Oil on canvas Paintings of Italy

I’m often asked, “How long did it take you to do that?” and my answer is this: “Fifty years”.

You see, I’m 59 now and I’ve been oil painting since I was a 9-year-old living in Brooklyn, New York.

Oh, I didn’t paint every day since then but it’s taken me all these decades of varying instructors and experimentation with other media and more lessons and self instruction and general life experiences to get where I’m at now with my work. 
Yes, 50 years. That’s the essence of it.

I began my current series - my ‘Italy’ series - in 2017, four years after my three-month long stint of living there. Living in Italy was my dream and I made it happen. Granted, I did it on a very tight budget and not for a very long time, but I was living there!

Each of my paintings of Italy, of Italian architecture - ancient buildings, streets and other ancient stone work - are from images I personally composed and photographed while living there. 

I do art because I am listening to my soul. Several people have asked me why I wanted to paint Italy and why in such a traditional, classical style. The answer, once again, is simple: these images and this style just appeal to me. I don’t know why they do, they just do. I am listening to my soul.

Though I took over 2,000 photos during my time in Italy, interestingly, stairs, windows and roadways appear in many of my paintings. I do not choose these images to paint deliberately; I choose them intuitively. These three things are passages through or on which we walk or drive or simply gaze and experience life. I’m a strong believer that life is but a journey and we should all enjoy and appreciate each and every part of it. And so I commemorate the journey by painting the passages.

I love these images, these paintings. I hope you do, too.

(Oh, and I love wine, also. :D )

Thank you so much for your interest. I appreciate you.

Sincerely,
~Joyce Auteri