Fine Art Blog
Several Important Feature Story Prompts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 7, 2026 "Now, that's Art to Believe" rm Contact: Robert Maniscalco, artist/author [email protected] mobile: 313-689-2993 click on text for links ↓ Identity and Self a solo exhibition by Robert Maniscalco at Park Circle...
Dennis Drew Portrait
Portrait of a Hero As a Portrait Painter I am always interested in getting deeper into the mind and heart of my subjects. Charlestonian, Dennis Drew came to me originally looking for a portrait to celebrate his life and legacy. Many around him felt a portrait was an...
The Archeology of My Art
I think of my paintings as a piece of archeology, not a snapshot in time, or another scrolling image. I don't mean to artsplain, but a physical painting (not the image of the painting) literally contains the millions of choices made by an artist, in this case mine,...
Empathy is the Truth of the Matter
I remember moving to Andover high school in my sophomore year, on the other side of town. I found myself sitting alone every day at the cafeteria table during lunch. I had enjoyed a certain popularity in my previous school. At least I was well known by my friends, who...
The Long Lost Portrait
I Ran into an Old Friend At a recent art opening, I ran into Nancy Delewski, the sitter of my old band mate Marie. When I was at Wayne State, in the music department, I was putting myself through music school painting portraits in exchange for accompaniment, or for a...
Fame and Fortune
My PR person (me) should win an award. I have had more than my share of media coverage over my 45-year career. It's not just an ego boost. It is necessary for my career to get my name out there, to remain relevant, even though I am actually a shy person (believe it or...
A Commission as Collaboration
We're Jamin' Once in a while a client allows me to do whatever I want. Of course, what I want is to please my client. I have found the best and only way to please the client is to please myself. But pleasing anyone, including myself, is a funny thing. The truth is...
Expressive Realism
"Looks like a photograph" Many people tell me paintings look like a photograph. While I know this is meant as a compliment, I would like to make the case that my work as painter is far deeper than a mere photograph, with apologies to fine art photographers everywhere....
The Real Deal
What Should you Expect from a Legacy Portrait? Basically, you are looking for an excellent likeness that will capture and express the world of the sitter, both inside and out. You really want an excellent portrait of yourself, your family or the founder of your...
Portrait of Monsignor James A. Carter
Called to Greatness out of Necessity I'm very excited to finally be able to share my portrait of Monsignor James A. Carter, created for ECCO of Mount Pleasant. A native of Charleston, James Carter grew up on Broad Street and was ordained as a priest in 1966. He...
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“The Handoff” captures the exact moment when one generation places the fragile world into the hands of the next. Suspended in a cosmic cloud of light and stardust, the small Earth glows between older, protective hands and younger, open palms.
“The Handoff” will be featured in my exhibition at Park Circle Gallery, opening Good Friday 5-7 pm. Thru April.
Two sets of #hands reach toward a small, luminous Earth, held tenderly against a swirling #cosmos. The older hands cradle the #planet with care; the younger hands open to receive it. Between them hangs a silent question: What are we really passing on?
“The Handoff” is a #meditation on stewardship across generations—the moment when responsibility for our fragile world shifts from those who have carried it to those who will shape what comes next. It’s a piece for anyone who feels both the weight and the hope of that exchange: parents, teachers, mentors, spiritual leaders, and quiet guardians of the future.
Hung in a living room, office, or gathering space, this painting becomes a daily reminder to live—and lead—with the next generation in mind.
It’s a painting about trust, responsibility, and the quiet courage it takes to let go—and to receive. It asks: What are we really giving to those who follow us? A burden? A blessing? A chance to do better? In this suspended second, everything is still possible.
"The Handoff" is for people who feel they’re standing between generations—parents, teachers, mentors, spiritual leaders, even environmental advocates—anyone who feels the weight of what we’re handing to those coming after us. It’s a visual reminder that the Earth, and the future, are something we pass on, not just something we use. ... See MoreSee Less
The figures in "A Walk in the Park" are the inner cast you carry everywhere—the fool who leaps, the doubter who drags his feet, the dreamer who stares past the horizon, the judge with crossed arms, the child who still believes. They bicker, whisper, revolt and reconcile, but together they make the one you call “I.” We are all onstage at once, caught in the thin light between meaning and emptiness—a reminder that your chaos is not a flaw, but the chorus through which your true voice finally emerges. ... See MoreSee Less
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted."Identity and Self"
Opening Reception and Exhibition at
Park Circle Art Gallery
4820 Jenkins Ave.
North Charleston, SC 29405
The Exhibition runs through April 26
Gallery Hours: W-F 10:30-5:30, Sat 12-4
The collection will center on how identity interferes with our true self, our true freedom, which is a central value for an artist, as well as any self-actualized individual. For instance, when I draw my idea of a thing, rather than opening myself up to the full potential contained in the thing itself, I am limiting my creative potential.
So, who are we at our core, after we strip away the names we call ourselves, the parties with whom we affiliate, the causes for which we are fighting? After all, these are all inventions of the ego, which separate us from God and the infinite. Existence consists of light on form. Light is my medium as an artist. I am a painter of the self. I am looking always for something deeper than the surface representations in my subjects. It is the true self I am looking for when I paint, whether it is an orange, a sky or a judge. ... See MoreSee Less