Hi Artists and Art Lovers,

Well aren't we lucky! Our next Essex Art League presenter on Thursday, March 4th at 10 AM will be Cristina Mazzoni a watercolor artist.

Cristina was born in Rome, Italy, a country known for beautiful art. But Cristina herself stumbled onto watercolors in her late 40's. Now, like many of us, she is obsessed with the beautiful medium.

Her style for painting landscapes is beautifully loose. The colors she uses are dazzling. (did I forget to tell you that Cristina actually makes her own paint?)

To start her day in balance, daily, for two years, she posted delightful 2X2" paintings in her FB site, paired with a line of poetry.. Mike Strauss aptly refers to them as "graphic haiku or pure visual thoughts".

Did I also forget to mention that Cristina is a Professor of Italian Studies at UVM? So you'll understand that she is terribly busy right now and we are very lucky to get her for a full hour. After which she has a class to teach!

It was difficult nailing Cristina down to an exact agenda for her EAL presentation because she has so many possibilities. Here, though, is what she has suggested when asked how she might spend her time. I love it:

"We can paint a little, chat about coming to art later in life while we wait for layers to dry, paint some more, talk about making watercolors by hand, paint some more…"

"From pigments to painting, a conversation about watercolors How are watercolor paints made, and how do these little pots of concentrated color bring so much joy to our lives? I will tell you a little bit about my process of paint making and of using watercolors in small works on paper".

I'll say it again. We are so lucky! And you can be lucky by joining the nonprofit EAL for only $15 a year. This pays for monthly presentations, a warm welcome from its 70 or so members and many other events once we clobber COVID!.

Just get in contact with me and put Cristina Mazzoni on your schedule.

Julia Ely, EAL President, elyjulia@comcast.net