Seasonal picking

Hey!

While the world is upside down,

the only way to calm my mind is stay in nature,

and at this time of the year,

I wanted to share my best findings with you...

With the corona virus pandemic, people are invited to self isolate

and animals really seem to like it!

We could lay down 4 metres from this sleeping fox!

I saw owls, and other woodland creatures around more than ever.

I imagined that the world could have been just like this

hundred years ago, and people knew animals, and

animals knew humains, much better!

That's how all our fairytales come about...we knew

the personality of our woodland friends, because we lived close

together, without a sea of noise..

One of the things I always liked, from

when I was small,

is to find little trails in the woods, and follow them, 

imagining to be that animal.. and finding myself in the most 

peaceful places, away from humains.

I often sit there, still, and feel at home.

In one of these ramblings, I saw new nettle was coming out.

Did you know that nettle is a forgotten treasure?

It is good for our mood, our sleep, blood iron level and the stinging hairs

contain serotonin!

I picked the new leaves tips, and cooked them,

you can use them just like spinach, and together with them

in soup, risotto, and as a filling of pies and tortelli.

Nature is a Mum, no doubt,

she gives us all we need to be healthy and happy!

Why do I draw food?

Food illustration is a "thing" I came to love just recently.

But there is a longer story.

As a young adult, I spent nearly 10 years battling with food disorders and, why not, depression. 

At 15 I was in my town hospital, 32 kg and a iron will to not to let me talk out of my decisions.

Well, one simple decision:

 food is bad and I am not dealing with it. It makes me feel heavy, 

look fat and not be wanted.

A long way I have come from that, and thanks God I am totally recovered.

Yet, a few years ago, while deep into my art practice, I noticed some curious

  traits of my personality: if I was deep into my work, and I felt thirsty or hangry,

 I wouldn't let me follow this needs, and carried on in my job. 

Eventually, I realized that this was another sign of lack of care, 

and I began a long journey of self love.

And here, food played again a big role:

 Cooking for myself even the simplest meal had the impact of a big act of care.

Plus, if I felt some how uninspired that day,

 cooking was a real creative 

(and almost always rewarding ) go-to activity.

You see, I am Italian of origin, and food culture runs in our veins... 

Our parents (and specially older generations) are people who think of a meal 

not as a pre-prepared food, but as a time spent in a place ( usually the kitchen) 

with a certain atmosphere and certain people around, 

taking raw ingredients and let them mix and emanates the most delicious flavours, 

which memory will never forget.

I always thought this was normal, but living abroad,

 and considering the lack of time that many of us increasingly experience, 

I came to treasure this aspect : more than a mere need, food is an experience.

Now, as I am interested in illustration related to kids, and I started asking myself :

how is the food experience for them?

Soon I came to the conclusion that too often it wasn't the best, 

not even healthy, and that most of the kids I could approach, 

hadn't been even enough lucky to see an adult properly creating a meal.

No memories of how an onion becomes a delicious flavour, 

or how is better to prepare the filling of tortelli the day before, so the dish will have a greater flavour.

All this said, it has been very clear to me that I had all the elements

of setting off for the journey

to make food become again the great adventure it really is.

I try to draw stories, and the fun, quirky combinations that I love

  around food, and I think this theme

can lead to so many different connections...

to self care, tradition, innovation and mostly, 

appreciation for what the Mother Earth gives us:

life together with the chance to be creative in a healthy and respectful way!

NOTES:

Interesting books about food: 

Foraging and Feasting, an inspiring book about how to find and use wildfood
Baking day at Granma's, a lovely picture book

Blogs ( I am sorry , but I love Italian ones !):
Giallo zafferano, the best of Italian cooking
Mi piace mi fa bene, healthy and tasty food
L'Araba felice in cucina, recipes and funny stories

Instagram accounts:
They draw and cook, the best collection of food illustration
Thabhita Hawkins, an Instagram account of a food stylist photographer

Creative approach :
Erica Liverani, italian chef that often cooks with her little daughter
Andrea Animates, amazing felt art

Well, by now you must be feeling a bit hungry!

