their books as pullouts, full or part pages, linings and covers. And also help with sketching and painting if people want to include that in their book. Then Victoria will lead the process of compilation and binding with a variety of options to create an individual artistic and very personal masterpiece for everyone. So last week Jane was preparing some sample papers which Victoria is, as we speak!, cutting and assembling into sample books to help demonstrate at the workshop what can be acheived. Really looking forward to seeing the results
Street Printing Community Art Project for Piazzette 2025
Barga has a number of summer festivals but the biggest is the Piazzette ('Little Squares') in July. The town is really buzzing especially in the evenings when there seems to be food and music everywhere. Last year Quattro Archi provided a community art project to the event in which people had the opportunity to add colour to six huge black and white canvases which were later shown in the gallery. This year plans are taking shape for another community art project. It will be based on a 3 x 2 metre image of Saint Christopher carrying a young Christ. This statue is the centrepiece of the famous Barga cathedral. We will take the image and a printing press out onto the streets in the ealy evening and allow people to print parts of the huge Saint Christopher which will then be assembled into one big image in the gallery. People will have the opportunity to add their own creativity and take a copy home with them. Looking forward to the Street Printing project this summer.
Courses and Workshops this Summer
Our courses and workshops in the early summer are all fully booked. In fact Jane Richardson's LinoCut+ printmaking course already has a couple of people booked for
next year! But there is still time to enroll on three events later in the summer. The Bookbinding course with Victoria at the end of August, the Artist Book workshop with Jane and Victoria and our last one of the year at the end of September is A Sense of Place -Jane's Painting and Sketching Workshop, now in its third year. The end of the summer is a lovely time in Barga. The summer heat has subsided a little and autumn weather is still some way off. Why not come and visit us for some 'you' creative time or perhaps with a friend. Sharing a room with a friend at Quattro Archi is great value. If you would like to know more, please get in touch.
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