by Roxanne Phillips, MFA
Printmaker and Master Printer, Pele Prints
Roxanne Phillips: What is it about your preferred medium that you enjoy the most?
Dominic Finocchio: Though I occasionally make drawings and watercolors simply to vary my studio experience, most of my work is made with oil paint owing to its flexibility which serves the more intuitive part of my method. Certainly there are aspects of my process that require planning but I need to have the fluidity that oil paint provides; it is in sync with how I begin and proceed.
R: Do you have a studio routine? Most creative time of day to work? Process of thinking or setting up before you begin making?
D: I am not an early riser (to put it mildly) and since I need to be alert and have some clarity of thought to be productive, I don’t start until about 11:30 a.m. or so followed by an average of about five to six hours of work. Once I begin to gain mental access to the painting at hand, I do whatever feels right and important regardless of the plan with which I started.
R: Do you have a sketchbook? What kinds of things do you put in it?
D: I usually keep two sketchbooks; one is kept in the glove compartment of my car and gets filled with quick pen sketches of almost anything; from a bit of landscape while taking a walk to a restaurant where I might have dinner while traveling. The second is a book I keep of studies after artists from the past whose work I admire. This is mostly for my pleasure but there are times when I still have an unexpected learning experience.
R: What advice would you give your younger artist self?
D: Stop concerning yourself with the approval of others and try to make art that you don’t see anyone else making. Realize that your personal vision has most of what you need to make good work and because of the importance of subjectivity there hasn’t been a rule book since the nineteenth century so there is no right or wrong.
____________________________
Dominic Finocchio is an award-winning artist whose paintings and drawings have been presented in curated, invitational, and juried exhibits throughout the U.S. for more than 30 years. His works are included in private, corporate and museum collections including Evansville Museum of Arts & Science, The Marriott Corporation/Renaissance Hotel St. Louis, The Santo Foundation, Bristol-Meyers Squibb Corporation, and Koetting Associates.
____________________________
Roxanne Phillips is an artist and art educator based in St. Louis since 2001. She earned a MFA in Printmaking & Drawing from Washington University in St. Louis and BFA in Painting & Drawing from University of North Texas. She has worked with Art Saint Louis since 2017 as Administrative Assistant and Installer and since 2018 as Master Printer for Pele Prints. She also works as adjunct art instructor at Washington University in St. Louis. Her works have been featured in numerous exhibitions throughout the St. Louis region including at Art Saint Louis, Crossroads Art Studio & Gallery, and St. Louis Artists’ Guild. Her work is currently available at Union Studio in St. Louis. She has served as exhibit Juror for several regional exhibits & art fairs. Roxanne is past Board member of St. Louis Women’s Caucus for Art.
Printmaker and Master Printer, Pele Prints
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| Dominic Finocchio. Live Theatre. Oil on Canvas. 24”x36”. $2,000.00. |
Roxanne Phillips: What is it about your preferred medium that you enjoy the most?
Dominic Finocchio: Though I occasionally make drawings and watercolors simply to vary my studio experience, most of my work is made with oil paint owing to its flexibility which serves the more intuitive part of my method. Certainly there are aspects of my process that require planning but I need to have the fluidity that oil paint provides; it is in sync with how I begin and proceed.
 |
| Dominic Finocchio. A Significant Choice. Oil on Wood Panel, 24”x30”. $2000. |
R: What is the biggest point of inspiration for your artwork?
D: I keep folders of photographs in my computer separated by category. The ones that I took myself were taken for no specific reason other than the subject caught my eye and often there is nothing particularly striking about them. Inspiration for me is not a flash of lightening compelling me, rather I start combining elements such as figures, animals and settings arbitrarily; as weeks or months go by these elements are moved around or replaced until that realm of thought over which none of us has any control tells me that I have stumbled upon something to pursue. That subconscious mechanism might be what I think of as a “point of inspiration”.
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| Dominic Finocchio's studio & creative workspace. |
R: Do you have a studio routine? Most creative time of day to work? Process of thinking or setting up before you begin making?
D: I am not an early riser (to put it mildly) and since I need to be alert and have some clarity of thought to be productive, I don’t start until about 11:30 a.m. or so followed by an average of about five to six hours of work. Once I begin to gain mental access to the painting at hand, I do whatever feels right and important regardless of the plan with which I started.
 |
| Dominic Finocchio. Atrium. Oil on Canvas. 24”x36”. $2,000.00. |
D: I usually keep two sketchbooks; one is kept in the glove compartment of my car and gets filled with quick pen sketches of almost anything; from a bit of landscape while taking a walk to a restaurant where I might have dinner while traveling. The second is a book I keep of studies after artists from the past whose work I admire. This is mostly for my pleasure but there are times when I still have an unexpected learning experience.
 |
| St. Louis artist Dominic Finocchio. |
R: What advice would you give your younger artist self?
D: Stop concerning yourself with the approval of others and try to make art that you don’t see anyone else making. Realize that your personal vision has most of what you need to make good work and because of the importance of subjectivity there hasn’t been a rule book since the nineteenth century so there is no right or wrong.
____________________________
Dominic Finocchio is an award-winning artist whose paintings and drawings have been presented in curated, invitational, and juried exhibits throughout the U.S. for more than 30 years. His works are included in private, corporate and museum collections including Evansville Museum of Arts & Science, The Marriott Corporation/Renaissance Hotel St. Louis, The Santo Foundation, Bristol-Meyers Squibb Corporation, and Koetting Associates.
____________________________
Roxanne Phillips is an artist and art educator based in St. Louis since 2001. She earned a MFA in Printmaking & Drawing from Washington University in St. Louis and BFA in Painting & Drawing from University of North Texas. She has worked with Art Saint Louis since 2017 as Administrative Assistant and Installer and since 2018 as Master Printer for Pele Prints. She also works as adjunct art instructor at Washington University in St. Louis. Her works have been featured in numerous exhibitions throughout the St. Louis region including at Art Saint Louis, Crossroads Art Studio & Gallery, and St. Louis Artists’ Guild. Her work is currently available at Union Studio in St. Louis. She has served as exhibit Juror for several regional exhibits & art fairs. Roxanne is past Board member of St. Louis Women’s Caucus for Art.
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