ABOUT

ARTIST STATEMENT

Revealing and sharing the truth about the beauty and goodness around me is why I create art. Every day I feel a childlike freedom as I observe colors, textures, and contrasts of simple things, especially in nature. I love to transform an empty canvas into a full impression of my subjects in living color. It is more than the mechanics of painting or drawing; it touches me spiritually when I see the whole image slowly coming to light. I am committed to the preservation of the historical painting and drawing practices of the Boston School artists from the early 20th century with contemporary subjects through my work and instruction.

BIOGRAPHY

Norma Torti is an oil painter in the Boston School Impressionist tradition. Her representational paintings combine inviting compositions and accurate drawing with emphasis on full color and light to create atmosphere in her paintings.

Norma's interest in art history, specifically the Boston School impressionist painters of the early 1900s, influences her choice of subjects and style of painting. She has over forty years of painting and drawing experience and education in classical realism and Boston School Impressionist painting styles.

She currently displays her paintings of still lifes, landscapes, and florals at Sidoti Art Gallery, Rockport, MA and The White Barn in Essex, MA. She is listed in the Creative Ground, a project of the New England Foundation for the Arts. Her award-winning paintings were exhibited at galleries in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Tennessee, and Missouri, and published twice in a Boston fine art publication. She is a juried member of the American Impressionist Society, Inc., Allied Artists of America, and the International Guild of Realism. She was chosen for inclusion in the “Artists of the Seacoast” project for Families First. Her work was showcased in the NOAPS International Exhibition and National shows, “Best of America.” Norma’s body of work, “Honoring Juddy” was exhibited in several solo shows and at the Children’s Museum of NH exhibition, “Music: The Universal Language.”

Norma was recently enrolled in the Boston School Atelier working with master artist, Paul Ingbretson. She studied classical painting and drawing with two instructors who were trained at the School of Visual Arts NYC and Aristides Atelier, WA, respectively. She furthered her classical oil and pastel painting skills with Daniel Greene, Master Artist, N. Salem, NY in 1992. Norma studied representational painting, drawing and sculpture at the NH Institute of Art from 1991-2003. Some of her first training was through residential workshops with Jack Callahan and plein air teachers, Rockport, MA 1980-1983.

Sharing her talents with the community is important to Norma. She created and directs the "Arts for Angels Program" of Annie's Angels Memorial Fund. The program brings customized art projects to people in assisted living, hospice, and adult day-out programs. Norma provides private instruction and holds workshops at her studio in North Hampton.

ARTS FOR ANGELS PROGRAM, ANNIE'S ANGELS MEMORIAL FUND, created by Norma Torti

ARTICLES:

In the Light of the Past Exhibition: the Students of Paul Ingbretson, Whistler House Museum, Lowell, MA

"My Days in the Atelier" presentation & article, Rye Art Study Group

Seacoast Scene "Get to Know" See Page 19

Homemakers to Host "Revealing Your Light" Project

Empty Easel "Serene Waterways and Peaceful Landscapes"