New beginnings

Happy New year my lovely folks!

It 's impossible to not have notice on which

sad note 2020 started, between fires and threatening wars

but in my little corner of my tiny world..

all is fine!

In the South of UK we have experienced a lot of rain

(if we could just catch it and bring it where is more needed!)

and the number of days in a greyscale is so big

that I felt more and more depressed.

Oh dear sunshine, you make the plants grow..

I want to grow too! come to visit more often!

I started my year busy with commissions

and for the first time ever, I was asked to recreate exactly one of my images..

and so I did, and it was really interesting,

relaxing, and I could put more contrast in colours than in the previous version..

You know, it is funny to say

but I feel I am less afraid of using dark colours than I was in the past.

Oh yes, this is the truth, as funny as it sounds!

It was because every time I used a dark colour, I would sort of

feel its darkness taking over...my mood..
Plus, they were hard to control..

It sounds very silly, but with a bit of practice I feel I am more comfortable  now!

STILL, I do not have a single black paint in my tool box!

I normally use sepia together with blue, I rekon they will be enough of a strech for this life..

I also did a day of clay

playing with characters

Now I am working on new ideas for the coming seasons, 

and of course I am experimenting, learning, and dreaming of sunny days

and future travels!

Anyone coming to the Bologna Children Book fair this year? 

I can't wait, it is a safe bet for inspiration!

This is a little sketch I have been working on, and with this 

I wish you good ideas!

Notes and discoveries:

- running is my go to treatment for depression ( with the right shoes and not on tarmac! )

- Stephanie Graegin characters are my favorite these days

- favourite food : cooked apples and pears, with few pine nuts and cinnamon on top, mixed with fresh Ricotta cheese ....yummy!

- Art tip: did you know that on the Holbein Acryla Guache tubes you can find value and saturation levels ( Munsell scale) of each color? This helps me to choose which color to go for, in order to follow better my value sketch! And also to control saturation in an image and consciously put it where it needs to be ! 

All the best of this year

Here we are

to another season of gathering thoughts and gratefulness

for all the wonderful experience Life has gifted us this year!

I will share with you my best ones here in this post,

starting from:

BEST BOOKS!

You can heal your life , by Louise Hay, 

a wonderful and practical self help book about self love and its miracles

Big Magic, a must read about creativity, I talk about it here.

BEST VISITED PLACE:

Cornwall! If you can, stay there for a week or so, the energy of this place 

is a real healing powerful gift from Mother Nature! IT is full of nature, history, beauty,

art and magical hidden villages!

BEST ADVENTURE!

Kayaking on Fowey river~ I don't have pictures of this, 

but it' s a series of creeks near St Austell,

and the river it is surrounded by oak woods and footpaths, we ended up in a tiny village called Lerryn, where you feel like in a different time zone.

It was magical to observe the life from a different perspective, from a different pace, surrounded by emerald water reflections and golden sun light,

andwatch the fish playing jumping out from the water, as greeting us .

I had never kayaked before, thumbs up for trying new things!

BEST ART SUPPLY DISCOVERY

Extra Matte Gel, Liquitex

transparent gel to apply over dry paint, that allows other layers to be put on top, 

as it renders the surface really matt and capable to absorb more paint .

I found it best to use over dried acrylic gouache and after that, I can use easily coloured pencils!

Fantastic!

BEST FOOD DISCOVERY

Roasted swede and... jalapeno peppers!

BEST MOVIE

Won't you be my neighbour

American documentary about the life and innovative work

of Fred Rogers, who invented a kids TV show and shared with children

 all of the humans experience and feelings. Eye opening!

BEST INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT

Can't get enough of Rebecca Green

a colour master!

BEST QUOTE

Happiness is foremost a state of consciousness that 

depends on our good understanding of things 

(Omraam Michael Aivanoov)

Here some of my BEST , hope you also have a long list of yours!

This year has been really intense and full of discoveries and personal growth.

I learnt deeply to care about myself and to not fight fear,

but taking it along and do things anyway.

More wonderful things will come in the New Year, I am sure!

