Sorrento, Italy - Rosa Linda Acampora

Italy week comes to a close today, and what perfect timing, a very special package arrived at my doorstep from Sorrento, Italy this afternoon, and I can't help but gush about the sender.

My new custom Rosa Linda original painting!

I fell in love with the artwork of a local Sorrentine artist on my last visit to Italy. Her name is Rosa Linda Acampora and I first saw examples of her vibrant artwork in the fabulous boutique hotel, La Minervetta. I asked the owner of the hotel, a well-known interior designer, who the artist was, and he gave me her name and telephone number. He is a huge fan of her work and uses her paintings to decorate some of the most fabulous hotels along the Amalfi Coast. You can see tons of her work on the website of the nearby hotel Capo La Gala as well.

Rosa Linda came to meet me in the lobby of the hotel, we reviewed many of her pieces via her handy iPad, we discussed a price, and just like that, I had commissioned a painting! I was most impressed by the massive hand-painted headboards she created for a luxury boutique hotel. Basically, if you can dream it, Rosa Linda can create it.

Rosa Linda covers many different subject matter, from the sea, to flowers, vegetables, cakes and sweets, the Madonna, plants, traditional italian terra cotta vases and the like. She is so talented that I am certain there are no limits to what she can paint.

What I love about the almost 6ft. painting she did for me (shown here on the left) is the perfect balance and the intricateness with which she incorporated all the creatures of the sea. A piece like this takes Rosa Linda two entire weeks of work to complete and the level of detail that goes into each stroke of the paint brush are apparent. The colors she uses are bright and brilliant and pop off the canvas.

Rosa Linda will ship anywhere in the world, and my painting arrived in Boston from Sorrento in perfect condition; she packaged and wrapped the painting with extreme precision. If you are interested in having Rosa Linda create something fabulous for your home, please let me know and I can facilitate with translation and describing your vision. You will not be disappointed.


Here are two of the to-die-for headboards she created for the luxury boutique hotel on the Amalfi Coast:

Photo © Rosa Linda Acampora

Photo © Rosa Linda Acampora

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Sorrento, Italy - La Maison Minervetta

I'm not one for hyperbole, but Sorrento's La Maison Minervetta just topped my list of all time favorite boutique hotels. I stayed here a few weeks ago, during Sorrento's off-season, and truly felt as if I had rented a fully staffed private villa. My room, one of only 12 rooms total, had windows on 3 sides, giving me unfettered views of the entire bay, with Mt. Vesuvius in the distance, as well as the little working fishing port down below in Sorrento. I literally woke up each morning to the sound of lapping waves below. Here is a picture of my room, the spectacular view of Mt. Vesuvius and the fishing port we looked down on:

Morning breakfast was a true delight at La Minervetta. You walk into this amazingly decorated modern kitchen to find the kitchen table covered with treats from the local bakery, fresh ham, salami, italian cheeses and of course your usual breakfast suspects. Francesca, who ran the kitchen and greeted us with the most infectious smile and 'Buon Giorno' each morning was always on hand to make eggs, omelettes, pancakes and frothy cappuccino.

I even got to meet the owner and interior designer, Marco de Luca, while he was dressing the Maison for Christmas. He shared some design secrets (including the phone number of a local artist whom I commissioned a painting from while there) and gave us the wonderful history of his hotel (a villa that has been in the family for years, it used to be a famous restaurant run by his grandfather). He is also the designer behind the breathtaking hotel Capo La Gala.

One should note, however, that it is a good 12-15 minute walk into downtown Sorrento, so if you feel the need to be right in the heart of town, you may not like this location. I enjoyed it even more because it was away from the crowds, and to be honest, Sorrento itself is extremely touristy.

Please explore the hotel's website, their photos of the property are amazing. The interior design is all at once kitschy and inviting, and there must be over 200 fabulous coffee table books to peruse. The owner brings in all the colors and elements of the surrounding sea, the typical Sorrentine pottery and a Madonna here and there. You can discover something new each time you enter the lobby. Here are a few pics I took of the interior.

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