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If you missed part 1 about my journey retreats 2023, you can read about it here.

The Beautiful Village of Barga

Day 4:

On my retreats, some days are for painting, some are for excursions to gather more inspiration, and on some days we paint and tour!

Barga is known for being one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. It's a very small village with not a lot of tourists. There are opportunities for paintings around every corner. It's also one of the most "Scottish" towns in Italy. There are many Scottish settlers there.

After walking around the town, we gathered in the main square where our lunch reservations were. As we were waiting, I popped into a local art gallery and met Alice, a sweet girl who worked in the gallery. I don't speak Italian, and she didn't speak English, but we had a nice conversation about art by playing charades. One of my favorite things about visiting other countries is interacting with the locals and learning about their culture.

For lunch, we enjoyed charcuterie, pasta, and a refreshing sorbet for dessert. (That was dessert number 1...)

We made our way to the bottom of the hill, where we couldn't resist the call of the Gelato shop. (Dessert # 2...you can never have too many desserts, right?)

Our group in Barga

Back at Casa Berti, there is also no lack of inspiration. We painted this rose from the Casa Berti gardens.

(This one sold at my retreat in France the next week)

After a full day, we relaxed around Casa Berti chatting and swimming. Just look at this view!

We had just learned of Tina Turner's passing, so we decided to watch the Tina Turner documentary in the Casa Berti movie room...a nice way to end the day before getting a good nights sleep.

Day 5:

Full studio day! With lots of inspiration from Barga's excursion, it was time to put it to good use.

(This one sold at the retreat!)

My assistant, Risa (who also happens to be a phenomenal photographer) gave everyone a lesson on how to take the best photos to paint from.

The following 4 photos are some examples of Risa's photos from around Casa Berti

(Please note...all photos on this website are copyrighted!)

You can find Risa on instagram @inadverdent_art

The beautiful Casa Berti

View from Casa Berti at sunrise

Casa Berti Italian Kitchen

Upper level living area

Our chef, Fabrizio, cooked up an amazing 5 course dinner that we ate out on the terrace, overlooking the valley.

Stay tuned for my next blog...we venture out to a seaside village on the Ligurian sea!