CYANOTYPE in Italy with Berri Kramer

Surrounded by the history, culture and beauty of Italy, you will celebrate the magical beauty of Prussian Blue with the photographic process of Cyanotype. We’ll begin our artistic journey by visiting a gorgeous Tuscan flower garden and making your own flower press. Your personal voice will begin to emerge as you make new design choices. You’ll print with petals and leaves, and also other elements, such as, stencils, masks and photo negatives. We will also cover notebooks, tins and more with your new found “Blue”, and archival mats will be provided to frame your favorite pieces. Throughout the week we’ll be exploring all of this and much more!

To make negatives for your project, you will be able to send your images to Berri after you’ve signed up for the workshop.

ABOUT Berri Kramer

Berri Kramer grew up in Lincoln, Massachusetts and spent as many hours as she could in the studios at DeCordova Museum. She earned a BFA in Design and Crafts from Kent State University and a Masters in Fiber from Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. Berri was the founder and President of Heartwood College of Art which thrived in Maine for 25 years.

In her annual Italy workshop, Berri shares her extensive experience, knowledge and unique approach to collage with a small group of students – and in an intimate and idyllic setting.

” My work reflects the blocks of color and patterns that surround all of us everyday. I am fascinated by the tools and tracks that are unintentionally left behind. …a fiber remnant, a letter or a feather. The exercise in choosing from endless imagery and palettes, and editing it to distill the message, has become my practice in every medium. Often the scale of these snippets is exaggerated or reduced to take the viewer away from the ‘assumed’. The simplest forms can often tell the greatest story.”

WHAT YOU’LL Learn

• A brief history of Cyanotype
• How to prepare the chemistry and the UV process for Cyanotype
• The best substates are for printing: bond paper, tea bag paper, textiles, etc
• How to press petals and leaves (You’ll make your own little flower press!)
• How to cut your own masks and stencils
• How to add to your compositions with a variety of design elements
• How to highlight your work with Gold leaf
• Ways to print with photo negatives (prepared in advance for you) for a unique vintage look
• Ways to mat your favorite pieces

ITINERARY

Day 1 – Sunday: Arrival

• Welcome and Trip Orientation
• Aperitivo, dinner

Benvenuti in Italia! Upon arrival at Rome Fiumicino Airport our private drivers will transport you to the Italian countryside, and your boutique hotel accommodations in the unspoiled village of Città della Pieve. After check in, and time to get settled, you’ll join Berri in the roomy workshop space for an overview of the exciting workshop ahead. Afterwards, we’re off on a fascinating walking tour of the historic center of the village, followed by a delicious, regional-style dinner prepared by Chef Jordy.

Day 2 – Monday: Tuscany Flower Farm

• Highlights: Instruction, visit to organic flower farm
• Breakfast, lunch, dinner

This morning you’ll travel into the Tuscan countryside to Puscina Flower Farm, a family-run flower and botanical farm where nature, craft, and seasonal rhythms come together beautifully.

You’ll begin your visit with a guided walk through the flower gardens, learning about spring blooms, sustainable growing practices, and the artistry behind cultivating flowers for both beauty and use. Afterwards, Berri will teach you traditional flower-pressing techniques that will be used later in the week as part of your cyanotype work.

Midday, it’s time to gather for a home-cooked family lunch on the farm, prepared with local ingredients and served in a warm, welcoming setting. This is a chance to slow down, share conversation, and enjoy the simple pleasure of Tuscan hospitality.

This afternoon you’ll return to the studio with Berri to construct your flower press to prepare your petals and blossoms for printing.

This evening you’ll head to a local café for a casual dinner featuring regional specialties.

Day 3 – Tuesday: Orvieto

• Highlights: Excursion to Orvieto
• Breakfast, dinner

Today you’ll travel to the hilltop town of Orvieto, a place rich with art, architecture, and visual inspiration. After a brief orientation to the town with a local guide, you’ll have an opportunity visit the magnificent cathedral, where the façade, interior artwork, and overall scale offer endless material to observe and absorb.

There will be time to wander, shop, and enjoy lunch on your own, choosing from the many cafés and small restaurants throughout town. As you explore the town, you’ll encounter layers of architecture, stonework, and historic details that invite closer looking and reflection.

In the afternoon, you’ll return to Città della Pieve and the studio to continue working on your projects with Berri. During this session, Berri will demonstrate how to cut your own masks and stencils, along with ways to incorporate additional design elements into your compositions.

This evening you’ll head to one of our friends’ welcoming trattorias in town for dinner — a relaxed and convivial way to end the day.

