Careful spirit of someone, Pier Toffoletti.

Pier Toffoletti was born in 1957 in the province of Udine.
Pier's passion for art was obvious from a very early age, and his family quickly realized he had inherited his grandfather's artistic talent. When he was 12, the gift from an aunt of two books on Michelangelo and Cézanne stimulated him to try and copy the illustrations. Instead of buying the things that attracted other boys his own age, as soon as he had a little money, Pier headed for the general store in nearby Cividale to stock up on painting requisites.
When he finished middle school, Pier enrolled at the art college in Udine, where he began to study the classics and to recreate some of Michelangelo's masterpieces in various techniques. Art college enabled Pier to discover another great passion, photography. At art college, he put together portfolios of rural subjects for fun. 1976 was also the year Pier graduated in applied art, graphic art for advertising, and photography.
In 1978, he opened a graphic design and advertising film production studio. Painting was relegated to his spare time while he concentrated on directing music videos, television commercials, documentaries and cartoons. He set up a radio department at the studio, and in a few years owned two radio stations. In parallel with his work, he pursued hobbies such as scuba diving, caving and trekking. He led survival courses and for ten years was a member of the speleological section of the regional Alpine rescue group. His bond with nature became steadily stronger.
From 1992 to 1994, he took part in a number of thrilling expeditions to places of incredible natural beauty in Central and South America: the experience changed his life. He realized he had become too wrapped up in his work. He had too many commitments, and too many worries. He decided to sell his radio stations and take a year off.
1994 was the year of the great change. In Nicaragua, Pier met a Friulian lecturer from the Academy of Fine Art in Venice who had settled long before at Managua, where he executed gigantic, stunningly beautiful murals. Pier sensed that the moment had come to devote himself entirely to painting. It was not an easy choice. Sleepless nights and suffering accompanied his artistic explorations.
Pier felt a strong, irresistible need to recreate natural surfaces that would resemble the slabs of scarred and graffitied rough stone that made such an impression on him during his caving days. It is difficult to merge classical figures with rough surfaces, yet both are part of Pier's story.
Through the intimate relationship that bonds man to rock, we understand why it is that we are sometimes confronted with works that look as if they were carved in stone. Even the materials that Pier uses for the surfaces of his paintings, such as powdered marble dust, clay or sand, rise to the surface from the depths of his explorations. He obliged himself to find a chemical-free amalgam.
Pier is man addressing the natural world with the gentle, careful spirit of someone who respects and loves nature, takes possession of it and is able to discover its limits.
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