caponnole

The next day we woke up planning to drive to Toscana, to Caponnole, where I lived when I was studying architecture in 2000.  Rudi and Vittorina have turned the borgo in Caponnole into a bed and breakfast, but it is run remotely by their son Stefano, a musician who is currently living in Berlin.  On the drive we passed through Reggio Emilia, the town where the teaching philosophy was first developed.  

train station in Reggio Emilia - Santiago Calatrava

train station in Reggio Emilia

The plan was to stay at the borgo but spend our days at Castiglione Alberti, the tiny, hard-to-describe, not really even a town beside Caponnole, which itself is almost too tiny to be considered a town.  I had been to Castiglione Alberti before and for me it was like a dream.  If I had the money and the knowledge to start my own ceramic studio, this is exactly what it would look like and the work would be very similar.  Christiane Perrochon has a ceramic studio here and produces impeccable pieces for very high-end clients.  Her son, Federic, runs the farm up here and produces superb olive oil, among other things.  I was going to spend my days studying ceramics from Christiane and Holden and Dave would hike around and play on the farm and we would return to the borgo in Caponnole at night.  But, there was some confusion between Stefano, Rudi, Vittorina, and me so we didn't actually end up staying at the borgo but instead stayed with our friends on the farm in Castiglione Alberti.   (We did have the opportunity to visit the borgo and it was very nice to be back and to see old friends.)  Kaspar and Federic toured us around the studio and farm when we first arrived and then I was left on my own to explore the ceramic studio.  

road to Castiglione Alberti

view of garden and Kaspar and Christiane's house

outside of Christiane's studio

farmhouse where we stayed

view of the mountains from the farmhouse

olive tree

Christiane had four people working for her at the time.  Mauro was working on the wheel, throwing plates and vases while we were there.  Another worker was trimming a set of cups and adding handles.  I was most interested in learning Christiane's hand formed ceramics and glazing techniques.  At the studio they make both porcelain and grey stone hand formed ceramics.  And they make all the glazes, using raw materials - minerals and powders.  Sometimes she produces an entire glaze for just one piece.  I was able to meet Christiane later in the day and talk with her for a long time and she introduced me to everyone in the studio and let me shadow her and her workers for the next three days, learning as much as I could about her approach and technique to ceramics.  

clay

Mauro throwing plates

plates on drying rack

series of cups drying

forms used for hand-forming

more forms for hand-forming

hand forming 

final trim for hand-formed plate

plates drying in forms

glaze cabinet

mixing glazes

saved glazes

glazing a bowl

This is pretty much how we spent the next few days.  I was in the studio, Holden and Dave were on the farm (and in the studio too sometimes) and woke up every morning to help feed the animals.  Federic's daughter, Gemma, stayed home from school one day to play with Holden and when his other daughter, Viola, arrived home from school she played with him too.  He and Gemma fed the animals, played in the hay, rode bikes, moved the cat, and went hunting for porcini mushrooms and berries.  They didn't find any mushrooms though, just berries.  Holden spent much of his time on the farm moving the cat, as it always seemed to end up on his chair or on our kitchen table. 

making coffee before feeding the animals

Holden with the chickens

cows

Holden and Gemma feeding the horses

Holden and Gemma feeding the cows

Holden and Gemma working in the studio

Holden and Gemma working with Christiane (Gemma's grandmother)

playing in the hay

chickens

hunting for porcini

tired after hunting for porcini

moving the cat

moving the cat on the bike

playing in the barn

Holden and Gemma's barn

moving the cat

moving the cat again

Our last evening at Castiglione Alberti, Federic cooked one of the chickens from his farm, soaked in his olive oil and roasted some potatoes and vegetables from the garden and made a chicken liver pâté on crostini for an appetizer and our families were able to sit down and enjoy a delicious "farm-to-table" dinner and wonderful conversation together. As Holden said, "it was the best chicken I've ever eaten!".  The next day, after we spent all our money buying Federic's olive oil and Christiane's ceramics to take home for gifts, we left the farm and headed back to Genova and the rain had finally stopped!  

helping prepare dinner

preparing dinner

most expensive dinnerware I've ever eaten on

a few of Christiane's clients (Calvin Klein and Bloomberg)

cups in the showroom

collection of hand-formed plates in the showroom

colorful collection in the showroom

colorful cups in the showroom

hand-formed cups in the showroom

more hand-formed pieces in the showroom

vases in the showroom for the upcoming Brussels exhibit

experiments in glazing for the upcoming Brussels exhibit

It was as if Dave and I both wanted a taste of home, comfort.  While we knew we couldn't fly home this week (though I considered it because I miss my mom and well all of my family, my sister and dad and nephews, and my friends so much) I think we both chose to go places that feel like second homes to us and that is what we have in both Rotterdam and Capannole.

borgo in Capannole

Caponnole

terrace at the borgo in Capannole

Holden with Rudi and Vittorina's kitten