04/20/2024
“Peony Lineage” 16”x16” Oil On Panel
Having recently moved back to RI, landing in Bristol, I have thought often and deeply about my roots. The history of this peony, as I remember it, came from the garden of my great grandmother Maria Cicerchia on Maple Ave in Barrington. She was an Italian immigrant, married to another. Her eldest daughter Christina would eventually do the same, wedding my grandfather Nicholas Abatantuono, who came from Italy at 16. For some reason, it was very important for my mother to keep this peony line going, as if it embodied the hopes, stories and struggles of her parents and grandparents. It is a mystery to me how my great grandmother had time for a garden, she was raising eight children on her own after her husband, a foreman at the Barrington Brickyard passed away rather young. No matter when we would visit there was always the smell of something delicious lingering, usually to be followed by a plate of that same something. After my parents passed, and we sold their home (the one they built in the year of my birth) I brought some of these peonies to Somerville, MA. They are now with me in Bristol. Artistic license used in painting not the recollection above.
This is also up at Flower Power VII Exhibition at Jessica Hagen’s
Jessica Hagen Fine Art + Design Opening 5-7 Tonight Sat 4/20, funs through May 18
