“Joy with Butterflies” original multi media india ink, acrylic, gold dust & gold leaf on canvas 36″ x 24″

I am frequently asked “how long it takes for Russ to paint a piece?” My answer is always the same, sometimes a piece is created in a day or two, sometimes they are in the studio a year or more. It depends on how the story is playing out for him as he goes back and forth between many canvases as it all unfolds.

Not often, but sometimes Russ will come to the gallery and take a painting off the wall and bring it back to the studio to finish. I know you are thinking if it is hanging on the wall in the gallery it is finished, yes, that is what I also believe, sometimes, just sometimes that piece is speaking to him to continue that story one step further. This happened a few weeks ago with “Incognito.”

If you have been in the gallery recently you may have seen this work hanging and perhaps thought like me it was wonderful…13 friends strutting their style. Russ adding more of his artistic flair has made it  fantastic! The addition of gold leaf and gold dust in the background plus color shifts in their attire make you feel like the women are strutting right off the canvas. Three years later, it is finished. For me, I want to know what the pink bird knows? 

D’Alessio Gallery is located at 12 Mt. Desert St. in Bar Harbor, Maine