Artist Statement

One evening, many years ago, on a cold, dark, rainy, night, a woman came to my door asking for help… food and clothing for the Kurds. I thought “what a hero”, “what a Heart”. So I decided to paint THIS AMERICAN HEART. I had no intention of painting another Heart as I had already painted a 360 ft canvas called THE PEACEABLE REALM dedicated to a World at Peace. 
Then,  Rajiv Ghandi died.  He had written a beautiful letter about my work. He said “The work you are engaged in is noble work, for peace must be the responsibility not merely of governments but of individuals everywhere. I share with you the view that every one of us must work for world peace…” 
I now painted THIS HEART OF INDIA in his honor.  It struck me that since I had painted two “HEARTS”,  I simply should paint a Heart for every country in the world...THE HEARTS OF THE WORLD. 
The paintings are to be delivered to each country. They have been presented to many World Leaders, including His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the United Nations. 
Each time I have the honor of presenting a Heart to its respective country, I repaint it. I do this in order to enrich the colors and paints for longevityʼs sake and to restore the paintingʼs original freshness. Also, history changes and colors and shapes are often reinterpreted and, as is often the case, the flag changes altogether, so I must necessarily repaint the Heart.
Of course, each and every time I paint a Heart, I say to myself “this is my favorite”. 

These paintings are purposefully planned to ask the question: “Coming from my Heart, what can I do to make a difference…in my family, my community, my country, and my world?”

EMail: Potenza1@aol.com