Darlene Pucillo
About the Artist
Born and raised in San Francisco USA, I decided to follow the artistic calling in my heart at age 16. (An inspiring exhibit of Vincent Van Gogh’s work at de Young Museum was the clincher.) I loved working in oil paints from the start, and still paint in oils almost exclusively — making visible a variety of subject matter. My given name is Darlene Pucillo, but I sign my paintings Puci.
Artist Statement
Yellowstone National Park was the very first of our U.S. National Parks. It’s a place alive with hot springs, hot pots, geysers (and even a super volcano that could blow at any time). Mammoth Hot Springs is a complex network of underground hot waters & limestone. The hot water dissolves mineral calcium carbonate from the limestone, which is deposited at the surface to form the travertine terraces. If you go there yourself, you will see the slow liquid flow on the surface that’s been creating new shapes for thousands of years.
I painted “Mammoth” with loose brushwork and added more “hot” colors to try to give the painting some dramatic action with an “aliveness” that exists in Yellowstone National Park . I added depth to the background so to emphasize Mammoth. You’ll also see a few subtle starts to indicate twilight (a magical time between night and day).