After a couple weeks immersed in the epic and decadent energy of Rome and Orvieto, I head to Nocefresca, an art residency in the small town of Milis, Sardinia. Riding the train up from Cagliari into the island’s countryside, I relax more and more as the scenery shifts from rows of houses to expansive vineyards, citrus groves, and farmlands.
I arrive at the residency, an old stone house with an inviting courtyard full of plants, bikes, and plenty of wooden tables to work on. I am taken to my home for the next two weeks– a delightful flat above a cloistered garden with a tree perfectly positioned so the sun is always bright but never direct. This becomes one of my favorite places to paint.
Bikes at Nocefresca
I walk the maze of streets, enjoying the beauty of faded facades, curving pathways, and fig trees. I learn Milis has one cafe, grocery, butcher, pasta shop, and pharmacy. There are no restaurants. I drink cappuccinos at the cafe, watching the local men idle the afternoons away in the town square. I take long walks along country bike paths occasionally coming across dramatic stone portals leading to 18th century estates. I buy the deliciously chewy home-made spinach and ricotta ravioli. On Wednesdays, I stop by the farm stand for crisp romaine lettuce, sweet tomatoes, chunky garlic and fresh basil.
Town square
Pasta shop sign
We eat well.
Eniko, one of the art residents, invites everyone over for dinner at her cottage. She serves Lecsó, Hungarian ratatouille, on her outdoor patio next to the majestic cacti garden.
Later, we are invited to the home of two locals– Leo and Italio. They are an Italian and American couple–both landscape architects–who have transformed a derelict old barn into a bohemian sanctuary full of exposed stone, botanical paintings, natural wood, and ceramics from their travels to the Amalifi Coast, Morocco, Spain, and Mexico. Their home is surrounded by a large eclectic garden they have cultivated with love and care. We eat a multi-course meal over 5 hours: Bruschetta with Ricotta Arborea, Pecorino sardo, prosciutto, pasta alla norma, sausage and bread salad, chocolate cake, vermouth and coffee.
Leo and Italo’s dining room
Leo and Italo’s garden
We go to the small but mighty archaeological museum in Cabras to see the “Gigantes,” ancient stone warriors dating back to the 13th Century BC. We then visit the ruins of Tharros, an ancient city on the southern tip of the Sinis Peninsula. This stunning site on the sea was continuously inhabited by the Nuragic people, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, and Byzantines for three millennia.
Tharros, Cabras
With art residents in Cabras
The other artists inspire me. Matias creates immersive performance art with the piano, digitized sound, and spoken word. Shay creates stunning digital art by scanning flowers she finds in nearby gardens. Karlie writes soulful poetry about the locals she meets in the town.
I paint every day. Sometimes happily. Sometimes in frustration. I recently saw an old video of the painter Philip Guston saying he had to destroy a painting in order to find the way through it. I understand this. Each piece I work on here goes through so many transformations and destructions. It’s as though once I start to like it, I immediately have to destroy it in order to make it better. How does this work? I don’t know. I am still figuring it out.
Stay tuned to see the collection….
You can sign up for my newsletter to see it first. :)