Day 4 – Wednesday: Studio

• Highlights: Exploring the cyanotype process
• Breakfast, lunch, dinner

This morning you’ll spend the day in the studio with Berri, continuing your hands-on exploration of the cyanotype process.

Throughout the day, Berri will guide you through preparing the chemistry and understanding the UV exposure process that gives cyanotype its distinctive character. You’ll also experiment with a variety of substrates for printing, including bond paper, tea bag paper, textiles, and other materials, discovering how each surface creates a different effect and mood.

Midday, you’ll step out for lunch at a local café, offering a relaxed break and a chance to enjoy simple regional dishes.

The afternoon continues in the studio, allowing time to practice new techniques, ask questions, and build confidence as you develop your individual pieces. The day is intentionally paced to allow for both focused instruction and time to experiment.

This evening you’ll walk to one of our favorite local cafés to enjoy an inviting apericena — a casual gathering with drinks and small bites that reflects the easy social rhythm of Italian evenings.

Day 5 – Thursday: Studio & Picnic

• Highlights: Studio, excursion to Santa Maria dei Angeli
• Breakfast, lunch, dinner

This morning, after breakfast, you’ll return to the studio with Berri as you continue developing your projects. During this session, Berri will introduce techniques for printing with photo negatives — prepared in advance for you — creating a distinctive vintage-inspired look and expanding the visual possibilities of your work.

Lunch today will be served at our friends’ inviting café, offering a relaxed pause in the day.

In the afternoon, you’ll continue working on your projects with Berri, allowing time to refine your pieces, experiment with new techniques, and build confidence in your creative direction.

This evening, you’ll head into the countryside to visit a humble church with a grand history, long connected to the traditions of local women, children, and centuries of pilgrimage. Here you’ll enjoy a private visit, followed by a rustic-style barbecue and picnic, creating a memorable and atmospheric way to spend the evening together.

Day 6 – Friday: Studio & Final Critique

• Highlights: Studio, final critique
• Breakfast, dinner

This morning you’ll once again head to the studio with Berri for a final working session focused on bringing your projects to completion. During this time, Berri will guide you through the finishing process, including how to properly mat your completed pieces.

Throughout the morning, you’ll draw upon the techniques you’ve explored during the workshop — from botanical composition and substrate experimentation to masking, layering, and printing with photo negatives — as you finalize your individual projects.

In the late afternoon, you’ll wrap up your work in the studio before joining Berri for a final, celebratory critique, offering a supportive opportunity to share your work, reflect on the creative journey, and appreciate each participant’s unique interpretation of the cyanotype process.

This evening we’ll gather for a delicious, chef-prepared farewell dinner at a local trattoria, celebrating the friendships formed, the creative growth experienced, and the memorable week shared together. You’ll leave with finished artwork, new skills, and lasting inspiration drawn from your time in Italy.

Day 7, Friday: Departure

Early morning transport to Rome Fiumicino Airport.

ACCOMMODATIONS ~ Boutique Hotel Vannucci

Hotel Vannucci began as a project of Vittoria Spinola, daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele II, who fled Pisa (and an arranged marriage with her elderly husband) to start a new life with her lover in Città della Pieve. Here, she and her soon-to-be new husband, Paolo, built two villas that became luxurious holiday accommodations for wealthy Romans vacationing in the countryside. In 1903 one of the villas became Hotel Vannucci, and today it maintains the elegance and refinement of its inception, with luxurious sleeping rooms, marble bathrooms and inviting gardens. A stay here is truly special, nestled just outside the medieval walls of the historic, and unspoiled, village of Città della Pieve.

VIEW Photo Gallery

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• 6 night stay at Boutique Hotel Vannucci in Città della Pieve
• Private ground transportation to/from Rome Fiumicino Airport on arrival and departure days
• All Breakfasts
• 3 Lunches
• All Dinners
• Daily demonstrations, instruction and guidance with Berri Kramer
• Excursions to Orvieto and Chiesa Santa Maria dei Angeli
• Free time for exploring and shopping on your own

Not included: Airfare, meals, alcoholic drinks, buses, trains or boat transportation outside of that which is specifically listed in the trip package, gratuities for hotel staff and drivers

The Unexpected is Part of the Journey: Sometimes unexpected things come up. If there is unscheduled closing or schedule change, we carefully pivot to include something that is equally as wonderful and interesting, so that the quality of your experience is never at risk. ☺️

What Berri’s Students are Saying…

🌻 Shatters any expectation anyone could have for an art workshop… An experience of a lifetime doesn’t begin to capture the magic that happened in Berri Kramer’s art workshop embedded in the insightful hands of Strada Toscana. This union is further enhanced in attending to needs and interest of the inexperienced to the seasoned artist, from the inexperienced to the seasoned traveler. We all left feeling not just attended to with patience and encouragement but truly pampered in the fairy tale setting of Citta della Pieve. ~ Patti W.

