Arts

After talking so much about the genes part of this blog, its time to address the arts.  My mother-in-law, after starting to paint at the local senior citizens' club, convinced me to start painting.  I guess she thought I needed a hobby.  I started about 1990 with occassional lessions with Lynn Pittard and Mary Carole and just painting on my own.  I did ok but really was an amateur.
When I retired in 2006 I had time to take lessions.  Roni Brown Katz had her studio in Allentown at that time.  I started painting with her and have continued painting with her since.  She is an excellent realistic painter and teacher and I believe I have learned a great deal.
Lemons ala Lumia is the first painting I did with Roni.  The title is a play on my name which means lemon in the Sicilian dialect.  My father's family is from Villalba in the middle of Sicily.
Most of the others are based on photos taken by me or by my daughter, Margaret who is a better photographer than I.
Sayen Springtime is from a photo of Sayen Gardens in Hamilton Twp, NJ.  It has beautiful azaleas and rhododendren which make April and May a fabulous place to visit.
My daughter and I were in Cinque Terra a few years ago visiting my cousins.  She took this photo.  Cinque Terra is a group of 5 towns on the coast south of Portofino.  Its a wonderful place to hike, sight-see, etc.
The portrait of my son, Joe is based on my favorite photo of him.  He and his friends hired a professional photographer to take photos of them at the beach.  This is just one of them.
Our house at the beach has a large bed of irises.  The purple iris is from a photo I took of the many colors of iris growing there.
The painting of the Irish village is based on an advertisement for a Nuclear Medicine Conference.  The picture appealed to me and reminded me of a wonderful trip to Ireland many years ago.
Finally, the painting of the two dogs is based on a photo of the Texas bluebells that bloom beautifully in the spring.  The dogs belong to my son and daughter-in-law.  The black one is part Husky and is named Nanuque of the South.  She is very excitable and loves to jump.  The beagle followed my son home one night.  He had no collar or chip so they kept him.  His name is Sgt Preston.  He is a very calm fellow who loveds looking out the window.  My daughter-in-law was delighted when I gave them the painting!
I love painting landscapes, flowers, and portraits.  My flowers come from any source including J&P catalogues.  To date my portraits are family except for some Santas.  Landscapes are from photos of places I've been or my daughter has been.  She's a better photographer than I am.