"Friday Night", 36in x 36in, Oil on Canvas

"Packed", 20in x 24in, Oil on Canvas

This is another piece for a series of beach paintings that I have been working on. My intention with this piece (as with most of my other beach paintings) is to capture the mood and atmosphere of a day at the beach. When painting subjects like this, it's important to find the right balance between accuracy and looseness - I find this balance oftentimes hard to achieve! However, I always thoroughly enjoy painting beach scenes for the challenges and aesthetics that they have to offer. 

"The Taste Test", 24in x 36in, Oil on Canvas

This is a painting of my Grandmother Stina (Augustina Caloiaro) - my family and I call her "Ma". For some time now, I have been wanting to make a painting of her, and I finally got around to it! Ma is a fantastic cook, so I figured this to be a fitting setting to paint her in. Though some elements of the environment are invented, this is pretty much what her kitchen actually looks like. In a way, this also a portrait of her house, which sad to say, is going to be torn down this year. My brothers, cousins and I have spent a large majority of our lives running around this house under Ma's loving supervision, so seeing this house go will be hard...Back to Ma...She is a GREAT woman! Other than my parents, she has been one the most influential role models in my life. She was and still is a HARD worker. She raised her family through thick and thin - always with a smile on her face. She is tough and resilient. At 88 years old she still lives alone and makes food for her family. Her courage, consistency and steadfastness was my greatest inspiration for this piece.

"Coffee in the North End", 24in x 30in, Oil on Canvas

This painting is of the North End, Boston, MA. The North End is my favorite part of Boston - go figure, it's the Italian section! I have always been drawn to this part of the city for its warmth and rustic atmosphere. I also love the geometric patterns created by the overlapping and juxtaposition of the building  facades. I took a lot of liberties with this piece to make it a more interesting painting. It's still the the North End, but sometimes you just have to "make stuff up" to make the design work. It's never worth sacrificing good design or composition for the sake of being true-to-life. I posted my reference photo below to compare to the painting: