Painting Together: A Path to Self-Discovery

Why Artistic sharing enlightens the journey ⁓

Since early this year, I've been able to use the spacious studios at the academy where I teach as a workspace for my larger paintings

Young artists who are refreshing the tradition of Renaissance painting with contemporary themes, work in this studio. It's incredibly beneficial because there's a constant exchange of feedback and a very fertile intergenerational dialogue. Many ask me for advice based on my experience, but the most valuable thing is the unexpected comments I receive on my works in progress.

The Chess Players - Watercolor by Francesco Fontana (55 x75 cm), (c) 2025

I imagined a totally different artist 

A new student saw me working on an oil painting (I've resumed this medium along with watercolor) and, looking a me in action on the piece, commented with surprise: "When I saw the painting on the easel (you  weren't around), I imagined a totally different artist. Younger, reckless, and defiant. Not the calm and thoughtful man I see now".

Her words confused me; they shook my assumption of knowing who I am. Perhaps there's a difference between the image we project and the complexity of our inner world. My instinctive response was,

"Perhaps that wilder young man lives inside me!"

It's possible that an artist is a vessel for multiple souls, of different ages and moods, which emerge in unexpected ways in their work, even unconsciously. Creating my art among other artists, or aspiring artists, is enlightening for the journey I'm on to. I remember the singer Mika saying, "Today we are all isolated; everyone creates in solitude, and artistic sharing is very rare."

I truly recommend that, whenever possible, everyone works in a collective or even public space. It might require patience and a bit of nerve, but it pushes your art to a higher level.

Happy Art Life! ⁓ Francesco
PS. Had any experience of collective workspace? Share it in the comment below or via email

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Being an Artist in a Controversial World

Resilience and Authenticity in a Changing Planet ⁓

As I've already written, I find it difficult to activate my creative side these days. Painting, writing, teaching... in short, thinking positive!

Should the Show Must Go On?

I admire those who pretend it's "business as usual." They put on their brightest smiles, express their enthusiasm, sing and dance, have a party. "The show must go on!" While the world is burning around us. This is understandable; it helps keep morale high, makes us feel part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Middle Eastern Eyes - Watercolor by Francesco Fontana (c) 2025

Today's Meaning is Hidden in the Past

To rediscover meaning and motivation today, I reread old blog posts or review old paintings. As Jerry Saltz says in How to Be an Artist, "In your old suitcase is the truth of who you are." Looking to the past helps me recognize what recurs over time: signs, color, themes, sensitivity. This allows me to get rid of what no longer represents me and helps me be true to myself. By developing this and moving forward, I hope to leave a tiny trace of truth in the world.

Being Proud of Myself

I don't intend to leave this planet too soon, and I plan to create works that I'll be even prouder of. Works that bear witness to my presence in this fantastic and painful, bloody and ecstatic era all at once. And I leave you with a question: shoud I (we) be more radical in our artistic research!

As always, write to me with your thoughts and feelings.

Happy Art Life, Francesco

P.S. More about my artistic statement in this my blog post: 

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Art in Tumultuous Times

A Reflection on Creativity, Compassion, and Our Shared Humanity ⁓

I can't deny that the escalating global violence profoundly impacts me and my work. While I won't make political statements today, my stance is clear: I stand with the defenseless, who are suffering and dying in numbers too vast and in ways too cruel. Even in peaceful nations, my values place compassion before rules and authorities.

(c) Art by Francesco Fontana (detail)

This period has brought an amount of stress I didn't even experience during the COVID lockdown. Back then, I found peace and inspiration in my studio, leading to a fruitful creative phase. Today, it's a huge struggle to find the focus to create new work, despite the powerful feelings I long to express through my art.

How are you navigating this challenging time? Has your work halted, shifted direction, or slowed down? Are you buying or selling less art? Please share your thoughts with me.

Happy Art Life!

Francesco

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Francesco Fontana Solo Show Back in Palermo ~

Genius Loci - The Soul of the City

Here is the presentation of the exhibition by Francesco Fontana that will be held at the Galleria Caravello in Palermo from November 9 to December 7, 2024.

