It was my birthday and my husband good-naturedly indulged me in both a sculpture class and an oil painting class. This is how we met Frank Rekrut and Laura Thompson, owners, resident artists and instructors at The Florence Studio. Laura is a gifted world renowned oil painting artist. She is also a gifted teacher. Her three hour workshop will wet your appetite to pursue oil painting. The classroom explanation on mixing colors before we stepped in front of the easels was not dry or tedious (we did have some champagne too!) but well presented and hands on. Neither of us had ever used oils and have limited art experience, especially my husband and we loved it. From there we painted our copies of the Girl with a Pearl Earring. Laura answered our questions and was very encouraging. In this light-filled, beautiful studio, I found myself wishing I could stay much, much longer under her tutelage. I would highly recommend Laura’s class and if you were ever in Florence for an extended stay, to take many classes from her. She is an amazing teacher as well as a very gracious and lovely person.
Laura’s husband Frank, is a sculptor. His great-grandfather and great uncle were sculptors in Florence as well. Frank’s works are exhibited all over the world including a life size tribute to Harriet Tubman in Canada where she brought many enslaved people to freedom. My husband (musician) and Frank immediately hit it off discussing a statue in the studio Frank had done of Neil Peart, the drummer for Rush. Like the Harriet work, it is amazing.
We set to work sculpting our 11” tall copies of the human torso. Surprisingly it was not hard to do like you would think. It totally helped that Frank, like his wife, is helpful, patient and encouraging. We had a great time and Frank even brought me out a delicious birthday doughnut with a candle. They are very kind and we felt a kinship with them. We were able to bring our sculptures back to the U.S. in our checked luggage (bubbled wrapped and carefully arranged and padded with clothing). I do want to mention Rabbit, one of the pet bunnies that quietly roam the studio spaces. Very sweet and seemed to cotton to my husband. If you are in the great Renaissance city of Florence, experience the world of art in a tangible way. These two workshops are the best. You will not be disappointed.
