The castle of San Salvatore – FlorArt. On a beautiful sunny weekend the nobles and gentry of northern Italy who dabble or even, work seriously, in crafts, gathered to show their wares at the Castle of San Salvatore, which belongs to the Collalto family, for the first FlorArt fair, a showcase for plants and crafts organized by Giovanna Poggi Marchesi together with Studio Lavia. Built in the thirteenth century, the castle stands on a hilltop of the pre-Alps near Treviso. From the castle on a bright sunny day you can see from the Alps to the Venetian lagoon. The main building in the fortified complex, Palazzo Odoardo has been re-structured with the most modern technologies for use as a location for events. In the garden, below the Rocca or stronghold, nurseries exhibited flower and plants, from cacti to orchids, as well as, garden furniture and pots. Indoors in the Palazzo itself, elegant artisans showed their crafts.
Giovanna Poggi Marchesi
“….continues this great Venetian tradition of glass flowers bead making.”
Perle di Vetro. Giovanna Poggi Marchesi is the ideater and organizer of the FlorArt event, a fair featuring plants and crafts as the name suggests. The successful event of highly selected crafts made by nobles and gentry in their country homes was the social event of the autumn. Giovanna, in her own right, is also known for the magnificent glass flowers she makes with original antique Venetian beads made in Murano. An art she learnt from Nella Sammartini Lopez y Royo, her maternal grandmother. Today, she is one of the most well-known and distinguished Italian artists that use this technique and these materials keeping alive this great Venetian tradition of glass flowers bead making. She lives and works in the Treviso countryside, not far from Venice, in a house immersed in green fields and hills. She is also the author of the book, The Flowers of Venice: The Art of creating Flowers and Decorative Objects Using Venetian Glass Beads, which is published by Mondadori.
Perle di vetro - Giovanna Poggi Marchesi: giopoggimarchesi@alice.it
Carlo Marchesi
“…using animals hand-blown by Bruno Amadi in Venice.”
“…in his spare time designing and making cufflinks.”
Carlo Marchesi. Carlo Marchesi runs the family fish farm in the Venetian Lagoon. And, being married to Giovanna Poggi Marchesi, who “Eats, sleeps and breaths” Venetian glass beads, he decided to work along side her in his spare time designing and making cufflinks. Using the precious and decorative beads he creates colorful and unusual cufflinks. Recently branching out by using animals hand-blown by Bruno Amadi in Venice.
“…from precious woods with delicate and intricate inlays…”
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Giuliana de Faveri Tron
“…lots of pretty patterns for floors and skirting boards…”
Giuliana de Faveri Tron. The attractive Giuliana de Faveri Tron lives in a sixteenth century palace in the countryside near Bologna. Now that her children have grown up she has gone back to work on her trompe l’oeils, like this garden, behind her, seen through a greenhouse window. She also specializes in fake marbling effects and more recently, having been asked by a friend to paint over and ugly wood floor, she has developed a technique and lots of pretty patterns for floors and skirting boards; repetitive geometric designs, flowers, tassels, fringes, ribbons and more whimsy patterns that can be painted onto planks to embellish a room.
Giuliana de Faveri Tron: www.magamaison.it
Franca Goppion
“…is fun from souvenirs of the Eiffel Tower to plastic fruits to colorful beads.”
“…to create corporate gifts like these bracelets made from corkscrews components.”
Fragolab. Franca Goppion, didn’t follow into the family coffee business, she became a graphic designer. Her training served her well in her jewelery making business were composition, balance and creativity together with the important ingredient of fun and play take the leading roles. Fragolab is a play on words with her initials and the word fragola or strawberry, a word that immediately evokes summer, color fun and playfulness. For Franca designs her bijoux using anything she can get her hands on which is fun from souvenirs of the Eiffel Tower to plastic fruits to colorful beads. She also enjoys a challenge when asked by businesses to create corporate gifts like these bracelets made from corkscrews components. She is a “one woman operation” researching, designing, buying and making each piece herself, where no two items are ever exactly the same. Recently she started a T-shirt collection by printing silk-screens of her necklaces onto them and her most recent designs feature pretty objects or flowers, which were perfect for this event.
Sandro Zara
“So he brought back to life the ancient Venetian cape using quality materials, silver hooks and chains…”
Tabarrificio Veneto. A photograph of a photograph of the eccentric Sandro Zara who twenty years ago turned his life around and started the Tabarrificio Veneto. After scouting and researching clothes in museums, palaces and farmhouses near and around Venice it was the cloaks that intrigued him the most. So he brought back to life the ancient Venetian cape using quality materials, silver hooks and chains, velvet collars and giving them fascinating names like The Brigantine or The Nobleman, therefore transforming the cloak into an object of design and desire for a small group of men and women.
Mauro Sarti
“…from precious woods with delicate and intricate inlays…”
Mauby & Wood. Mauro Sarti’s elegant spinning tops are exquisite objects to look at and fun to play with. They are the ideal gift for the gentleman who has everything. Made from precious woods with delicate and intricate inlays, which Mauro insists he does not design but it is the wood itself, while it rotates on the lathe that dictates it’s own shape. The artistic artisan enjoys working on small objects and says that “The tops are a game, they spin and turn and this says more about them than just words can.”
Mauby & Wood - Mauro Sarti:www.maubywood.eu
Maria Cristina Ilari
“…decorations in the “Print Room “ style where Pictorial techniques are freely drawn on to deceive…”
Studio MilleCentoUno. Maria Cristina Ilari’s Studio MilleCentoUno’s passion is for memory-laden objects. It specializes in decorations in the “Print Room “ style , astonish and give suggestions. The term Print Room indicates an original and very personal way of decorating the walls with prints, which arose in the eighteenth century between England and Ireland. MilleCentoUno’s Print Rooms are created for decorators, but are used also by decoupage enthusiasts for the creation of sophisticated furnishings.
Photographs: Manfredi Bellati
Oriana Chantal Balliana
“…a gardening set in dark and milk chocolate, perfect for the gourmet gardener.”
Q-Ori & Cioccolato. Oriana Chantal Balliana lives under the imposing Brandolino Castle near Treviso. Her chocolate making company Q-ori & Cioccolato specializes in heart shaped chocolates, which often are covered in nuts or sweets. Her slogan appropriately is “Hearts to be Broken”. She is constantly researching the prime ingredients and is obsessed with chocolate. In fact she only uses the very best from Venezuela. Oriana sells her chocolates at selected fairs and events only, so look at her website for the next event. For FlorArt she designed a gardening set in dark and milk chocolate, perfect for the gourmet gardener.
