Introduction

I was born in 1960 in a small village in Sicily, I grew up and lived for 20 years in close contact with nature; together with my father we were often in his small piece of land tending the garden. Maybe I would rather have spent those hours with my friends, but I think these hours helped me appreciate nature and hard work in the fields.

From my mam I learned cooking from the perspective of the Traditional Italian Kitchen. In the 1992 I was introduced the Italian Macrobiotic Association, where I started to study Macrobiotics, my knowledge of food and nutrition expanded whereby

I began to incorporate this philosophy into my own cooking and thus creating healthier alternatives to conventional foods. At this time I felt very passionate about these new invigorating ideas and the quality of food, and in 1998 I decided to change my career and embark on becoming a Macrobiotic Chef.

I still continue to study and apply the Macrobiotic Philosophy in relation to everyday life. Currently my work is also my principal hobby and passion, this is where my work revolves around. I enjoy experimenting and creating new recipes with the knowledge I have of Macrobiotics,

I now feel that cooking has a great artistic aspect to it, using colour, texture and compositional elements as well as create balanced healthy meals. In my spare time I devote myself to pursuing my other creative ideas,

I studied in high school and then university. The passion for art grew more and more every day.

I am selftaught, and mainly work with natural elements such as sand, wood, stone and paper. I am using Acrylic, Tempera and Watercolor. During the past few years of working in this field I have seen many new exciting alternative ideas that have expanded my views about life. This has helped me to develop myself on a personal level, which I otherwise would not have been able to.

I continued to develop this side of my creativity making my first mobiles with butterflies, my beloved butterflies. More work followed, with other colors, sand, pieces of wood and stones. On my walks I like to collect them to use them in my compositions.

I have called my recent work " Painting Bonsai" in wood, glass or flat stones. I enjoy making them and I like to discover what lies in each one.

I feel very fortunate to have experienced this at this time, and I wish to continue to discover new ways of growing.