Clara Gazzarri Illustrator from Volterra, Italy

The context in which I grew up certainly meant a lot. I have a very nice memory of my childhood’s summers in Via Porta all'Arco, spent playing, drawing and creating objects with the children of the street, surrounded by creative and welcoming artisans, ready to take you into their worlds made of care and attention, ingenuity, fantasy and imagination. I think that in my children’s illustrations I try to bring back all that warmth and freedom that I experienced in that period.

Plus, my parents, in addition to making me part of an artistically rich environment, have always supported and cultivated my creativity and manual skills by providing me with all the tools I needed.

Finally, what led me to my art is the love for lines, shapes and coloors, for their ability to communicate stories and emotions in such a strong, profound and direct way.

I must say that I was particularly lucky. I have not lived in Volterra for 10 years, but every now and then I go up the hill to visit my parents. It was on one of these occasions that, thanks to Inger, a friend of my mother and previous owner of Fraggina, I learned about Cornelia. At that time I only knew that she was a German writer and illustrator who had moved to Volterra some time ago, but nothing more; I had neither an idea of her worldwide fame, nor of the marvelous situation she had created in Fraggina! Inger gave me the contact of her and, driven by my passion for the illustration world, I asked Cornelia to meet, just to get to know each other and to see how she worked. She was extraordinary welcoming and we spent some very emotional time in her magic library. I showed her my works and Cornelia invited me to participate in her Artists in Residence Program. It seemed impossible to me that in Volterra I would find exactly what I had been looking for so much elsewhere!

Fraggina overwhelmed me! A totally new situation for me, full of stimuli and wonderful artists, a place where the sharing of a passion and certain values, support and mutual understanding gave me the necessary strength and everything I needed to being able to believe that I can realize my dream of being an illustrator by profession.

Working on your projects surrounded by kindness, hospitality, curiosity and creativity, together with people with whom you can exchange ideas and points of view both on your artistic path and on life in general is something extremely precious.

The context of Fraggina then gives a lot of inspiration; its peace, the nature in which it is immersed, the books everywhere, the drawings and the little hand-made objects of which it is full, make that dreamy, stimulating and warm atmosphere that is all one needs to grow as an artist.

From Fraggina I bring with me something of great value: a new perspective on my life and my future, a lot of inspiration and the warmth and courage of beautiful people.