Who inspired you to be an illustrator? Is it your family that encourages you in this way, is it an artist, a book, or something else?

I've always loved books.

I used to write and draw what I wanted to tell since I was child. In primary school, I had this idea to make the drawings for stories as a job in the future, and this was fine until I was a child... Then it seemed like a crazy and useful idea. My family used to have a patissery , but my parents always supported me.

You were 22 years old when your first book was published in Taiwan. Do you remember what you had felt when you touched it? Can you please tell us a little about the book?

It was incredibly amazing. I was still in school at that time, and knowing that someone was interested in my art, gave me a lot of courage to pursue even if at the beginning everything was so hard.

Actually the book was a school's project, Thumbelina. After that book I didn't go ahead with this Publisher anymore.

You are not only painting for the books, but you are also writing the texts in them. So you must be very interested in children and how they grow up. What do you think about the comics and tv shows that are presented to children today? Can you compare today's creations for children with the ones in the past?

It's hard to believe, but I don't think about children or readers in general, when I write and sketch my ideas. If I did, I think I won't be able to make anything creative at all. I write what I feel is important for me to tell, and images just came to my mind.

I think our TV shows are very bad for both children and adults, that's why I haven't watched Tv at all for a long time. And I think if I ever had children, I would find just good cartoons, movies and shows for them to watch.

Actually I grow up in the eighties, and at that time, we didn't have good shows like my parents 20 years before had, anymore. At that time, there wasn't much to see in Italian TV , but they had "Carosello". I don't know if you know about it, but it was an innovation of Italian Tv language, because it presented the advertisements in a creative form, pleasant for both children and adults with the use of animations and the creation of funny, new characters. And after Carosello, "all to sleep!", because shows were off.

Anyway, TV at my times, even if we were among the early consumer's years, weren't as bad as Today is. I think today is not just bad, it's dangerous, especially for teenagers.

Can you please tell us about your working space? What do we see on Eva Montanari's walls and her desk?

I'm at home since a travel period of two months and I'm happy to find my studio. My working space in these two months was everywere: other peoples’ desks and tables, hotel rooms, airport's chairs and even plane's seats. And it was excellent to make roughs in my sketch book and collect ideas. But now I need my desk again, with the daylight and my balcony where I can work with colors.

I'm trying to organize everything right now, because I'm generally very messy. Sheets are everywhere. On the walls I generally put things I'm working on to watch them better or posters I like. Images on the wall changes as fast as my mind change and... I like to change!

You had your paintings exhibited in many exhibitions until now. If you had a limitless budget, what kind of gallery or exhibition center would you build and in what way would you show your artworks to people?

As I don't have any entrepreneurial mind, I never think about that... I don’t have a concrete mind at all actually, so I never thought about open a gallery or a Publishing House, for instance. For me, it's even hard to think about buying an apartment!

And I think when I dream of something, it's more in terms of which kind of painting I'm going to do... Which kind of story I'm going to tell...

You were born and raised in Rimini, Italy, just like the world famous film director Federico Fellini. Are you interested in cinema? What kind of movies and which directors you find closer to yourself in terms of visual comprehension?

Yes, I am and I really like Federico Fellini. I also like the Neorealism. But one filmmaker I think is closer to my visual comprehension is surely Tim Burton.

People met the internet only a few years ago, and now, we are interviewing you for an online magazine which has more than one hundred thousand readers from 140 countries. What a rapid development in technology. How often do you use digital technology, both in your artworks or in your life?

I wasn't a computer person and I didn't enjoy digital devices, until I realized how much they can help me in my job.

Then I also discovered they're excellent in private life as well, to share opinions, to keep in touch with friends who live far away, to increase my knowledge or simply to have more possibilities... And I'm leaving this questions of possibilities open, because with art as well, digital gives you more possibilities but that can be both good and bad.

Personally all of these possibilities never gave me any possibility to make any artwork yet, I'm still using paint, canvas, paper. But computer is an instrument, as water color is. And at the moment, I'm not using water colors either.

How do you evaluate the future of our world and its owners, children?

That's a very hard question to reply. I think it's quite impossible to reply but... I'm an optimistic person, in general!

What will be your next project? Can you please give us some clues about your new plans?

Well, right now I'm working on several things at the same time: some new projects for books and I'm doing some sculptures. I can say it's a really good period, because nothing is finished yet, I'm far from the end and all the possibilities are still open. And that is very exciting!

Theme of our 9th issue is "Night". What does this word mean to you?

Night is the time when sometimes I draw, sometimes I paint, or sometimes I'm out with friends. And night's thoughts are always very different from day's, sometimes they're deeper or crazier... That's why sometimes I just prefer to sleep and leave all the crazy thoughts to find their way in dreams!