LIC artist captures street scenes in NYC and Italy
Her bags are packed and
Long Island City-based
artist and fine arts educator,
Clare Stokolosa, is returning
to her favorite Tuscan hilltop
town in Italy, which overlooks
a picture-worthy valley with
breath-taking vistas of rolling
hills and mountains.
She says the color and light
are inspirational for painting.
“I was introduced to
Cortona, a magical place,
and I have not stopped going
back. It has changed over the
years, as many more people
speak English and there are
more tourists, but it still holds
its magic,” said the Astoria
native whose grandparents
came from Naples.
Stokolosa sketches as she
observes people and places in
NYC, here in Queens, and over
in Italy. This theme connects
her beautiful artwork.
Sketches are enlarged to
larger than life-sized pieces
then painted in watercolor.
“I do what is called plein air
painting, working on sight in
watercolor (her classical style),
outdoors,” she explained.
From her Studio 34 LIC
space, she creates those large
watercolors, as well as oil
paintings. (See images of her
painting Italian landscapes
and scenes of people in
the piazza).
During her first trip to
Italy, Stokolosa studied art
in Tuscany then painted
in Florence.
“What better place? I fell
in love,” she recalled. “A few
years later, when I just started
teaching art for the Board of
Education in Queens, I had the
opportunity to study Italian
in Cortona. I was still going
to Hunter and saw a posting
about the trip.”
The lucky creative spends
a few months during the
summer and fall in Cortana.
“The people are kind and
have open hearts. There
are beautiful surrounding
towns. You can go to Florence,
Perugia or Lake Trasimeno
for a day trip. The fields are
filled with sunflowers in the
summer,” she said.
Her solo show, “Passegiando
per Cortona Estate 2019”
Clare Stokolosa at work Photos by Matt Dutile
(“Walking through Cortona”),
takes viewers on a tour of
the town and surrounding
landscape. New linear
paintings and a retrospective
of classical panoramas
mark the way, with scenes
of iconic churches, friendly
cafes, restaurants and people
you meet along the way. “In
Italian, they say, ‘Ci vediamo
in giro,’ which means, ‘I’ll see
you around town,’” Stokolosa
explained. Viewers can
experience the peace and quiet
as they stroll in the park and
look out over the valley.
Her work will be on display
at Palazzo Ferretti on the
main street in Cortona at Via
Nazionale 47, from July 25
through Aug. 4.
“The Clock Tower” above
the steps of Commune di
Cortona, the town hall in
Piazza della Repubblica, is the
painting she chose to represent
the show.
“It’s a gathering place
on summer evenings where
people take a seat on the
steps and enjoy a gelato
and chat with friends,”
Stokolosa noted.
There are similarities
between the 59th Street
Bridge painting, “Crossing
Over,” recently on display at
the Plaxall Gallery in LIC, and
another work titled, “Piazza,”
which will be on view at her
Cortana exhibit.
“I was honored to be invited
in 2017, to become a member
of The Circolo Culturale Gino
Severini di Cortona, a group
named after Severini, the
internationally acclaimed
Cortonese painter. My work
is also on display at Galleria
Nazionale in Cortona, Via
Nazionale 4. While painting in
Cortona I became connected
to a gallery in town called
Galleria Nazionale, where I
met Gian Maria Cosignani, the
director, and began exhibiting
my work and continue to do
so,” Stokolosa noted.
View her NYC Faces series
solo show in September, at the
Studio 34 LIC gallery.
Read more on QNS.com
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