The landscape has been the focus of my work for more than two decades.  When I relocated from New York City to Scituate MA, I became aware of and fascinated by the expanse of sky and the horizon line where water or land meets sky.  At times my viewpoint gravitates upward or downward, away from the horizon line.  I do not know if this is a conscious effort on my part to remove a sense of footing or place.  Perhaps it is a desire to seek what should be familiar, but is not.  My paintings are mostly created in the studio from memory and I seldom paint directly from nature.  Rather, I use images observed and gathered throughout my daily activities.  The memories of these observed images become the catalysts, the starting points of ideas, but it is the act of applying paint in the studio that makes the paintings evolve and ideas take shape. Unless specified, the work is oil on raised wood panels.  Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing my work.  diradomike@gmail.com

 As a painter, I have focused on the landscape and seldom paint the human form or portraits, but recently I've started creating a series of  Mosaic Portraits which have been a catalyst for landscape mosaics as well.  Some recent work is found in the Mosaics link above.  I fell in love with Mosaics while traveling through Italy. Since my recent retirement as a teacher, I have the time needed to dedicate to this demanding medium. Since I have always enjoyed the tactile qualities of painting, I have fallen in love with the "hands-on" demands of the process and the challenges of the materials used.  Please contact me if you are interested in a mosaic commission. 

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