My work has always been concerned with a painterly and direct observation of reality as I see it which is connected to the wonderful tradition of figurative painting in Western Art. In past years my approach was to discover a mood within a certain place or in a particular spot. I was interested in the spontaneous feeling that I was experiencing in that moment and I wanted to paint that feeling. The emotion was always based upon a visual experience. I had seen something and I needed to paint it.
Within the past 9 years my work has taken on another dimension. While I continue to paint interiors and landscapes directly from life, I now find that I want to paint people in those places. The people that I choose are in my life and environment; my family, my students and friends. Portraits and figure paintings have intrigued me and inspired me from my earliest years as a painter. Tackling larger compositions with the people sitting for me in a space or outdoors is an extraordinarily exciting prospect. It is therefore with this inspiration that I have dedicated so much more focus on making these paintings.
If I had to articulate my endeavor more completely, I would say that I am devoted to observing people as they are and as I perceive them in their space. I wish to paint what I believe to be beautiful; space, air, color and the spark of life and the dignity that is in every person. There is a glow and essence and a soulfulness that I perceive and I hope to capture.
Daniel Finaldi