ISLAND OF GLASS
We are back in Philo and The Muse has put together a piece about our last stop: Venice. The glass conference in Murano was actually the genesis for our trip. We attend the Glass Art Society conferences only sporadically especially as we have essentially 'retired' from the scene. But this conference in a more exotic locale was great stimulus for a vacation. And so we concluded our trip at the beginning of the plan.
We arrived in Venice by way of a fast train from Florence, again an excellent experience. After a trip by vaporetto to the Fondamente Nuove and a short walk, we lodged at the 'Orange' apartment; the photos explain that. As with our other stops, the proprietor, Chantal, was excellent - knowledgeable and helpful. We were in a good location, Campiello Widmann in Venice, convenient to many restaurants and shops. But as Mrs.T relates, Venice is a pedestrian oriented city and presented some challenges.
We arrived on Mother's Day and to R's surprise the next morning a nice arrangement of flowers arrived. Thank you Dave and everyone at Imlay. Some claim the editor is a throwback which is okay with him.
Here are Rebecca's highlights of Venice:
Venice is a bunch of islands in a lagoon on the east coast of Italy. (Most of the buildings sit on top of wooden pilings. -dt) Hundreds of years ago trading ships from all over met there to sell or trade their cargo for something else. Being located on islands gave the traders a certain amount of security. The boats could travel from one island to another. Bridges for people to walk between the islands were built high in the middle to let the boats go under. People had to go uppity up up, walk across, and then go down de down down to visit their neighbors or whatever. These bridges, while quite picturesque, soon lost their charm for old people with arthritic knees. By the end of our stay when we considered going somewhere we counted the bridges we would have to cross to get there.
Venice has always been a party town. All these sailors who finally got to port had to be entertained. While a lot of cities have a few days or a week of Mardi Gras, Venice has literally months of Carnival. (It is mostly limited to Lent. -dt) I suppose it started small and was so much fun that every year or two they added another week. Anyway during Carnival everyone wears masks so that if you make a fool of yourself no one knows for sure it was you. These masks are very intricate and beautiful. Usually they are made of paper mache but they can be made of leather, wood, glass, or who knows what. I wanted to buy one but Dan said loudly NO MASKS! (I needed to be clear and concise. -dt) He reasoned that I did not like or go to parties much. And also it would probably get smushed in my luggage. Both were good reasons so I desisted, but they were beautiful. Besides I bought lots of other stuff including a Lion of St. Mark flag. This lion has wings and is supposed to protect Venice. He stands on top of a tall pillar. We saw it on the way to the Guggenheim Museum.
In Venice we went to church at the Basilica of St John and St Paul. I'm not certain what makes a church a Basilica; I'm pretty sure a Cathedral must have a bishop. (A Basilica has special Papal requirements and recognition. -dt) But anyway… this Basilica was quite large with lots of dramatic renaissance paintings, statues, marble columns etc. I was happy to see it was more attended than the church in Florence. I also noted that there were a lot more men in attendance than seems to be usual in Italian churches. (Mrs.T has a small database for this assertion. -dt) These men were wearing suits and ties. The women were dressed up more than usual also. Whoops! Yes, there were a lot of little girls in white dresses running around. I elbowed Dan. "We're in trouble," I whispered. "I think this is First Communion." Dan did not think so. (It was also Pentecost. -dt) But then we saw lots of priests wandering about. (Four priests and two deacons officiated. -dt) Dan said if we could spot a bishop it was Confirmation. I didn't see any red hats or any pointed ones either. You can tell those bishops by their hats. Then just to confuse the issue Dan noted that in Italy it could be a Cardinal. Dan has always felt a little special because he was confirmed by a Cardinal. In the end I was right; it was a First Communion. The thing is that sometimes these affairs last forever. With all those priests I was not optimistic. But they had this thing running like a well-oiled machine. I scooted back in my chair to let a grandmother lean over me to take photos. They had a children's choir which sounded rich but lacked in volume. When it came to wishing your neighbors peace I was confused and said LaPaz when I should have said Pace. But other than that it went well and I did not fall asleep. (Amazingly -dt) When the mass was over we wandered around looking at the church a bit before we went home.
A word about clothes. Italian men are the best dressed in the world.
