ADVICE & STYLE
The Wedding Painter A Barrington artist live-paints the big day with oils By Ken Abrams
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hroughout most of recorded history, weddings have been memorialized through works of fine art. The oldest known wedding painting, the popular Arnolfini Portrait, was completed in 1434 by Dutch Renaissance artist Jan van Eyck. Like vinyl records and black-and-white photography, this art form is making a return with Barrington artist Mark DeSilva leading the way. “As far as I know, I’m the only one in operation in Rhode Island, but there are more and more ever y year,” says DeSilva who’s been
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doing this professionally since 2009 and is busy most weekends. “ There are painters around New York City who have been doing it longer than me ; there are also people in California and the southern states.” Like a wedding photographer, DeSilva is hired by the couple and meets with them to make plans before the big day. “I encourage couples to look at the gallery on my website and see what scene they’d like me to paint. Anything they can imagine, I can do.” He notes that the first dance is the most common request, with the ceremony
being a close second. “Couples can select what moment of the ceremony… maybe the first kiss or when they’re walking back up the aisle.” DeSilva practices styles that range from Impressionism to grand portraiture. His influences include Mattise, Sargent, and Monet. He completes most of his work on site, socializing with wedding-goers while he paints the scene. “Using oil is my biggest connection to history ; a lot of wedding painters today use acrylic. I grew up using oil, which is tested to last centuries,” explains DeSilva.
Hey Rhody WEDDINGS AUGUST 2022 |
HeyRhody.com
Painting by Mark DeSilva
A wedding at Warwick Aldrich Mansion – DeSilva paints in the midst of the festivities