Painter Margaret Ferraro
My name is M.J., and I am an acrylic painter.
I’ve always considered myself a “frustrated artist.” There were creative elements constantly coming into my life—like there was this artist inside screaming at me to pursue art—but it never epitomized until recently.
I painted for my high school art classes but never anything outside of that. Once, my older cousin visited us with her artist husband while I was in the middle of drawing a hand for a project. He took one look and told me it was really good, but it still didn’t push me to consider art as a career path.
Growing up, my parents would take me to our cabin in Maine every summer. There is no cable or running water, so I was able to just be with nature when I was there. After my dad passed away, he left the camp to me, and it remains my place of greatest inspiration, even though I would only discover painting later in life. Though my home roots are in Rhode Island, I now live between Alabama and Maine. Both places provide their own unique inspiration for my paintings.
After high school, I married my first husband and started a family. I was married to him for seven years. After that relationship ended, I married my high school sweetheart, and we’ve been together for thirty years, had three children, and now have four grandchildren. I worked various part-time office jobs because my main priority was taking care of my children and family.
I am a dedicated mom and I loved being home with my children, but I realized I was still searching for something that would make me say, Wow, I think I’m good at this. My family is so important to me, but I was missing something—a creative element—in my life.
Because of this, my pursuit of art has really only flourished in the last few years. I was busy when my kids were young, but once they grew older, I started to have time to nurture my creativity. I tried macrame and sewing baby clothes for my grandchildren, but I never went to any real art classes. My husband used to joke that he would wake up and not know where any of the furniture was because I was constantly switching things around and painting rooms different colors to try to spark my creativity. I just like making things look different; I’ve always been interested in color, fabrics, shapes, and patterns.
It was right before the COVID-19 pandemic began when I walked into a Job Lot and saw a bunch of canvases and tubes of paint on sale. I had never painted before but just thought, Why not give it a try? I tried to paint a picture I had of my grandsons from the Maine cabin, and when it was finished I just stepped back and thought, Wow, I can’t believe I did this. I liked what I saw and wanted to keep going with it. I have found that with painting. I wake up every day yearning to paint, and I get irritated or annoyed when I’m too busy and cannot find time to get to the easel.
Now, every time my five-year-old grandson visits, he runs through the front door of my house and straight to my easel to see what I’m working on. I love seeing him get so excited about my pieces.
Sometimes I wake up and worry that I'm not going to be able to do this anymore. For the most part, I’m self-taught. I have watched some videos and taken an art class, but the more I think about what I’m doing, the more my pieces come out looking stiff and rigid. I use things I have actually seen—like pictures or botanical books I have in my house—for inspiration.
I try to really look at the things I see. I see the designs, the patterns beyond the objects themselves; they’re not just waves or trees, they’re swirls, lines, patterns, and so much more. I know some other people look at things like that, but sometimes it feels like not enough people do. I think my sensitivity to nature helps me see the nuances of color in this world that others often miss. I like to share the beauty that I see through my art.
It shocks me that people love my art and are willing to pay me for it. From old tenants to people from my hometown to distant relatives I’ve never met, all the commission requests and comments on Facebook make me feel so happy and blessed. I thought things would slow down after the holidays, but they haven’t. More and more people are reaching out, and I love the excuse to keep working every day. Art occupies my mind in the best way possible; I’m just in a good place when I paint.
When I go outside, I look at everything like it could be a painting. A lot of my paintings are inspired by Rhode Island, and I think these local scenes resonate with customers because it gives them a sense of home.
My ultimate goal is just to help people make their world a more beautiful place. I want my pieces to be something they can look at and get pleasure from or be reminded of a fond memory. When you break it down, it is really all about spreading love and making others happy.
Let me capture your favorite memory,
M.J.
