1989 was the year I fulfilled my dream to travel to Italy to visit my relatives. I had been writing to a cousin named Teresa Riccio for several years and my destination was her house in Sersale, Catanzaro, Calabria. Her parents, Pasquale Riccio (Riccio means hedgehog) and Angelina Grillo (Grillo means cricket) put us up for the night in their house and made us feel very comfortable. We only stayed one night!

12 years later, I returned to Sersale with my husband and once again Pasquale and Angelina figured prominently in our visit. When someone broke into our car and the police towed it away for security, it was Pasquale who drove us to the tow yard to retrieve it. That was quite an adventure, and a gripping story, you can read all about it here.

I was sitting in Teresa’s living room not even a month ago when she asked me; “Could you paint a portrait of my parents, remember, from the photo you took of them in the woods?” Be careful what you ask for, now I’ve done it.

The reference for this painting was a photo my husband Donald Boothby took of Pasquale and Angelina as they were leaving the woods, having just gathered some porcini mushrooms.