Yankee doodle dabbler
Plainfield man is a jack of the arts
At the center of Joe Petruzzi's Web site is an oil painting titled "America the Good and..."; it is a tribute to his son's military service and Petruzzi's own love for all-things American.
Petruzzi, 71, of Plainfield, placed 27 different characters in that painting that represent America to him. These include an astronaut, Ford Model T, the Washington Monument, Miss Piggy and Abraham Lincoln.
Don't let the $5,000 price tag on that 30-by-40 inch painting fool you. Petruzzi, a retired Chicago police officer, set his price high for the painting high because he has no intention of ever parting with it. It now hangs in his son's home.
"It's called, 'America, the Good and...' because I would never say a bad word about America," Petruzzi said. "I'm just patriotic that way. I'm an American-Italian, not an Italian-American."
For the last six months, Petruzzi hasn't picked up a brush or a knife, which he often substitutes for the brush to get a three-dimensional effect. That is not because he has altogether forsaken art; he's just changed direction.
Instead, Petruzzi is writing his second novel while seeking a publisher for his first. Publishing it guarantees a continued hobby for a few more years.
"It's a lot of fun," he said. "You become so involved in the story that, for a little while, you get to be someone else. I don't really care about the money. It gives me something to do for the rest of my life since I can't ride a motorcycle or go skydiving."
Experimenting with different art forms is nothing new for Petruzzi. In 1957, he wrote, produced and sang two songs -- "Those Bells" and "Candy Store" -- which landed him a guest spot on "Chicago Bandstand," a spin-off of "American Bandstand," where he got to sing alongside Frankie Avalon and Della Reese.
He has fond memories of the entire experience. "But we never sold a thing," Petruzzi said.
After he had a heart attack at age 40, Petruzzi sought new amusements during his eight-month recuperation. He dabbled in Italian cuisine. But when he exhausted his supply of recipes, Petruzzi bought a book about oil painting in a craft store. The concept was surprisingly simple to learn.
"If you can draw, you can paint," Petruzzi said. He laughs at the art critics who examine his pieces and ask how he created a particular effect. "Whatever happens, happens. I'm doing it for fun."
Favorite scenes to capture are anything Chicago, though he prefers to pass up the famous landmarks for Italian beef stands and the people who walk downtown.
He's kept some paintings, given away others, and even sold a few, although one art gallery went out of business without paying him.
He's played with watercolors, but quickly tired of them, preferring the greater flexibility and challenge of the slow-drying oils. "Water is boring," Petruzzi said. "I could do three watercolors a day."
For now, he's enjoying fiction writing so much it's anyone's guess if he'll ever paint again. In the meantime, he's got a novel to finish.
"My wife has to call for me to come down and eat," Petruzzi said. "If I'm watching TV or lying in bed at night and an idea comes to me, I have to get up and go to the computer to write it down or I'll forget it."
To view his paintings, read his essays or listen to song clips, visit www.thejustmovement.com.
