Libellulobartiste… Alessandra Fusi

Alessandra a accepté mon invitation pour l’interview, une façon d’améliorer son anglais! Apprenons donc à connaitre un peu plus Allessandra! on se relaxe, on se repose, c’est dimanche…

Bienvenue chez libellulôbar, racontes-nous ta vie, ton œuvre, ton parcours?
Welcome to Libellulobar, could you tell us a little about your life, your work and your professional path?
Hallo, and thank you for allowing me to enter your world ♥ Well, I was born in Rome, and just like every child does, since the first day I learned how to hold a pencil, I used to draw all the time…The fact is that I never stopped since then (even if I though I would become an icecream seller at first). My aunt used to draw for me a lot, she told me stories of faeries, and I even had a penpal friendship during summer with the faeries who lived on my pine tree, at our summer house near the sea. When I went to high school it was a secondary school focused on maths and science (and I loved it, I’m sorry now that my brain is slowing down a little when I do maths), but I kept on drawing on my desk all the time, and I went to a small comic course in the afternoon. I’ve never been much a of social girl, I had (and still have) just a few good friends…Drawing skills have always been the best thing I had, and I wanted to treasure them. My love for Brian Froud’s world lead me to choose illustration for my Bachelor of fine arts degree, which I got in 2006…And now here I am, working hard with my pencils all the time.

Dans quelle région vis-tu? Where do you live?
In Italy, near Rome: close enough to visit my beloved city everytime I wish to, but far enough to breath some pure air and live without traffic, with a little garden and six cats

Quel est ton métier? vis-tu de ton art? What is your profession? Do you live off your art?
I’m a full-time author and illustrator, and this means not only I illustrate books, but I also do all those other creative things an illustrator should always do (it’s hard to make a living only out of publishing books at the beginning)…So I work a lot as a painter, exhibiting my art here all around Italy, but also abroad, in France and in the Usa. I also organize creative labs for children and grown ups, I work for a tattoo studio, and I create my own line of hand-crafted accessories and paper goods, that I sell both on-line and in person, at craft fairs and exhibition openings.

Quelle est ou quelles sont les techniques que tu préfères?
What techniques do you prefer for creating your pictures?
Mixed technique, absolutely!! I build my work on a very resistant 100% cotton watercolour paper (when I don’t paint on canvas) and then I add layers of oils, watercolours, acrylics, ink pens, graphite, coloured pencils, coffee, salt and some “real” photographic elements that I print in the right size, cut and past on the illustration…And then I paint over them to make them part of the painting.

D’où te vient ton inspiration? As-tu un sujet de prédilection?
Where do you get your inspiration from? Do you have a preferred subject?
Mmmh…Inspiration comes from my everyday life: from my cats, to the rain, even from tv commercials sometimes! I read a lot and also I collect illustrated books from my favourite artists: they both help me in dreaming and illustrating (which is almost the same thing sometimes). I love to draw girls (and as a girl I find it much easier than drawing guys) with silly animals inside surrealistic universes: something between Alice in wonderland, ancient dolls, circus and Victorian Era…I’d love to live in a place like this!

Sur quels projets artistiques travailles-tu actuellement?
Could you tell us any current projects that you are working on?
I’m actually illustrating my first book as an author and illustrator for my French editor, coming up in 2010, in these very last days I’ve been busy realizing the artwork for the cd cover of an Italian singer, Chiarastella, we’re finishing this work right now…And I have an upcoming exhibition in Los Angeles next year…I absolutely want to travel there together with my paintings, and I think I will!! …And then I’d love to open an atelier for me, a place where I can work surrounded my by stuff, I hope I will finally open it next year.

Quel est le moment de la journée où tu préfères travailler?
What time of the day do you prefer for being creative?
At night, definitely. I usually do not wake up early, I use the hours in the morning to work on the pc (answering e-mails, updating my blog and shop, taking pics of my stuff, etc), then I start to paint in the afternoon and go on straight ‘till at night…Sometimes when I’m alone I could even forget to eat!

Ton atelier/bureau, c’est le chaos complet ou c’est rangé au carré?
Does your office or atelier look like a creative chaos or is everything exactly at its place?
I work at home, yet…That’s why I need an atelier: I’m a terrible messy!! I lose a lot of my time cleaning all the mess I create when I work…I need a place of my own, absolutely…At it will be a delicate and cute disaster!

Si tu étais un animal?
If you were an animal…?
A cat. Even if my boyfriend says I would be a fawn.

un objet? an object?
Mmmh…Maybe an ancient key.

une fleur? a flower?
A Gerber.

une couleur? a colour?
Red!!

Quel est ton gâteau/ta gourmandise préféré? What is your preferred cake/patisserie/sweet?
Dark chocolate….Yum!

As-tu un blog/site/portfolio où nous pouvons découvrir ton univers?
Do you have a blog/website/portfolio where we can find out more about your artistic universe?

Et voilà: http://www.alessandrafusi.com

Le mot de la fin? A final comment?
Thank you once more for giving me the honour to create magnets for you (and to make them look so cool!!) and to answer to this interview!! Libellulobar is a lovely place to be! ♥

Le magnet Sewing Sally et le magnet Little Brown Sleeping Wolf