Since I was a boy I have pursued a bohemian idea of ​​nomadism. With my youthful emigration from Palermo to Paris and then to London in the eighties, I sought a symbiosis between life and art. Working as a portraitist in the sun of Montmartre or on cold evenings in front of the National Portrait Gallery in London was a school of life, exhilarating and hard, whose signs can be found today in my pictorial world. As well as the faces and stories of my traveling companions who have been a source of inspiration for me and examples of profound humanity.

Genius loci is latin for the spirit of a place. Over the years I have painted in the most diverse places: from Claude Monet's water lily ponds in Giverny to the rice paddies of Bali, from the ranches of Texas to the cliffs of Dorset. In Sicily, Berlin, New York... everywhere the places have a strong identity, a humanity in motion. My eyes do not chase postcard images, so to speak instagrammable, but seek the energy that pulsates beneath the surface, the soul of those places and of those who live there.

In the works of this exhibition there is no paysage indulgence, not even in the many works painted en plein air. If a place is recognizable it is not its beauty that attracts me but its magic, its mystery, its history, the unsaid. A vision and an experience as personal as symbolic.

Sometimes in the context it is the figures that prevail, like a zoom on the gaze of a man who tells about the place and a story. Many characters are part of a series called Street Business -- people who make ends meet on the street in the most diverse ways. I know the joys and sorrows of that life, in those faces I find a bit of myself, of the young street artist I once was.

Different subjects require different techniques. Watercolor has been my medium of choice in recent years, which has allowed me to be awarded and recognized on the international circuit, becoming a signature member of the American Watercolor Society and the National Watercolor Society - the two American organizations that historically promote the art of watercolor in the world. A fascinating and complex medium, capable of expressing all the power of contemporary reality.

This return to Palermo after a long world wandering excites me. It is a privilege to share my works with you, new generations and friends of the past. I invite you to explore the world with my eyes. Before starting a new chapter of this extraordinary journey!

Sometime We Win. And go to California! ~

The work you see here just left for California. It will participate in the San Diego Watercolor Society's international exhibition in October 2024. My piece Posing by the Car was selected out of thousands from around the world. Only 104 paintings will be exhibited in Cali.

I am very happy with this choice because this work marks a step forward in my search for style (and message) which I have gradually been carrying forward for 3 or 4 years. First of all there is the choice to also work with the figure, then to look at the contemporary world and finally a work on style and color.

Young Lady Posing by the Car (Lincoln Continental 1971) Watercolor painting by Francesco Fontana

This girl struck me on a street in Berlin, posing next to a vintage American car. Her boyfriend photographed her, probably to post it on social media. Her attitude seemed very typical of our times to me.

My Street Business series - dedicated to people who do the most varied jobs on the street - has been exhibited at various festivals, awarded and collected. The narrative continues, insisting on the testimony of our contemporaneity, with all the wonder and horror that it offers us today. The potential of the watercolor medium also continues to stimulate a stylistic challenge in me.

Where are you at in your journey?

Francesco

Happy Art Life! -- Francesco 

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Too many things in 24 hours? Here are 9 tricks

How to manage time and the anxiety of not making it ~

In 2018 I wrote how having changed my studio and daily routine made me more productive as an artist. That period and the following pandemic shutdown generated my most awarded works. I used to paint in the morning. Before that I used to feel overwhelmed. 

At the Ikea business area

Over time my routine has changed. After breakfast I want to go out (my studio is at home) and feel the energy of the world. All winter I been computing in public places like the business area of the Ikea cafeteria, a lively but quiet and bright place (with free coffee).  

My outer office at the Ikea cafeteria

Studio drink with art enthusiasts

Now I paint in the early afternoon, after cooking for my two high schoolers. My private in person class are scheduled in the evening, in addition to a couple of zoom mentoring session weekly. Twice a week I teach at the Milano Painting Academy. 

Every other weekend I offer a Coffe with the Artist in my studio. Wonderful conversations on art and life,  preview and feedback about my recent works and projects on the easel. Most of the times someone goes home with a painting she's fallen in love with!

Cooking and posting on social media

My time flow seems very fluid. Actually, even though I am Grand Master in the Todoist app, my schedule is still too busy. Keeping it simple is not a completely won battle! There are family obligations, medical care and control over finance.

Then there's that whole social media world that expects you to post, interact, read, advertise, subscribe, learn and strategize. And more personal communications like these Letters,  I love to write for the most curious souls.

