These women demonstrate that it IS possible to be a great Mom and live the life of your dreams.
To be eligible for consideration for this recognition, you must be an ACTIVE member of the M.O.G.U.L. Moms Dujour Facebook community (other requirements apply as well).
APRIL 2015
Dreams Are Made To Live: For The Love of Painting
Janine Anfuso-Ferranti
As a child, I was always creative. I was pretty decent at painting and drawing. I loved to build things out of scraps of woods and left over junk parts. I most definitely was a Rosie the Riveter/Jack of all Trades kind of girl. Still am. I knew I was good at it, but I don’t think I understood how good I could really be in my early years or for that matter in my adult years.
The first time I remember understanding that I was good at painting and drawing was in 2nd grade. My mom received a letter from the principal that my painting was selected to be mounted to my classroom door for display during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I don’t remember all the things that were in the painting except that I had painted a potbelly stove, and everyone wanted to know from what I had copied. We didn’t have a potbelly stove at home or in the classroom, and there was no reference in front of me at the time I made the painting. Somehow, I was able to capture details that made it seem life-like, to everyone’s astonishment.
The second time in my young life, when it was brought to my attention that I was very good at painting, was when I was about ten years old. My Girl Scout leader told my Mom of a painting contest the girl scouts were holding in Manhattan. Unfortunately, the painting was to be postmarked no later than the next day, which was a school day. I had no real painting supplies, just a couple of old acrylic paint tubes and one paintbrush with its bristles split in two. I remember staying up well past my bedtime, wrestling with a twin headed paintbrush to complete my very first official painting on canvas. I called it “My Prize Sunflower.” I remember it had a large shade tree, a little girl dressed like Laura from Little House with her watering can, a big shaggy sheepdog and, of course, a very large perfect sunflower. My troop leader didn’t realize we were supposed to go the gallery and vote for my painting but the strangest thing happened, I won!
Janine Ferranti Original Family Photo
Fast forward to the end of my middle school years. My zoned high school was Franklin K Lane, one of the worst high schools in all of the boroughs. I was dreading the thought of high school. My mom found that The High School of Art & Design application date hadn’t passed yet, so she encouraged me to apply. I didn’t get in.A few weeks later, the Vice Principal of my school called me to his office and told me that I was accepted to Art & Design in the second round. I went reluctantly. September came and went. Almost the whole year came and went, and I hated almost every day. Not the school but the traveling. I missed my friends. I missed my social life. I stayed. I’m glad I did.
Just had my 30th High School Reunion a couple of years back. We all keep in touch via social media. Some work in the same field and get to see each other often. We are a giant melting pot of very talented people. All boroughs. All denominations. All colors. All woven together through the fabric of artistry. The pure talent of these people never ceases to amaze me. I am truly blessed to have/had them in my early life and my adult life.
Janine hand painted a recreation of the original photo above.
I continued to pursue my artistic endeavor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, but this is where that journey ended. Great school, but not the right school for me. I should have transferred schools, and I should have changed my major, but I lost the drive. All the standard should haves.
Over the years, I had met and married a great guy and raised two beautiful children, but I always had some creative endeavor going on in the background. I was the Scenery Director and head painter for the local school plays. I had my own house painting business. I shared a cake decorating business.
Fast forward to 2013. Thirty years later. I was given an old photograph of my Mom’s family, and there was just something about that photo that made me want to recreate it. I hadn’t felt that excited about painting in a very long time. I didn’t even know if I could paint it or paint it well. Painting giant flowers for the Thumbelina play is not exactly the same as painting portraits from an old photo.
I did paint it, and it came out beautiful. Completing this painting and giving it to Mom for Christmas was the happiest moment I had experienced in a long time. This painting awakened many dormant feelings I had. The creative juices were starting to flow again. My confidence as an artist was coming back. For the first time in a long time, I am proud of the work I am producing.
It is now 2015. Our children have grown into beautiful, productive and caring individuals. Our youngest is off to Penn State in the fall, and our oldest will graduate Hofstra this coming spring. The next chapter of our lives is beginning.
I had set goals for myself after I had finished that very first painting in 2013.
1. Start a new painting business (Portraits, Landscapes, commissioned work)
2. Advertise my work on Social Media, i.e., Facebook, Instagram, BeHance, Tumbler, LinkedIn
3. Make a web page
4. Design a business card
5. Sell my work through an Online Marketplace (Fine Art America)
6. Open a checking account for my business
7. Take care of me (physically, emotionally, etc.)
All of the above I have completed.
Future goals:
1. Add a shopping cart to my web page and all my social media pages
2. Create a mobile app to sell my paintings.
3. Create my personal catalog
4. Explore opportunities to sell royalty-free pieces and the creation of some to be licensed as props on television shows.
5. Promote sales with press releases
6. Increase contest entries
7. Attend and network at art shows
8. Create, Create, Create
9. Continue to take care of me (physically, emotionally, etc.) and this list will continue to grow.
Every day is a new obstacle to overcome, and I look excitedly to celebrating my 50th birthday this year. My husband and I are looking forward to the next chapter of our lives.
Cheers to new beginnings!
Janine lives in Rockville Centre, New York with her husband and two children. She is a M.O.G.U.L. Mom DuJour who has followed her dream and launched a new career as a Fine Arts Painter in 2014. You can view her work and contact information on her website: JMFerrantiart.wix.com/
Follow her at JMFerrantiart on Facebook and Instagram.
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