2025 : Vicolo del Gesu, Città della Pieve

This was the first drawing I made when I arrived in Città della Pieve for my week of drawing and printmaking with Strada Toscana. I found this quiet corner on Sunday afternoon, just before the students arrived. The town is full of alleyways like this -  steeped in warmth and character, with tumbling flowers and weathered brick. I was feeling that familiar mix of nerves and anticipation before a new group begins, and settling down to draw helped ground me. The drawing is loose and expressive -  I let the pastels roam a bit, enjoying the scratchy textures, angled lines and flashes of colour that captured the plants, shadows, and sunlit stone. A small moment of calm before the week unfolded.