Item Photo By OWEN O’ROURKE
Lynn pastel artist Jeff Fioravanti works on his current project in his home studio.
BY THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — Texting or phone calls get some people into trouble while they are driving, but Lynn painter Jeff Fioravanti admits his near-accidents have occurred when he notices sunlight falling across a snowy yard or rain glistening on flowers.
The Pennybrook Road resident’s resume is packed with awards, recognitions and other honors Fioravanti has achieved as an “expressive realist painter”, since 1987. Working primarily in pastels, the Saugus native creates landscapes rich with color and detail.
His painting, “Burnside’s Bridge,” depicting the modern site of a pivotal point in an 1862 battle, will be included in a National Geographic Civil War battlefield guide, scheduled to be released on Feb. 16.
Although he has been recognized by fellow artists and art societies, Fioravanti also made his mark in Saugus High School athletics by playing hockey and soccer. His resume lists his membership in the Saugus High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Fioravanti, 58, said he first began drawing during family gatherings.
“If the kids got a little rowdy, the adults would give us crayons and say, ‘Go draw’ and I did,” he said.
He met his late wife, Cathy, while earning a business degree at Salem State College and found himself drawing between jobs and again, when his wife pursued an advanced degree. An aunt’s interest in pastel art prompted him to pursue his budding talent more seriously, beginning in 1987. He entered art shows, won awards and began to sell his work.
When he is not working outdoors, Fioravanti paints in a small room on the second floor of his home, surrounded by finished paintings and stacks of pastel “sticks” resembling pieces of chalk. He said pastel provides a pure color on canvas and different-shaped sticks allow pastel artists to shade and texture paintings.
He keeps the sticks clean by wearing a surgical glove while he paints and projects the subject of his work on a screen next to his easel.
“Sometimes you’re working and the heart is willing, but the mind isn’t there. Sometimes the mind is there and the heart isn’t. And sometimes, it’s all flowing,” he said.
Fioravanti’s wife died in March 2014 after almost 30 years together. Since then, he has been juggling his painting with helping his daughter, Nicole, a Merrimack College student. He continues to draw inspiration for his paintings from walks in Lynn Woods near his home and from the connection people who admire his paintings make with his work.
“What I like the most is when I create and it touches someone else: You’re bringing something to them,” he said.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].
