Dance with Me

Ever since I can remember, I’ve enjoyed creating something.

When I was young, I always knew that each experience I had would benefit the next in some way. My entire life was spent creating in almost every medium including lumber, sheetrock, and ceramic tile. I built and remodeled houses to pay the bills. However, when I came home and sat at the easel, I tried to create perfection.

The only time in my life I have actually achieved perfection was when my three children were born. Everything is better in threes. My children are my life. My 35 year marriage is my success. Painting is my peace.

At 62, I’m still looking for that great idea to paint, or to write, or to create something so people would appreciate it. When inspiration hits me, stand clear. Like the time I had an idea for a new pool cover. Each year when I closed my pool, I spent hours trying to come up with the perfect design. I drew 25 different designs. I’m still not there yet.

The point is I create. It’s who I am, it’s what I do.

Born at the Forest Hills Hospital on September 15, 1954.

I was the second of four children. After my first month of life in Brooklyn, my family then moved to Howard Beach, Queens. We stayed there until I was seven years old. In 1962, my parents, Onofrio and Maria Rini, moved us to Lindenhurst, Suffolk County, NY and opened Rini’s Donut Shop.

My formative years were spent producing many artistic creations. My favorite pastime at an early age was drawing, with whatever I could find to write with. Many times I drew characters from the funnies making up my own stories to accompany them. As I got older I assembled dozens of plastic and wood models, everything from cars, ships, planes and my favorites, horror film characters. In my mid-teens, I continued to enjoy drawing and doodling. My favorite subjects in school were art and mechanical drawing. Clearly my focus was not on schoolwork, but rather on learning about things that interested me.

Art and sports, particularly baseball, were other things that I was passionate about in my youth. Unfortunately, my father became ill in 1969 and everyone had to work to keep the family afloat. School, sports and art took a back seat for a while. It wasn’t until I married Linda in 1981, that I began to settle down and rekindle my love for art. Many of the paintings and drawings from the 1980s depicted both the good and bad events that were unfolding in my life. We had children. My construction business grew. The years passed. I became interested in stand-up comedy, fencing, and writing screenplays, poems, and short stories. Although paintings and drawings were fewer, my love for art never wavered.

Today, my passion for art is as strong as ever.

It will propel me forward as I prepare for my jubilant years.