Tell me about yourself... your work...your business…
I am a full-time artist and inventor living in Southern California with my husband, two sons and a cat. I grew up in Italy under the misconception that one needs to show incredible talent to pursue an art career. It wasn’t until I came to the United States, the land of opportunities, that
I started envisioning the possibility of becoming an artist. My dream became a reality five years ago. I never look back and wonder why it didn’t happen sooner. I feel like the luckiest woman alive.
My time is split between creating art and running a small business that sells my invention, the Icarus Drawing Board®.
What is your process when you sit down to work?
My creative process always begins with “playing.” As ideas float around in my mind, I decide to experiment with the one that excites me the most. When I’m ready, I begin to play a “what if” game:
“What if I splash water on that flower?”
“What if I make it float upside down in a bowl of water?”
“What if I let the water form ice crystals in the freezer?”
As the game unfolds I take lots of pictures. I usually revisit those images in the evening and play with them in my editing program until I have one or more references that come close to my original vision. Sometimes I get surprised along the way and end up with a totally different but equally appealing result.
After working out the composition and final drawing, I begin the “painting” phase while surrounded by hundreds of colored sticks in the form of colored pencils, artists crayon, and oil pastels. If possible I like to have something of the original still life right on my desk; the flower, the seashell, the pebbles used in the experiment. I regularly glance at my work in progress from far away, upside down or reflected in a mirror.
Any funny stories from the art studio that you could share?
My art studio has a high cathedral ceiling with a wooden beam running across the middle. About a year ago I had the urge to install a swing, which has become one of the most useful and “famous” features in my studio. When I posted a picture of myself on the swing on my blog, it became very popular. Now all the artists who visit my studio get a picture taken while swinging. I usually take a 5 minute break on the swing every few hours. Not only do I get re-energized but
my concentration level increases. The motion of swinging is very relaxing and soothing and it seems to foster creativity and right brain thinking.
What kind of tools and materials do you use in your work?
The main tool I use to create my art is the Icarus Drawing Board, a portable, electric board for wax-based drawing media. It features two working zones, a warm zone and a cool zone. In general, I use the warm zone for mixing, blending, burnishing, and reworking; the cool zone for line drawing, layering, detailing, and finishing touches. Wax-based drawing media soften or even melt on the warm zone of the board. This is the perfect method to achieve the smooth gradations and dissolving hues that permeate my art. It’s a very innovative way to work with wax-based colored pencils, wax sticks, artist crayons, and oil pastels.
If you were to offer a piece of advice to an aspiring artist on how to succeed, what would you say?
Put passion in everything you do.
Hard work can often compensate for talent, even in art.
Once you get there, be generous and kind to your fellow artists.
Don’t forget to play!
What are some of your proudest accomplishments as an artist?
• Receiving the Expy Best of Show Award and Prismacolor Award given by the Colored Pencil Society of America for the 2010 “Explore This!” Exhibition.
• Receiving the Sanford Prismacolor Award for Exceptional Merit given by the Colored Pencil Society of America at the 2010 International Exhibition.
• Teaching “Wax and Heat, A Match Made in heaven”, a very successful workshop at the 2010 Colored Pencil Society International Convention
• Having my artwork featured on the cover of the French Magazine "Pratique des Arts"
• Winning First Place in the The Artist's Magazine All-Media Online Competition and having the winning artwork featured in the magazine.
How did you get to be an artist? Was there a particular artist or experience that made you want to pursue art?
I’ve always wanted to be an artist. All of my life I’ve had a love affair with colors and certain colors bring me absolute delight. Colors have been my companions and teachers and have helped me learn written words, numbers and musical notes. My sense of color is very instinctive and even though I’m very familiar with color theories, I mentally separate from the “science” when I create.
Are you self-taught or schooled?
I’m both, with five years of art history and design in Italy as well as many college art classes here in America.
What is your mantra?
“It’s not the technique that makes the artist; it’s the artist who makes the technique.”
What style of art do you work in?
I’m slowly progressing toward abstract-realism. Nature is always the inspiration and starting point; however I like to manipulate the subject by pushing the boundaries of colors, form, and perspective.
What projects are you currently working on?
I’ve just finished a very colorful and dynamic close-up of a group of semi-submerged pebbles in water that is beginning to form ice crystals. It’s called “Fire and Ice.”
What work of art do you wish you had done? Why?
I only wish forward. I wish to give form to all the images in my head and give people a glance into my vision of a brilliant universe.
What is your work space/environment like?
I’m fortunate to have a nice studio with large windows and plenty of storage space. I enjoy working at home, surrounded by my family and my cat. My husband and my older son also run their own businesses from home.