Two Guys and a Dog by Traeger di Pietro
Traeger di Pietro

Traeger di Pietro

 

Traeger di Pietro is a painter and mixed media artist living on Martha’s Vineyard. Versatile and ever-evolving, Traeger’s work ranges from impressionistic portraits and landscapes to contemporary narratives and collage-like explorations of the human experience. 

 

Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1976, Traeger attended the University of Orono, Maine where he majored in Studio Arts. After college, Traeger moved to Martha’s Vineyard, where he worked driving a delivery truck by day for many years, painting and creating at night. Driving around the Island each day allowed him to become intimately familiar with his surroundings, and certains scenes, figures and landscapes quickly found their way into his work. 

 

Inspired by everything from an ordinary white piece of gum on a sidewalk to the most beautiful Martha’s Vineyard sunset, simplicity is paramount in Traeger’s work.  Whether he’s capturing clam diggers in up-island ponds or telling stories of characters based on a deck of cards, he paints experiences. “I want my paintings to make people happy.” 

 

His body of work is a journey into the wonder of his many varied subjects, deriving from a broad and diverse range of sources – a local fisherman, a scalloper, an elephant. Often, he says, he draws on imagery from his subconscious. Using oil for some series and mixed media for others, Traeger brings a distinct imaginative approach to the creation of each of his compositions.

 

Traeger has had the good fortune to know and draw inspiration from many veteran Island painters, including Allen Whiting and the late Ray Ellis. Once, at an opening, Traeger congratulated Ellis on quickly selling a large piece. “He pulled me aside and said, ‘You know what? I’m going to make a better one.” Trager shares a similar commitment to his work. “It’s not about the paintings we’ve made, it’s about the paintings we’re going to make.” 

 

Traeger’s contemporary mixed media pieces are on display at the Field Gallery, West Tisbury and his impressionistic paintings can be seen at North Water Gallery, Edgartown. His work is also in various collections and galleries across the United States and overseas. 

 

Traeger lives and paints in Oak Bluffs.

 

Q&A with Traeger di Pietro in his Studio:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X7NzuRuA3Q

 

Artifacts Blog: Dinner for Six with Traeger di Pietro

https://artifactsmv.com/home/dinnerforsixwithtraegerdipietro

 

 

 

Two Guys and a Dog
Traeger di Pietro
Oil on Canvas
14" x 15"     Framed: 15" x 16"
$1,550
Prices and availability may change without prior notice.
A price quote alone does not constitute a hold on the item.
All items remain property of North Water Gallery until paid in full.