San Francisco Dinner: "Walk with Us in Italy"

Thursday, March 20, social hour 6 pm, dinner 7, show 8 - City Forest Lodge, 254 Laguna Honda Blvd., San Francisco (across from Laguna Honda Hospital and downhill from Forest Hill Station; take Muni's K, L, M, or 43 ). Come early for street parking (no sidewalk parking please).

Artists Jennifer Ewing and Leo Germano had quite a honeymoon - a five-month Italian adventure that brought them to many larger cities as well as colorful towns. The simple act of walking down a narrow street with camera and sketchbook was rewarding and exciting. Their path kept growing in scope and was enhanced by time spent with relatives in Liguria and Piemonte, who gave them deeper connections to places and local history.

Little did they know on this first journey together that they would change their lives through art and their experiences abroad. In 1989 they began painting murals, keeping in mind the streets, townscapes and vistas that they had seen while travelling. Ewing and Germano give Italian and Mediterranean flavor and distinction to the walls of homes and businesses.

Itineraries for subsequent travels included towns and churches along medieval pilgrimage trails, major fresco cycles by Renaissance artists, and Romanesque churches, where unique and symbolic carvings were found in abundance. They used photos and sketches of everyday life in towns and cities for inspiration and authenticity in their mural work.

Ewing and Germano will share the process of how they work once they return to their studio to design and execute large-scale work, such as their 23' x 23' mural of the Spanish Steps of Rome (located within a showroom in South San Francisco), and a 180° view of the Dolomites (in Milano's Wine Bar in Tiburon). Color and architecture will come alive in this walk down Roman, Florentine, and Venetian streets. Summertime landscape of Umbria, Marche, Tuscany, Lombardy, and the Veneto will be celebrated in this show.

Reservations are required for this unusual and colorful evening (no attendance for program only). Non-members are welcome.

Mail check for $13.50 made out to "Sierra Club, S.F. Bay Chapter" to Barb Bourns at:

274A Connecticut St.
San Francisco, CA 94107

Checks must be received by Mon., March 17. Specify clearly which month's dinner you want. Bring your own wine or soft drinks. Glasses and ice available. Let us know if you are a vegetarian. Questions? Call Barb before 9 pm at (415) 431-6054.