Margo Buccini is a local artist whose niche is oil paintings. She teaches classes in painting and drawing at the Ponte Vedra Beach Cultural Center. Her next show is scheduled for March 7 at the Artists’ Corner in Jacksonville Beach.
WHAT ARE HER
CLASSES LIKE?
“I do seminars on recovering your creativity as a way of reconnecting with yourself. Emphasis is on the elements of design. A lot of us feel that art is healing. Even in my regular classes, I try to include a sense of well being. The arts contain positive energy. By way of expression, you become more conscious of who you really are.”
WHAT TYPE OF PEOPLE TAKE HER CLASSES?
“I teach adults and some children. My classes reach people who just want to get in touch with themselves to those that are professionals. If they learn technique, then their work has validity. I have those that work with acrylic, watercolor and oil. Everyone has their own means of expression.”
HOMETOWN
New York City.
EDUCATION
Buccini received a bachelor’s degree in art education from St. Johns University. She earned a master’s degree in fine arts from C.W. Post University, with a concentration in painting and printmaking. Her studies continued under the direction of New York realist painters Brackman and Soyer at the Art Students League, and later at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she focused on painting and art history. She received $5,000 from the New York State National Endowments Arts Grants and was awarded an $80,000 CETA Grant.
WHAT WAS THE CETA GRANT FOR?
“In the 1980s, we [she and some other artists] converted an old carriage house into a gallery and studio space. We proved that art generates an enormous amount of business. The project beautified the whole area and expanded business there. The arts are germane to a good quality of life.”
WHY CHOOSE OIL AS HER PREFERRED MEDIUM?
“For the sheer beauty of it. There are a lot more choices in color, form and scale. You can express yourself realistically or abstractly. Printmaking is very time consuming and requires a lot of equipment. The fumes are toxic. Painting is more satisfying, more immediate. My last series included photo realism with abstraction. I’ve done a lot of landscapes and portraits, too. You go through these different periods.” Most recently, Buccini produced “Mandala and Beyond,” a composition of square mandalas and other large, colorful, abstract images.
WHAT IS A MANDALA?
More a philosophy than a tangible object, a mandala has many descriptions. Mandala is the Sanskrit word for circle. In religious art, it is used to symbolize wholeness — the circle of eternity. The basic premise is the pattern of a circle with a center.
WHAT IS THE THEME BEHIND HER LATEST WORK?
“Square mandalas is dialectic [a logical debate]. It deals with the collective unconscious, the underlying unity of all things as expressed in color and form.”
WHAT GALLERY REPRESENTS HER?
“I’ve shown locally at different places, but I don’t have exclusive representation.”
WHY NOT LIVE IN NEW YORK?
“We don’t really have an art center anymore. It’s proliferated all over the place. Here, I have my own studio. If you have a good base of operations, you can get your work out. Jacksonville has a good deal of art galleries. When the Super Bowl comes, people will demand a greater quality of life and culture is part of that.”
HER WORK WITH THE DISADVANTAGED
“I set up an art center in the downtown FCCJ campus. The people I was working with were less fortunate.”
HER MAIN INFLUENCE?
“Paul Jenkins. In the 1970s, a lot of artists were mystical illusionists who were into beautiful processes with a spiritual message. They used paint in ways that were not just illustrative. They would use it in a lot of different ways with different mediums. For example, they might pour, drip or layer paint. I’m interested in pushing the envelope. You can view my paintings with 3-D glasses [with some of her previous pieces]. Certain colors recede. The more you engage the viewer, the better.”
WHAT’S MOST REWARDING ABOUT YOUR WORK?
“Communication. You can communicate just like with writing. It’s this sharing of yourself.”
WHAT CHALLENGES YOU?
“Trying to do something that will resonate with people so they can understand what you’re trying to express.”
HOBBIES
Buccini enjoys Pilates, yoga, bicycling and walks on the beach. She also likes reading about psychology, chocolate covered strawberries and watching her favorite film, “Chocolat.”
— by Monica Chamness