CRITICAL NOTES AND CURRICULUM  by Clorinda RUZZI Laura   Ferretti   lives   and   works   in   her   native   land,   the   Maremma,   of   which   she   feels   and   tells   the   charm.   Throughout   the   years,   still remaining   faithful   to   figurative   art,   she   has   invested   her   works   with   symbolic   meanings. And   the   places   have   become   more   and   more places of the spirit, ways for an articulate reflection on life, on the actual sense of life. So   Maremma,   Maremma   of   today,   of   the   sunflowers,   simple   and   vital   and   luxuriant,   but   also   the   ancient   one,   that   bitter   one   of marshes,   Maremma   with   its   wide   skies   becomes   a   vision   of   her   life   and   roots.      Desert,   in   its   hard,   naked   essentiality,   alludes   to   the encounter   with   ourselves:   an   encounter   which   goes   beyond   appearances   and   common   places.   And   also   sea   such   mutable,   such charming   and   elusive   painted   with   its   scale   of   light   and   shadows. As   life. And   then   deeper   and   deeper   into   sea   depths:   liquid   search of    what    is    in    the    depths,    beyond    the    actual    knowledge    of    ourselves,    in    that    fascinating    and    multiform    essence    that    is    our subconscious.   Everything   flows.   As   seasons   picked   in   flowing   time,   in   growing   pale   of   colors   reproduced   with   basic   colors   pure   or blended   in   complementary   colors   red-green,   blue-orange,   yellow-violet,   white-black.   Few   colors,   always   the   same,   but   they   produce emotions   ever   new   and   new,   quivering   emotions.   The   fundamental   elements   of   her   painting   are   a   strong   sense   of   color   and   a   true love   for   light   that   always   breaks   forth   to   animate   her   work.   It   is   more   special   the   clever   lightness   of   touch   she   unites   the   silky   softness of   oil   colors   with   the   rigidity   of   the   steel   spatula.   So   it   is   that   be   born   contrasts   or   strokes   of   thick,   dark   color   standing   out   on   dreamy atmosphere.   And   shapes,   in   their   essentiality   and   immediacy,   become   more   and   more   three-dimensional   and   clear   as   we   distance ourselves   from   painting.   Lately   her   expressive   feeling   induces   Laura   Ferretti   to   imbue   with   emotions   that   make   poetic   her   landscapes moving   in   nuances   or   evocatively   lost   in   the   mist.   Contours   disappear,   shapers   turn   into   allusions,   secret   atmospheres   alluding   with marks   that   don’t   tell. A   new   spiritually   appears,   timid,   through   hiding   and   rarefied   charm   of   colors.It   is   different   the   azure   thread   that, along   the   years,   produced   some   works,   result   of   a   deep,   punctual   and   personal   search,   both   on   the   religious   side,   both   on   the expressive   one.The   first   sacred   representation   is   an   ” Assumption   of   Our   Lady ”,   an Altarpiece   that   breaks   with   the   expressive   canons of   tradition.   The   event,   pervaded   by   a   modern   religious   sensitivity,   is   narrated   through   manifold   spaces   invaded   and   joined   by   the light,   through   an   essentiality   that   excludes   any   merely   decorative   element.   Her   altarpiece   representing   “The Assumption   of   Our   Lady ”   is   placed   in   the   16 th –   century   Sanctuary   of   Our   Lady   of   Charity   in   Seggiano   (Gr).   Other   sacred   works   follow,   backwards,   the   drama of   “ Our   Lady   at   the   foot   of   the   Cross ”,   altarpiece   placed   in   the   ancient   Church   of   Mercy   in   Grosseto. After   a   “ Nativity ”,   essential,   but under   a   jubilation   of   stars. The   theme   of   the   faith   in   everyday   life   is   expressed   in   “ Love's   flowing   around    “. The   work   “ And   the   Word   is made   flash ”   has   brought   the   message   of   the   great   mystery   of   the   God   who   becomes   man   for   love   and,   at   the   same   time,   that   of   the great   significance   of   the   yes   said   by   the   Maid   of   God.” The   smile   of   Mary ”   is   a   work   connected   with   Medjugorie   messages   and   the Gospa   redeeming   sharing.   Besides   this   Marian   cycle,   we   find   the   works   “ Thinking   about   the   Holy   Shroud ”   and   the   XII   Station   of   the Cross,   titled   “   The   Dead   of   Jesus   –   Euthanasia ”,   a   painful   Way,   provocatively   updated,   born   of   famous   Venetian   paiters   will   who invited   the   Tuscan   painter   to   realize   the   project   together   them.   