. . .three days!

"Connections - Red #1"  50x70cm  oil, cold wax on paper on panel

It took me 3 days to fully register and believe that I was actually the first place winner catagory painting at the "International Competition of Art 2015 Donna di Fiori" held in Pontremoli (MS) on April 25.

The reason ?  Probably the lengthy process from beginning to surprise ending that was involved. In early February the application was filled out and sent to the organizers of Pontremoli in Art 2015 with a photo of the painting I presented.  This was a juried show, therefore, the first selection was made via photograph. Once the selection was finalized and I was notified to be part of the group of selected artists, payment was made to cover costs of a catalogue and organization. Next, the painting had to be delivered to the city hall of Pontremoli.  My husband and I took it up personally. It was a beautiful day making the 2 hour drive  pleasant.  Beautiful to see the mountains and the white marble quarries where Michelangelo selected his marble. It was market day in Pontremoli that
Saturday so I had to take the painting into the city center on foot.  As I walked through the crowd with my canvas tucked under my arm, I asked for directions from a sweet lady along the way who wanted to take a peak at my painting. Maybe she brought me luck.

The next step was a request to know whether or not I would be present at the festivities and show.  The organization had generously offered rooms at great prices and I accepted.  Since the 25th of  April is a National holiday in Italy we decided to program a long weekend of vacation in Pontremoli.
I booked a room for two nights at a bed and breakfast which turned out to be in the Villa of Artists where the school, Studio Giambo, has their headquarters and studios. It goes without saying that I was getting more and more excited by the program and the event itself never thinking, I swear, about winning or not. It was to be a "fun" weekend. A welcome weekend to encounter other artists and art lovers.

But, there was a "BUT".

 I had already pulled my trolley out and begun to decide what to pack when that night my husband came home with the shivers and a sore throat.  No decision was made, waiting and hoping that it would be all over the next day but it wasn't. Strangely my reaction was very calm. I had completely accepted the inevitable. We just wouldn't go.  No problem.

So, on the 25th the day  was quiet and long with no news from the show which was normal.  ------until....... until around 9:00 that evening  when I got a telephone call. It was a friend of mine, also participant in the show and member of Art-Art, the organization that I belong to in Impruneta and had introduced me to this competition. ". . .excuse me if I call you at this hour but I just came back from Pontremoli and I didn't have your number. You won first prize for painting .. . ."
She, by the way, won first prize in the category sculpture.

The prize is a satisfaction enormous in itself, but also entails a future personal show in Pontremoli at a date to be announced,  Lots of work to be done................