Don’t they look bright and cheerful? It has been a freezing week and the flowers and plants in the Watermill gardens and grounds are quite rightly waiting for more signs of spring until they burst forth. So these bright red berries of the nandina* bush add a much-needed splash of colour. We have three or […]
The Ghirlandaio bedroom:Modern comforts in a beautifully restored 17th century watermill
Our tour of Watermill bedrooms continues today with the Ghirlandaio. Here’s Lois’ video to tell you about it In the video, Lois mentions Domenico Ghirlandaio’s beautiful cycle of frescoes on the life of St Francis in the Sassetti Chapel of the Santa Trinità church in Florence. It’s a great place to see great art without […]
After enjoying artistic ice-skating, come and be Cool (and Green) on a Watermill painting course
It’s been freezing in Northern Europe for the past few days, although it’s not so cold in Posara, where we have been monitoring progress on the building of a new laundry room, or Florence, where we have been cosy in our apartment — and it’s certainly not been as cold here in Italy as Scotland, […]
An artistic Summer romance. Rosina Ferrara and John Singer Sargent on Capri
In these chilly winter weeks, in the northern hemisphere at least, I thought I would add a romantic glow of brightness and warmth to your day by recalling the Summer romance between one of our favourite painters, John Singer Sargent, and Rosina Ferrara, a beautiful young girl from the Italian island of Capri. In the […]
Have a good day half a dozen ways, Italian style. It’s buono
One of the (many) things I like about the Italian language is the little grace notes which lubricate our conversations and add to the feeling of community. Of course, you know that buon giorno (good day)is the formal phrase when meeting someone, but when you part, you should wish them buona giornata, which is best […]
Artistic cheese and a roll, anyone? To say nothing of raw beef, tasty fish and a peachy cocktail. Italian artists with foodie names
I’m a great believer in the Oscar Wilde axiom: ‘You should take serious things flippantly and flippant things seriously.’ That is particularly true today in a fun article I’ve just read in my favourite online art magazine, DailyArt.com. Author Alexandra Kiely tells us about some Italian artists with food in their names. So how about […]
‘The convivial company of like-minded people.’ For a unique creative experience join the in-crowd on a Watermill creative course.
The Watermill’s creative courses, in painting, creative writing, knitting and Italian language, are proving more popular than ever with more than 230 people reserving their places already, looking forward to a creative week of inspiring tuition, warm hospitality, stunning locations, delicious food and wine and, of course the convivial company of like-minded people, pursuing their […]
Choose your medium to paint the idyllic Tuscan countryside with Fiona
We are looking forward to meeting our new painting tutor Fiona Graham-Mackay for her course at the Watermill this summer. Fiona, well known in Britain for BBC series A Portrait of… , is also a talented landscape painter. Her work has covered idyllic and plein air scenes in the UK, as well as edgy landscapes […]
Celebrate La Befana with a special Epiphany gift for yourself
Time was when Italian children had to wait until this morning for their Christmas presents. Unlike most of the rest of Europe, Santa didn’t make overnight deliveries to Italy on Christmas Eve and it was not until the eve of Epiphany on 6 January that Italian children’s presents arrived. The delivery was not made by […]
How the Watermill will be Cooler and Greener in the coming year. Read all about it in this month’s newsletter
The biggest news so far this year is how our Watermill guests will stop 40,000 plastic bottles being thrown into the ocean in 2023. We have put together a fantastic deal to offset all our plastic use by collecting 450 kg of ocean-bound plastic from the world’s most polluted rivers and waterways and ensure that […]