Star Pastry Squeezer c. 1939

John Petrucci’s painting features two pastry-making implements rendered in exquisite detail against a milky, almost sweet-colored background. The brown and beige palette gives a sense of warmth and history. I can almost feel Petrucci’s hand carefully building up the layers of pigment, each brushstroke a meditation on form and function. You know, I can imagine him thinking about how these tools feel in the hand, the weight and the balance, the way light catches on the wooden handle or the star-shaped opening of the squeezer. The almost scientific precision with which Petrucci paints these objects reminds me of the work of other painters like Giorgio Morandi, who also found endless inspiration in the humble objects that surround us. There is a real beauty in the everyday, and Petrucci’s painting invites us to slow down and see it. It celebrates the work, craft and community of past generations and the joy of creating.