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Oils
Born in New York City in 1954, Ken has been a prolific artist since the age of three. "I am frequently drawn to the same subject matter that intrigued me as a child, such as figurative scenes and busy cityscapes." Encouraged by artistic parents who shunned television, and spurred by an active imagination, Ken made his own entertainment by drawing. "I would look at cracked paint on the wall and see gestures and outlines of objects and figures." Family outings to New York City museums promoted an appreciation for all types of fine art. As a teenager he followed in his father Salvatore C. Valastro's footsteps and became a national award winning photographer. His mother was a potter and fiber artist.
Valastro's brushstrokes capture the essence of impressionistic images, allowing the viewer to exercise a bit of their own imagination.
" In my paintings I aspire to offer the viewer a painterly expression of life's visual memories. I want those who experience my work to interpret the impressions with whatever resonates from within them, maybe in a different way each time they see it. A painting should offer some surprises. "
Ken is an instructor at the Art Students' League of Denver and the Park Hill Art Club. He also conducts his own plein air painting classes.
He participates in many charity events and fund raisers such as the Mask Project for Hospice of Colorado, Very Special Artists of Colorado, the Battered Women's Shelter, Project Open Hearts, Schools for Nepal Fund, the American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Awareness, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Colorado Dominican Vocation Foundation and the Denver Symphony.
