A dear friend has just bought some Clara Woods canvases. “She is an incredible teenager – she is keen to point out – I want whatever it takes that you take a look at her works, they have a charge of energy that will captivate you”

In the time of a click, I also met Clara and I was enthusiastic about her. Clara was born in Florence on March 10, 2006. The doctors discover that she had a perinatal stroke and offer her a life as a vegetable, but her parents manage to accompany her along a rehabilitation path in which Clara, showing strength and determination unimagined, it surprises everyone with continuous progress. Although he cannot speak, read and write, she perfectly understands three languages. Despite having motor difficulties, she can run. Despite using her left hand with difficulty, she manages to paint.

In a journey in search of something that would allow her to enter the world, she showed an unexpected talent for painting. “After a hearty breakfast, while her father reads her an ancient text – says mother Betina – she begins her day with a smile and enthusiasm and begins to paint.”

In 2018 the first solo show in Florence, with great success with critics and audiences. Clara explores and expresses her emotional universe through the intensity of acrylic colors, on large canvases, representing an adolescent everyday life in strong colors, actually lived or imagined. She has exhibited in 18 cities including Rome, London, Miami and Kobe, but her dream is a solo show in New York as Frida Kahlo, her favorite artist, from whom she draws the inspiration and strength necessary to passionately engage in her artistic production. Her works are listed on the international market and sold in Europe and overseas. Through a vital and artistic temperament full of explosive energy, Clara favors social inclusion in the world of the ‘invisible’ and invites us to break down the barriers of a limited vision of the concept of disability.

Going deeper into her profile on IG it’s not just Clara who grabs your attention her world made up of an incredible family makes you want to move to Los Angeles where the Woods are now based. Clara’s world makes you revise your certainties, opens the doors to challenges that seem impossible to you and leads you to finally have a positive approach towards the future. Clara has Frida Kahlo as muse with her warrior nature that kidnaps you but I’m sure that she too knows the story of Peter Pan and then just a little stardust is enough and you can fly … just believe it!

Frida Kahlo is your favorite artist but a portrait of Giuliano de Medici also appears among your paintings. What inspires you in Renaissance art?
In reality Clara fell in love with the Medici family by studying their history at school and later watching SerieTv. For Florence it was love at first sight Florence and during the last year we have had the opportunity to live right in the historic center of the city. It was a unique and stimulating experience for the whole family.

A visit to the Uffizi Galleries described in one word?
A great EMOTION

In the videos you post on IG there are often wonderful musical selections. What are three of your favorite pieces?
Clara is still unable to manage a musical selection by herself and therefore she is influenced by the musical tastes of the family. She loves Abba’s Dancing Queen, Bob Marley and Sweet Child Of Mine Gun’s Roses.

Clara is a super heroine who could you identify with in the fantasy world?
She she-ra. She-ra is the protagonist of a cartoon from the 80s / 90s, she is He-man’s sister. In this link you can discover all the super powers of her https://he-man.fandom.com/wiki/She-Ra. She-ra is loyal and she always wants to do the right thing.

How does it feel to have a special family?
It is quite complicated for all members. On the one hand it is wonderful to share your days all together, but on the other hand there are many sacrifices and we always need to compromise. It is very difficult as a couple to deal with disability and its consequences, it is often difficult to carve out a space of time just for us. The path we have taken with Clara goes out of the box and so a challenge is added to the challenge, to take an unknown path. After many years of family therapy we have finally managed to find a balance and face the challenges of every day. We also give a lot of attention to Davi, Clara’s brother, because he too sometimes suffers from this extraordinary but sometimes complicated situation. But all these sacrifices are rewarded by the love we receive through our story and Clara’s art. People who have returned to painting, who have found the will to live, who are motivated every day of our adventures

Where in the world do you see your future?
For now we have just arrived in California … the future only God knows, we put all our energy and love …

How do you fight the pandemic with art?
With love … patience … many colors and a lot of perseverance. The pandemic has severely tested the fragile balance of Clara’s world, but drawing and painting were her salvation to be able to communicate 100%.

The vision of the hornet, defeating the laws of physics to take flight. Where does the strength to reach your goal come from?
From God, our faith and our dreams. Today people no longer dream and not dreaming means accepting life as it is … without striving to improve, without believing in yourself …