We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Edward Tadiello. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Edward below.
Edward, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
I have consistently earned a living from utilizing my artistic skills. I began my career in the early 1970s as a commercial artist and Art Director. During that time, I freelanced at night, creating advertising and editorial illustrations. In 1983, I received my first book cover Illustration commission from Barbara Ulin, an art director at Dell Publishing in NYC. That was the first of over 250 romance, western, and young adult book covers. In the early 1990s, I began to create fine art paintings. Self-motivated rather than commission-motivated. I focused mainly on the female form, including angels, pin-ups, nudes, and musicians. My work at that time attracted the attention of a major collector named Charles Martignetti. Charles owned a collection that was worth millions. Included in his collection were paintings by Norman Rockwell, Gill Elvgren, and J.C. Leyendecker. Charles purchased some of my first fine art paintings. I also caught the attention of Michael Grapin, a local collector of glamour and pin-up art. To this day, Michael remains a close friend and avid collector. From 1988 to 2005, I made my living solely from my art. In 2006, I joined the United Scenic Artists, Local 829. As a scenic artist, I had the opportunity to work on numerous TV and Film productions, including Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Clifford the Big Red Dog, 30 Rock, Billions, and Ray Donovan. This work as a scenic artist has given me the financial freedom to continue pursuing my career as a fine artist. Most recently, my wife, Gloria Pacis, and I have opened up the EDG Studio Gallery in Hoboken, New Jersey. I see our work as 180 degrees apart and complementary. If a customer is not drawn to my work, they are drawn to Gloria’s and vice versa. As of this writing, our Gallery venture is about a year old. I still work in Film and TV, and I look forward to the day when I can devote myself full-time to my art.
Edward, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As a child, I was always fascinated by the illustrations I saw in magazines, movie and theatre posters. I was drawn to illustrations that paid faithful attention to anatomy, character expression and colors; attention to light/dark composition. The work of Norman Rockwell, J. C. Leyendecker, Bob Peak, Robert McGinnis, Frank Frazzetta, and Tim Hildebrandt stood out, to name a few. At that age, I was exposed more to illustrations than the fine art exhibited in Galleries and Museums. As I became more aware of fine art, I fell in love with the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens, Raphael, John Singer Sargent, Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, and Bouguereau, among others. At 17, I attended the Pan-American Art School in NYC. There, I studied advertising design and illustration. My teachers emphasized the importance of drawing from life. In my first year there, the JCPenney Co. sent a recruiter to the school. He hired me to work at the JCPenney headquarters in NYC, which eventually led to a position as an Art Director. During that time, I took on freelance illustration projects at night for a array of clients, including Burger King, Royal Air Maroc, Sasson Jeans, PSE&G, and Merck Sharp & Dohme, among others. In 1983, I got my first paperback book cover commission from Barbara Ulin at Dell Publishing in NYC. That was the first of over 250 romance, western, and young adult book cover illustrations I created for Dell, Bantam, Harlequin, Scholastic, and other publishers. In the 1970s and 80s, I attended classes at The Art Students League in NYC. There, I studied with Robert Beverly Hale, a world-renowned anatomist. One thing that Hale said in a class stuck with me: “Learn how to draw with your intellect rather than your eyes and then turn it over to your emotion.” I also studied with Daniel Schwartz at the Society of Illustrators in NYC. There, I painted from life while surrounded by original works by Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker, and other notable artists. Later, I took classes with Jack Potter at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Jack was a uniquely gifted artist/teacher who could inspire his students to think and draw outside the box. I learned how to exaggerate and convey emotion through his teaching. In 2005, I took a workshop with David Leffel at the Art Students League. David is well known for creating still lifes that are bathed in light. In the Early 1990s, the book cover industry started to shift to digital imagery. The photos of models embracing were enhanced and finished in Photoshop. It was also at this time that I rented a studio at the Monroe Center for the Arts in Hoboken, NJ. It was in this new studio, as Book Cover commissions started to decline, that I started painting my self-inspired art. Until then, I had mainly been a brush for hire. Now I found myself staring at a blank canvas with no direction from a client. This was new to me, and it was both uncomfortable and exhilarating at the same time. My admiration for the Female Form motivated me to create paintings of Angels, which I thought of as magical beings with wings. The first four angel paintings I made were licensed for use on Bradford Exchange plates and other products. These can still be found online today. Next, still in the early 1990s, I started painting pin-ups. I was impressed by the work of Gil Elvgren, whose work graced calendars and advertisements from the 1930s to the 1970s. Soon, my own Pin-up and illustration art attracted several notable collectors, including Charles Martignetti and Michael Grapin. While I still paint Pin-up today, I never considered it my primary focus. I never like to pigeonhole my work in any of its forms, except for general descriptions, such as contemporary realism or figure painting. The work I do today is both commissioned, such as portraiture and wedding paintings, and self-inspired fine art, such as “The Violinist”(one of my paintings in the “Women Musician series). The painting entitled “Apple” is the first one where I have combined 3d CG sculpted elements with a model shot. The endless possibilities of 3D modeling within digital environments, combined with photos of models, inspire me.
