The Card Tree shop is one of my favorites!

When I first saw Giulia's TheCardTree shop on Etsy, I fell in love with it! The shop is full of beautifully elegant notecards, cards and writing sets....all made from recycled paper! And, then there are the eco-friendly Fair Trade Organic Cotton tote bags, painted with some of Giulia's images.

Then, I saw some of Giulia's other art work. My favorite is The Card Tree, a watercolor. Her other works are beautiful, too, but maybe it is my own love for letter writing that draws me to her The Card Tree, see it to the right.

I sent Giulia a few questions about herself and her art, so that you, too, can get to know her better. Here are her answers:

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself….where are you from? What kind of art do you create? Etc.
My name is Giulia Mauri, I'm 23 years old and I come from Castelfranco Veneto, Italy. I studied Art at High School at Nove (Vicenza, Italy) and then graduated in Visual Arts from the Univerisity of Art & Design of Venice. At University I followed many different courses like history of dance, history of cinema, history of music, modern history and philosophy. I am pleased to have a solid background in which I can relate to my Art.

Q: What kind of art do you create?

Through watercolors I mainly tell stories of people - real and imaginative. I like to describe my feelings about those stories using colors and shapes. I do lots of monochrome paintings, and I'm very attentive to define characters' posture and their manners. I love working as a CD Cover Designer. I have done one project of this kind so far and it was a lot of fun! When designing for things such as CD Cover, Art is applied to everyday life objects and items. That's also why I like to create things to sell at The Card Tree shop, like writing sets, cards and reusable cotton bags.

Q: Many of the items in your Etsy shop are made from recycled materials…why did you choose to use recycled paper in your projects?
Actually all the paper goods in my shop are made of recycled paper.
I have chosen to make my arts and crafts totally Eco-friendly because it is an effective way to save the planet; plus it makes me feel good!
When buying or selling recycled paper items, you can effectively save the remains of the forest that we have left in the world. Trees are a limited resource, and we have to teach our children to appreciate and protect them.

Q: What inspires your artwork?
I get inspiration from stories and tales that draw my attention and certain colors - like red, turquoise, blue and green. I am also very lucky to live in a very beautiful area: surrounded by the nature and the animals. Nature is a great resource of inspiration, it is constantly changing with the weather and the seasons...

Q: What types of things do you think people can do in their everyday lives to be more "Eco-friendly"?
I was going to talk about Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, but I figured why not visit www.Etsy.com?!

Q: I see that you have several writing sets in your shop, do you write letters regularly? What kind of a response do you get?
I love writing letters but I also understand that this might seem like an old fashion way of communicating. To me though, it's very personal and I just love it. In a letter you can fit so much more about yourself, than the ordinary card or postcard.
My friends love receiving mail from me, they say that my letters always hold a secret inside. I love receiving mail too, after about 10 years of correspondence with friends around the world I have boxes full of memories...

Q: What can Giulia Mauri art fans expect to see in the near future?
As my little Eco-friendly craft business grows, I would like to get my cards professionally printed on Eco-friendly cards and inks. I'd like to get involved in other Music-Art projects and get my personal web site up and running. This will have a gallery to view all my art works.

Q: I appreciate your taking the time for this interview! Do you have anything else you'd like to add?
Thank you very much Carla for giving me the opportunity to talk about my work!