After earning a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the State University of New York at Geneseo - (“I came out drawing nudes," she says), she decided it was time to strike out on her own and head westward, never mind the fact that she'd never traveled beyond Ohio. She had a train ticket for Denver, a portfolio, a suitcase, a purse and $250 in her pocket. "I figured that was more than enough to start a life," she says. "I was 21."
In Denver, she immersed herself in all things artistic. She worked as a framer and in an art-supply store. She joined the Art Students League. She drew. She painted. She used pastels. She sculpted. She moved on to oils. And she studied with renowned artist Richard Schmid and others. "I got lucky to paint under some great painters," she says.
Vito switched to oils full-time in 1992, and she's been polishing her techniques ever since. She has earned national awards for her portraits and still lifes, has works in eight galleries from Estes Park to Santa Fe, N.M., cranks out "at least 100” paintings each year and teaches in workshops from Colorado to France. And she does it all with a natural ebullience.
Teresa's work can been seen at
