Business Profile: DaVinci Inspired Gallery, Brewster
Brewster resident Doug DePierro has been inspired by the legendary Leonardo DaVinci since he was a boy.
“When I was eight-years-old I had a book on Leonardo DaVinci,” DePierro recalled last week. “The things he did were just amazing.”
DePierro, who has read many books on the master artist, has had what could be considered an amazing life creating a variety of artworks and even following in the footsteps of DaVinci by creating various inventions.
Not surprisingly, the name of his new business is the DaVinci Inspired Gallery, which opened in Brewster in April. The gallery’s walls are covered with the owner’s paintings, which are available for purchase.
His former business was known as DaVinci Inspired Studios when he was very active as a freelancer in advertising and he also has a business called DaVinci Inspired Design.
DePierro began his passion for art when he was three, drawing with crayons. Art has been his passion every since.
At the age of 12, he received airbrush and compressor and he began air-brushing motorcycle tanks. As a youth he also learned how to retouch photographs.
Though DePierro said he has created art using every medium, his current specialty is paintings on canvas using acrylic paints.
He began his formal professional career as an apprentice for an illustrator who worked in New York City.
For many years DePierro worked in car body shops painting the vehicles, as well as doing mechanic work. “My whole family is into building cars, restoring old cars,” he said. Cars are the subject of many of his paintings.
DePierro has been working in the advertising field for more than three decades, though he has recently been scaling back his freelance efforts in that field.
His advertising career has included doing photo realism illustrations using air brushes. The paintings he has done for print and television ads are made to resemble photographs, he said.
He worked with the renowned model maker Mike Miller for many years using fiberglass, resins and paints to create models for ads. For example, the duo created 17 bottles for Absolut Vodka ads.
DePierro and Miller created a series of bottle for Budweiser’s Super Bowl ad that was broadcast in 2007. “That’s the pinnacle for an artist in advertising,” DePierro said, adding the bottle was 50 percent larger than the typical beer bottle. The project took weeks to complete, he said.
He has also created logos for businesses.
Among the things DePierro is know locally for is the painting of windows for residences and businesses. The window paintings take between one and four hours to complete, he said. Painting windows have “honed my skills,” DePierro said, noting it has helped many people to learn about his skills. “It’s the best thing ever.”
DePierro has also created many murals for inside of homes, including a six-year stint doing so in Naples, Italy.
The new gallery offers paint parties. DePierro originally began offering paint parties at the 121 Restaurant & Bar in North Salem two years ago.
At the paint parties, “It’s better when you don’t have experience,” he said. “I simplify everything.”
At the parties, DePierro provides everything, including appetizers, unless attendees want to provide their own food and drink.
All persons have the capability to create art, DePierro said.
“Everyone’s an artist,” he said. Everyone learns how to write the alphabet from a young age and eventually youths learn to create sentences, he said. “Those letters in the alphabet are a lot harder than drawing a picture,” he said. “You have to remember every letter then you have to put them together as a word.”
DePierro has also played a variety of musical instruments and is a drummer for a local band.
Though he has spent a life creating art, DePierro said music is the greatest creative form. “I think music is more important than art by far,” he said. Children who are taught to play an instrument learn many skills, he said. “They have to learn discipline. They have to read. It’s math. It’s everything,” he said.
DaVinci Inspired Gallery is located at 192 Route 22 in Brewster. For more information, call 914-557-7761
