OCTOBER 2003 | COUNTRY LIVING   Page 169

     When Rachel Newman (inset above) retired after nearly 40 years in publishing – 20 of which were spent as editor-in-chief of Country Living she wasn't certain what would come next.  A serendipitous plein-air-painting course in Tuscany made up her mind.  Rachel developed a friendship with Maddine Insalaco and Joe Vinson, art instructors at Etruscan Places, and began traveling to the Italian countryside to paint on a regular basis.  "I had dreamed of living in Italy," Rachel says, "but it didn't seem possible."  Then her teachers told her about an apartment that was for sale in a 13th-century building south of Siena.  "Most people would have been horrified by its condition," she admits, "but all my years of looking at old houses for Country Living helped me recognize its potential." Rachel now spends part of each year in Tuscany-enjoying her newly renovated apartment and painting scenes like Abbadia Ardenga (shown here), a hillside abbey in Montalcino. 

     Slowing down wasn't part of Rachel Newman's retirement plan.  Once she left publishing, she picked up an artist's brush and never looked back.  "I consider myself a painter now," says Rachel, whose work can be seen at the Phyllis Lucas Gallery and Old Print Center, in New York City.  "I'm very content," says Rachel.  "I never run out of things to do.  My life is like Under the Tuscan Sun 10 times over."

     "My father was a professional painter, so I feel as though painting brings me full circle," Rachel says.  Oil paintings capture the uncomplicated beauty of Italy's countryside.