About the Artist

The Art

Dominique Amendola Painting

For many years, I painted according to my surroundings and the type of people I met – over the years I've created dozens of figure paintings and landscapes.

In the same way, through my years of traveling in India I created my series of original street scenes of India.

If you tour my website, you will find sections for figures, landscapes, and India and more.

However, my real love is the sacred art of India. In this section, you will find many works of art depicting pastimes of many gods and goddesses of India.

At present I am almost exclusively painting my 'Sacred Art of India' since It gives me the greatest pleasure to produce these pieces in the style of classical realism. That is to say since I studied both classical European art and traditional Indian art, I am using the French techniques of the old masters with the lore of Indian literature. That is the reason why you will find such a diversity of subject matter in my paintings.

 Why I Paint

In reality I am and have been a practitioner of bhakti-yoga for many years. So my paintings represent that search for the sweet Absolute Divinity.

The most famous artwork among my paintings is mother Yashoda running after baby Krishna. Krishna even as a baby has full qualities and full potential and he is Bhagavan, the ultimate Supreme Lord. He was naughty and he distributed the yogurt to the monkeys and his mother caught him. So he ran away. His mother is running after him trying to bind him with ropes. To me, this painting represents the love of a devotee for His Lord, and his inability to catch or bind the Absolute with the ropes of affection, despite trying without respite. This mad dash to attain the un-attainable is the motivation for my art production.

Art Education

I studied long years in Paris at the Ecole Superieure Des Art Decoratifs as well as some art academies in Italy and in Madras, where I learned the art of transcendental proportions and the different characteristics of the different Indian gods.

My Technique

To create my paintings, I use oils that I grind myself into tubes. I also make my own Maroger mediums ( two different ones: the Rubens jelly medium and the Titian wax medium). This technique allows me to give my canvas a sense of vibrancy.

My technique is quite classical with an underpainting in ochre yellow, white, and raw umber. Then I will glaze the colors on top. This technique has the advantage of making the artwork luminous and colorful.

My paintings along with my spiritual practice are my life and soul. I do not go long periods without painting, despite traveling a lot. My work has been widely published in books and magazines which has been very rewarding.

I hope you will find something you like in this portfolio and bring a painting home to look at while your life becomes more blessed.