Betti Pettinati-Longinotti

Artist Bio

Betti Pettinati-Longinotti works in drawing, painting, mixed media and glass.  She received a BFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art, an MA from the University of the Arts/ Philadelphia, in Art Education with a studio major in Glass, and an MFA in Visual Arts through the Lesley University, College of Art and Design.

Her work has been shown internationally. Betti is a juried member of Artworks Gallery, Piedmont Craftsmen, Studio Montclair Gallery, NJ, and also hold membership in the American Glass Guild.

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Artist Statement
Farmers Market
February 2020

Once you have an idea, you need to follow through with it. Many years ago on a trip to Italy I led with youth including my daughter, we visited Verona and an outdoors market there. From a photograph we took, my daughter painted a display of apples. I always loved that painting, bringing back good memories. At the Farmers Market I find a banquet of color. Everyone knows the Farmers Market, where they exist in communities throughout the world and are local events. Although I frequent a specific Farmers Market, this series is dedicated to the many that exist throughout the world, each providing indigenous fruits, flowers, vegetables, baked and homemade goods, and cultural items of varied geographic regions.

In the US, times I am sure, the way we purchase groceries has largely changed. I grew up in a time when we had an egg man, a milkman, and were a one-car family. Farmers markets are not as much a necessity now, but provide more of an emotional and social outlet. The construct of a Farmers Market has become a mostly weekend happening, and is popular now because of a resurgence and awareness of eating healthy, which includes organic foods. It harkens back to a time when life was perhaps kinder, allowing the community to come together in a casual enjoyable way.

My ideas, my concepts are based on simplicity, which is a Franciscan charism and integral to my way of life. There is so much complexity and negativity in the world, I want to work with imagery that is uplifting. That is something that gives positive, imagery, compositions, colors, and memories of experience, which celebrate life. I consider myself as an artist, to be a co-creator with my God that creates into becoming everyday.

I continue to learn in painting- Purples and violets are the hardest colors to mix.
I value continuing to learn about painting with each painting I do. There is always problem solving and modifications to consider.

As can be observed, my paintings have a textural foundation. My long held practice of applying a textural foundation conveys an analogy in nature of the underlying layers and contiguous cycle of the decomposing, becoming and the living.

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Artist Statement
Spring Forward
March 2019

My artist statement begins by reflecting on my work and its process. Continuing in a thread from my last series, Under Brother Sun, from leaves in autumn, of colors within seasons to spring flowers. Gathering images, a variety of flowers in my surroundings, experiences, spring through summer. While gathering I am looking for good interesting compositions, color, light, shadows, and intensity.

I enjoy emphasizing my surroundings and making choices of what I will paint and considering the compositions of these selections. A little manifesto of my art and process within this series:
I love the season of spring and all the colors of flowers through the season.
I love the darkness of leaves and the environment to frame and cradle the brightness of the flowers.
I love painting large.
I love painting with intensity of color.
I love the technique processes of oil painting, and seeing my work evolve and being in a state of becoming.
I love the anticipation in the process of creating, to the outcome of the piece.

As can be observed, my paintings have a textural foundation. My long held practice of applying a textural foundation conveys an analogy in nature of the underlying layers and contiguous cycle of the decomposing, becoming and the living.

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Artist Statement
Under Brother Sun
May 27-30, 2018

As an artist, I have a love for painting living things and my hope is that my observations promote the idea of honoring creation. As a Franciscan, my spirituality and way of life promotes a love and respect for creation. Continuing through this series of works, I find that my pieces are a celebration of color within the seasons and living things, thus my exhibition title, Under Brother Sun.

My initial inspiration for this series came from viewing the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition, Living Modern in 2017 at the Reynolda House, Museum of American Art, and her paintings of leaves. Over the years I have desired to paint autumn leaves as a still life. The size of my canvases, desiring to work large, required me to work from photographs, which I took myself. I recently heard a piece about Cézanne, saying that his still life compositions of fruit, often rotted before his paintings were complete, and he began to work from artificial fruit. That makes me feel a little better about working from photos. I am a purist as a painter, but know I would never be able to work this large, directly from life.

Having a love for the process of the observational in painting, I gathered my visual sources of autumn leaves, varieties of leaves and colors, and then followed through the colors through winter and spring. Gathering first from my home, then in my surroundings, visits, and short day trips. As I continued through the seasons I felt a sense of more expressiveness and freedom to depart from the original photographs.

Process and memories of painting-
As a young adult artist, I used to use white lead in my painting as a textural foundation. Because of the toxicity of this material, you cannot find it any longer. I am now using matte gel medium to apply and provide underground texture for my painting.

This is the first time I have painted on pre-stretched canvas. I learned to stretch canvas when taking oil painting classes at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art), and it was introduced like a rite of passage for a painter.

Many people attribute my reputation as an artist, as a glass artist, which I am. I am also a painter and was painting before beginning in glass. My painting actually led to my development as a glass artist. As a painter with oil and glass, I find that I continue to love creating intensity with color.

I am inspired mostly by painters: Georgia O’Keeffe of course, Gabriele Münter, as I see a touch of the Fauvist style in one of my paintings; and Phil Koch, one of my painting professors at MICA, whom I follow his work and exhibitions.

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For more information

Exhibits

Find references to all Betti Pettinati-Longinotti’s shows at Artworks on her website:  plstudioartglass.com