People in Places: Local Artist Nick Santoleri

How a canvas and watercolors soothe anxiety and produce award-winning art

By Craig Whitney

Photos courtesy of Nick Santoleri

Nick Santoleri is an award-winning realism artist who has depicted local scenery in many of his landscape and still-life paintings.

As a child, Nick traveled down Goshen Road often and still has strong memories of the rural landscape and winding creeks. Painting is a profession and a passion for Nick, something that calms and reassures him when life becomes hectic. Through a lifetime of contribution artwork to different businesses and organizations in Marple Township and the surrounding area, Nick has made our community a more beautiful place.

Painting and drawing has been a part of Nick’s life since he was a child. His grandmother told him stories when he got older about how she would use painting and other art as a calming device for him. When he got overactive and restless, his grandmother sat him down and gave him a canvas or a drawing pad, and he would become incredibly calm and at ease.

Nick Santoleri working on one of his paintings

Painting puts me in my own world. It has always been able to calm me down when I’m stressed or nervous,” Nick said.

Many of Nick’s works of art have depicted locations in the Marple and Newtown Township communities: "Newtown Square Friends Meeting" depicts the Newtown Square Friends Meeting House. "Evening in Edgemont" captures a quiet snowy day and is currently on display at La Locanda Ristorante Italiano. And "Bartram Bridge" captures the famous covered bridge that crosses Crum Creek by Goshen Road.

Goshen Road has been especially influential in Nick’s recent painting. "Pond’s Edge" was a project Nick worked on for a long time, where he tried to capture a scene from his memory before returning there in person. It had been a long time since he was at this specific location, but it was a very powerful memory of an area along Goshen Road that he passed often as a child.

"Pond's Edge" - watercolor painting by Nick Santoleri

Digital photo copy courtesy of Nick Santoleri

"Pond’s Edge" became more than a painting to Nick; it was a statement on the power of memory and the impact of beautiful places on a person throughout a lifetime. Returning to the location after the painting was finished, Nick was fascinated by what was the same and what was built out of years of remembering.

It was fascinating to me, how what we remember changes and grows, and how it was similar and different in so many ways,” Nick marveled.

Memories can become that for people over time: a wild and powerful story that takes on a life of its own. The artwork that Nick has created in his life has been his therapeutic creative outlet, something that can help him express those childhood memories and sort through whatever is on his mind. When there has been uncertainty and anxiety in his life, a white canvas and a set of watercolors has always been a soothing relief.

It’s similar to oysters and pearls,” Nick explained. “An oyster makes a pearl when an irritant like a grain of sand or rock gets into it. There is a natural process that makes the irritant smooth and soothe the oyster shell, eventually creating a pearl.”

Life can be stressful at times, especially for those who are prone to anxiety. Nick has found a way to respond to that anxiety in a way that soothes him and creates something beautiful in the process. Through these acts of personal meditation, Nick has been able to create works of art and share them with the people of Newtown Square and beyond.

The grateful residents of Marple Township say...

Thank you, Nick Santoleri, for the many wonderful paintings and drawings you have created and shared!