"Shirt Weather" by Ilaria Rosso Del Turco

What makes you truly happy ?

I am blessed that I have a very happy life. Family is the first source of happiness but work provides a different kind of pleasure: it’s the wonder that takes hold of me when people respond to my pieces. I find it always amazing that something that saw the light in my tiny studio, and is about my own world , is really seen and understood by people who don’t even know me. When this happens is pure joy !

Short Bio: After training as an illustrator and printmaker Ilaria soon turned to oil painting. In 1999 she moved from her native Italy to London, UK, where her work has been included in the BP Portrait Award at the National Gallery, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the Lynn Painters Stainer, the Ruth Brochard Self Portrait Prize and many others. Printmaking reappeared as an important part of her artistic practice in 2013. Her prints have been shown in the  Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and her artist book Hortus is in the collection of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. She shows regularly in Europe and the US. 

About the works:

When I discovered the ancient technique of mezzotint it was love at first sight. A mezzotint is made using a copper plate as matrix: the plate is prepared with a special tool that makes the surface as rough as sandpaper. The image is then obtained by scraping out light areas with a blade, and finally the plate is inked and printed with a press. 

Mezzotint prints are completely tonal ( no lines !) and their subtle texture invites the viewer to an intimate looking experience. My mezzotints often feature objects and figures from my painting, sparking a conversation between techniques and presenting new narratives.