Pietrasanta, called also the little Athens, is a point of reference for many young artists from all over the world. Lately I have known several who have become friends and therefore I would like to tell you about my pleasant adventure to discover 4 art workshops in Versilia.
Last summer I started to frequent the CRO of Pietrasanta, Circolo Ricreativo Operaio after I performed with my acoustic trio. The CRO is a very welcoming “Arci” club, frequented by artists, musicians and very active in promoting events and conferences relating to art, theater and music. Giovanni, passionate about art and music, approached a very interesting audience in his club. It is precisely at the CRO that between a dinner and an aperitif I met several artists, who turned out to be special people, and with whom I made a beautiful friendship.
One of the basic principles of responsible tourism is precisely to involve tourists in meeting the host community. Part of my role as a host is to bring tourists and the local community together. A role that I play with pleasure because I find it the most stimulating part of my job. It allows me to create networks, promote collaborations, weave worlds and bring people in search of a cultural exchange together, and last but not least it allows me to be with my closest friends.
Would you like to transform your holiday into an artistic experience? or are you looking for an artist residence?
Are you an artist looking for new collaborations or meetings? Do you not yet have experience but would like to learn drawing or sculpture techniques? Or would you simply like to discover the artistic workshop in Versilia? Follow me in this beautiful adventure in un-known places, made by people who love to share their passions whose basic ingredients are marble, wood, canvas, plaster and brushes!
Discover and book now the “Via dell’artista” stay, 5 days to open your creativity
and meet the artists in their workshops!
Discovering 4 art workshops in Versilia:
It is with great joy that I present my dear friends, travelling companions and evenings, as well as expert artists:
1. Discover wood and marble sculpting
Jacob Cartwright is the most experienced Australian clarinet player in hugs I’ve ever known. Transform hugs into magnificent wood, white marble and bronze sculptures. It is inspired by sound and other resonances felt by human consciousness and sculpts these transient frequencies in a solid and lasting state. Work the stone patiently with a hammer and chisel, gouges and its body. Jacob explains to me that sculpture is a form of meditation for him. In his studio in Pietrasanta, La Polveriera, everything is covered with a veil of whiteness, will it be stardust or marble? I invite you to check yourself by going to find it.
Jacob Cartwright works on Instagram.
2. Engraving, printing and jeweler’s workshops
Sicilian inside and out, a very fun woman with overwhelming energy that exudes from her works, which have a naive and folkloristic trait, a little Latin.
She moved to Versilia to learn more about engraving techniques at the 2RC International Center for Art Graphics in Viareggio and then, like many of us, she was captured from this land. Lithography and woodcut are two of the techniques she uses to give shape to her works. Engraving is the artistic language that Irene prefers among the numerous techniques because it allows her to best express her creativity. She likes being able to divulge the press as an art form, precisely because it is little known. She organizes workshops for both adults and children, collaborating with various associations in the area.
Since 2019 she has also approached the art of goldsmithing with passion, following the course of the technician in the analysis and interpretation of drawing, modelling the prototype and choosing precious stones in Massa Carrara.
3. Learn the secrets of the portrait, graffiti’s ancient techniques and Japanese calligraphy
Franco Pagliarulo is a portrait expert, he only takes 8 minutes to capture a person’s features and stop them on paper. He has been drawing portraits since he was a boy, when after leaving high school he left his land, Puglia, with only paper and pencil. Once I asked him how many portraits he did, he said an exorbitant number, maybe 30,000! You can find him in his studio in Pietrasanta, where he gives individual and group lessons and in the evening when he closes shop, during the summer, he dedicates himself to street art.
Franco is also the curator of the Casoli Sgraffiti festival. A well-known event in Versilia that is repeated every year enriching the walls of the small hamlet of Camaiore with murals works, created by artists from all over Italy and beyond. The sgraffiti are graffiti made with the ancient sixteenth-century lime technique, a technique that is disappearing.
You can also discover the Japanese art of Shodo drawing with Franco, ancient Japanese calligraphy art. Translated shodō, it takes on the meaning of “way of writing”: sho – writing, dō – way, path. So I invited you to take a walk on the path to his studio to discover all these incredible techniques!
4. A visual arts voyage without limits
Maicol Borghetti expresses himself through photography, 3D Design, Cinema and Sculpture, the Arts that overlap each other allow him to express himself outside the box. Ariadne’s thread that links them all in his love for the image. The doors of his laboratory overlook another era not yet lived, an unknown future full of imaginary archaeological finds. His latest project “Mythos and Protos” is an invitation to look at the past to discover the future. An archaeological investigation into other worlds to scan our present. He loves to use technology in all its forms, from photography to 3D printing, but he also uses more traditional materials such as plaster to create his extra-terrestrial works.
Discover Maicol’s works on instagram.
Discover and book now the “Via dell’artista” stay, 5 days to open your creativity
and meet the artists in their workshops!
