Let me set the tone for you. On any given Sunday, you’d smell fresh basil, home made sauce, and see those 92 year old beautiful hands creating the best meatballs you’d probably ever have. She was listening to the mass that was directly being streamed from Rome. All was peaceful, and then I’d come into the kitchen after teaching and yell out “Hey Google, play Mine and Nonna’s Playlist”, and then Nonna would look at me with that look she often give me when I come up with an insane idea, and she knew it was coming. Nonna always would start off by saying in Italian “Ok, but sing good this time” – because if you know me, you know I LOVE to sing, but I am completely tone deaf – it sounds like an off tune violin, whereas my Nonna was a talented Soprano. However, she sang with me every time, anyways. Nonna chose all the songs and curated our playlist, and so I have added it for you at the bottom on this blog post for you to listen.
The Lovley Rita would absolutely die of laughter and shake her head, and my Father would enter the room and wonder where this horrible sound was coming from (meaning my singing), but he knew that it was a Sunday tradition, so he wasn’t too surprised. And so, we’d roll our meatballs together and sing “O Sole Mio”, but the Luciano Pavarotti version. This is one of the many beautiful memories I have with my Nonna.
So how does this relate to you? And Raising Artists?
Raising Artists will be taking some time off this coming January from teaching and creating with your budding artists.
As some of you may know, The Lovely Rita and I have suffered an insurmountable loss in November – our Queen, The Matriarch of the family, the lady who sorted pom poms in tiny zip lock bags, and our best friend passed away at the age of 92. The loss has come as an incredible shock to us and we are still adjusting to this new normal.
For the past month, we put our best paint brush forward and kept on creating. But grief comes in waves and our hearts need to learn how to beat without that extra load.
Transparency has always been a pillar of Raising Artists, and we wanted to be candid with our wonderful community as to our brief hiatus.
- All workshops will resume in February.
- Private Workshops will be a first come first served basis. Bookings will open January 23rd, 2022.
- Group Workshops (OAW) will hold their spots for 2022 (possible adjustment in time – to be discussed).
- March Break Camp will be held from March 13 – 17. Stay tuned for more information.
- We’re bringing The Blog back!
- Raising Artists is launching a Swag Shop
- We will be giving the studio a facelift, follow the adventure on our Instagram stories
Listen to mine and Nonna’s Sunday Spotify playlist. Tap on the Spotify icon.
Until then,
The Art Teacher