Cooking with Mariaelisa and Friends

"Where there is no bread, there is no love."

--Italian proverb

Cookbooks are second only to travel guides when it comes to books that help you daydream your way to far-off lands. Although, since cookbooks help you recreate one of the best parts of any visit to another country -- the food -- maybe they are the best way to go on an imaginary vacation.

We recently received our latest shipment of woodblock-printed wonders from Mariaelisa Lebroni's Xilocart workshop in Perugia, Italy. Among the treasured greeting cards, journals, prints, and other goodies were copies of three cookbooks Mariaelisa published with writer friends of hers, one for breads, one for seeds and grains, and one about those plump garden favorites potato, tomato, and squash. Each of these cookbooks gives the history and traditions associated with these foods in Italy, and a cornucopia of recipes.

Mariaelisa's woodblock prints of farm scenes, rustic baker's ovens, and lucious plants decorate the pages, and the text for all three books is in both Italian and English. Talk about a way to travel without leaving the house, or even the kitchen!

Bellissima. Bellissima.

Although we only had one day in Perugia, Mariaelisa Lebroni helped my family feel like natives and royalty all at once when we went to visit her there. Mariaelisa is the woodblock artist behind the Xilocart line of books and prints we sell at Castle in the Air. She makes her creations out of her magical studio in Perugia, the capital of Italy's Umbria region and a city known for its artists.

Between feeding us so much delicious home-cooked food and introducing us to her family, Mariaelisa showed us her studio, where she's got the product of forty years of printing arranged among shelves, tables, and crates. She surprised and delighted me when, after showing us the blocks she used to print her own set of tarot cards, Mariaelisa handed me one of her few remaining copies of the deck!

She drove us all on a high-speed tour through the streets of the town, ending up outside the Church of San Pietro. The church was already closed, but Mariaelisa talked our way in. We were the only ones inside the nave, and when we looked up at the ceiling and took in the gorgeous inlaid wood ceiling, none of us summed it up like Mariaelisa: "Bellissima. Bellissima."

The Colorful World of Mariaelisa Lebroni

When it rains in the spring in Berkeley, like it has been for the past few days, all the trees and streets and houses take on darker, richer, glossier colors. The blossoms brighten up, everything looks so fresh, and it feels great to be alive.

I get that same wonderful feeling every time I look at Mariaelisa Lebroni's artwork. We sell her xilographia (handmade woodblock-print) journals, photo albums, address books, and other delights at Castle in the Air. They've just debuted on our Online Shoppe, too, in the new Xilocart section. Take a peek and maybe you'll feel that same rainy day elation!

The Prints of Mariaelisa Lebroni

One of the most beloved collections we carry at Castle in the Air is the line of journals, albums, prints, and other beautiful objects from Italian artisan printmaker Mariaelisa Lebroni. Under the name Xilocart, Mariaelisa uses xilography (xilografia in Italian) printmaking tools and techniques that have been found in the artifacts of particular cultures reaching back across the millennia.

Xilography is a method of printing first employed by ancient Egyptians and later by the Chinese, who expanded from single block carving to moveable type as early as the 8th century, 700 years before Europeans began using similar techniques. Artists carve away parts from the surface of a block of wood, leaving intact the shapes they would like printed. Ink is applied to the carved surface, which is then pressed onto paper or cloth. A xilographic artist may print using a single impression, or let the first impression dry and add others using different blocks or colors of ink.

Perhaps more than for the sense of history conveyed by Mariaelisa's books, people love her work for its whimsy. Contented frogs, cheerful cityscapes, smiling suns, and simple pictures of trees in autumn grace the covers of her books, all in lovely color combinations. Because each print is handmade and one-of-a-kind, no two books will have exactly the same image, although it is easy to recognize pieces from the same "family."

Mariaelisa is truly a treasure for the beauty of her works and for her preservation of an ancient art form, and we are honored to know her and carry her books and prints.