Readying the studio for 2019 Dublin/Monadnock Art Tour.

The Monadnock Art/Friends of the Dubllin Art Colony 24th art tour is over the Columbus Day weekend. I will not participate on the third day but rather start my journey to Italy for a 3 week residency. As always, I start feeling trepidation about upcoming trips. I did the same when I flew to Ireland to study with Rebecca Crowell. Several things are contributing to my reservations. I learned that most of the students will be finished and returned to USA. Next I found out that the village comprises of 90 inhabitants! But I have since learned that Eros, the manager, speaks good English and I do still have someone to cook all my meals. I am getting to know Nora who summers in Harrisville and the rest of the year lives in Sutri....not far from where I will be. And then my sister Rue had to cancel meeting up with me in Rome so I started to feel like the trip was cursed. Turns out son Clement has friends in Rome who he met when he was at the Rome Academy. And I know of one other person who will be there. I will just have to wing it and see how things fall. A neighbor visited the other night. She told me she knew of Montecastello and ICARTS and had been there with Nick Carone when he started the school. I was stunned to hear the name as I once talked with him on the phone about 10 years ago. I do not recall how I heard of him but he was a friend of my father Clement Pollock. I am currently reading the book '9th Street Women' about the beginning of the abstract expressionist period that began in the early 1900's after WW II. My father was in the village as was Nick Carone and all the heavy hitters like J pollock, Frankenthaler, Hans Hoffman, etc. What an exciting era to have been part of. I wish I had known of this when I would have my rare visits with my father usually in the Village. 9th Street Women has given me more courage to pursue my own path of combining sculpture and painting in a large format. While on this residency, I will have to work on paper and rather small but that ended up fine in Ireland.