Their clothes actually fit them! I did not see any baggy pants that you feared would fall off at any second. Rich or poor, fat or thin, old or young men's clothes fit them perfectly. The clothes were not too loose or too tight. The colors were quite various but none gave me a headache. Even the tee shirts which had slogans did not offend, possibly because I do not understand Italian. Italian women's clothes which in general had a certain panache were much harder to define. These clothes tended toward intended extremes. Some were too tight; some were too loose; some were too bright; some were too plain; some were too fussy. Women's clothes made a statement. And Italian women seemed quite at home in their clothes. (I noticed that despite all the pasta and pizza that Italians are generally rather thin. -dt) I on the other hand looked at myself in the mirror when I had my blue raincoat on and my white Tilley hat and was suddenly struck by my resemblance to Paddington Bear. I love my hat. Daphne had one and she graciously told me where I could get one. I get lots of compliments on my hat. Dan looks kind of like an explorer. He has pants and a vest which have lots of pockets. He has a Tilley hat too. (Several actually -dt)
We came to Venice to attend the Glass Art Society Conference. For centuries Italian glass made on the Isle of Murano was the best in the world. The Italian glass workers are certain it still is. (Most American glass work is done in the Italian style, that is a method, not just a look. -dt) Be that as it may, this conference with glass workers from all over the world was amazing. We think we know glass making pretty well but we are left with our mouths open thinking: How did they do that? One big vase or jar or something was so heavy it took three very burly men to lift it. Keep in mind we are talking about a huge lump of semi-liquid glass holding a temperature of over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. You had to keep turning it slowly or it would slump right off the rod and you would be left with a large glass puddle with lots of cracks as it cooled. There is not much of a market for cracked glass puddles these days but I suppose you could call it an installation; just kidding I hope.
This being an international conference we saw lots of old friends from all over. (There was a good contingent with Ohio connections. -dt) We first met some of them at an international conference in Japan some twenty years ago. (Our first GAS conference was in Toledo in 1992. -dt) Besides seeing the demonstrations of masters doing things we could never hope to do we both enjoyed browsing through the shops which held everything from trinkets to masterpieces. (We picked up one of those. -dt) Even the worst piece from Murano is better than a lot of things from other places. I loved the intricate dragon goblets and was impressed by the universal clarity and brilliance of the different glass colors. There were forms I had never thought of, most skillfully executed. (Dragon goblet maker extraordinaire Bill Gudenrath gave a marvelous organ concert at San Pietro Chapel. -dt)
We are extremely fond of the floral paperweights made by Paul Stankard. (Paul and most of the other US maestros were not in attendance. -dt) We love their accuracy in color and form. But we missed this accuracy in sea creatures until this time when we went to Murano. Vittorio Costantini was a fisherman, and his father and grandfather were fishermen before him so he knows the sea. I was astounded when I walked by his shop window and saw a nudibranch! (It was very close to our apartment. -dt) As a SCUBA diver I love these delicate little creatures. But I had never seen or expected to see one in glass. In fact the window was full of shells, anemones, crabs, shrimp, fish, squid, and on and on - all delicately, accurately portrayed in colored glass. I was enchanted.
I was going to go in but he was closed with a sign on the door GONE TO MURANO. Of course. When we checked him out in our little booklet we discovered that he was one of the demonstrators. Can I pick them or what. Later that evening we met him when he returned to his shop. He did not speak much English but he understood my Spanish pretty well. When I asked about nudibranchs he produced a box of about 15 different varieties. I was astounded. (R bought two. -dt ) The next day when we went to watch his demo the studio had a lot more people than we had seen in the other lampworking demos. He made a hummingbird. (We went back to his shop again and bought a hermit crab. -dt)
In Murano there were also a lot of bridges large and small to get to different studios and galleries. (Some of the studios could be reached by only a convoluted path. -dt) One day we went to the glass museum. It was interesting to see how the production of glass had progressed during the ages. (Nearly all the modern maestros were well represented. -dt)
The Guggenheim was a nice change of pace after we had visited and viewed all those renaissance masterpieces. This was mostly a 20th century collection - everyone from Moore to Mondrian, from Pollock to Picasso. Some of it I loved; some I disliked; some left me confused. The Moore's were really nice. This was a nice unprepossessing museum. (The excellent special show at the time was 'Josef Albers in Mexico'. -dt)
By this time we were exhausted from all of our Italian adventures so we packed up and next day got in a water taxi for the first leg of our trip home. (The bulk of the return was nicely made in a relatively new Boeing Dreamliner. -dt)
Here are some photo highlights from our Venice adventure: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmmsZ8w8
And a very special thanks to JT-L for my bastone; it went a long way to making this trip possible. It was quite the hit everywhere.
You can expect us to be on our usual summer hiatus. R is back in her element with flowers, trees, and horse friends. Repairs await us. And new phones. The heat and humidity are already here as well.
Hope you all have a great summer.
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
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