Artisans!

Today was a normal day in the morning, but I wasn't feeling too well, so it made things worse. I have a bit of a cold... hopefully it will pass soon.

Anyway, in the afternoon, we saw three more artisans' workshops with our advisor, Elisa. The first place was the workshop of an etcher. He showed us how he etched onto copper plates, covered them in ink, and then printed his masterpieces onto paper. It was soooo cool! He explained that each etching takes about a month to complete. So after that, I really appreciated and understood the prices of art. It makes more sense now.

After the etcher, we saw the workshop of a very famous costume jewelry designer. Her name is Angela Caputi. Her designs were a little too gaudy for me and incredibly expensive. But they were still fun to look at. 60% of her sales occur in the US. We unfortunately didn't get to meet her because she had travelled to New York to show her 2010 summer collection to buyers (fashion is so far ahead!!!).

After the jewelry artisan, we saw the workshop of a leather shoe maker. That was pretty awesome too! He explained what makes a good, handmade leather shoe versus a factory-made leather shoe. He showed us how he stitched his shoes together and things like that. I could tell that he was passionate about his work because he kept talking and talking when we were trying to leave. Really funny guy.

Anyway, I'm taking it easy tonight and trying to get to bed early. We have a test tomorrow and I also want to be better by Thursday when we have aperitivo with Elia, our cultural advisor.

A domani!