I come from a family of artists and musicians, but there is also a branch of avid photographers. My maternal grandfather was a camera nut who was constantly taking photos and slides. When my grandparents came to visit, after a long road trip with their Silver Bullet Airstream trailer, we were in for a long slide show from their adventures. Everyone else fell asleep, but I was on the edge of my chair. The mountains! The ocean! The forests…the Red Woods! The Grand Canyon! I share their passion for travel now, as well. My favorite photos from these old Black and White albums, are the beach parties at Venice Beach in the 20s, and the stark photos from Death Valley in the 30s. Grandpa really had an eye for drama. His mother was a California Impressionist painter, so he grew up learning to see color and light.
I continue my love of travel and photography, and every few years I am so full of inspiration that I have to share it with a tour group. My Textile & Costume Tour to Italy has been carefully crafted for a small group, with a private tour company, during the off season. You may have read that many places are limiting or closing to tourists because they are just overrun with throngs of misbehaving humans. This trip is a distillation of 3 research trips over 10 years, full of surprise and delight with an intimate group of serious textile aficionados…traveling during the holiday season when festive lights reflect on the water, and twinkle through the snow if you join our Alpine extension.
One of the things I have learned over 50 years of travel (yes!) and 50 countries, is to go without expectations. When we saddle ourselves with expectations, we tend to miss the serendipitous surprises that end up being the most memorable. Every day when I travel, I try to consciously open my eyes and my heart to whatever the day may bring. That way you see things that others miss.
If you are still noodling about whether to join us, I want to let you know that we have to make our hotel reservation commitments soon. I ask you to make your deposit to hold your place, by June 1st please. It is easy to set up a payment plan when you register online.
The first time I went to Venice, we walked through St Mark’s Basilica on New Years Day, which at the time was the one day per year when you were allowed to take photos inside the cathedral. The intricate inlaid marble floors, and the Byzantine golden mosaics in the ceiling, just blew me away. I still treasure those precious photos.
This week we got in this gorgeous stained glass panel by Dan Morris, so I have set it against a backdrop of the basilica’s gold mosaic domed ceiling. You can see more of my photos from my research trips in Italy on this photo page. Photos with costumes at Carnival time are on this page.
If you would like to join this private textile/costume adventure….
please do save your seat on the bus by June 1st.
Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul
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Travel/Quilt Dates:
June 19-22 – Quilt Canada, Edmonton
July 29 – Aug 5 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August 27-31 – Speaker at World Wilderness Congress, Rapid City SD
December 5-13 – Textile & Costume Tour – Italy. Alpine Xmas Market Extension Dec 13-15.