AND to finish off, a nice collage of MY BEST 9 images of this Year!

All the best of everything for the New Year!

Christmas Markets!

Hello everyone!

just to say that this year I will be taking part in some 

indie markets for Christmas!

Here dates and places where you can find me :

30 Nov/1 Dec : 10am to 4 pm, Michelangelo Restaurant, Ryde

7 December: 11 to 6 pm , East Cowes bus terminal ( in front of Waitrose )

16/21 Dec: 9 to 5pm  Monkton Arts , Monkton Street, Ryde

All on the magical Isle of Wight

Come and say Hi!

Seasons

It's Autumn,

Where the sun is in the leaves!

Nature really planned it well, all this season thing, 

as after the buzzing summer, all we need is a cosy nest.

During these early dark nights,

I have been reflecting on seasons.

How even in the day, there are seasons:

have you noticed how the colours turn up the volume in the morning, 

together with sounds,

and around sunset, all seems to take a rest?

So I think even Creativity has seasons,

and the productivity world fits it a bit tight.

Recently I struggled keeping up with client work,

because my Most inner nature wanted to rest, incubate, research,

all the things that animals do too, when the cold season comes.

I realized that being an artist is a wider thing than 

creating things, it is a way of life. 

Our brain works always like a building with many floors connected, 

it cooks together things that they don't seem to belong.

But if we don't allow experiences to happen, and just keep working away,

we dry out.

One of the things I realized, 

is that I was missing a part of me that lives in

Italian language.

My brain, when talking my first language,

takes different path, panoramic ones, poetic ones,

funny ones..

I kind of lost this part of myself living in the Uk, and talking all the

time its pragmatic language.

I loved taking pictures, too.

Sewing imperfect stuff.

Writing Poetry.

All of this I share now on my personal 

Instagram account, Quellefoglie

It's in Italian!

Now, update about work:

I have been so happy to collaborate with Harp on Wight Festival

for the 2019 edition

And a preview of 2020 just for you!

I hope to write again soon before the snow fills up my letterbox!

Best books about Creativity ever

Hello everyone!

In this post I would like to share with you

my favorite books on the CREATIVITY subject, so far.

This is one of my most researched area, as I am a very creative soul

and I have been wondering in this world for a while, as I guess many of you.

Rolling drums, let's start then!

1. BIG MAGIC, Elizabeth Gilbert

This one is my number one. It is like if this amazing writer is sitting

in you living room with you, and shares in this very cosy atmosphere

all her discoveries and insight about Creative living .

Yes, not only about creative arts, but first and foremost about Living creatively, 

that is for everybody.

There are several breakthrough through the book,

I really like when she explain about how better is thinking about

Curiosity versus Passion, and it is also full of true stories.

GIlbert is a writer , after all, she will keep you glued on the couch!

THE ARTIST'S WAY, Julia Cameron

This one is a classic, of the kind that never go bad.

Julia Cameron is a top artist herself, and this is a 12 week program 

about recovering the joy of creating, get back what we loved doing, 

and free ourselved from limitations.

The most interesting part of the course for me is  the "Artist date",

a solo expedition that we would do once a week to fill our inner creative well,

to get inspired and playful.

To keep us light.

It is the most difficult task in all the book,

for many professionals and for people who put 

in the arts part of their income.

But is essential!

The other big excercise, a life long one, is to write down 

first thing in the morning , 3 page of long hand thoughts.

Whatever comes is fine, this is a cleaning system for the subconscious,

to keep the road free for creative ideas.

Austin Kleon series

This is a collection of easy reading, travel friendly books,

all about creating a happy creative life.

It talks about the up and downs and is very insightful

on the everyday life tips to keep going as artists.

Few ideas from the book:

~when uninpired, make a gift for a specific friend or person you love~

~if we add extra attention to the ordinary, it becomes extraordinary~

~art is for life, not the other way around~

I am now about to start a new book, 

FIND YOUR ARTISTIC VOICE, by Lisa COngdon

It came out this summer and it has so many good reviews!

Oh, by the way, I still have few 2020 calendars in my shop!

Get ready for a colorful New Year!