I am a first generation immigrant.  My parents were from Tuscany:  My mother was born in Colle de Compito, a village outside of Lucca, and my father was born in Qurata, a village outside Arezzo.  My parents were farmers.  They both came to Chicago after the war, met and were married a year after they arrived.  I am the oldest of seven children.

 

Growing up we traveled to Florence to visited the family that stayed back. On a trip I saw the Giotto’s, The Death of Stt Francis in the Basilica of Santa Croce and knew then I wanted to be an artist.  I graduated from SAIC, where I studied with Ray Yoshida, Karl Wirsum and Frank Pietek.  I spent lots of time wandering the galleries.  My favorite painter was Gorky, but I also spent time with Kandinsky, Dove and the big O’Keefe.  The Chicago Imagists definitely had an influence on my Art.  In my final year Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party came to Chicago and I helped work on it.  From her I learned about Art as a social and political act which was very different from how my teachers taught, they were focused on art as an interior journey.

 

After school I painted but mostly worked.  I worked as a photo stylist, a production artist in advertising, an educational book designer, and a Genius at the Apple store.  I became involved in the Bucktown Arts Fest and was a lead in running that for many years.  I developed relationships with all types of artists, bureaucrats in the City and people from the neighborhood.  Doing this work I understood in practice what I learned from Judy Chicago, that Art is an important part of the community, not just an individual act.

 

During the Pandemic I started drawing again, slowly finding my way.  I have had a booth at the Bucktown Arts Fest for the past 2 years and have sold a number of small works, which is encouraging.  I also started a Drawing and Painting program at Wicker Park Gardens.  I teach a 3-part series, one of which is in the Gardens of Wicker Park in summer where it is beautiful.  This work is deeply satisfying to me and I have many return students each year.

 

In my work I hope to weave theses themes together, a spirituality that talks to the world but is rooted in a singular voice.