The Story Gallery

Nathaniel Reed: 72" x 42" Oil on Board

Nathaniel Reed, former Assistant Secretary of the Interior, was a central figure in securing protection for the crucial Big Cypress portion of the Everglades ecosystem. He has been involved with setting policy and direction for Florida’s wild places for more than 50 years, contributing his time and leadership and wisdom. He posed for his portrait at his home in Jupiter, Florida, while writing his latest book on Jupiter.

Gladesman Franklin Adams: 72" x 42" Oil on Board

I met a man named Franklin Adams who by all accounts is a true gladesman. He tells wonderful stories about south Florida in the 1940s and ‘50s. He spins magical tales, guiding us through the swamplands, some long gone, others still thriving, thanks in part to Frank’s efforts. He takes a moment, his eyes drift, then return to the listener as he describes a part of nature he respects, protects and has called home for most of his life. In his words, “There is a sense of freedom. You have to experience it. Being part of nature is a rare thing.” Frank still goes “out there” alone to experience the freedom, and I chose to picture him alone with his morning coffee and the quiet. He once said to me that he had asked his family not to worry if one day he did not return home after spending time in the Everglades. It would be ok because that is where he would want his story to end.

Recently my wife and I spent a morning in Everglades National Park that took our breath away. There was not another human soul as far as the eye could see or the ear could hear. It was truly beautiful and peaceful with only the sound of the breeze, the rustling of trees and sawgrass, dragonflies busy with their daily chores and a lone Ibis jabbing in the shallow water. It was then I fully understood Frank’s moment.

Chairman Buffalo Tiger of the Miccosukee: 72" x 42" Oil on Board

Chairman Buffalo Tiger is a proud figure of strength and self-restraint in the Miccosukee nation. He stands, wholly Miccosukee but with his feet firmly planted in the White Man’s world, in his successful 40 year negotiations with the Federal and State governments to retain possession of his peoples’ land. The Everglades harbored his ancestors when they fled south to avoid the long march to Oklahoma, and the Miccosukee in turn have been its most stalwart defenders. A healthy, wild, Everglades, depicted by the alligator jaws, is the basis of their freedom and culture.

The day I met Buffalo I was struck by the history he wore on his weathered face. His was a rugged, spiritual face, and dignified as he looked warily on me. I felt he was at peace with himself and his surroundings. His appearance redefined beauty for me. For all he has endured this elderly man was still extending the peace pipe to all of us.

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.

Clyde Butcher, Everglades Photographic Artist: 6' x 4' Oil on Board

I painted Clyde Butcher emerging from the darkness of the Everglades swamps, bringing light on what was previously feared and reviled. His enormous, highly detailed black and white photographic images bring the beauty and complexity of these sub-tropical wetlands to the attention of the public. His images are pure love. He is revered throughout Florida and throughout the world conservation community, so I wanted to show him as the powerful but warm individual he is. I only suggested the swamp surrounding him to focus on Clyde himself.

Father Michael: 70" x 39" Oil on Board

Father Michael Basden has been Pastor at Trinity-by-the-Cove Episcopal Church for ten years and his congregation adores him. His intellect and kindness, his warmth and humor, and his unwavering sense of justice and morality, create a feeling of calm and comfort. Father Michael’s words remind us how we can better serve one another, and he teaches that love is our greatest joy.

My goal was to paint the gentle spirituality of this man. I set out to paint a wise man whose strength of faith could be shown in his elegant posture and by the cross that is formed by his folded arms against the golden sienna stripe on his vestments. The vestments are those of Easter, a season of rebirth and renewal.

