Artist says oil painting is a lifelong love

Patrick Dinunzio said art has been a part of his life almost as long as he can remember and he hopes it will stay with him until the end.

Dinunzio, a Bruce Township resident, is the featured artist during August at the Wolcott Mill Historic Center. Dinunzio will feature a variety of his oil paintings. The artist said he has been interested in the subject from an early age and luckily never got too far from it.

"I got my first paint set in the early '60s, so I've been painting for about 50 years," he said.

Dinunzio studied art at the Center for Creative Studies, Wayne State University and Macomb Community College, but said he is primarily self-taught.

Dinunzio worked as a machinist, machine repairman and programmer, but he said he always found time to jump into painting - especially now that he is retired.

"I am kind of changing my style and getting a little more painterly," he said, adding that his work is becoming a little looser. "I am changing and I have noticed through the years as my personality changes, I'm getting older, that is the evolution of my painting according to how I feel."

Dinunzio said despite his long history as a painter he finds himself primarily drawn to one medium.

"I know some artists diversify with pastels and waters, and I just got attracted to oils and that is it," he said, adding that he also works in ceramics. "I like the idea that you have time to do corrections. With watercolors, you can't. Acrylics dry too quickly. Oils are just an appealing medium to work with."

As for subject matter, Dinunzio said he really enjoys portraits but he isn't afraid to diversify.

"I'll work in portraits for a week or two and then I kind of get burnt out, and I jump to landscapes and still life," he said.