The   Way   is   placed   in   San   Pietro   Orseolo   Church   in   Venice-Mestre. “ Deep   roots:   the   Etruscans   and   their   world ”   (title   of   the   travelling   exhibition)   arises   out   of   her   love   for   Etruscan   people   and   their culture.   It   is   a   pictorial   project   realized   in   a   very   original   way.   The   every   day   life   of   this   ancient   people,   so   modern   and   mysterious, lives   again   in   front   of   our   eyes,   coming   out   from   their   tombs,   guided   by   a   spiral   that   joins   together   fragments   of   objects   or   tomb frescos   and   statues   up   to   reproduce   the   entire   subject   in   the   first   square. Among   her   exhibitions   we   remember   the   main   ones:   at   the Gallery   Pascucci   in   Grosseto,   at   Umbria   Expo   Arte   in   Bastia   Umbra,   at   the   Pignatelli   Palace   in   Rome,   at   the   Ghibellino   Palace   in Empoli   (Florence),   at   Piccolomini   Palace   in   Pienza.   On   March   2000   she   presents   her   exhibition,   titled   “ My   journey   into   the   colors ”,   at Bechtel   Inernational   Center   of   Stanford   University   in   California.In April   2001   Laura   Ferretti   is   on   display   at   "Arketipo",   an   International Exposition,   that   takes   place   at   the   Castle   of   Este   in   Ferrara.In   December   of   the   same   year   she   is   on   display   at   the   2 nd    Biennal Exhibition   of   Sacred   Art   that   takes   place   in   the   Crypt   of   the   Cathedral   in   Pienza.   Since   January   2002   she   is   working   at   a   pictorial project   about   Etruscan   Civilization.   It   is   a   rich   and   articulate   work   so   as   to   make   alive   and   updated   this   ancient   people   and   his culture.   It   forms   an   organic   nucleus   for   an   exhibition   on   display   in   Italy   and   abroad   titled   “Deep   roots:   Etruscans   and   their   world”. Painting   by   Laura   Ferretti   makes   a   very   good   impression   on   stranger   specialists   of   this   field   so   the   painter   begins   a   continuative   co- operation   with   important   galleries   abroad,   like   "La   Mostra   Gallery"   in   Cardiff   Wales(U.K.).      On   March   2004,   the   painter   takes   part   in the   opening   exhibition   of   the   Welsh   gallery,   La   Mostra   Gallery,   together   with   the   four   painters   selected   to   represent   Italian   Art   in   the United   Kingdom.   On   June   of   the   same   year   “La   Mostra   Gallery”   organizes   an   important   art-exhibition,   titled   “Tuscan   landscapes between   dream   and   reality”,   for   the   artist.   Laura   Ferretti   conveys   her   warm   affection   for   her   land   and   also   the   charm,   the   dreamful atmosphere   you   may   find   in   Tuscany   through   her   forty   paintings   on   display.Her   work   gains   the   favor   of   the   many   visitors.   Laura Ferretti   shows   her   pictorial   project   about   Etruscans   and   their   world   from   2 nd to   28 th    October   2004,   in   the   Archaeological   Museum   in Grosseto.   It   is   the   first   leg   of   the   travelling   exhibit   titled   “Deep   roots:   the   Etruscans   and   their   World”.   Twenty-five   paintings   narrate Etruscan   love   for   live.   At   the   side   of   these   works,   landscapes   painted   with   palette-knife   show   foreshortenings   of   Tuscany.   Land   and sky   out   of   the   time.   In   October,   paintings   by   Laura   Ferretti   are   on   display   in   a   very   glamorous   and   defined   Golf   Club   in   Cardiff. At   the end of October she takes part in the Manchester Art Show, England. In   October   2004   the   painter   comes   to   an   agreement   with   the   US   Gallery   ArtSpreadDpt   in   Chicago   for   a   lasting   cooperation. December,   17 th    2004   she   participate   in   the   charity   auction   for   the   NSPCC,   in   Cardiff.   In   August,   6 th    -21 st    2005   the   travelling   exhibit brings   the   Etruscans   on   display   in   the   rooms   of   the   sixteenth-century   Nerucci   Palace   in   Castel   del   Piano   with   the   patronage   of   the commune.   In   Dicember,   3 rd -17 th    2005   the   painter   participates   in   "CENTRO   D'ARTE   SAN   VIDAL'   in   Venice   to   the   demonstration MAGIC   COLORS   OF   VENICE. As   regards   the   exhibition   "The   contemporary   Tuscan Art   in   Bolivia"   organized   by   the   Tuscan   Region the   painter   shows   her   works   dedicated   to   Etruscans   " Deep   roots:   the   Etruscans   and   their   world "   in   the   Italian   Embassy   in   La   Paz (Bolivia).   From   September   23 rd    to   October   5 th    2006:"Deep   roots:   the   Etruscans   and   their   world",   travelling   exhibition,   Luigi   Sturzo Gallery,   Venice   Mestre.   