Some of Damanhur and now in the Art

hello,

as promised I post some of the pics of the Temples of Humankind in Damanhur. This labyrinth of rooms is all made by the people of Damanhur. 2 million buckets of rocks have been removed over 30 years. Google Damanhur.com
This blog has been released last week about the course we did there.http://www.damanhurblog.com/2012/06/26/seven-days-to-purpose-whats-your-tree/

one of the chambers in the Temple of Humankind

one of the rooms in the temple

                                                     The hall of mirrors

Now in Montecastello di Vibio, Umbria. This is the tiniest, most stunning, little village you can imagine. Here is the International School for painting and drawing where I do the 3 week program.
I am busy, working 8 hours a day on landscape painting, life painting and drawing, and sculpture.
The group is small, we are only 9 students! The school can have 30. Also here they feel the recession.
I am the oldest with mainly talented art students from the US. By the way: I am not too bad at all to be honest. I am enjoying the landscape painting which is quite challenging for me after many years of abstracts. Also working in oils is difficult, mainly because of the heat, they won't dry so quickly.

The teachers are from the US as well. Google is you like their names and have a look at their work,
Celia Reisman, landscape painter from Philadelphia, sculptor Brian Booth Craig and painter Samuel Evensen from New York.

It is such a luxury to be able to work all these hours just on the arts, Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included, we have our own studio and in the evenings you can enjoy a lecture or a movie.
Montecastello has a lively community with social evenings where mainly all the village people come together and enjoy themselves with food, drinks and dancing. It is great to watch the oldies. I was asked for some dances too by one of the older chaps. What a joy and so much fun!!

Went for a (long) trip to Rome with the group and had a bath in the arts, The Carravagio's, Michel Angelo's Bernini's and Raphaels are everywhere. Rome is one big museum and full with devoted visitors. I was broken and my feet where crying.
Next Friday is the trip to Perugia and Assisi.