In all cases, commissioned or otherwise, I look to achieve a pleasing expression on the faces of the people. This is very important to me. While I refrain from social and political commentary, I do think about spirituality, universal energy, and the abundant life force that is always available to us all if we leave our egos at the door. This also occurs when I am in the flow of painting. It is a real connection with the spirit, with universal love. There are no distracting egotistical thoughts when working in the flow, only my hand moving in harmony with the spirit. As a drummer in jazz combos, I get the same feeling when playing and improvising on the spot, when there is no time to think about it. The ego has no place on that stage. You just got to get out of the way and let the music happen. The same goes for painting in the flow. Of course, I am a believer in years of training and an acquired skill that must be developed first to be able to translate the energy flow. And by “energy flow,” I mean approaching the canvas with an uncluttered mind and letting inspired intuition motivate me without getting in the way by second-guessing and overthinking.
In 2024, together with my wife Gloria Pacis, EDG STUDIO GALLERY was established at the Hoboken Center for the Arts in Hoboken, NJ. Gloria Pacis is a painter originally from Seattle, Washington, and a graduate of the University of Washington (B.F.A., Painting, 1976). Influences from her parents—a father who worked as an engineer and a mother who was a seamstress—contributed to her attention to form and artistic perception. Her work focuses on introspection and questions of human motivation and conflict, influenced by her experiences growing up as a first-generation minority child.
Together, the bursting with color and compositional excitement of Gloria’s art and the fantasy-like contemporary realism of my figure paintings make up the EDG Studio Gallery. It is also worth noting that we accept portrait commissions. At present, our Gallery has approximately 160 Paintings in inventory, ranging in price from $300.00 to $18,000.00. Our hours of operation are Friday through Sunday from 10 am until 6 pm, and by appointment.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
Not sure that I understand them. For people to pay the amount of money for an NFT, there must be something more to it. I never like to say never, so I will leave the door open as to whether any of my work will be adapted to an NFT.
For now, I intend to focus only on original oil paintings and graphite drawings.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
To create a body of work that blends fantasy with realism. This could be the setting, the environment, or the costume the subject wears. It could be recorded directly from imagination or developed in the computer 3d programs that can create extraordinary worlds and then painted in oils.
My goal for the EDG Studio Gallery is to establish it as a gallery renowned for showcasing one-of-a-kind, original art, as well as commissioned art, and to make it a hub for cool jazz sessions where musicians are welcome to sit in.
Gloria and I are considering offering workshops in the gallery and potentially abroad.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.edward-tadiello.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edg_studio_gallery?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4800540780226&set=a.4493047093076
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-tadiello-6599a030/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_feed%3BHbVUfjHJSMmrLhKEy31Rww%3D%3D
- Youtube: @edwardtadiello4700
Image Credits
Edward Tadiello