1. Qual è stato il tuo pasto italiano preferito fatto in casa?/What was your favourite homecooked Italian meal?

That’s easy, polenta con bacalà, or cornmeal with salt cod. Both my mom and grandmother made it on special occasions. I also remember vividly the cured meats we made once a year in the basement with a butchered pig from the Mennonites, especially the cotechino my mom would boil for hours in a pot. 

2. Hai avuto degli animali mentre cescevi?/Did you have any pets while you were growing up? 

A cat named Meech. We got him as a kitten from an Italian neighbour in the Ward who raised everything you can imagine in his garage: pigeons, chickens, rabbits, goats... He was the runt of the litter but turned out to be a real scrapper, beating up all the other neighbourhood cats and even dogs.

3. Hai dei fratelli o sorelle?/ Do you have any siblings?

A sister, Elena.

4. Ci sono dei detti italiani che ricordi i tuoi genitori (o altri membri della famiglia) stanno dicendo?/Are there any Italian sayings that you remember your parents (or other family members) saying? 

A lot that seemed to end with “un lavoro ben fatto,” or work done well. Either do it well or don’t bother, something like that. My family took a lot of pride in that. 

Then I remember being called a testa dura (hard head) and gnoco (either silly dumpling or silly lump, depending) a lot, for some reason.

 There were also a fair number of mild expletives: porco cane (pig-dog), dio cane (God-dog), etc., which we were never allowed to repeat but heard all the time.

5. Hai mai rotto un osso o avuto una ferita cattivo?/ Have you ever broken a bone or had a bad injury? 

I broke my ankle twice, once running in a forest and another time playing hockey. Ouch. 

But my most trying injury has been psychological. I think most artists use their art to explore or salve trauma of some sort. I think I’m probably doing that too.

6. Hai un attrezzo artistico preferito (come un pennello) che usi sempre?/Do you have a favourite artist tool (like a paintbrush) that you always use?  

Yeah, painters are supposed to use paint brushes, right? But I prefer scrapers and other cheap metal tools from the hardware store. I also still finger paint like a toddler.

7. Dove i tuoi genitori hanno vissuto in Italia prima di venendo in Canada? Quanti anni hanno avuto quando loro sono immigrati?/Where did your parents live in Italy before coming to Canada? How old were they when they immigrated?

My mom came over from a town called Pordenone in the '50s. She was still a kid, 7 or 8, and came with my grandmother. They lived in downtown Guelph and on Alice St. in the Ward. My grandmother started off as a domestic servant and retired from a place called Harter as a chair upholsterer. My mom always worked as a secretary.

My dad came from a place near Treviso, Castelfranco, the birthplace of Giorgione, in the '70s when he was 23 or 24. He was a steelworker at Durose on Elizabeth St.

I was born in 1975.

My parents came straight to Guelph but I have other extended family members that settled in Kitchener, Montreal, and North Bay. In Italy I had an aunt who moved to Sicily, but otherwise everyone else remained in Veneto and Fruili.