Artist John Gascot: It's All About His Mother

The women in John Gascot's paintings have an image to live up to. The lines are bold, colors bright and the hair is always rich. It's true - the laugh lines in John's face also run deep, but the real inspiration is anything but selfish. It's all about Rose Cirolli, his mother. 

John, 39, was born in Puerto Rico and describes his mom as an Italian stick of TNT with a bouffant hairdo. "She was very ahead of her time. She was fearless," he said in his new studio at Lorton's Workhouse Arts Center. "She was Italian and had a thick New York accent. She taught herself Spanish and moved to Puerto Rico, and when she got pregnant she said: 'I'm gonna have the kid, I'm not married and I don't care.' Back then it wasn't as common as it is now."

The pair moved from Puerto Rico to New Jersey when John was 12. For years his lifelong ambition was acting and playwriting, and he studied at Fordham University Lincoln Center to that end. John worked as a makeup artist to pay the bills, and then, 15 years ago, met his partner Ron Diana. 

"I always painted, and I was visually artistic. But I wanted to be the next big $#@* on Broadway. I knew I wasn't going to be a makeup artist forever," John said. "So, to get my theater fix, I was a serious professional female impersonator for 10 years."

Ms. Demeanor is a homage to Rose, who passed away in 1999. "Ms. Demeanor isn't afraid of anything," said John, who won the 1997 Ms. Gay Bucks County US of A pageant. 

In 1998, John and Ron decided to leave city life for their first house, and moved to Milford, Pennsylvania - population 1,000. "It was in the mountains. I mean, if a woman shaved it was a big deal," John said. "Once we were up there I saw a sign for painting classes. So, as a way to socialize, I took it. It turned out that the instructor's son was one of Ron's former students back in Jersey. We hit it off and in about three months we opened a gallery together. She had space. It was an old antique shop, and she was looking for change."

John, whose favorite movie is "All About My Mother", ran the Alliance for the Promotion of Artists gallery for five years. "I'm self taught, and I'd paint all day in the gallery, full-time, and people started to show interest and I started to sell my paintings." 

The first pieces sold for about $200 (they now range from $25 - $3,000).

"I was just thrilled somebody wanted to buy them," John said. "We'd go to flea markets in New York City, hang them off chain link fences. And New York is very cool. You never know who you're going to see, like Tina Fey, who'd visit us and she'd buy my paintings."  

But those New York trips were occasional, and the couple grew tired of living out in the sticks. "Milford was a total culture shock. The solitude. If it snows there you've got to stock up. You couldn't even see our nearest neighbor. It was a one stoplight town, literally," John said. "We needed more cultural diversity."  

They moved to Philadelphia, where John continued to sell his work in galleries. Four years ago, Ron got a job as the Director of Education at the National Massage Therapy Institute, and that meant another move - this time to Northern Virginia. "Too bad we can't get married in this state. Maybe we should go to DC for the hell of it. I think so," said John, who now lives in Woodbridge. 

John was recently juried into the Workhouse, and he works in Studio 4. "I'm very at home here," he said. "I need a place where I can reach out to interact with other artists and have a place of business outside my home. My dogs don't really have an eye for good art anyway. They're dogs and they eat poop and they totally don't respect my studio space. It's not easy to paint with a 150 pound St. Bernard laying on your feet. I'm not even kidding."

John's pieces are mixed media and acrylic on canvas. "I'm a very impatient artist, and, in general, want instant gratification," he said, adding that he finds inspiration in Aboriginal art, Picasso, Matisse, Mexican-inspired art and jazz and funk music. 

You can meet John Gascot on Saturday, Nov. 12. He's having a studio grand opening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in building four of the Workhouse.