Solo artist paints Tuscan memories in watercolour

An artist’s personal account of travel alone to the tiny village of Barga in Tuscany, where her art was inspired.

After what seemed like too long a winter, I decided – rather impetuously – to look into traveling alone to Tuscany for a painting trip. As a working artist, I am always looking for new inspiration to draw from, and the painting sites in Europe seem endless. It’s as if every time you turn a corner, you encounter what will be a new painting.

Previous trips to Italy were the typical, and exhausting, 10 cities/14 day marathons. Little time was included to really taste the flavours of small town Italy, not to mention to document my trip with my art.

I Googled ‘artist’s apartments in Tuscany’ and as soon as a little place in Barga popped up on the screen, I knew I had found my Utopia. My booking ensued. There was little information available on this tiny town I had never heard of, but that didn’t sway me. I just had a feeling this was the place I needed to go.

I left in April for two weeks, and immediately fell in love with Barga, some of it standing for over 2,000 years, and filled with artists, musicians and poets, many of whom befriended me as soon as I arrived. The locals laughingly refer to Barga as a ‘black hole’ that sucks you in, but in reality it is the most beautiful, welcoming place. Like in the many small villages in Italy it is always the people, the community, that makes the difference. Barga stands out with its quirky mixture of Italian and Scottish residents living comfortably side by side. Every evening was filled with spontaneity as I would find myself at some local café or restaurant that would suddenly become a dance floor or a concert hall for local musicians who happened by.

I had originally planned to travel by train to see some surrounding cities and sites, but became quickly attached to this special place. I didn’t leave at all.

At the beginning of the trip I painted with oils but soon put down my brushes to just drink in the ambiance and surrounding beauty, travelling to every corner and every village in the beautiful valley that lay at the foot of Barga Vecchia, meeting more people along the way each day. There was no uncomfortable adjustment period when being introduced to someone new, just warmth and inclusion. As my trip neared its end, my artistic streak was inspired and I began to paint furiously with watercolour. I’ve included some example sketches here.

You may need to be a little bit brave to do it, but travelling alone always presents new possibilities – which you may not embrace if you have a companion with you, with their own needs (remember Shirley Valentine?) Perhaps intimidating at first,  travel without a safety net is an eye-opener … you never know what could happen and whom you may meet. I’d do it all over again. Tomorrow if I could.

Doris Pontieri

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