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Hatfields Beach artist Nicoletta Benella follow’s a neuroscientific approach to her work with young artists.
“Collaborating with other fields gives you new perspectives, new value, new ways of doing things,” Benella said. The freelance illustrator and creative designer said she is inspired by neuroscientist Vittorio Girotto’s theory on children’s capacity to learn.
Benella said Girotto believed children were more capable than adults assume.
“Children need adults to be clear rather than to simplify things for them. They love to, and need to, be challenged. If we take them through something clearly, it helps them gain self-confidence,” Benella said.
Growing up in Citadella, a medieval town in north-east Italy, Benella was raised by a family of teachers and artists, so it’s no surprise that as a youth education leader at the Estuary Arts Centre in Ōrewa, she is both.
Benella credits her grandmother for nurturing an early interest in drawing. She said she was allowed to draw as much as she wanted at her grandmother’s house. “She would give me a book to draw from and then talk to me about it while doing the ironing.”
Studying at a specialist art college in her hometown, Benella met fellow artist Marco Baldisser who she would later marry. But before that, she was determined to gain a degree, choosing to study visual arts in Venice.
Working at the Venice Biennale as a student, is one of Benella’s highlights. Though she chose the Venetian university primarily for its focus on professional and contemporary art and the opportunity to explore different media.
In 2015, Benella, Baldisser and their two toddlers, moved to New Zealand settling on the Hibiscus Coast. For the first five years, Benella said she focussed on the family before returning to her art in 2020 with an opportunity to study remotely at an Italian academy.
“The course was online and at night but I had the chance to learn from some of Italy’s most talented picture book illustrators,” Benella said. The hard work bore fruit as she was named a finalist in this year’s NZ Book Awards for her illustration on Tim Tipene’s picture book, ‘Te Pukapuka ka kore e Pānuihia’.
With two artistic parents, it’s no surprise that thirteen-year-old Virginia, and younger brother Vinicio (Vini) have both been encouraged to express their creativity. Eleven-year-old Vini is experimenting with comic book illustrations and has already won a Members Merit award at the Estuary Arts Centre. Virginia is working with ceramics and linocut prints.
Husband Marco Baldisser is a master artisan, carrying on his family’s tradition of working with Venetian plaster. Under the ‘Studio Artemani’ moniker, he brings Nicoletta’s designs to life, some of which will be for sale at the Cash and Carry Under $500 Art Sale from November 27 to February 2.
The sale at Estuary Arts Centre, brings together works from around 150 artists. Virginia, the youngest artist to feature, will have linocut prints for sale.
Both mother and daughter will also have a stall at the centre’s Makers Market on November 10. The stall will feature picture books, ceramic jewellery and more from ‘Studio Nico’, while Virginia has created ceramic tic-tac-toe gift sets for children.
