The ideology of Giusy Rampini

Some people may prefer a sheet of paper and a pen or a Computer to write their memories of life or their feelings towards a particular situations. Instead, I have used my gift for painting to describe all the moments that have been imprinted in my mind. I prefer to use canvas and delicate pastel colours to show others the memories and feelings which have been impressed enduringly in my mind. Painting helps me to express my innermost feelings and gives an everlasting quality to my personal feelings and emotion. Without my paintings these personal feelings would only be impressed upon my memory and would fade over the years.

It is not easy to bring to life and eternalise my sensations. This is one of the reasons why I’m so diligent in my work and why I use visual means of communication that is comprehendable to all people. I have had many experiences in the world of art: I made some frescoes and I restored some antique paintings but only the representation of nature is capable of inspiring and releasing my creativity; wild animals, the mountains and the woods are an almost fatal attraction for me. In my opinion it is not easyfor humans to live in harmony with the world of nature. We have Difficulty relating to other creatures who share our earth.

As we can’t speak to them, we need a kind of interpreter. For me the dog is the perfect mediator between the world of man and the wild world of nature, that in many aspects reamins unknown to man. The dog’s noble soul has an iron will that no other animal possesses. Dogs are marvellous creatures, able to serve us without asking anything in return but still maintaining a complete sense of indipendence. Dogs are an important part of my life. Since childhood and later on in life, I have always wanted them nearby to me, especially whilst on long treks in the mountains.

In this way dogs have become one of my most favourite subjects and I find it easy to fix on canvas the feelings they inspire in me: their muzzled expression, their movement and the strain of a dog pointing are significant moments for me. The many facets of a dog’s behaviour are dependent upon the environmrent around them. In few seconds the quit atmosphere of the Alps can be transformed with the arrival of the hunt. Almost immediately the drama of prey being ambushed can make unique and without comparison. My approach to hunting, in part, stems from my love of dogs and my intrinsic disposition as a hunter.

At first sight you may think that my approach to hunting derives from the culture of gun manufacturing in valley where I grew up. In actual fact I believe my passion for hunting derives from a deeper motivation. I believe there is something inside us all, a kind of genetic inheritance that occasionally gets the upper hand and draws us to the world of hunting.

I consider myself very lucky because I can combine my love of hunting with my artistic skill. My passions for art and hunting coincide, one feeds the other and each time stimulates my artistic vein. I choose to hunt in the high mountains because it is an environment similar to myself… a little wild and yet a little lonely. In places where the earth touches the sky I find the deepest inspiration for my work. My love for mountain hunting can be seen in paintings such as one with a hunter returning from a long day, another depicting a moorcock or the sight of a chamois running through the snow. I enjoy the mountains in all their many forms.

In seasons all year round the unique beauty of the Alps, with the splendid views and tangible silences are beyond comparison. The colours of nature become pure art in these mountainous regions and every year is just as magnificent as the previous one. Hunting is one way we too may feel close to nature. If all the ingredients of high emotion,, a sense of poetry and romanticism are included in a hunt then the death of an animal could be said to be justified: life, love and death are the most essential themes an artist feels compelled to express..

People who come hunting with me know That I live such moments passionately; sometimes, I have sometimes, I have feelings so intense that I forget I’m holding a gun in my hands, because, all the time, I‘m searching and recording in my mind the colours of a leaden dawn or a red sunset and the magical atmoshere of a moorcock or a woodcock in flight. My dogs and I, either alone or with friends, wander searching for memories in environments still left untouched by mankind. I hope that my paintings succeed in transferring tp others such unforgettable moments. Animals are symbols of life, each one with its own beauty. My intention is to represent each animal, as best as I can, in its natural habitat.

For this reason I don’t like to depict animals in too much deatai like those in nature books but rather to find a poetic moment whereby it is possible to hear the noises in the woods, to feel the air, the wind, the love for life and the desire for freedom. The beauty of any specific moment is probably a little distant from present day stereotypes but it suits the rhythms and agreements of Art.