Katherine-Mary Pichulik For VISI: Villa Lena

Over the next month, Katherine-Mary Pichulik of PICHULIK will be blogging exclusively for VISI as she embarks on a two-month artist residency in magical Italy.

WORDS Katherine-Mary Pichulik IMAGES Coke Bartrina

Even as a young girl, I’ve been inspired by Italy. It began when I studied Art History and was reinforced when I saw the 1996 coming-of-age film Stealing Beauty by Bernardo Bertolucci in my teens.

In my mind, Italy represented aspiration, imagination and the iconic heroines of Italian cinema who came to manifest beauty and womanhood to me.

PICHULIK’s Autumn/Winter 2015 collection, Pietra Terra, which was released in April, was inspired by the scents and heritage of Santa Maria Novella – the world’s oldest apothecary. They anticipated my journey to Italy to participate in a two-month art residency at the famous Villa Lena, a sprawling 19^th century villa in the Tuscan countryside between Florence and Sienna.

A residency there allows multidisciplinary artists and creatives to work in its studios and produce a body of work or actualise a project while staying in the beautiful pink villa. The plethora of interesting guests from Europe and the States who come to stay at the hotel on the property adds to the creative atmosphere and turns it into a melting pot for collaborations, experiences and networking – all core values that are close to my heart.

Over the next four weeks, I will be introducing you to the other resident artists and designers, the incredible archive of designer objects that displayed at the Villa Lena Hotel, including a mix of Milanese Memphis design and contemporary works by Villa Lena alumni.

In the evenings, we enjoy a three-course meal by the resident chef with vegetables and herbs from the vegetable garden, so expect to see a recipe or two coming your way, sent with love and plenty of passion.

For now, I wanted to share with you my favourite Villa Lena/Italian drink. Although you cannot join me in this adventure, this will give you a taste:

Mark Borthwick’s Lena Lavane

Ingredients:

• 50ml gin
• Fresh lavender
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Thinly sliced ginger
• Dash of honey
• Crushed ice
• Tonic water
• Lemon rind and lavender to serve

Method:

Combine the gin, lavender, lemon juice, ginger and honey in a cocktail shaker and shake for 10 seconds. Pour onto crushed ice and add tonic water to taste. Garnish with lemon rind pierced with a twig of lavender.

I will be making several trips to nearby cities and villages and will record the details to inform the PICHULIK Spring/Summer 16 collection – and create “city guides” based on locals’ suggestions. Next week, I will report on my weekend in Florence where I will be staying with a family just off the Ponte Vecchio.

Meanwhile, please enjoy these photos of the villa.

Arrivederci!

Follow Katherine’s journey on Twitter (@Pichulik) on Instagram (@pichulikafrika) and on Facebook. You can also visit pichulik.com for more info.