Introducing art studio, DueAlberi…

I was recently contacted by two creatives from Italy, Antonia & Fabio De Vann, who run a studio called DueAlberi. 

They specialise in floral and botanical fine art and today’s blog post features a Q&A, together with a selection of their beautiful prints.

When did you start your business and where are you based?

We started to take floral photos a few years ago, around 2009. We followed our hearts and realised that we had a special connection with flowers and had to create something with them.

Then floral studies followed and gradually we began to experiment with different ways of photographing botanicals. We very much enjoy the direct contact with the flower because we feel that each one has its own soul to be discovered.

Afterwards, at the beginning of this year, we began to print the best photos on a special fine art textured photo paper, creating our original floral art prints.

We’re lucky to live in Rome and have the opportunity to contemplate different plants and flowers that grow during the generous Roman seasons.  

Where do you get your inspiration?

We find our inspiration in nature and art. We spend many hours observing gardens, visiting the Roman flower market, the Botanical Garden in Trastevere, admiring and capturing nature’s beauty and colours.

We like doing gardening ourselves.  It makes us feel closer to earth and happier. We have a small garden here and we grow succulent plants, palms, jasmine, a rose bush and a pine tree.

We also love art and are fascinated by the Italian Renaissance and Baroque floral language, by the mural paintings and decorations that you can admire in Italy, but also by the English Pre-Raphaelites and Art Nouveau that make large use of roses, irises, camellias and lilies.

At the same time, we’re attracted by the delicacy and grace of Zen and Japanese Art. We appreciate both European and Eastern aesthetics, and try to use everything that we consider beautiful and attractive.

What is the process behind creating your prints?

The process begins with an inspiration: a flower, a plant, a leaf or a colour. Then an idea of a composition follows.  It does not have specific rules.  We create and invent unique compositions.

We love to use flowers in different stages of their life: blossoms and flowers in their splendour, but also dried or dead flowers. We believe that this is the correct way to interpret life. It comprises the bloom of youth but also the wisdom of old age.

Every stage of life has its own charm and beauty and we try to underline that in our floral works. We also enjoy combining flowers with different materials, such as pebbles and wires. We do the shooting and then choose only one photo from the series that will go through a specific post production process.

The image is digitally elaborated with delicacy, combining patina, hand drawn watercolour or ink painting, trying to interpret what the flower has to communicate. We like to think that our love and passion for flowers is obvious in our work and hope it could bring more happiness and beauty to everyone.   

What are your plans for the future?

We’re working on a new rose series and have introduced larger print formats.

We’re also creating different home decoration products inspired by our photographs and will present them in winter 2012 through the online designer networks. 

Do you have a favourite flower?

We adore fragrant garden roses and are continually inspired by them. They’re just perfect. 

We have our favourite part of the botanical garden with lots of hybrid tea roses and we often go there to admire them.

We also love peonies, orchids, camellias, irises, dahlias and every kind of blossom. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading today’s blog post.  If you’d like to see more of DueAlberi’s work, they have a website and an Etsy shop. 

And if you’d like to keep up-to-date with their news, they’re on Twitter and Facebook, plus have a blog.

(Images : DueAlberi)