“ I see the future in a positive way…”
Paul Zimmerman in conversation with Annemarie Ambrosoli
Paul Zimmerman: How did you get interested in art?
Annemarie Ambrosoli: Since very young, I was a pupil of my uncle, the painter Ercole Frigoli. He introduced me to the technique of oil painting as well as to the love of nature. I attended also courses at the International Summer Academy of Bruneck (BZ-Italy) in the years 1992/1996 under the guidance of Professors Claus Pack, for the section “landscape” and Reinhard Adlmannseder, for the section “nude, portrait and figure”. I attended drawing courses, too.
PZ: What is the most challenging aspect of your work?
AA: It is certainly the innovative research of the subject, which must be creative and interesting. The figures that I paint may seem simple at first sight, but they are not really simple, because they require a detailed study of the composition and a good color research.
PZ: What is your artistic process? How do you create your paintings?
AA: The study of my works is very accurate to give strength and visual impact. Each work is designed in detail. To do this I use geometric shapes such es circles, squares, rectangles, triangles and straight lines. The originality of the hats, the earrings, the dresses painted of my figures give great strength to the scene. Generally for the oil technique I use large format canvases. For the watercolor technique I use many layers of watercolor that are made to achieve the right degree of color. Considering that with the watercolor technique no errors are allowed, the paintings must be very accurate and must be well programmed.
PZ: Do you have any particular goal in mind when your start a new piece?
AA: My main goal is to feel good and create a painting that fully satisfied me. With this goal I am sure I can convey my positivity and my emotions to others. My greatest joy is to start the day with the preparations of my design. My composition must be unique and she does not have to be repetitive. For me the days are never boring but rather exciting. Surely for each work that I want to create it takes time to find the idea, draw it on the canvas or watercolor paper, then paint it. I work so long as I can, with pauses necessary to rest my eyes. I prefer to work as much as possible on the work so as not to lose inspiration.
PZ: How do you know when the painting is finished?
AA: There is certainly the moment when I think that I no longer have to continue and that the work is really over. When I add my signature, my work is ready for viewing and I am satisfied.
PZ: Has your practice changed over time?
AA: Certainly. I started painting the landscape “en plein air” using various techniques, I painted still lifes choosing carefully the objects to portray, I painted portraits from life. After years I felt like looking for new ideas and I started creating my new semplified figures, focusing a lot on color.
PZ: Which artists are you most influenced by?
AA: During my artistic life I was influenced by different artists of the past. For my landscape period definitely in general the impressionists, the fauve, the post-impressionists. By changing my style, for my new creations, I look to futurism and to Mondrian’s works too, who used a grid of vertical and horizontal lines, that give the structure an internal order. Even though I don’t paint like him, but I use in my compositions vertical and horizontal lines to give an internal order in my composition. I can say that I have created my own personal style.
PZ: How would you define yourself as an artist?
AA: As an artist I try to tell stories through my creations with creativity, imagination, fantasy, aesthetics and originality about my personal experiences, memories and new ideas. The last two awards that I have received 2021 and 2019, the design awards by A’ Design Awards & Competition in the “Arts, Crafts and Ready-Made Design” category, confirm that my works have been appreciated by a competent jury. I am very happy that through my works I am able to convey my entusiasm and positivity.
PZ:What are you working on now?
AA: Now I am following my style, that I created after years of studying both color and subject, and letting myself be carried away by my feeling developing my ideas in an original way and transmitting to the viewer joy, serenity, positivity, happiness.
PZ:How does the pandemic influence your work and sensibility?
AA: The pandemic has affected my creative work negatively, not being able to fully concentrate. Currently, however, I see the future in a positive way and this certainly gives me the incentive to create new creations.