Femme en Bleu 1: 36" x 30" Oil on Canvas

La Femme en Bleu 1 (along with La Femme en Bleu 2 and La Femme 3) are from ‘The Mystery of a Woman’ series, and are titled after the 1973 French film in which a depressed Parisian music critic becomes infatuated with a woman he has seen only once. Suddenly his life has new meaning as he scours the streets of Paris in an attempt to get another glimpse. But does the mystery lady want to be found? In my ‘La Femme En Bleu’ series, part of ‘The Mystery of a Woman’ series, I want ambiguity. What has just happened to our Woman in Blue? Or what is about to happen in this woman’s life? We each experience this moment in our own way, projecting our unique experiences onto La Femme. She tells us she is innocent and gentle, but what we read into her pose, her emotion, tells us more about ourselves than about her.

Original Sin: 36" x 30" Oil on Canvas

I have chosen to explore one man’s imagination through the Mystery of a Woman series. Kiersten’s pose connects us to the Original Sin in the film, “Ruby in Paradise,” a film about a woman’s search for herself. We could, perhaps, consider the original search was by Eve, seeking wisdom, bowing to temptation, and partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. The curvature of her pose suggests the biblical snake in its S-shaped composition. She is soft, suggestive, and sensual. However, it is the color red that gives us pause as we sense our knowledge of history slipping away and once again, we exit the garden of Eden forever.

Femme en Bleu 2: 36" x 30" Oil on Canvas

La Femme en Bleu 2 (along with La Femme en Bleu 1 and La Femme 3) are from ‘The Mystery of a Woman’ series, and are titled after the 1973 French film in which a depressed Parisian music critic becomes infatuated with a woman he has seen only once. It is that first glance from across the room that causes us to hesitate. A warm rush clouds our ability to reason. Do we continue to hesitate or take that ten mile walk? This one moment frozen in time is but a reminder of what could have been. The mystery lies just ahead.

Il Tuono/Thundering: 72" X 42" Oil on Canvas

This piece’s starting point was in a dream. I rose in the middle of the night to give it form. I could see a full size black stallion galloping majestically ahead of a storm directly towards the viewer. I wanted to add to the sensation that the horse was about to jump out of its frame and into your living space so I dropped the hoof below the canvas. It is as if the beauty of the night has given birth and endowed this horse with a sense of regal power. The conflict between the calmness of the horse and the gathering storm not far behind, his strength shattering the forbidding solitude of the night, and the wisdom in his eye against the unknown, endow this painting with absolute serenity and grace. Carol Rausch calls it my self-portrait.

Regarding Il Tuono/Thundering: “Nicholas really captures ‘spirit’ in all of his work.” ~Kat Ferrell

Dama Madonna: 28" x 22" Oil on Canvas

Dama Madonna is both a yoga teacher and a fire dancer, and I see both in this portrait – the serenity of the yogi and the dramatic intensity of the fire dancer. She is gazing off canvas, perhaps on a new born baby. It is the look I have only seen on a woman - softness, courage, and the coming beauty of her own motherhood.

Patriot c. 1942: 31" x 27" Oil on Canvas

During World War II and immediately after, patriotism was easy to define and identify, as was good and evil. My wife modeled for this painting, and I think it captures her sauciness, her loving character and the concept of Patriotism in the middle of the last century. I could not paint her without her amazing smile. It is Connie.

Her Honor: 24" x 20" Oil on Canvas

Wisdom. That is the one word best describing prominent Nigerian jurist, Mrs. Aderinsola Balogun, former Attorney General of Lagos State, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, former UN appointed observer at the Lockerbie Trial in Holland, and two-time hajji (having made the pilgrimage to Mecca twice). This painting was made right after her second pilgrimage. It has been said that the red scarf could move with the slightest breeze or as she dances to the beat of her homeland. Most of all, Ade is all woman and all kindness.

Regarding Her Honor, Ms. Barbara Fisher, art connoisseur of California wrote: “There is an ancient love and respect here that I have not seen before. Whatever emptiness abides in me is filled when I look at her . . . the absolute grace and wedding of the subject and painter lies beyond the intellectual, but not the emotional comprehension. . . I must have it, in any form, near me. . . What a lovely man you are! In a world that grows increasingly insensitive and cold, you are a beacon. And if an old woman like me can be so affected, can you imagine all the younger ones you’ll touch with your work? Whenever self-doubt creeps in, and it always does with those who create, please think about my words. . . As a young girl it would have done me a world of good to have Her Honor hanging on the wall in my classroom.”

