Under The Dreaming Sun

It's a beautiful Sunday in Florence! It’s still cold outside but at least the sun is out and I hope it continues to be. I just finished watching The Wizard of Oz (Il mago di Oz). Judy Garland was such a beauty in this movie, so sweet and innocent. This classic tale takes me back to childhood. “There is no place like home.” Being far away from home and the family is very hard, especially if one is on their own and alone in an unknown country. All the beauty of Florence takes my mind off the thought that I am here alone (without my family, I mean). I can’t wait for this winter to end and spring to come; I think I mentioned this before in one of my posts. Spring will bring more fun and excitement, more sun and warmth. The bear is waiting to be awakened and smell the sweetness of honey in the air. Yesterday, I was in town, walking around and I realized that city is filling up with tourists, once again. And this is just the beginning. Summers are usually mad here, crowds of people on the streets, it’s a total chaos! I remember the summer of 2008 in Florence, that’s when I fell in love with this city. The love for Florence is still inside of my heart, it’s not gone and I doubt it will be. I traveled all over Italy in 2008 and many places were painted, like a work of art, in my head and I still carry them with me.

ARTISTIC DREAMS OF ITALY

Afternoon Tea

BELLAGIO MEMORIES

CAPRI ISLAND

 

The Stored Honey Of The Human Soul

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

"O, how much simpler things would be

If eyes could paint or brush could see. "

By Robert Brault

"In the 1700's Voltaire wrote that the Renaissance in Italy marked one of mankind's greatest cultural achievements. Today, Italy has the most, and best preserved, Renaissance art in the world. Venice, Milan and Rome boast many well-known masterpieces from this age of enlightenment. However, the largest concentration of high art and architecture of Renaissance Italy, hence of the world, is in Florence. To travel in Florence is to truly take a trip back in time, to the age of discovery, when mankind passed from the darkness of the Middle Ages to a time of luxury, increased artistic freedom and scientific advancement."



Art and Florence ... Whoever has been in Florence knows about the museum Uffizi, which together with Museo del Prado (Spain) and Louvre (France) makes the historical puzzle complete. So much mystery behind the paintings..Mona Lisa....it takes my breath away. A picture itself can be alive, right in front of your eyes, yet you may not have a clue what it is about unless you study art. Art is the struggle to understand. I like it more as a mysterious piece which makes me wonder.  I gather together thoughts, in my imagination, everything I think the picture represents. And I'm usually wrong...but it’s my imagination and it allows me to make up things that no one would ever thought of....it’s the power we posses. Being an artist is a gift. You’re born with a magical hand not taught. It’s a magnificent gift in fact, one should be proud of…There are many artists that I adore…but here are some of the pictures that made me loose myself in them...

This art is silent poetry.

I love these pictures of Flamenco dancers...no faces, only movements...makes me want to dance! They're so ALIVE!

Morning Sunlight

Old Florence

Beauty...takes one back in time...(Once upon a time...)

          Collier- Godiva

My favorite painting of all time...The Birth of Venus ( La Nascita di Venere) by Botticelli

Interpretation: Venus had two aspects: she was an earthy goddess who aroused humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired intellectual love in them. (Interpretation of Plato - and - the members of the Florentine Platonic Academy.Plato further argued that contemplation of physical beauty allowed the mind to better understand spiritual beauty. So, looking at Venus, the most beautiful of goddesses, might at first raise a physical response in viewers which then lifted their minds towards the Creator.

My Interpretation: In my world, it represents freedom and love. Her naked body stands untouched and sacred yet exposed to passion freely. She is the Goddess of Love, she is a beauty. In my eyes, she is pure and innocent and a very passionate woman, the most beautiful I've seen from the Renaissance era.

LOVELY!

"No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist. "

By Oscar Wilde

Daydreaming of Spring

I have been living in Florence, Italy for the past 5 months. I adore this city and it's essential beauty. Everything about Florence captivates my mind. Its culture, art...it's all there on display in front of my eyes and I can't help but wonder how many "strangers" in this city feel the same way. If they even do...?
Today is Sunday, it was a sunny morning until the dark clouds sorrounded the city and kicked the sunshine out of the sky. But before the rain started, I got out on my big terrace and together with my charming boyfriend started the process of cleaning, which I enjoy very much. The terrace is empty now, due to the winter that brought heavy rain and winds that circulated throughout Florence. We cleaned the terrace almost completely and rearanged the flowers pots. I always saw my mom plant the flowers in the pots and change the soil, but I never tried to do it before. Today was my first time and yes, I did a good job! I bought three different flowers yesterday, now they are breathing fresh air outside. They made me think of  la primavera (spring) and its charm. I love spring...everything about it, I love. Awakening of the first flowers, warm breeze on my skin, the smell of honey in the air...I daydream alot about this magical season and I am so excited that it will knock on this city's door SOON!

I wish to have a garden like this one day

I love typical Tuscan gardens. Flowers, of many colors, beautiful statues and fountains !!! What more would one want? If I had one like this, it would make me feel like I'm living in Rinascimento (The Renaissance), which actually began here in Florence in the 14th century!

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers

is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely

as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.

I really want to clean out my closet and put away the winter collection! I am "craving" a dress.

I love this picture. The front door of a Tuscan villa covered in colors.

It's time for spring, butterflies, sweet scents, honey and bees, happy colors, music, cold drinks and great love poetry!

" A flower's fragrance declares to the whole world that it is fertile, available and desirable. It smell remind us in vestigial ways of fertility, vigor, life-force, all the optimism, expectancy, and passionate bloom of youth. We inhale its ardent aroma and no matter what our ages, we feel young and nubile in a world aflame with desire." By Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

When bright flowers bloom

Parchment crumbles, my words fade

The pen has dropped...