On 19 May 2010 I met the artist Paul Critchley for the first time.
It was chance meeting but it led to a most unexpected afternoon.
Four of us, enough to fill a cinquecento, hoped to spend much of the day outdoors, enjoying the Gran Sasso and the Abruzzo countryside. We never expected that we’d end up inside for most of the afternoon, in a stranger’s house, talking about art, house restoration and Abruzzo.
But the day took an unexpected direction and Paul Critchley helped turn what could have been an ordinary day into a most extraordinary one.
We started with the intention of visiting Rigopiano (PE). It seemed like a good plan when the four of us set out but the higher and higher we went the more cloudy and misty it became. By the time we reached Rigopiano we couldn’t see a thing.
It was time for a change of plan.
Often these changes of plan can involve lunch, but we’d eaten early at one of my favourite restaurants, Il Casolare. We wanted to introduce our friends, J and M to it but on arrival they remembered being there before. The occasion was the harvest festival, Festa della Trebbiatura, which is held at and near Il Casolare near the end of July each year. They had a fantastic time that day, but they couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant until we pulled up outside.
After a sharing large plates of bucatini alla trescatora we set off on what we thought was going to remain a lovely day. We planned to go for a walk and enjoy the views, the wild flowers and the sounds of the country. A perfect pastoral scene that in my mind was crying out for Beethoven’s 6th.
But as I said as we got higher and closer to our destination we realised it made no sense to stick with the original plan. Abruzzo is funny that way. Sometimes it can be clear skies by the sea and misty in the mountains, you just roll with it.
We’d passed Farindola on our way up and so we decided to head back down to have a look around, grab a coffee and most likely then head home. I’d been to Farindola many times before and it’s a good place to stop on the way to explore higher ground before moving on to Campo Imperatore. Our companions, J and M, who helped make our hired cinquecento very cosy indeed 
, hadn’t been before.
When we reached Farindola (home of great pecorino cheese and a starting point for many dedicated walkers) we had a quick look around before heading for a coffee. Because the mountains all around were covered in grey mist and cloud the views from Farindola weren’t as spectacular as they usually are.
But then something unexpected happened. So unexpected and surprising that it turned a fairly ordinary trip into something very special.
We met Paul Critchley.
J and M are from England and were speaking their native tongue as Paul, who is also from England, passed by. Soon we were all chatting away, taking coffee together and Paul invited us back to see his house in the heart of Farindola.
This is when things got really interesting.
You see Paul is an artist who has exhibited work in many places including UK, The Netherlands, USA, Spain and Italy. He has been living in Farindola for the last two years with his wife Helen.
They’ve got pretty big house that needs a fair bit of work. No, that doesn’t sound right at all. They’ve got a really big house, with fantastic views that needs so much work that I think it would frighten most normal human beings.
But Paul and Helen don’t appear to be frightened. They have a vision and it may take time but they’re going to get there. They’ve made many rooms comfortable and bit by bit they’ll turn the rest of the house into their dream home, from the terrace above with wonderful 360 degree view of Farindola and its surrounding mountains and valleys, down to the basement and cellars below that were once used to keep animals.
Right now they have a place to live comfortably and Paul has space to pursue his artistic vision. His studio, full of the trappings of a working artist, has space and light that would be the envy of many of his peers. They’d like to turn part of the house into a series of exhibition rooms and they certainly have the space for that.
If the house was a surprise Paul’s art was completely unexpected. On looking at one of Paul’s creations my wife said she experienced a feeling of vertigo. M thought Paul’s representation of an old-style Bakelite phone was in fact a real phone.
I don’t feel comfortable attempting to describe Paul’s work. Perhaps the best thing to do is visit Paul’s website and read how Paul sees it himself. All I can do is describe how I felt as I moved from room to room. The first piece that I saw involved a pair of eyes looking through a door into a room. Then on closing the “door” on the room a different set of eyes looked out. I loved it. I thought whoever did this has a sense of humour that appeals to me. On seeing more of his work I realised that Paul’s sense of humour and perhaps slightly skewed view of everyday scenes and objects comes through regularly in his work.
I walked around from room to room looking at Paul’s creations and as I did so my smile got bigger and bigger. As I was enjoying the experience I could hear my friends from other rooms exclaiming “look at the…”, “did you see the…” and “when you close it…”. Every one of us saw something exciting and were thrilled to be given this impromptu private viewing.
Just when I thought I’d been surprised enough Paul showed us the X-ray machine! It came with the house along with surgical instruments and a shelf load of medical files. If you buy a house in Abruzzo the previous owners often do not empty it out before it becomes yours. This can be pain if your plans for your new home don’t align with the previous owner’s vision, but sometimes you get left some unexpected gems. Paul got a 1950’s X-ray machine. He said that he’s been strongly advised not to power it up!
You can find out more about Paul and his work on his website http://paulcritchley.com/. If you’re ever in the Farindola area then give Paul a shout and get him to show you his creations. You’ll not be disappointed. You could very easily find that certain something your favourite room has been missing.
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