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Honoring the Artist: Louise Tramontano
Looking at this week's cover featuring a Westhampton farmstand, we would never guess that its artist, Louise Tramontano, has been around the world. While the local scene is loaded with lush color and interesting detail, so are her works celebrating such diverse countries as Africa, Mali and India. For example, her flowers are ablaze with striking hues, her close-ups are stunning.
We are curious to learn how Tramontano landed in these exotic and provocative places.
Q: Let's start at the beginning before you tell us why you traveled to Mali, for example. You haven't always been an artist, right?
A: I decided I wanted to go into an agricultural business with my husband, so with $5,000 and our three-month old daughter, we went across the country, visiting places like cherry farms in Montana and grain farms in Iowa. My husband said, "How would you like to grow flowers?" And I said, "I can learn that."
Q: So you opened up a retail garden center in Long Island. That relates to your art subjects.
A: Yes. I studied botanical art at the Bronx Botanical Gardens and at the Isabel O'Neil Studio in Manhattan. I leaned how to paint on wood and fire screens, for example. The next step was to paint on canvas, which I started doing four years ago.
Q: It was your experience with your gardening center that lead to your travels.
A: We volunteered for various places to teach the people agricultural skills. For example, we worked at a women's co-operative in Mali drying fruit. The women were incredible. It was so dusty and dry at the edge of the Sahara desert. It was 115 degrees, and we didn't even get sunburn.
Q: What stands out in your mind as a result of this experience?
A: It was extremely peaceful. The women were "in the moment." Our interpreter said people there don't strive for things. People here want cars, iPods, TV sets. For me, to experience people like that, it was like life was in slow motion.
Q: What strides did the women achieve as far as making their life better?
A: They used to have to climb trees to pick fruit that was used for baby formula and protein. Six years ago, the co-op replaced that method, and they don't have to climb trees anymore.
Q: What was you life like when you were there?
A: We lived in a concrete building, watched children playing with a half - deflated soccer ball under a mango tree. We ate French bread, goat meat and peas cooked outside in a big pot. The food was very good.
Q: You also volunteered closer to home, in New Orleans, in the aftermath of Katrina.
A: We drove emergency vehicles. I managed 250 volunteers, getting them to sites to deliver things like food.
Q: How do you see your art having a connection to all these good deeds you have done?
A: I hope that through my art I can show the real world, that there are stark differences among people, but we are all alike, too.
- Marion Wolberg Weiss
You may email Louise Tramontano at tlt431@yahoo.com
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