General Info:
The Celtic culture spoke to me, almost like a gravitational pull. I was drawn to study the Celtic mythos and their respective cultural artworks. The shift into Christianity and the illuminations of those first books the monk, Aidan and his monks transcribed tirelessly and beautifully. These enflamed my creativity, sparking the desire to leave my own mark in sculpted or painted Zoo morph patterns. My mother encouraged my creativity and gave me my first calligraphy set when I was 12. I adored the flowing differences and learning the nuances of the nib. I have always loved art class in school and seemed to do well... My art instructor in high school was most influential, most nurturing of my talents, and I believe that was a turning point. She taught me to design from within, uninhibited and free flowing. I am sure you can see her influence in my work. Goddess Bless you, Carol Ann Mancuso. I began drawing knot work on graph paper as a pre-adult, compiling my archive of designs to lean on for decorative embellishment to everything from refinished furniture to hand painted jewelry boxes for personal gifts. The intricacy of the knots is very meditative and soothing.. It takes on a highly spiritual aspect. With the advancement of the internet, i found the most amazing Celtic artists, Bradley Schenck and Jen Delyth to name a few... whom I admire greatly. I describe my artwork as Celtic visionary with spiritual and mythological overtones. I range from photorealism to abstract, acrylic and oils on recycled material to sculpt and torched copper knots. I shy away from traditional canvas, and prefer to utilize recycled gator board as a painting medium. You learn quickly, painting in the Florida climate, that it can take several months for an oil painting to dry naturally, I prefer acrylic paints for their versatility. Acrylic- Acrylic paint is so versatile and durable, I use for most of my painting. I would say some of my paintings are designed to be tactile.... layers and layers of paint create a flowing surface that I encourage people to touch.. Large flowing trinity knots seem to come alive under your fingertips. These paintings are embellished with bright colors and tones of silver, copper and gold. Gator Board- A high density foam core board that is very durable. I carve it into shapes and use these to create three dimensional paintings. Most of my later paintings are on this substrate, both single layer, and multiple layers. This material is ideal as it is sourced locally, extremely versatile, and prevents the material from ending up in a landfill.