This past weekend, I had the chance to attend a conference in Florence, Italy (rough life, I know). I’m member of the Global Art Teachers Exchange (GATE), a group of art teachers who put on workshops for each other. Makes for amazing professional development as teacher conferences don’t often serve subjects outside the core subjects. We’d planned on meeting in Florence for 2020 but COVID of course intervened. Here it is 2022 – two schools and two countries later for me – and it finally came to be.

The exchange was a reunion for my art teacher friends, most of whom are scattered all over Europe. I’ve known the group since 2017 when we first met in Luxembourg. Aberdeen followed in 2018 and London in 2019. For the past three years we’ve taken part in a monthly sketchbook exchange, and that’s what we’re doing in the picture above.

It goes without saying that Florence is an extraordinary city. The gelato is superb and the pasta is even better. My colleagues Saleshni and Michele joined me (Australian, both) and we flew into Bologna, direct from Istanbul. We stayed at a gorgeous villa up in the hills behind town, a spot called Bagno di Rivoli. Chilly mornings with beautiful views – no complaints here.

Our first day was spent enjoying the galleries downtown, including a wonderful exhibition of Olafur Eliasson’s work at the Palazzo Strozzi. Danish-Icelandic, his contemporary installations include light and other natural elements such as water and wind. At the Palazzo, he projected light and sound using the Renaissance architecture of the building, transforming the historic space using contemporary materials. The results were powerful and eye-catching.

After the musuem, we did some made some art in the streets near the Ponte Vecchio. I had making something out of nothing in my friend Ryan’s sketchbook, creating a collage of all white items sourced from a single street corner. A Hertz receipt, ticket stub, and a couple of stickers all dropped from the pockets of tourists in the five minutes we sat on the sidewalk nearby. One man’s trash…

Back at the International School of Florence, we soaked in the view and made more art. The stunning views from their school cafeteria paint a truly Tuscan scene including two castles on the hillsides surrounding. I took a watercolor painting workshop and a cyanotype printing class. Both were loads of fun.

Making the most of our time, my colleague Michele and I climbed both the Duomo dome and the bell tower. 450 steps apiece! The sunset views from the dome were worth it.

Nothing like sunset and gelato at the Ponte Vecchio. Florence is stunner for sure.

Back home in Istanbul for the next few weeks. Hard to believe I’ve already been here for two months. Now we’re into the nitty gritty of the school year with parent/teacher/student conference next week. Soon enough it will be fall break and I am headed to Sofia, Bulgaria. My adventure on an overnight train awaits!