Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Be Our Guest ... Cristina Dalla Valentina

by Dotti

Today we’re introducing a new feature at Focusing on Life, a monthly guest blogger. We’ll be spotlighting members of our own Focusing on Life family as well as other inspiring people from around our online community. And now,  it is indeed a pleasure to present to you our first guest, Cristina Dalla Valentina. I’ll let her tell you about herself in her own words.

I am an Italian watercolor painter and I live in Verona with my husband, two children and a cat. I love painting nature and the emotions it stirs inside me.I create landscapes of the soul which can touch the imagination of the beholder and in turn be filled by them with their feelings, emotions and memories.


I am a painter in love with photography. According to what I feel, painting and photography are interconnected worlds in themselves, not simply because I draw the subjects for my paintings from my snaps. To a person who has never enough of images, photography is somewhat of a need and I feel it even more needful as it helps me to see what I would not be able to notice otherwise. Looking through the camera lens is one of the main means I use to find inspirations, to really see life in the deep.


Through photography I discover beauty in every day life: even the most mundane objects and situations turn out to be meaningful and enliven the emotions that I express through painting.


Through photography I establish a relationship with its subject, listening to it and trying to represent what it inspires in me, be it a tree, an animal, a person…


Through photography I can see the correspondences between colors and shapes in the world around me, the colors that are hidden, the things that are not apparent to the eye and these ones I try to paint with watercolors.


Through photography I learn how to connect and enhance all the colors and shapes that I see in my paintings. For instance, in the tree foliage I also paint the colors of the sky, the shape of a flower, my daughter's smile and so on: in short, everything seeping into my eyes and into my soul through the camera lens before I touch paper with my brush.


Through photography I focus on life and through painting I express my true voice in life as well.

When I bathe in nature and I stop - admiring at a tree that pushes its branches towards the sky, as if it wanted to touch it with its fingers; when I observe reality through the lens of my camera and I can see the extraordinary in everyday life; when I look at my watercolors while they are spreading on the sheet in an endless and ever-changing play of color and light, then I feel alive. Then I feel that I can touch the sky with my fingers too.


You can find Cristina on her blog: http://cristinaswatercolors.blogspot.it/
and Instagram: @cristinadallavalentina.

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Don't forget - if you want a chance to win one of the beautiful posters Terri told us about on Monday, you need to enter a comment or write a post on your own blog, with a link back to FOL, and then leaving your blog link in your comment. Somebody has to win ... it might as well be YOU!


18 comments:

Unknown said...

Cristina I love your words, your painting and photography. You capture nature in am unique and vibrant way. Thanks FOL team for the introduction

Sarah Huizenga said...

Such beautiful work and I can see how your photography gives you great inspiration.

Carol said...

This post is just a joy. It's so interesting to see your vision fed and expressed in different ways. I have seen this in reverse also. A friend does photoshop work in a unique way. She uses some of the painterly filters in her encaustics. She took painting classes in order to see what the brushstroke s looked like in various mediums, and that helped her create more realistic strokes in the ps portions of her art. I am also always encouraged by my photography teacher to take painting classes because they inform a photographer's understanding of light. Thanks for a wonderful post! And now I am off to your website!

kelly said...

i love seeing how your photography inspires your art. thank you for sharing this peek into your world.

CarolHart said...

Such a lovely post. Your lyrical phrases keep floating around in my mind. Thank you for sharing a bit about your process. Both your photography and paintings are inspirational. Now I must check out your website!

Barbara said...

Great post this morning, beautiful inspiration from your guest.

Dotti said...

Beautiful words, beautiful photos, beautiful paintings ... and beautiful you, Cristina! Your post is so inspirational. Grazie mille for 'being our guest'.

Ciao!

Deanna said...

Photography and your art complete a beautiful marriage of joy!! Thank you for being a part of our family!!

terriporter said...

Such beautiful images to wake up to! I have followed you on Instagram and always been amazed at the beauty of your images so it is wonderful to see where you get your inspiration for them. I have always loved watercolor art and have been particularly drawn to your beautiful work. Thank you so much for being our guest today!

Cristina Dalla Valentina said...

I thank all of you for your welcome and for your kind words! It is an honor and a pleasure to be here among you, who are all so talented and inspirational for me. This world of images that we share together, be they photos or paintings, gives me so much joy, and I'm glad to be here in this warm-hearted community! Un abbraccio a tutte voi!

gina said...

What beautiful art you create, Christina! I love seeing your interpretation of nature through your paintings. Brava!

janice said...

beautiful work Cristina!

Focusing on Life said...

Christina it is a joy to have you here with us today. Like some of the other's who have commented, I follow you on Instagram, and your beautiful blog. I loved seeing how you work from a photograph to create your works of art in paint. So much creativity and beauty. Thank you for sharing with us and thank you for being our guest today.

heyjudephotography said...

That last comment was from me. :)

Kim Stevens said...

Christina, your words are beautiful and your work is inspiring. Before moving to where I am now, I got a wild idea to take a painting class and started with watercolors. It's not an easy medium by any means...but I was thoroughly enjoying it when we had to move. I was able to finish one that I really love and it's been years since I picked up that brush and paper. I've been thinking about it lately and you have inspired me to go ahead and give it another try. I enjoyed seeing the inspiration behind your photos, thank you for sharing yourself with us here today! xo

Cathy H. said...

Christina, your photography and your art inspires me to look a little deeper and see more through my nature photography! Beautiful post and images!

Unknown said...

So much inspiration packed into this post! Your photography is amazing, and your painting is stunning! I love how you explained the connection!

Cathy said...

Lovely photos and beautiful paintings. I love how you connected the two for us to see where you get your inspiration.

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