After 30 years of painting, Im more awed and inspired than ever at the challenge of painting. Ive learned that to really see I have to let go of all of my ideas about what Im looking at. A full presence of awareness is required for this seeing without thought, without ideas. This presence then seems to facilitate a more spontaneous process of painting, one unencumbered by a plan for a specific outcome.
Ceraso moved to Colorado in 1988, devoting himself to the study of the fleeting effects of light in the landscapes of the Rocky Mountains. He studied art at the University of Notre Dame, and the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art as well as with Hensche at the Cape School of Art. Ceraso spent several years painting as a quick-sketch portrait artist in various resorts around the country and the French Quarter in New Orleans. Ceraso teaches to sold-out classes at the Denver Art Museum and at his studio in Lafayette, Colorado. He has recently completed the booklet, The Art of Color Seeing, which is his description of the process his teacher Henry Hensche introduced him to as well as his own insights into painting. His work is in private and public collections in both this country and abroad. Ceraso is listed in Who's Who in the West and The Dictionary of International Biography.