Introducing Steve Staresina

Steve StaresomaSteve Staresina uses a modification of the ancient technique and natural medium called fresco, creating luminous and vibrant paintings with layers of marble and limestone plaster.

He is one of just a few artists in the world using fresco in the expressionist / modernist style. Staresina is an artist who has nurtured his love for the painting of "The New York School 10" Expressionists, Action and Color Field Painters. The spontaneity, courage and beauty of their work had influence worldwide, from New York to Paris to Black Mountain College, near Asheville, North Carolina, and serves as Steve’s inspiration today.

Utilizing color fields, line and spontaneous, expressionistic strokes of emotion, the artist portrays life, courage and beauty, in an experience where the artist, the art and the viewer visually interact. As a fresco artist and artisan, Steve’s love of natural materials combines with his passion for modern and expressionist art, creating his richly distinct style.In Staresina’s works there exists a paradox between an ancient art medium, and his new palette, invoking a modernist edge and emotion.

The goal in Staresina paintings is in manifesting a message of beauty and excellence, through fresco, a medium of the ancients, to create the exquisite and emotion filled works of "our day".

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About my materials...

detail of a fresco painting

While creating a modern fresco requires a rare medium, the luminosity, depth, and timelessness of the all -natural marble and limestone plaster is exquisite. Traditionally, the artist Michaelangelo used the “buon” (pigment on wet plaster) fresco technique. Steve has combined what he terms “enfresco” (pigment in wet plaster) and traditional “buon” fresco to create the striking, energetic and emotion filled works of “our day.”

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Paintings by Staresina are owned by both corporate and private collectors. His artwork has been shown in galleries and has been used to benefit numerous charitable organizations. Some of his collectors and exhibits include the following:

  • Hilton/ Doubletree Hotel Corp.
  • Renaissance/ Marriott Hotels
  • Carolina Hurricanes( NHL)
  • The Progress Energy Center For The Performing Arts / Meymandi Hall Solo Exhibit
  • ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition
  • Just Blo’( Intl. Award winning salons)
  • Red Hat Corp.
  • The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
  • NC Governor’s Mansion
  • The Jimmy V Celebrity Classic
  • Stock Corp.
  • Kennedy / Covington Law

 

 

What is Fresco ?

“I believe fresco is the most universal, simplest, the most direct, the most natural expression of the artist. Yet of all forms of painting, it demands the most of the artist. Throughout the day the capacity of the plaster to assimilate color varies-it is a living, changing thing. Part of the wonder of this enduring form of art is that at its completion the beauty of the work has just begun to radiate. Over the years, while the fresco feeds the hearts and souls of those fortunate enough to abide under its splendor, the chemical process of carbonization continues within,...continually increasing the visual unity and luminosity of the work.”

Sr. Lucia Wiley