Peggy Gosling is organizing art lessons in the village of Longoio, where she lives for part of the year. She invited me to the pretty hamlet on the road from La Villa to Montefegatesi to talk about her upcoming venture.
The Longoio geese were at the entrance of the town to greet me.
I think they imagine themselves to be guards, protecting their territory, with lots of hissing and honking. I took their enthusiastic antics as a welcome. Soon their owner appeared to direct them home.
I wandered though the town which was begun centuries ago as a friary. There are lots of archways, which were apparently built by the friars so they could walk on top of them without having to walk through wet fields in the cold winters.
I love the old doorways and windows in the villages.
There are lovely details everywhere.
Spring has been a bit of a disappointment so far, but there are always spring flowers.
I don’t know what the yellow flowers are, but the new growth below is Laurel. Those Bay leaves will no doubt find their way into a pasta sauce.
The roses are just beginning and the tulips nearly finished.
I came across the old church above the village.
And I met the geese again on their travels.
There will certainly be lots of things to draw or paint for the budding artists who come to join Peggy.
Longoio Art is offering landscape drawing and painting holidays, starting later this year. Experienced artists and teachers will help develop your skills in gorgeous settings in and around Longoio.
Take a look at Longoio Art’s website for more information.
Bella Bagni di Lucca 
I like the geese, and the old city and the flowers!
These geese were hilarious. They hissed and honked at me, but didn’t come too close.
Those geese make me smile!
They are very amusing to watch. They are full of their own importance.
I think the yellow flowers are verbascum.
Thank you for that. They are very pretty.
I so love the idea of this. As you say there are all those gorgeous details to chose from. Something for everyone. That church with the portico would make a lovely subject, don’t you think? Charming as always Debra!
There would be an endless choice of subjects for the artists.
I am glad that you liked the idea for Longoio Art. All the beautiful subjects which I have observed during the 7 years I have been living in Longoio, were what inspired me to start painting again after many years, and what inspired me and my teacher Jane to develop the idea of Longoio art. We look forward to running it for the first time in September 2012. Exact details will be posted on our website.www.landscapepaintingtuscany.com.soon. Look out for them and pass them on please
Hello Peggy. Lovely to hear from you. I will be following you with interest and all the best for the inaugural run out in September!! Janine
I love all the pictures, but especially those of the geese; anywhere you find a flock they always seem to act as if the space belongs to them. LOL
They were having serious conversations with each other all the time I was watching them.
The person you describe as the geeses’ owner is, in fact, his brother. The owner is one of my best friends and is a very fine artist and sculptor (statue of Salvo d’Aquisto in Bagni, War memorial at Borgo a Mozzano etc.)The photo of the Madonna cuddling her child with the wysteria in flower on the right is a terracotta relief I placed there myself. The fountain where it is found is on the front wall of my house.
What a charming village. Do you think the spirits of departed priests come back as geese? They look so funny and bossy, but at least they have sensible footwear. I was thinking that the tall yellow flower was hollyhock.
You could be right about those geese. That one always at the front must be the bishop.
The geese have now emigrated to the agriturismo in Guzzano. I miss their vocality!
Small correction: Friars (brothers) not Priests. Can’t say mass. From the 11th century they lived communally and together carved and cultivated terraces in the surrounding valley. (They must have had good footwear) Many of these terraces can still be seen today. I like to think of them as “steps for giants” as I gaze down the valley.
Thanks for the correction, I will fix it. Longoio is a lovely village….a perfect setting for your art lessons.
Thanks Debbie for posting Art Lessons in Longoio. I was so delighted to see your photos and commentary which were stunning. They show how beautiful Longoio is, even when it’s a bit cloudy. I hope a few people will be encouraged to check out the website, and join the course in September. We are really looking forward to giving it a whirl. Will post exact dates next week. Peggy
Lovely to see the pictures… I remember every detail it seems ! By the way the photo of the picture of the ‘Annunciation’ is mine !! David (Reid)
Longoio is a lovely little village. Do you still live there?
David is a dear friend and looked after our house when I visited Mongolia in 2008. He currently lives in Hampshire UK.
Longoio Art is now scheduled for September 8th -15th. Hopefully this will be the perfect time for our launch, as the Tuscan sun spreads its early autumn glow over this glorious landscape
Longoio Art will be featured in an article on Creative Holidays in the magazine Italia published on 5th July.
Luisa, a friend from Firenze will be joining us for the week and will translate art lessons into Italian. so we hope that Longoio Art will be accessible for speakers and learners of Italian.
Booking Closes 1st August 2012 and places are limited, so check out our Website http://www.landscapepaintingtuscany.com
And contact us soon
info@landscapepaintingtuscany.com
Peggy, Jane & Luisa
That’s great! I hope it is wildly successful for you.
The art course apparrently did not take place in 2012 – as it didn’t in previous years. I would be interested in knowing whether it will take place in 2013 as my Mrs would like to develop her painting skills.
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If you want to see them Gilberto’s geese have now moved to the agriturismo in Guzzano. There are still plenty of domestic birds at Longoio, however, including other geese, turkeys and, of course, my two muscovy ducks Flip and Flop.
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