Paintings worth a thousand words

Gloria Elliott looks at a black and white painting by Gilda De Lio at the East Rockaway Library.

Clarissa Hamlin/Herald

Gilda De Lio stands by one of her works of art inspired by real-life events.

Clarissa Hamlin/Herald

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Artists are born, possessing a natural ability that lies deep within them selves to create art, said Gilda De Lio, of East Rockaway.

“It’s something in your heart,” De Lio said when it comes to being an artist.  Adding splashes of color, strokes of orange, yellow, or taking a black and white approach, her art is both imaginative and reality-based paintings. She uses pastels, acylic, and watercolors - key ingredients in several of her works, which are currently on display at East Rockaway Public Library. Several friends and family members came together to see the her work during a “Meet the Artist” night on Oct. 20.

There are more than five photos detailing her experiences and travels around the world hanging on the walls. The artistic works seem to tell a story, showcasing De Lio’s personal history – one that began when she was just five years old.

De Lio’s father used to draw, she said. Continuing that legacy, she began drawing, and even took classes at Pratt Institute developing her talent. Nothing seemed to stop her from her following her dream, and living out her passion. A key example of that is when De Lio resumed taking art classes just a few years after a hiatus to start a family.

“When Ondria (daughter) was a kid, I used to draw on her homework,” she joked, “and teach art classes in the basement.”

And according to her daughter, Ondria Mantorani, her mother has always been phenomenal at taking pictures. She can capture different shots on film, Mantorani added, with a very artistic eye. “She is very inspirational,” she said.

What inspires De Lio is a number of real-life scenes. She can create a painting of exactly what she sees, like the early morning sunshine shining on a terrace in a New Mexico building that she saw last November. Russia and Japan have also been her muse. In addition, she drew inspiration from pictures of Vietnamese children just three years ago, around the same time when she began using pastels, she said.