Emily Ottaviano
Hi, my name is Emily - welcome to my art page! I am a wife, mother of three, teacher, and artist. My family is my first priority, and homeschooling three active and involved children keeps me plenty busy. However, in the past couple of years, I have also made my role and work as an artist a priority. I have always loved to create, but what began as a hobby became much more than that in 2017 and 2018. While serving as missionaries in Uganda my family and I went through some difficult losses. In response to that, I grieved and celebrated through drawing and painting. In that process, I knew in my soul that God put this creative thing in me, and that it was his intention that I pursue it whole-heartedly. Since then, I have committed to developing my art gradually with a wide variety of mediums. It has taught me to pay close attention to the visual world around me and to visually celebrate the intricate design I have learned to see in everything. I have also learned to tell visual stories through various forms of portraiture. (See my commissions page)
Below are some of the paintings I did during the difficult times I described above, and that tells a little more of my story. Enjoy!
Now that I’ve shared a little about me, I look forward to getting to know you! You can follow me to learn more about my work and join me on my artistic journey on Instagram or on Facebook. Be sure to check out my Shop page to see what pieces speak to you, or go to my Commissions page to see representative work and connect with me to commemorate your own loved one, special animal or meaningful place in your life!
“His Eye is on the Sparrow”
Following a sudden loss and health crisis in 2017, the Hymn “His eye is on the Sparrow” played over and over in my mind. So, to commemorate our fallen sparrow, I painted this - the first painting I had done in years. This was the painting that reignited the art in my life, and the project God used to show me that art is something he himself has called me to.
“Stoplight at the Close of Day”
I did this painting to represent the unexpected end of an important chapter in our family’s life in 2018. It has the somber tones of an ending and of being stopped on our course, but also holds the promise that the sun will rise again, and the red light will turn green again.
“Perspective”
This painting depicts Meadow Lark Lake near where I grew up in Wyoming. When I was 7 years old, I was in a bad sledding accident on the hill you see between Cloud Peak (mountain in the background) and the lake. I may still be living with lasting neurological effects of the head injury I sustained that day. However, this image was captured in a picture taken by my husband when we visited the lake with our children more than two decades after that accident. I was enjoying the lake with my husband and children, sharing with them how much I loved the area where I grew up. Looking at the photo my husband took of these daisies, it struck me that I was looking at the place of yesterday’s pain through the beautiful veil of today’s blessings. The background is more beautiful because of the daisies in the foreground, and the daisies have greater significance because of the hills and mountains behind them. Perspective - both artistic and metaphoric.