Rooted in Creative Healing: The Story Behind the Work
I didn't plan to become an artist. My body made that decision for me.
Creativity has always run in my family. My great uncle Vincent Longo was an artist whose work hangs in the Whitney Museum in New York. My father has been making things by hand his whole life. I grew up watching people I love build something from nothing. Now I do the same.
During COVID my health collapsed. I was working in a hospital kitchen on the front lines, pushing through when I should have stopped. My body finally made me listen. I picked up a paintbrush. That changed everything. Art didn't just become my work. It became how I survived.
I believe everything has a purpose and a feeling. My art is no different. I work intuitively, never starting with a final image in mind. Each piece finds itself through color, movement, and layering. Abstract work leaves room for emotion, for breath, for whatever you need to bring to it.
Every piece is one of a kind. No two will ever be the same. I work across canvas, resin skateboards, coffee tables, and wood panels. I don't force a result. I let it unfold.
Every order includes a card with the story behind your piece.
My father's handmade cutting boards are also available here. Two generations of making something from nothing.
My wife, Stephanie, is also an artist whose work you will find here. She came to painting not through formal training but through necessity. Self-taught, fluid art, no planned outcome. Just feeling and color finding their way. Two people in the same house healing through the same process, making things by hand.
This space is inclusive and welcoming. Everyone belongs here.
The story behind the work goes deeper. Find me at Rooted in Creative Healing on Substack.
Thank you for being here.
Maria 🌱
