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Il Chiostro
241 W. 97th St., 13N
NY, NY 10025
800-990-3506
fax: 858-712-3329

A Tuscan Affair!
Painting, Photography, Food & Wine --
All the ingredients to continue your love affair with Tuscany
at historic San Fedele

May 24-31, 2008
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Plein air painting, photo by Linda Mironti

Wine Glasses, photo by Linda Mironti

Seasonal market in Siena, photo by John Motondo
Spring is when the fresh produce of the area like agretti, delicate zucchini flowers and artichokes find their way to the outdoor markets.

Spring artichokes ready at the market, photo by Gilbert Rios

Tender zucchini flowers, photo by Andy Holtzman

Poppy season, photo by Denise Riesen
Spring in Tuscany: We chose this last week in May for our Tuscan Affair because it is typically the most beautiful time in Italy. All of the spring flowers are bursting, especially the poppies that smear the landscape with blood red fields.

Morning hikes through the Tuscan lanes, photo by Elise Campbell

The Torre del Mangia in Siena, photo by John Motondo
Try looking at Siena from a new angle...

Photo by Andy Holtzman

Come! Join us on our latest adventure and continue your love affair with one of our favorite places - Tuscany!

Linda & Michael

A Note from Linda and Michael:

We are very excited to be extending the Il Chiostro Experience to our newest venue, San Fedele. This unique program will show you timeless Tuscany from the perspective of a different hilltop, but with the same, Il Chiostro style.

The week will focus on Tuscany through painting, photography, food and wine. No need to choose a specific workshop, however. What makes this week different from other Il Chiostro programs is that every day you can choose what sparks your creativity and go with it.

We have designed a tasting menu of activities available to everyone daily. Experiment with painting one day, learn some techniques of photography another, focus a day on Tuscan food and wine so you can bring home ideas to share a Tuscan feast with friends and family.

Or you may prefer to focus on just one activity for the week. In any case, you can construct your days exploring your own interests as you like.

Buon Divertimento!

About the Week:

The three main elements of this program are the daily Workshop Sessions, Excursions to explore deeper into the Tuscan area and our new Twilight Italian Culture Series - special events we can include because of the evocative common spaces available at our new venue of San Fedele.

Workshop Sessions:
Every day we will offer structured classes in painting, photography and food & wine:

Painting with Lynn Stender: explore your creative spirit whether you are an experienced painter or have never picked up a brush in your life. All supplies will be included for these sessions.

• Plein Air Watercolor - discover the wonders of watercolor. Capture the sparkle and light of the Tuscan landscape with movement and translucency - like the impressionists - using a specially selected palette of colors that will warm your soul.
• Acrylic Painting on Canvas - create a masterpiece ready for the Uffizzi! We will paint a Tuscan still-life in our studio. Learn how to mix heavy body, creamy paint in the rich darks that represent the chiaroscuro technique on your canvas.
• Pastel Sketching - sketch the terraces and architectural detail of our extraordinary monastery, San Fedele. Tinted pastel paper will be the foundation for our Da Vinci inspired sketches.
• Collage - the textures of Tuscany. We will collect materials that represent the history, architecture, landscape, vegetation of our Chianti area of Tuscany and layer them to create a memory of your Tuscan Affair in this non-objective art form.
• Private ceramics class - taught by local artisans in their intimate studio

Photography with Nina Prantis: this will be a series of flexible one-day workshops suitable for digital photographers at every level.

• The first session will be Basic Camera Handling for those who want to cover the essentials of shutter speeds, apertures, ISO settings, depth of field, focus, lens ranges, light metering.
• The Study of Light and Color, taking in painting's color theory and comparing it with that of photography. The Tuscan landscape is a perfect subject just for the study of light and its affects. We will photograph a landscape in hourly intervals from dawn to sunset to see the effects of the sun's position.
• Photographing the Portrait. This class will encompass the formal "posed portrait" in a studio as well as the "environmental portrait" taking subjects from the street life of nearby towns.
• Night and Evening Photography involving long exposures, learning how to use artificial lights, and electronic flash.
• The Still Life working in a more intimate scale with a suitable subject, location, and lighting. This will cover macro lenses, tripods, reflectors, diffusers. Learn how to make some of our own lighting tools and how to improvise while on location.
• The Il Chiostro Method - this is a unique process created by our instructors, Lynn, Nina and fine art collagist, Sherry O'Neill, that resulted from the cross-pollination of concurrent visual arts workshops. The idea is to take photographs of the locale, print them on typical papers of the area and use them to create a collage which is then enhanced through various painting techniques. The results can be quite astounding!
  

Food & Wine with Linda Mironti and guests: in this week we will immerse ourselves in the Tuscan Food Culture and discover what makes Tuscany notorious for its delectable dishes and award winning wines. Il Chiostro friends and experts will be on hand to help guide us in this journey.

