You could be forgiven for breaking down when an award-winning artist from the Royal School of Drawing hands you a brush, while standing in the gardens of an elegant villa overlooking the Tuscan hills that inspired some of the world’s greatest artists.
Fortunately, Fraser Scare is a patient and encouraging tutor.
When he takes us on a quick tour of the nearly 500 original works of art that line the walls of the grand Borgo Pignano hotel, he is so unassuming that I have to ask what his work is.
All were created by artists and alumni of the Royal School, founded by the King and artist Catherine Goodman in 2000 to keep life drawing flourishing. A group of postgraduates stay a few weeks each summer to paint under the supervision of a tutor and perhaps leave a work behind.
Fraser gives us tips: don’t hold the palette like a pizza like they do in the movies, rest it on your forearm, choose a small area of the canvas to focus on, draw big, bold outlines with pencil, and set us up. with paints and easel.
Kate Johnson (not pictured) travels to Tuscany and stays at the Borgo Pignano hotel. While she’s there, she enjoys a painting lesson from an award-winning artist. One of her tips? ‘Don’t spread the palette like a pizza like they do in the movies’
He gives us the confidence to start (and more importantly finish) our paintings, checks on us regularly and helps us when necessary.
His simple touches and brush strokes transform my canvas and three hours pass. A lesson like this can be organized individually or in a group with a visiting artist from the Royal School.
It is just one of the fields of the 18th century Borgo Pignano.
The luxury hotel, an organic estate with its own vineyard, is located on 750 forested hilltop acres and has exceptionally glamorous neighbors.
Volterra is half an hour’s drive to the west, San Gimignano to the east, Siena an hour to the south and Florence a little further north. The Borgo, which means village, has been restored by its owner, a British businessman, for more than 20 years.
The Borgo Pignano hotel is located on an organic hilltop estate with its own vineyard, amidst 750 forested acres. Kate writes: “There are horses to ride, playing fields for sports fans, a heated infinity pool (above), yoga, soap making with the herbalist, wine tasting, electric bikes, cooking classes and spectacular grounds” .
For all the traditional splendor; Elegant dining rooms, exceptional menus, delicate frescoes, large libraries and billiard room, it’s not stuffy. No one looks at a guest or whispers that he might feel more comfortable if he took off his baseball cap at breakfast.
There are horses to ride, playing fields for sports fans, a heated infinity pool, yoga, soap making with the herbalist, wine tasting, electric bikes, cooking classes and spectacular gardens.
I take a good one-hour morning walk; not a soul around and all nature overflowing with life.
We are surrounded by a landscape so beautiful that you can’t stop looking at it. No wonder there are no TVs in the rooms and no one has ever complained about it. Nothing on the screen could compare to the views. My artwork certainly doesn’t do it justice, but it’s been a pleasure trying.