The Gattas Gallery of Art

I've been meaning to do this for a while: showcase the boys' art work on the blog.  I finally dug it out today, photographed it, edited/cropped the photos, and now I'm posting.  I wish I had been smart enough to date the artwork as I was bringing it home...

Here we go...the photos suck (as usual), but the art is spectacular.  ;)

In this first photo, we see a dazzling array of snowflakes, each with glitter handprints.  So simple, and yet so elegant and classy.  Both boys' snowflakes are present in this photo, intermingling peacefully.

Here we see Adrian's mosaic mittens.  Note the the careful placement of the purple "tiles" on the left mitten.  Genius.

Sebastian's mittens, placed thumbs facing outwards on the paper, feature a more random placement of colored "tiles."  It's interesting that the boys placed their mittens in different positions (Adrian thumbs in, Sebastian thumbs out).  Clearly, they are making a statement about their own individuality.

 What's not to love about Adrian's orange and yellow Christmas present?  The finger strokes behind the ribbon are feathery, light, and portray a real passion for letting loose on the medium.

Sebastian's present is more traditional in color, but the finger strokes are not--look at the anger, the passion, and the flow of the paint on the paper.  He was a man on fire when he made this masterpiece.

Adrian was exploring shapes that can be made with a handprint when he made this Christmas wreath.  Simply brilliant use of random red splotches to represent the holly berries.  It's obvious that with this modern take on a wreath he is expressing the chaos of the holiday season.  So deep for a 13-month old.

This deconstructed snowman, by Sebastian, represents what happens when you have a blizzard and the wind bowls the snowman over backwards.

Adrian's deconstructed snowman is a memorial to all of the faceless, nameless snowmen who have perished under the relentless forces of sun and rain.

In comparison, this snowman by Adrian is colorful and dressed for a night on the town.

This is Sebastian's penguin foot.  Aren't his toes cute?

The boys went all out on Valentine's Day, creating 2 pieces of art EACH.  Wow.  How prolific they are!  The smudges were Adrian's way of representing kissing the page.

Sebastian represented a broken heart--paint splattering out from the inner depths of his heart.  Who left him broken hearted?  Brooke?  Leyla?  Alivia?  Maybe one day he'll tell us.

The turmoil is visible in Sebastian's second piece as well...

Adrian chose to paint with whispy strokes instead of Sebastian's heavy hand.  He painted like a man in love...perhaps his contentment is the reason for Sebastian's broken heart?

This piece by Adrian is entitled "Galaxy."  

The title of Sebastian's piece is "Under the Sea."

Here's a collage of Sebastian hard at work on some of his art.  Look at those chubby cheeks (and amazing concentration).

This piece by Sebastian is called "Rain on a Bonfire."  Beautiful.

This magnificent piece by Adrian is called, "Dragon."  Look at the multi-colored scales, and the ferocious face of the dragon.  His use of gradient color is clever.  Very clever.

Here the boys were experimenting with sand, tissue paper, and paint.  Adrian depicted the sandbox in his.

Sebastian depicted fire in his piece.

 Below, Adrian captured the feeling of barbed wire and what it feels like to be behind the bars of a crib trapped when you just really want to get out.  You can feel the tension and raw emotion in the paint strokes.

Adrian at work...

Sebastian at work...He often likes to try the paint on himself, just to make sure that the technique he's exploring will work on paper.

Here, Adrian's spring flowers are bright, fun, and mostly horizontal, representing the sprawl of wild flowers.  What a fun piece!

Sebastian opted for a more vertical orientation of his flowers, like clematis on a trellis.

Stained glass reproduced with tissue paper.  By Adrian.

Finally, a foray into the world of modern art and Jackson Pollock (but with markers and crayons).

By Adrian, a work titled, "Ode to Purple and Yellow, but not the Lakers."

By Sebastian, titled, "Ode to Orange Cars."

By Sebastian.  Title" "If fireworks went off downward."

By Adrian.  Title: "Fireworks over the Boston Skyline."

By Adrian.  Title: "Falling leaves."

By Sebastian.  Title: "A Caterpillar with Bad Gas Just Blew Over a House."

Wow.  By Sebastian 5/29/13.  What a work of understated excellence.

By Adrian 5/29/13.  Title: "Rocket Ship"

Don't know who drew this one!

Or this one...

I feel like I've just gotten a lifetime worth of culture--like I just spent 4 hours at the MOMA.  With their incredible talent, surely these boys will rescue me and Carlos from a life of living paycheck to paycheck and help us retire early.