The past is never really past. We live our history over and over, the worst of our memories alongside us, step by step, our companion to the grave.
— William Kent Krueger
In 1994 my wife and I participated in the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program and spent a year in the East Midlands region of England. Viewing the expanse of Lincolnshire, from my red, 1982 Volvo, I never believed the fragrance of cabbage would become appealing. Nor did I imagine I’d return year after year to paint watercolors of this intoxicating, Steinbeckian landscape — the Outside you see here.
While the Outside pushes against but remains within defined boundaries and historical canons — the Inside is more cerebral — a boundless wrestling match. It’s both exhilarating and harrowing to discover how the medium (oil) can take charge. I may start a painting, but the surface, brush strokes, and evolving scene speaks back. Dialogue is my virtue and vice and this theater is my platform — I’m the author, director, actor/s, audience and observer to these fantasies.
Biography
Gerald Fracareta (born October 4, 1944, Manhattan, NY) holds a BFA in painting from Miami University, Ohio (1965), an MFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design (1972), and is a recipient of a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship (1994). Fracareta was an art teacher in Warwick, Rhode Island for thirty years. He lives and works in Foster, Rhode Island.