At Laura’s farm walking to my rooms, I greet the half moon, bathed in yellow light refracted low on the horizon, with Mars, I think, just above to the left. The Milky Way is visible even in the moonlight; you can see more stars at a glance than you can add up in a year over Brooklyn. When I wake at two a.m. from jet lag I venture out to the garden, where nature casts more light than the electric lights set in the in the ground to light the path or on the walls overhead, I stub a toe looking for the switch turn them off to better enjoy the show in the sky. Not for the first time, I lay down on my back on the cool grass and stare upward and outward across the broad valley until sleep comes once again, and I doze off briefly then get up and go back to my room, lay in bed and watch though my windows until I sleep, just before 5 a.m., fighting the urge to stay awake for the sunrise.

Giovanni

At my place over the last week he taught Marco and me to make the greatest pizza crust I have ever tasted, and also a recipe for gnocchi which is unlike anything I have ever put in my mouth, dressed simply with garlic and cherry tomatoes sauteed in olive oil garnished with fresh basil from my Brooklyn herb garden.  He also baked us two kinds of bread and then showed us how a master can roll out two kilos of fresh made pici (think rustic spaghetti) in no time at all.  I made the meat sauce from a recipe I learned while living there and when we sat down at the table to these dishes and a few glasses of Rosso di Montalcino, it was almost as if we were back home in Montalcino at one of the frequent dinner parties and my little medieval house at the foot of the 96 steps that lead from the main street of town to my my house on via Moglio near the bottom of the town.

Giovanni’s gnocchi practically melts in your mouth, and is a god-send to those who are gluten intolerant because of the small amount of wheat flour used (300 grams against 2 kg of potatoes!).  Sadie LOVES it!

I’m waiting for one more email to confirm our itinerary, and then we can finalize the cooking lessons and dishes that we will cook for each other at the farmhouse while we are there.

Carlotta, an artist with a rare combination of skills in illustration, sculpture, mural, fresco and handmade items for everyday use, from trivets made from the ready supply of used corks of Brunello to clay whistles or life-size papier mache characters, works in many different media — paper, wire, felt, cloth and clay — has illustrated and published children’s books, won awards for her work in metal, and has created small dream pieces that you can carry home to remind you of the magic of the Val d’Orcia as captured through the eyes and expressiveness of an artist who remains firmly rooted in both Montalcino and the surrounding valley and to her childhood.

I recall many times staring at a sunset over a hillside vineyard in the late-summer while out for a long walk, with colors too vivid and topography so perfect to possibly be real.  More like an animation from a classic film I was transported from the physical world to a dream state where innocence and imagination know no bounds.  This, for me, is what Carlotta is making: surrealism for the young at heart.  Having a small piece of the Val d’Orcia in my home created lovingly by the hand of a child of the this land can trigger the memories that will keep the tranquility and light of Tuscany alive in my life all year round, even in the frenzy of a Manhattan morning rush hour.

Learn more about Carlotta and see her work