Yesterday afternoon my wife gave me a call and asked me, "did you know the Art in Embassy program published a wonderful catalog with you work in it?"
Of course I could not know that, and so it was a surprise to get the catalog in the mail.
The catalog is entitled, "United States Embassy Djibouti/ Art in Embassies Exhibition.
And it is probably the nicest catalog I have ever had the opportunity to be in.
The images include my work along with the other artists who are in this 3 year show.
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Better later than never, but Farleigh Dickinson University has managed to update their calendar so that it reflects my show.

Here is the link to the University calendar.

http://view2.fdu.edu/fdu-whats-new/press-releases/2014/12/daniel-finaldi/

Realism for me involves at least two major ambitions.  They may be equally important to me.
The first is to wrestle with the nuts and bolts of composition, drawing, paint quality etc.  The image has to work and that is a process.
The second is what I am saying.  Realism has an especially difficult task, namely images that reflect the visible world begs the question about why or what is being expressed.
I used to be petrified with that question but now I am thrilled by it.
I am attached to this world and to how people bring a narrative to a space.  People have dignity, a soul and are intrinsically worthy of respect.  
The irony is that I am discovering that I am becoming more sensitive to how our culture and economic system treats human beings as disposal and interchangeable rather than the opposite.
As I paint the students who surround my life as a teacher, I love to paint these young people with the dignity they deserve.  
In this image young people engage in conversation and in enjoying each others company.  
That narrative is appealing and exciting to capture.

Having finished a large painting of my students with another one on the way, I have had some time to think about my interest in the figure.
And while I cannot fully articulate why I love painting people, it is an experience that continually energizes me.
I have to reiterate that my experience is a direct painting experience, meaning it is from life on the spot from start to finish.  To put it simply, I just love it.