The Merchant: 30" x 24" Oil on Canvas

This man’s preference would have been to live in the 16th Century. He requested that I paint his portrait as if his home were in The Netherlands. When he saw the underpainting in the Verdaccio method he asked if we could leave it in this stage. I said ‘yes,’ but at least to allow me to paint the brooch, and we concluded the painting. Although it was completed rather quickly it still manages to haunt the viewer. Does the portrait beckon you to approach or retreat? I believe this portrait forces us to recognize a simple truth.

Untitled: 42" x 29" Oil on Canvas

This painting has a way of effecting us much like a Rorschach test. I hear dozens of different interpretations as people offer their ideas about the painting. Like the Rorschach test, it reveals something about ourselves. Viewers bring life to this painting as they reveal a part of their own personality. What story does it offer you?

Jane Goodall, Ph.D, DBE: 6' x 4' Oil on Board

When I first met Jane Goodall I saw a delicate beauty with translucent skin, a gentle manner, intelligent and spiritual. The years had not robbed her of her radiance. My first instinct was to be her protector. However, when she spoke I could see a woman of strong resolve, impenetrable optimism, a visionary whose work and dedication had to be protected and projected far into the future. Several years later when Jane sat for her portrait, I sensed longing from the heart of Africa. I knew the painting had to say who Jane was, and that she had to feel at home in her painting, in Africa with its living and breathless beauty. I heard in Jane’s silence, “Embrace me with my precious forest, let my vision and hope live on.” I wanted to honor this woman whose journey has been one of light and love and the expectation of a better world. Her painting evolved almost magically. She sits in a place not unlike the one where her work began 50 years ago, strong and firm on the earth, but she looks into an uncertain future. It began with the hand of David Greybeard reaching toward her, journeyed through an understanding of our nearest relatives, the chimpanzees, to her protection of all chimps and all living things. Now David Greybeard,looking down in reverence, protects Jane. I hope I have, in my small way, paid homage to a beautiful and wonderful soul.

Defining Moment: 6’ x 4’ Oil on Canvas

The six-foot high figure of a man at the moment of choice between good and evil is a spiritually-inspired and gripping depiction, not of a particular saint’s defining moment, but of the daily choices we all make between right and wrong, between good and evil. Its real strength is its overwhelming spirituality. It can be experienced on multiple levels – a beautiful figure of a man in turmoil as well as the allegorical images creeping into the viewer’s consciousness as one gazes at the painting. "Defining Moment" should be felt rather than analyzed to grasp its full impact. The painting won in the 9th Annual Judeo-Christian Juried International Art Exhibition. The juror wrote: “Nicholas Petrucci of Naples, FL is [a] master artist. . . ‘Defining Moment’ says it all, that God is in control. The violet and gold color scheme add to the elegance and the eyes looking upward with the folded hands show a kind of trust in Divine Providence.”

Luna Piena (Full Moon): 72" X 42" Oil on Canvas

Here is a woman who could be beckoning to the one she loves, asking him to see her as the beautiful creature she wants to be. Perhaps it is a call to romance in the still of the night, that special moment when we find ourselves connected to a place we all seek but can never own. She holds a rose of purity and love in her hand and is totally covered in a gown. Why, then, does she appear so provocative? Do we recognize her gentle sensual request from a dream? We are allowed to share in this beautiful and private moment with this woman, and it has given this portrait a life of its own.

First Love: 24" x 30" Oil on Canvas

Has portraiture really changed over the years? I think not. Nor has the bonding between mother and child changed for those who have been fortunate to experience it. I sought to create an intimate and personal view of the bonding of a particular mother and child, and simultaneously, a universal depiction of a child's first love, his mother, and the astounding spirituality of that love.