Traeger Di Pietro

Vineyard-based painter and visual artist home paintings drawings logos photos new paintings gallery show artist info I see a clam digger wearing waders, standing waist high in the ocean, the sun is rising above my eyes, I can't help but feel excited. I taste a coffee bean from a large machine that slowly grinds. Over in the corner a chef slices colorful berries at a side table which is surrounded by brightly colored walls, again, I feel excited. I smell the awkward scent of the subway as I notice all of the people sitting across from me, and I realize how they are all strangers. We are all the same, but all so different, side by side, all on the same team and we don't even say hello, I feel sad. I touch the beautiful Irises that the cat lady planted for us to enjoy, they are already gone, but I painted them and showed her so she knows that they still exist. I hear a cow "Moo" as it walks through an open field while I am driving by - I feel connected. My senses are constantly being triggered. Through my oil and acrylic paintings I try to recycle the precious moments that I see and experience. Many of these instances are very short; so I freeze them to make them last. My figures and idea's constantly transform within the paintings, allowing the painting to help me create the image. I was a student of the University of Maine at Orono, where I obtained a Bachelors Degree in Studio Art. I paint to remember the places that I go and the people that I love. Sharing these visions and ideas makes me happy. I don't necessarily believe in one style, whatever is painted, and how it's painted is the style. It doesn't matter if every painting is different from the next. Each painting, like people has its own heart, its own mind, and its own special personality. To envision my painting's journeys, traveling through time and lasting forever, is priceless. To think that they will be passed down through generations, touching so many different hands, being reframed, recycled and hung on a new wall is something very special.

Traeger's artist talk at Louisa Gould Gallery in June 2005