Rosa Visits Her Hill Country Italian Neighbors

OMG - So we're bouncing down Flat Creek Rd here in Johnson City just about to pull into Walnut Springs when it dawns on Paul and Stephen, Rosabella, HELLO, she must be Italian!

We keep on rolling to the next road and surprise me with a visit to http://www.benini.com/ - which is the Benini Foundation and Sculpture Ranch here in Johnson City. They have around 150 acres of beautiful Tuscan-like hills, with contemporary sculture nestled among the fossils, scrubb oaks, escarpment hills and dusty lakes. I was absolutely at home with these folks. Benini was busy in his studio this morning, so we shared a spicy turkey salad with his wife and curator Lorraine.

Benini is an Italian-born artist. He left home when he was teenager, hopping a merchant marine ship to the Bahamas where he lived through the 1960's. He's lived in Forida and Arkansas before settling under the Texas stars. His sculpture ranch used to be owned by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. His home was the LBJ hunting cabin and his gallery was the presidential press-corps building during President Johnson's term in office.

We're having trouble uploading a second photo here, so we'll try the others with a new post.