Vito The Tailor

After a heavy rain that destroyed about 40% of my old photographs, I decided to digitize whatever was left and never again leave all those memories to the whims of Mother Nature. In the process, i came across a photo of my recently deceased cousin, Vito, who was looking down fixing something when the photo was taken. I don’t remember taking the picture, but somehow I have it. It struck me that he was doing something that I had seen my mother do many times. She was a seamstress from a long line of tailors. My grandfather and three of his daughters were also tailors. So I got the vision that my cousin should carry on the tradition and add to the family history. He wasn’t a tailor; he was a fireman and raised pigeons all his life. I often when over to his house, just a few blocks away from mine and we’d end up on the roof tending to his flock. I didn’t get the appeal of squawking pigeons, but he was one of my favorite cousins and I always admired his strength.
I used acrylic on canvas for this image, because I knew I wanted a lot of color blending in the scene. I’m sure most people have a favorite family member that they look up to and hopefully this will remind them of the same warmth and affection.

Acrylic on canvas, unframed size: 16″ x 20″