Russell D’Alessio of Dedham has no plans to retire. Fifty years of creating art hasn’t grown old for the Bar Harbor gallery owner, and he doesn’t expect it to.
“I never had that word ‘retirement’ in my vocabulary,” D’Alessio said. “We keep doing what we want to do, and as you get older, you just do it a little slower.”
D’Alessio will celebrate his career that has spanned a half-century with an event for his latest exhibition “50 Years A Retrospective” on Aug. 2 at D’Alessio Gallery in Bar Harbor.
The show will include paintings, mixed media, collage, sculpture and prints, including some artwork D’Alessio has not shown in years, as well as works patrons gave back specifically for the exhibit.
D’Alessio, originally from northern New Jersey, first came to Bar Harbor to celebrate not being sent to the Vietnam War after previously being drafted. Inspired by the scenery and the landscape, he and his wife Linda officially moved to the state in 1974.
“Being a kid from the city and the suburbs, it was a whole new experience for me, D’Alessio said. “The landscape was incredible and wild. Where the mountains meet the sea was something I never pictured in my mind before.”
In the years after, D’Alessio — who has three children with Linda — worked for Bacon Printing in Bangor and was a freelance graphic designer. He and Linda opened Shirt Works in Orono where he created and painted T-shirts for the University of Maine, Eastern Fine Paper and various businesses across the state.
They opened Over the Moon Studios at their home in Dedham in 1988 and opened its first store in Bar Harbor, later renamed Pretty Marsh Gallery, in 1989. The gallery featured Over the Moon products as well as D’Alessio’s fine art works. The gallery moved to its current location on Mt. Desert Street in 2009 with a new, and now current name, D’Alessio Gallery.
D’Alessio’s work has changed some in terms of themes, subject matter, and abstract and representational styles over the years, he said. He likes using common phrases or song lyrics as inspiration and paints what he thinks the phrase would look like in physical terms.
“The phrase, ‘Life is a piece of cake’, what does that look like?” D’Alessio said. “I’m inspired by a concept.”
D’Alessio is known for his very bright, primary colored paintings, frequently of women. However, his newer works have been more subdued, he said.
An average painting can take from a couple of days to two months, depending on the work and other pieces he is completing. He admits that selling pieces immediately after completion has a mix of emotions as he does not get to enjoy the painting in the gallery setting. But he doesn’t have a favorite, except those of Linda, he said.
D’Alessio did not know whether his career would make it to the 50-year mark — he took various college art classes but doesn’t have a degree — but he tried everyday to make pictures instead of looking for another career path, he said.
His biggest source of inspiration and support is Linda. She takes care of the business and marketing aspects of the gallery, which affords D’Alessio that ability to focus on his art, he said.
“If you enjoy what you’re doing, do it.”
“50 Years A Retrospective” will run through Aug. 5 in the gallery and online through Aug. 31 at rdalessioart.com.