From   October   15 th    to   30 th    2006:   "Deep   roots:   the   Etruscans   and   their   world",   travelling   exhibition,   Centre   of Culture,   Villa   Pozzi,Venice   Mestre.   From   December   16 th    to   January   7 th    2007:Exhibition   of   Sacred   Paintings,   Luigi   Sturzo   Gallery, Venice   Mestre   .   September   22 nd    -   October   3 rd    2007:   One-man   Exhibit   " What   color   might   tell   me..."       that   opens   the   artistic   season   of the   Luigi   Sturzo   Art   Gallery   in   Venice-Mestre.   From   December   15 th ,2007   to   January   20 th ,2008   “Deep   roots:   the   Etruscans   and   their world”,   travelling   exhibition,   is   on   display   in   the   Archaeological   Museum“Isidoro   Falchi”   in   Vetulonia   (Gr).   School-children   and   their teacher   had   an   interesting   lesson   of   art   and   history   together   with   the   painter.   In   March14 th -31 st ,2008   Laura   Ferretti   is   at   the   exhibition of   ”The   painful   Way   -   XV   provocations”   at   the   Civic   Tower   in   Venice-Mestre.   The   review   AD   dedicates   a   space   to   the   painter   with publication   of   critical   notes   and   images   in   October,   2008.   Her   painting   continue   to   have   an   enticing   estimation   at   home   and   abroad.   It is   just   arrived   an   invitation   to   put   on   display   a   one-man   exhibition   from   the   important   Canadian   galleria   “Galerie   Gora”   in   Montréal. Her   next   appointment   is   “A   Homage   to   Turner”,   international   event   titled   “Lights,   emotions   and   fantastic   riddles”   in   Castle   of   Este   in Ferrara,   from   February   14 th -   22 nd ,2009.   Her   works   are   appreciated   very   much   both   by   the   public   and   the   art   reviewers.   In   October 2010   Laura   Ferretti   began   a   collaboration   with   the   Foundation   Guseppe   De   Nittis   and   the   Cultural   Center   Zerouno   of   Barletta.In   the period   December   15 th    to   30 th ,   in   Barletta,   the   artist   participates   in   the   exhibition   "Between   the   tones   of   an   ideal   space".The   show   is curated by Dr. Anna Soricaro sponsored by the Fondazione G. De Nittis. Also   in   Barletta,   in   the   period April   15 th    to   May   10 th ,   2011,   personal   exposure   "Deep   roots:   the   Etruscans   and   their   world."From   3 rd to 15 th    October   2011   she   exhibited   at   the   Hiring   SW1   Gallery   in   London,   with   the   organization   of   the   New Artemisia   Gallery.   From   14 th    to 16 th    October   2011,   the   artist   took   part   in   the   event   "Weekend   with   the   Arts"   in   the   exhibition   organized   by   the   CulturalFerrara.La Ferrara   Pro Art   Gallery   in   collaboration   with   Domus   Turkish,   is   to   select   artists   for   the   6 th    "International   Biennial   of   Contemporary Art Ferrara",   scheduled   in   2012.   Her      work   "The   song   of   the   curves   and   lines   of   complementary   colors"   has   been   selected   to   participate in   the   International   Prize"Tokyo"   (May   2011).From   3   to   15   October   2011   he   exhibited   at   the   Hiring   SW1   Gallery   in   London,   with   the organization   of   the   New Artemisia   Gallery.   From   the   14th   to   the   16th   of   October   2011   the   artist   participates   in   the   "Week   end   with   the Art"   event   in   Ferrara. The   review   organized   by   the   Ferrara   Pro Art   Cultural Association,   in   collaboration   with   the   Domus Turca   gallery, is   aimed   at   selecting   artists   for   the   "6th   International   Biennial   of   Contemporary   Art   in   Ferrara,   scheduled   for   2012".   From   9   to   30 January   2012,   in   Barletta,   he   exhibited   his   works   "Oltre   il   cielo"   in   the   review   "Between   body   and   mind",   an   event   organized   by   the Zerouno Cultural Center, under the patronage of the G. De Nittis Foundation. In   April   2013,   at   the   residence   of   the   Ambassador   of   Italy   in   Ireland,   Lucan   House,   the   painter   was   invited   to   represent   the   Tuscan art,   exposing   her   works   "Deep   roots:   the   Etruscans   and   their   world"   in   the   cultural   event   "   Tuscan   Spring. A   taste   of   Italy   ",   organized by   Ambassador   Maurizio   Zanini.   In   the   same   year,   due   to   a   serious   and   devastating   illness,   the   painter   was   forced   to   interrupt   her activity. His latest work, a spatula of sublime interpretation, remains untitled. They   wrote   about   her:   G.   Gasparotti,   S.   Perin,   G.   Turola,   G.   Lombardi,   Anna   Soricaro,   Elizabeth   Lorenz,   U.Marianelli,   G.   Scotti,   C. Ruzzi, T. Paloscia, P. Pisani, M. Violi , A. Branca, R. Marzocchi.