Henry Catenacci

Here are a few updates of my work on a new drawing/painting. ...

I thought I should mention this, since it throws light upon my work. For as far back as I can remember, and up until I was about five or six years old, I had a vivid recurring dream that I was lying on my back on the floor of a forest, looking up through the trees. I knew I was wounded and, I think, a soldier of some sort left there to die. I also knew I would not be found for a very long time, if ever. Frightened, unable to move, and soon to become part of the undergrowth, I was nonetheless enthralled by the beauty of the trees and the forest around me. This dream has stayed with me all my life and has influenced a great deal of my artwork. Nel bosco (In the Woods) is undoubtedly the most direct reference, yet the four seasons series of the boy in the forest is definitely another retelling of the dream — or perhaps the memory of a former life.

Museum-quality fine art prints of my work

are now available for sale.

Please go here for more information.

This work took an extraordinary amount of time and patience to complete, mixing wax pencil and paint in thick layers and minute detail in order to get the effect I wanted, but I’m glad I stuck with it. It really does glow with a life of its own.

Anime gemelle (Soulmates)

Wax pencil and gouache on Bristol board

Limited-edition fine art prints of this piece will be available soon.

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Here is a rough sketch in graphite of the composition for my new work, I spiriti della foresta (Spirits of the Forest).

Although I have one more drawing to finish, I’ve decided that my future work will be in oil using the old Flemish Method. To practice the technique, I am painting a small (only 5” x 5”) painting of my hand holding a flower. Here is the first layer of the Flemish Method, the “underdrawing,” in graphite. I’ll post each stage as I finish.

Un fiore (A Flower)

Oil on Panel

Work in Progress, Underdrawing (graphite on gesso)

January 29, 2024