Italy: Tuscan Light and Life
September 22 through September 30, 2004

$2,450.00 per person in a double room
$2,950.00 per person for a single room
Includes lodging, all meals and instruction.
Airfare and car rental are additional and
can be booked through your own travel agent.

Tuscany has held a fascination for artists and culinary aficionados for many years. The warm climate and the earthen colors of Sienna have drawn creative minds to its hills. On a painting workshop, you'll stay in comfortable rooms furnished with the latest amenities.

Our group will be housed together in the Villa Del Cacciatore, a renovated hunting lodge owned by an Italian family. Carefully selected for our American clientele, each room has its own bath with a shower and new mattresses on the beds. Early booking assures you of a choice location overlooking the swimming pool and elegant grounds near the village of Montespertoli, only 30 minutes southwest of Florence. If you wish to come alone and want a private room, for an additional price, we can accommodate you. Otherwise, you will be assigned a roommate of the same gender if you are travelling alone. Perhaps you paint, but your travelling companion does not. This is the perfect trip. While you paint, he or she can enjoy the food and wine of the region with restaurateur Jim Reiman, owner of Three Tomatoes Trattorias who has had a long association with Italian wineries and food producers.

The workshop will open with a welcoming meal in the spacious, light-filled dining area or weather permitting, al fresco, on the patio. A traditional continental breakfast will be prepared for you each morning before you leave with your group. Some days, the painters and the culinary explorers will share the same location, other days we will reconvene after our respective adventures to share the day. Lunch will be at the site, whether at a local restaurant or a picnic, we'll enjoy food in the Tuscan style: fresh and flavorful. Your dinners will be on your own other than the one evening when our culinary explorers will prepare a feast for a Chianti domo from their market day in Greve and a celebratory final banquet for all after our final critique.

Painting Workshop with Annette Compton:
Experienced and beginning students are welcome since the class will be structured to study the unique colors and history of artists in this area. Techniques in watercolor will be explored on site as well as expressive color theory to create memorable paintings in a variety of locations. We will visit the townscapes of places like San Gimignano and Castellina in Chianti as well as the intriguing pre-renaissance cities like Sienna and Florence. Each day, the outing will be structured to include teaching time, balanced with reflective time to paint, at which point personalized instruction can take place. Demonstrations in pen & ink, watercolor and oil will punctuate some of the sessions after which a truly Italian meal will separate the five to six hours of painting per day. Evenings relaxing at our beautiful home in the large double living room or around the pool will refresh you for your evening out. One of the three group dinners, dining in local towns or a light supper you can prepare on your own will recharge you for your next day of inspiring vistas.

Food & Wine Workshop with Jim Reiman:
Perhaps more so than any culture, the food of Italy is as simple as it is delicious. The abundance, quality and diversity of fruits, vegetables, seafood and livestock in Italy are unsurpassed anywhere in the world. The long and honored tradition of sharing this wealth of food with family and friends has created a civilization of the table unsurpassed in all the world.
In late September, Jim Reiman will take you to the heart of Tuscany to explore the markets, farms, vineyards and wineries of Tuscany. You will meet artisan cheesemakers, see how meats are dried, visit wineries for tastings and sample some of Italy's best olive oil at the production facility. On Saturday, we will browse stalls in the city market in Greve to shop for our dinner. That evening, we will prepare a feast of seasonal foods in the great Tuscan tradition—cooking together and eating slowly.
Finally we will travel to the Tuscan coast, near Bolgheri. Our trip will take us along the wine route of Tuscany past some of the most prized vineyards in all of Italy. We will drive through extraordinarily beautiful landscapes as we head to the coast. Here, on a working farm, which produces fruit and olive trees, and truly great Tuscan wine, we will have lunch prepared by the owner who happens to be a great Italian chef.

There is serenity in September, after the harvest. It is a time when Italians relax and appreciate the food and wine that is so much their everyday life. Come with us and join them in a celebration of the harvest—whether through food, wine or the joy of capturing the beauty of Tuscan light in the landscape in paint.

Jim Reiman brings 30 years in the restaurant business to his love of everything Italian. For the past 15 years, he and his partner, Robert Myers have successfully run the popular Three Tomatoes Trattorias throughout northern New England which are dedicated to fresh, simply prepared Italian food. Their newest restaurant, Nicco's Cuccina has just opened in Williston. He is involved with the International Slow Food movement which has its headquarters in Piedmonte, Italy. This organization dedicated to the cultural aspects of Italy, its cuisine and sustainable agriculture, will give Jim an unique ability to introduce to you what they call, "the civilization of the table" as well as help you meet some of the finest chefs and food producers Tuscany has to offer.

How do I join this trip?
To join us, conact Compton ART at info@comptonart.net to have a Booking Form sent to you or download the attached PDF file and return it with a non-refundable $500 deposit in a check payable to Compton ART to secure your place in the workshop. A materials list will be provided and details will be sent to you. The balance of payment is required by July 1, 2005 at which point you will be sent your maps and final housing information. All airfare bookings and car rentals should be made individually through your local travel agent. While we are not affiliated with a travel agency, we can recommend Sarah at Wheelock Travel in Claremont, New Hampshire who has handled many of the arrangements for Compton ART trips to Bermuda, Scotland and Wyoming. You can write her at sarah@wheelocktravel.com with "Compton ART Tuscany Trip" in the subject line.

Space availability is on a "first come" basis.
The group is limited to 16 participants
Guests should arrive between 3 PM and 6 PM on Wednesday, September 22, 2004 and depart after breakfast on Thursday, September 30, 2004. Directions from Rome, Milan and Florence will be sent to you in advance. It is suggested you rent your own car for transportation. If you are not interested in doing this, we will connect you to someone in the group who is willing to share the cost of their vehicle with you. The cost for eight nights lodging, six days of watercolor instruction, eight breakfasts and six lunches is included in the above prices. Non-painting guests may deduct $300 from the cost listed above or join the Food and Wine tour for the same price. A non-refundable deposit of $500 for each person will secure your place with the return of this form and the remaining check will be due on or before July 1, 2004. No more than 10 Painters nor 8 Culinary Explorers will be accommodated. Painters and guests are responsible for their own air travel arrangements to and from Italy (air travel to Milan involves about a four hour drive and from Rome, a three hour drive.) A valid United States passport is required and personal trip insurance is strongly suggested. Neither Compton ART nor Three Tomatoes will be liable in anyway for your participation in this trip.

Annette Compton welcomes local European Painting participants with their own accommodations for a reduced rate of for €400 for the week of classes, with lunch included.

Call (802) 457-2020 or email info@comptonart.net to check space availability.

Send your check to Compton ART, P. O. Box 162, Woodstock, VT 05091 to reserve your space.