Carina Francioso Contemporary Realist Painter Making Waves

My belief is that one should constantly apply and share all of their talents. My paintings and life are an expression of this belief and that is why I pour my heart and soul into my work. Living in a fast-paced world where focus is on instant gratification, the intention of my artwork is to inspire not only beauty but also the virtue of patience. Some of my paintings take months to create because of the scale and also my unending obsession to detail and meticulousness. This technique fills me with a sense of accomplishment and integrity as every detail is as important as the whole. I hope to inspire others to remember that beautiful things take time to create, whether it’s a painting, a relationship, a career, etc. My work has taught me this virtue of patience repeatedly, and finally, I have reached a point in my artistic development where I can begin to catch a glimpse into the processes/sentiments that some of our realist renaissance masters may have experienced.

For thousands of years people have known about the healing and life-changing properties of water, and I have experienced first-hand its calming and therapeutic effects. I grew up boating on Georgian Bay in Canada and later spent my summers on the coast of Salento, Italy. I was surrounded by water all my life yet never thought it would find its way into my work, until one summer when I photographed the Ionian sea in Gallipoli, Italy… I found myself mesmerized. I knew then that “water” would influence my future paintings. When I look at the horizon over the sea or glance down at the ocean from a plane or helicopter, the vision has a profound, peaceful, yet powerful effect and inspires me to share those feelings through paint.

The great wave painting by Carina Francioso

The creative process for my painting begins with photographs I take of water during my travels. I choose images that captivate me; perhaps the reflected light of a sunset or the splashing crest of a wave. Paying close attention to detail I reproduce the image on canvas by working in the traditional medium of oil paint. Photographs are a starting point for my work and they record a moment in time, however the paintings with their unique brush strokes and facture record weeks and sometimes months of time. These paintings inspire the movement of imagination and offer the viewer their own interpretation.

Everyone has a unique experience or memory when it comes to being near the water. Perhaps my work will spark in the viewer a memory of a vacation, a time spent with a loved one, or time spent alone near the water in contemplation. As a contemporary painter, I strive to highlight the world’s gift of water and to acknowledge that it must be cherished and preserved. I love the saying “where your focus goes, energy flows”, so I make it my intention to focus on the positive. Rather than focus on the tragic and destructive things happening to our waters I intentionally choose to express the beauty and power of the lakes, seas and oceans in all their forms. In addition to my smaller works, I have also completed large-scale paintings such as the piece titled “Il soffio della vita” (The Breath of Life) sized 68” x 102” which took one year to complete. My objective is always to evoke from the viewer the same sense of beautiful awe that I personally experience.

The waters are ever pulsing in and out, ever changing, calm one minute, wild and turbulent the next – a mirror of our breath, beating heart and human emotions. My curiosity into this connection has led me to paint the feminine figure in water, therefore my next body of work will represent the similitude between the feminine and water. I can’t say much about this now as these pieces are still in the making, however, the series will be raw, real, powerful, and beautiful; the kind of beauty that I hope will move and awaken the soul. ~ Carina Francioso

Oil painting waves by Carina Francioso “Ashbridge’s Bay” Oil on wood panel, It’s a 24×30, 2019