Family and other priorities

If you consider that I'm studying German, I try to meet friends for a billiard out, I have a 94-year-old mother and I like to travel (not to mention I want to start roller skating again, resume some music making) -- it's a big mess!

But over the years I have put together some criteria to simplify and prioritize my daily schedule. Use them if you want:

1. Everything can wait ~ Except for your health, and that of your loved ones. Nothing is Urgent. Deadlines are ok if you can't wait to meet them. Don't feel guilty, the world will move on anyway!
   
   
2. First the WANT-to-do things ~ That is, the Important Things, those that contribute to what you dream of being in life. When in doubt, ask yourself: does this action fuel my big goal or drive me away from it? 
   
   
3. Think NO by default ~ No opportunity is unmissable. Whether it's a festival or a commission, listen to your gut before you accept it. Don't fear the void, better things will fill that space. Likewise, let go people who never interact unless you reach out to them. You won't be alone, with them you are alone already!
   
   
4. One thing at a time ~ Forget about multitasking! Immerse yourself in what you are doing here and now, before and after do not exist. Mute phone. (1. Everything can wait). You will call back later whoever is looking for you. 
   
   
5. Drop the pen ~ Set a timer for your task slot and stop as soon as it sounds. Within five minutes change scenario, regardless of your task completion. By changing place and action, the momentum remains fresh and you are likely to get time left over to make up. 
   
   
6. Who's to say what's good? ~ One thing that goes wrong can be a blessing. Think about how many people saved their lives by missing a flight.
   
   
7. Last the MUST-do-things ~ Paying bills is mandatory but not important for us, (not our dream) it's important for them. The secret is prevent duties to become Urgent Things. Urgent Things are toxic to the Important Things. Marketing is necessary but not my big life goal! So I have chosen a form I enjoy doing: writing and talking. 
   
   
8. Delegate. It's not easy for an artist, economies can be limited. But don't stop looking for those who can do a piece of the process for you. And do it better.
   
   
9. Keep your watch 7 minutes ahead ~ It's a relief to realize you're not that late!

In short, the only form of self-discipline I need in time management is giving priority to the things I can't wait to do. Do them, and stop in time, before I get carryed away. Choose the most fun way to do necessary things. Switch often to next scenario to keep momentum! 

Please comment and let me know your experience about time management.

Happy Art Life! -- Francesco ~

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My signature as a healing reminder

Celebrating five years since my 'April fool's day' surgery On April 1, five years ago, I underwent an eight-hour surgery that had a major impact on my life. Ironically I called this event April Fools' Day! And a few days later, at Easter I wrote a post on Facebook (see PS).

The sign under my signature to remind me of my second life

A happy turning point In general five-year survival from pancreatic cancer is a great success. I am among the 20% of benign cases diagnosed in time and operable. Today my annual check-ups show a stable situation and my surgeon suggests that the next check-ups take place every 18 months. Time to celebrate!

The signature and the memory

I'm very happy about this! I am moved to be able to celebrate the first five years of what I consider my new life.

Be strong and aware

The smear under my signature on the paintings is the sign of that painful passage. And it reminds me to be strong and aware and improve myself and the lives of others.

Check yourself too

I am also writing this to strongly encourage you to schedule check-ups immediately after Easter. Even if you feel good. I discovered my tumor by chance. Unfortunately, the pancreas and other organs do not give symptoms until an advanced stage.

In the meantime, I wish you a wonderful Easter of rebirth!

Francesco PS This is the post I wrote on Facebook five years ago: Days of Resurrection

Three weeks after the surgery that overwhelmed me physically and emotionally, I consider today the beginning of a new life. I want to thank from the bottom of my heart the many people who have sent healing messages, prayers and encouragement. Thoughts from old friends but also from people whom I don't know who follow me and pay me esteem from afar.

Your spirit comforted me in moments of fear and pain but also in current recovery, while gathering energy to be 100% as soon as possible. I wish you a wonderful Easter, the beginning of a true resurrection, where your deep desires find new life, light, security!

PS. And an infinite thanks to my family (daughters, sisters, parents in law, cousins overseas), superheroes surgeons and nurses at H San Raffaele -- and to my love Roberta who's a rock!

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