Catonsville Artist Spotlight: Carla Cerrato

Name: Carla Cerrato, known as Carlotta

Age: 51

Hometown: Pinerolo, Torino, Italy.

How did you decide to live in Catonsville: I fell madly in love with my devilishly handsome husband back in Italy and I followed him here, where he has lived since 1968. I would have followed him anywhere.

Any formal art education: I have studied illustration in several schools and workshops: A year at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Torino, Italy. Among others was a course on how to create and illustrate children books with Orietta Brombin. Last year I participated in a workshop at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Macerata, Italy, with the multitalented Gek Tessaro. Illustration is one of my many passions

Medium you currently use to create art: I like to experiment, but I am really delighted by acrylics. I love working on wrinkled, layered pieces of paper and cardboard.

How, who or what inuenced you to become an artist: It is the way I was born. There was never a doubt, just lots of fears. I was never encouraged to become an artist, just the opposite.
The biggest inuence in your artwork: The profound power of colors. I love colors in a visceral way. They 'speak' to me.

What motivates you to continue creating artwork: I become irritable when I don’t create and I feel great when I do create. I do not feel as I have a choice.
Being able to create is pure bliss.

Favorite artist that inuenced you: There are too many to mention them all, but Mary Jo Kehne, a local artist who I met just last year, has had a
wonderful inuence on me. The colors of her paintings have an enormous impact on me. There is something very profound about them. They give rise to very deep emotions in me. I feel blessed to have met her and being her
friend.

What you like about being in Catonsville: I have wonderful neighbors and I am very grateful to have found a group of artists and friends
right here in Catonsville.

Where is your art found: Italy, France, Germany, Australia, Mexico and the United States.

What is your “day job:" I teach “spontaneous painting and drawing”. It is a relaxing and playful way to express oneself through color.
I teach Italian and English to foreigners in a very creative and colorful way. (How else could I?) For information call: 410-788-7682

The next thing you're working on: I am painting on a 9-by-6 foot piece of cardboard that a friend, Barbara, recycled for me.