Today is Fan Art day on the blog. So I drew my #1 fans (that is how fan art works, right?). Meet Kelly and Felice, the two most supportive friends and/or the two people who most enthusiastically demanded this blog exist.

1. Felice was midway through his 6 month Milanese bread baking apprenticeship when he was tasked with locating the freshest lemons Italy had to offer. He hit up the local farmers market, but his mentor only laughed. He drove the Amalfi coast, his mentor denied the selection. He scoured the fields of Sorrento, yet once again his mentor wasn't satisfied. Late one night, he received a call from a man up in Novara. "Ciao, ciao, ciao," the man said. "Your nonna tells me you need lemons." "I do... " Felice said, skeptical taking lemons from a stranger, and even more so from one in the entirely wrong region. However, he was feeling hopeless and agreed to come by the following morning. To his surprise, he was greeted by tennis legend Sergio Tacchini, sporting a bright red jumpsuit in a foyer full of gorgeous lemon trees. Felice brought back a satchel full of lemons for his mentor, and one of Sergio's youngest trees for Kelly. Both were ecstatic.

2. Kelly, Felice and Fitz (their Corgi babe) were religious attendees of Parco Sempione's "Projection at the Park," during which the three would snack on prosciutto and watch classic film noirs. One week in late September, the park district forgot to mail the notification. Only the most avid fans, those with the date already marked each month sans reminder, were in attendance on this particular night. As the trio approached the park they were greeted by two couples, one large family and single, incredibly well dressed man. They sat down next to this man, offered him a cut of their mortadella and a friendship was born. Since that historic night, Dell'Acqua, Kelly, Felice and Fitz have met up each September at that exact spot for a midnight viewing of "Last Year at Marienbad."

3. Kelly was showing some ceramics at a gallery in Naples when she met Francesco Clemente. He was taken by the abstracted interpretations of her favorite art critics. "Why the critics?" he asked. She explained her interest in creating about those who love the craft. "The fans of art deserve to be in art," she concluded. Francesco was nearly as struck by the beauty of these words as he was by the beauty of this young woman. "Miss, may I paint you?" She obliged, but only under the circumstances that she could curate her own outfit (a tasteful Rochas, naturally). Kelly later went on to provide creative direction for Clemente's famous model series, helping each of the woman to look and feel like themselves.

Now a look at their clothes!

Glasses: Gosha Rubchinskiy, Jacket: Gosha Rubchinskiy, Pants: Gosha Rubchinskiy — Glasses: Gosha Rubchinskiy, Jacket: Gosha Rubchinskiy, Pants: Gosha Rubchinskiy