About the artist:

Asterio Pascolini was born in Italy in 1932. He has studied in Florence and at the Kansas City Art Institute. He started sketching around 1945 as a young teenager, and most of his techniques are self taught. It was in 1958 that Asterio came to the United States to work for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City as an artist. He later became a designer and in time became Hallmark's head artist. He has since retired from Hallmark and now devotes his full time to painting. Over many years Asterio has traveled all over the United States and as well as Europe and especially Italy. In Pascolini's paintings one comes to realize his tremendous concern for human accomplishments, but most of all his tremendous love for nature. To reach such a close relationship, Asterio travels by back-roads through the countryside for countless hours revisiting his favorite subject matter to sketch them from different angles and to present them with their best color and light. Only after the mood and composition seem absolutely suited to the subject does the painting begin. Asterio's most familiar approach is characterized by loose simplicity of color and composition, painting quickly to take advantage of the freshness and spontaneous feeling of watercolor. He first captures the shape and mood of the piece, then working over this wet into wet impression, he reinforces his central subject matter with a dry brush treatment. His use of negative space becomes as important to the composition as the acrylic element. Although composition, mood, pattern, color, and texture are important, Pascolini puts deeper significance in his paintings. Through his masterful technique, the warmth and dignity of a vanishing era are brilliantly portrayed. Asterio does wonders capturing the sadly disappearing Americana. Few contemporary works are more consistently rewarding and profoundly moving. Asterio Pascolini watercolors are easily identified as a large majority of his works are simply signed "Asterio". He has a large national following, but especially so at home in Johnson County, Kansas just outside Kansas City. He resides there today with his wife Barbara, also a very talented artist in her own right. Source: Majority adopted from a newspaper or magazine article of unknown origin c.1970's. The rest written by Scott Wilder, art collector and research specialist of Kansas artists.