• An Introduction to Tuscan Cuisine and Wine - the hierarchy of essential ingredients in the Italian food culture, olive oil tasting and learning about extra virgin, first cold pressed and the levels of quality. Here we are in Chianti - what do Chianti Classico and DOC mean? Food philosophies from our San Fedele chef Signora Angelina.
• Local Producers - visit to a small family-owned goat cheese farm nestled in the Chianti hillside near Siena, then on to one of our favorite Chianti wine producers, Corsigniano. Learn why Mario doesn’t approve of the new formula for Chianti Classico.
• Market Day - visit to a Tuscan open air market, fecund with fresh seasonal and local ingredients. We will take these treasures back to San Fedele and make a feast of our own.
• Wine Tours -a visit to the famous wine producing towns in southern Tuscany, Montalcino and Montepulciano - not in Chianti. See how the Sangiovese grape can be used to make a totally different wine.
  

Exploring the Heart of Tuscany:
Beyond the walls of the San Fedele monastery lies the wonderful land of Tuscany. Tuscany is a concept as well as an area in the heart of Italy. Here are some things we have selected to allow a deeper exploration into what gives Tuscany its extraordinary appeal. The following activities and excursions will be available to all participants:

• Excursion to medieval Siena with a unique tour of a special hidden attraction
• Visit to Castellina in Chianti with a lecture on Etruscan civilization by a local professor with a visit inside the ancient burial mound
• Tour of classic Chianti wineries
• Visit to the formal gardens and 17th century villa of the private Geggiano estate
• Visit to local artisans in their studios
• Morning hiking series through the Tuscan countryside: vineyards, olive groves, surrounding hamlets, estates and hilltowns.

Twilight Italian Culture Series:
After the workshop sessions and excursions, our love affair with Tuscany will continue each evening before dinner with diverse cultural presentations. The San Fedele setting lends itself beautifully to the Il Chiostro experience. Here are some of the topics we have selected from the many things we love about Tuscany:

• Presentation on San Fedele Monastery, its history and renovation, by the owners and hosts, Nicolò and Renata
• "Techniques For Tasting Italian Reds" plus "Chianti versus the Super Tuscan."
• "The Historic Art of Frescoes"
• "Photography: How Close a Relative to Painting?"
• Live evening music programs

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Accommodations:

Your home in Tuscany is San Fedele, a medieval monastery artfully renovated into deluxe accommodations, preserving the spirit and architectural detail of the historic structure.

San Fedele nestled in the Chianti hills

San Fedele is an historic monastery dating back to the 13th century, painstakingly renovated in 2005-07. Every room is deluxe with modern amenities: heating/air conditioning, modern bathrooms,mini-fridge, internet access, TV, etc. This beautiful facility also has several efficient common spaces for classrooms and social gathering. For full details about San Fedele and photos of the restored rooms, please click on the Settings and Accommodations link.

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Price and Registration: $2,695 p/p*
Junior Suite Supplement - $150 p/p
Master Suite Supplement - $300 p/p
Single Room Supplement - $500 (limited availability)

* Note: although the Euro may not be as favorable to us as it has been in the past, your price is in dollars. That covers most of your expenses for the week so any further spending in Italy should be minimal.

Includes:

• 7 nights in the restored historic monastery San Fedele
• Daily activities, workshop sessions and group events - as you choose
• Authentic Tuscan breakfast and dinners prepared at the house, including wine (independent lunch)
• Excursions
• All local transportation
• Pick up in Florence on first day of workshop
• Optional activities and excursions
  

Does Not Include:

• Airfare
• Lunch
• Independent meals and sight-seeing

To Register:

• Download Registration Form by clicking button at left
• Print, fill out and sign Registration Form
• Mail or fax it to Il Chiostro with a non-refundable deposit of $500 (address and fax number are on the Registration Form)
• You will receive a registration confirmation and subsequently, relevant information about your workshop, travel to Italy, arrivals, suggested supplies, etc.
• Or call us at 800-990-3506 to register by phone

About Your Il Chiostro Hosts: Linda and Michael, designers of the Il Chiostro Experience, who will be hosting your San Fedele program, have been organizing workshops in Italy since 1995. Please read more about them by following the About Il Chiostro link. The owners of San Fedele, Nicolo and Renata, live on site. They will be available throughout the program to talk about the history of the monastery, the renovation and this area of Tuscany they call home.

Getting There: Florence will be our meeting point on the first day of the workshop. For suggestions about getting to Florence, accommodations or other logistics, please consult our Travel to Italy link. Renting a car from all the major rental agencies is possible if you prefer to be more independent during the week.

Salute!, photo by Linda Mironti