Works
Artist Bio
Painting coastal imagery is largely influenced by my youth, growing up in Winthrop, Massachusetts, a small New England harbor town outside of Boston. After graduating from the Art Institute of Boston, I continued the study of classical painting and drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. A twelve year career as an illustrator followed, until I focused full time on fine art oil painting in 2006, creating works for art galleries and collectors. I currently maintain a studio space at The Button Factory artist studios in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I love painting coastal New England imagery outdoors in plein air, equally as much as crafting more involved compositions in my studio. Above all, I love the process and simple joy of being with my tools and painting. My work is currently represented by ten art galleries around New England, Florida and the UK. and is in hundreds of corporate and private collections world wide, including 41st U.S. President, George H. W. Bush. I have had the good fortune to have exhibited in four Art museums and I am blessed to call this craft that I love my full-time occupation. I currently own and operate the Todd Bonita Art Gallery in both Ogunquit, Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I am also owner of the Ogunquit Art Colony School, where I teach painting classes and art workshops year round. I live on the New Hampshire seacoast with my son Max and daughter Kate.
Life is good.
Artist's Statement
“BENEATH THE VEIL” (16x20”) oil on linen by Todd Bonita.
This painting was started in the fall of 2024 as a study of light on natural forms in Lake Como, Italy. I was initially drawn to the semi transparent veil of cathedral light washing over an Alpine ledge and the contrasting qualities of illumination through the clouds and impressionist sparkle on water. I implied these effects through a variety of paint qualities, using transparent washes for the veil, shifting to more opaque and impasto paint passages on the clouds and water. A deliberate, impressionist approach to broken color strokes was used in the water to further distinguish the balance of tensions in both light and use of paint.
