News and Update On The California Notebooks

Hello every one, as some of you know California Notebook – the book – is soon to come out! Magic happens. It’s like you are in a big dark storm, yes – lately my life has been quite complicated – and all of a sudden you see that glimpse of light, that gold ray coming through. Wow.
The project started with an unexpected trip to California, a couple of years ago, to the southern desert of the Coachella Valley, in the middle of the summer. Ah, was that a wise choice? Not to the plain mind but I followed my intuition. The heat and the light stroke me silent and I started to observe all that was around me, how my emotions were responding to it. Well, that is what a poet does, and I’ve been a poet for quite a while. I’ve also been a photographer for a long time and having taught photography for years I was now playing with vintage photographs. The desert was really photogenic, no doubt.

When I returned home to Italy I was changed and I could not stop thinking about the magic atmosphere I had just experienced. I did some work at the Art Academy in Milan where I had been teaching, took care of my student’s fall semester exams, and took off again to California. You must know it’s a trend of mine, this one, to travel to chase the light that showers on foreign places, to collect photos of this miracle and then to set up some art shows in Italy. A few years earlier I started to combine poetry with photography and The London Hours turned out to be a great book. Some of the poems were published right here – on this blog – and were chosen for some video poetry and public performances.

Then many more collections followed, most of them published here on line, of the Italian Riviera light, of the French Riviera light, of some Italian lakes light and so on. I must admit Southern France had its spell on me for a long time. That is the land where the Impressionist drank the light in and came up with such innovations in art and it’s a photographer’s heaven. For several years I rented a studio on the coast and crossed the border that was not a border any longer. Now it’s the California Notebooks turn.

Trips unto silence, meditation and peace, basking in the boldest light. Walks into the desert and into one’s soul and memories. I know some people just don’t get it, but many of us do, considering the numbers of my beloved subscribers. Thank you for traveling this road with me! The life of an artist it’s fascinating and it’s also a destiny I believe. It’s not like I can walk away from it and do something else without feeling miserable because I’m trying a 9-5 job, with paid vacations and sick days. I work constantly and try to stay healthy, plus creating is like taking a trip toward a better life, mine and yours I hope. I love to enrich myself spiritually to be able to share with others.

So, this summer I’ve grown a nice garden in Italy, did some good public readings on the California Notebooks in several places and walked up the impervious road of an elderly relative’s sickness. I never took a break, had no vacation, never visited my beloved Mediterranean sea once. Instead I’ve done a lot of planting, feeding and worked on the book; it will be a good one.

I will keep you posted on the progresses, meanwhile please let me hear from you, it will be nice. Are you rejoicing with me and will partake of this?

💫 Grateful you are enjoying what I share weekly, I love having you here!

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