🌻 Immersive, joyful, lively, reflective, renewing, and adventure-filled. These are just some of the words I’d use to describe Berri Kramer’s Legacy College Workshop offered through Strada Toscana in the lovely village of Citta della Pieva, Italy. We were treated to unique and impeccably-curated experiences throughout our stay….I can’t say enough about Berri Kramer, who is an inspiring and compassionate teacher, and who sees an artist in each person she meets, and Pamela Haack of Strada Toscana who dots every “i” and crosses every “t” to ensure that workshop participants are treated to a true boutique travel experience. I’m going back next year! ~ Becky J.

🌻 Berri Kramer’s legacy workshop in Italy came at the perfect time in my life. My mother had just recently passed away and when I saw the workshop offering it seemed a wonderful opportunity to honor my mother, her support of my artistic journey and a chance to heal from the challenges that come from such an important transition in life. Berri created a unique workshop experience [that] is the perfect combination of art, culture, history and exploration. We were treated to incredible local food, lodging in a charming upscale hotel in the picturesque village of Citta delle Pieve, and a fun group to spent time exchanging stories and making art in a great studio location. It was an experience I will treasure for years to come. ~ Suzan S.

🌻 The most carefully planned art workshop I could have hoped for… It’s impossible to summarize the effect of bringing our own photos, stories, and memories, then learning the myriad techniques to turn them into cherished art to share with our families. Berri’s guiding hand was there whenever needed… To say the effect was transformative somehow seems insufficient. ~ Margaret D.

🌻 Amazing trip and workshop! Fun, informative, organized, inspiring, interesting, filling (food – yes!), creative, artistically active and instructive – all in a magnificently beautiful setting! Best time ever! Thank you! ~Kathy

🌻 This art experience was all inclusive – and it was the glue that put this “life collage” together. A once in a lifetime journey of outstanding organization and balance of activities. Every moment was a treasure. Thank you SO MUCH for this life experience!  ~ Marcia

🌻 Berri Kramer’s collage workshop in Italy turned into a life-affirming foray into color, shape, texture, design, play and confidence. Could not have ever dreamed of the many life-enriching, immersive experiences within the already exciting experience that I signed up for. Joyous moments bubbled throughout our art workshop – no moment that didn’t dance with learning…. and filling all the senses. Recommending to all! ~ Patti

🌻 The collage workshop was helpful, educational and fun! This experience gave me new insight. Berri is so generous and talented, she has an enormous capacity for sharing on many levels. I certainly would recommend traveling and doing art with Berri.  ~ Lee

🌻 Just the best week of laughter and learning and meeting a new tribe of artistic souls. Every experience was lovely and so well planned. I have learned so much more than I could have expected – not only about the visual language of collage, but also about the history of our beautiful Italian village – I am coming back soon! ~ Bebra

🌻 This experience has been beyond inspirational. Berri and Susan pushed me out of my comfort zones and helped me re-establish healthier boundaries for me to consider, and to bring home to my studio. This has been a life changing experience. The only bad part is that not other tour will match what I’ve just witnessed! ~ Tim

🌻 This workshop was so wonderful, and I learned a lot! It was by far the most fun and interesting trip I’ve  taken in a long time (and I’ve been on a number of trips!). Everything was exceptional. What an experience – I plan to tell everyone! ~ Karen

Cyanotype in Italy with Berri Kramer

TRIP DETAILS:

• Dates: April 11-17, 2027
• Trip Price: $4,395 – $5,195 USD per person (select room type upon booking)
• Room Descriptions:
  • Single: Single occupancy, single bed, private ensuite bathroom
  • Classic: Single occupancy, double bed, private ensuite bathroom with walk-in shower
  • Superior: Single occupancy, double bed, private ensuite bathroom with tub/shower combination
  • Deluxe: Double occupancy, double bed or two singles, private ensuite bathroom with tub and shower (specifically for couples or friends traveling together)
• A $700 deposit is required to book your space on this trip
• Remaining trip balance payment automatically charged to the credit card on file, 120 days prior to the trip start date
• Terms and Conditions

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