Thomas Insana's artwork will be on display at the Grand Island Memorial Library right before the holiday and continuing through the month of July.
"By my own definition, I am an 'ARP' (after-retirement painter)," he said. "I have been interested in art all my life. I studied art along the way in various classes and courses, but the major concentration of my adulthood has been the career by which I earned a living."
That was education, and Insana was a popular and prominent administrator in Niagara Falls before moving to Grand Island later in life.
"After retirement, a relative of mine encouraged me to attend a local art school. I did so and learned lessons invaluable to the would-be artist from the development of a concept, understanding values, manipulating color to helpful techniques," Insana said. "Notice, however, I do not refer to myself as an 'artist.' To me, those are the individuals who spend their lives expressing some esoteric concept designed to enhance and influence our worldview and usually make great sacrifices to maintain their art. I just like to paint. I select subjects (many of which come from the great masters) that appeal to me and inspire me to spend hours at a time and sometimes months to complete one painting.
"That is my simple story. I am happy to share my work with the community."
Insana plans to display a series of works, including "My Niagara" (oil), of which he studied other artists' approach to the world wonder while also taking from his own photos; "Family Bulletin Board" (oil and sparkle tempra), which is drawn from an actual bulletin board of family memories hanging in his office. ("I approached this as a tromp l'oeil, a technique used to fool the eye into reality," Insana said); "Check" (oil) is a chess scene using his own chess set with the backdrop of a papal blessing; "Christ of St. John" (oil) is inspired by Salvatore Dali; "Narcissus" (oil) portrays the beauty of flowers using a technique called "glazing," which requires several layers of paint - each applied after the previous layer dries; "The Pawn Shop" (oil) depicts a winter scene in New York City; and "The Blue Vase" (pastels), which was produced in a different medium: with pastels or chalk.
The Grand Island Memorial Library is located at 1715 Bedell Road. For more information, call 716-773-7124.
Insana is shown with two more paintings he will spotlight in July.
