The 2012 season is looking great at La Romita.  Lots of folks are signing up for our dizzying array of art workshops led by an amazing group of teachers.  Shortly I will be making a series of presentations about La Romita and the art of Umbria in three states in addition to my home state of California. I will be in Austin with Sharon Zuegin at Katherine Brimberry’s Flatbed Press the weekend of the 17th of February, then in San Antonio, Kerrville and the Texas

This is a standby at La Romita, and one of Edmund’s favorite recipes. Like many dishes served at La Romita, it has just a few ingredients: the challenge of this deceptively simple dish comes in its preparation, which while not lengthy (I made it in about 35 minutes) involves attention to detail. Cima di Rapa – literally, turnip tops – translates to turnip greens: at  La Romita either turnip greens or broccoli rabe are used interchangeably for this recipe, depending on what’s in season. I

First…we sincerely wish each of you the most enjoyable and meaningful holiday season.  The La Romita family is certainly far-flung, with our extended family reaching around the globe…and including each of you.  This family extends in time as well as space; some of you haven’t been back to Umbria in decades but your cards and missives—electronic or otherwise—continue to arrive and to warm our hearts.  I have just finished my tenth season at La Romita, and having worked with about 1500 participants, feel I’m just

Fennel bulb is a seasonal vegetable most readily available in Italy during the cooler months– late Fall, Winter, and Spring. There are certain flavors that are far more appreciated in Italy than in the United States, and one of these is the “licorice” family of flavors. Anise is used to flavor liquors and sweets throughout Italy and Umbria is no exception: you can find the slightly sweet, rock-hard doughnut-shaped cookies called “ciambelle all’anice” in any grocery store in Terni, for example, and of course there

Last week in Austin, Texas when the Hunter’s Moon lit up my backyard, I was reminded of the previous full moon, twenty-eight days before, seen from the courtyard of La Romita, an artists’ retreat and school located near Terni, Italy in the heart of Umbria.  It was a glorious, Italian “Harvest Moon” and it kept me awake with its brightness lighting the olive grove around the quiet studio that night. It was a beautiful place to be and to make art.  For two weeks, La

It is a bit disappointing that by the time mid-October rolls around, La Romita has usually closed her doors for the year. Disappointing because some amazing Umbrian delicacies come into season in fall, chief among these the black truffles of Norcia. Truffles are the “fruit” of a fungus that grows on the roots of forest trees, particularly oak and hazelnut.  Up the Valnerina (Valley of the Nera River) to the northeast of Terni,  three rivers pass through forests of these trees around the town of

…and now…the season windup.  Charlotte Attebery, a longtime La Romita teacher / friend, and her group of Californians left on October 4th and we began the process of closing up the convent for the winter.  Hatches are battened, gates are closed, and gear is stored as the winds from the Apennine Mountains take on a bit of a bite.  Each year we watch the sunset as it travels day by day across the “Conca Ternana”, (as the bowl-shaped valley of Terni is known).  In mid-summer

Katherine Brimberry departed about a week ago for home with her group of print-makers.  We know that Flatbed Press in Austin is one of the best print-making studios in the country, but we didn’t know how entertaining and inspiring it would be to shake this place up with Katherine’s innovative techniques.  To call her processes “green” would be perhaps confusing in the world of art, where green is a pretty established concept.  We can call them “non-toxic.”  The power of the sun and an old