A Good Age: Quincy artist, 62, captures life and memories through digital illustration

QUINCY – His colorful, good-hearted gifts began with a single digital photograph, taken on his phone, of four pastel houses on the island of St. George's in Bermuda in 2019.

Paul DeMelin, a self-taught artist, and his wife, Elena, were on vacation. They took a boat from their cruise ship to St. George's and walked along the streets, captivated by the pink, blue, mint and yellow colors that define the town.

He took hundreds of photos, he said, "as most people would."

DeMelin was still working as a business mail clerk for the U.S. Postal Service in South Boston and he set the photos aside at home. The pandemic arrived; life became even busier. Then one night in 2021, he sat down at a table in his Quincy home, took out the Bermuda photos, pulled out his iPad, and thought, "I'm going to do something with this."

For eight years, DeMelin has been creating digital drawings, teaching himself through online tutorials and computer programs that serve up dozens of visual options, from line drawings to oil painting techniques.

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For this project, he selected a single photo. It showed four houses – blue, pink, orange and beige – where Chapel Lane intersects Clarence Street in St. George's.

"I loved all the different houses, the pastel colors, the tree in the center," he said.

The photo turned into his most detailed image and longest project yet. It took six weeks to complete and 72 hours of drawing.

"I would draw for roughly two hours, maybe four or five times a week, with over 85,000 brush strokes in total," he said.

After he finished the drawing, he vowed that if he ever returned to Bermuda, "the people who live in the houses in my image are going to be given a print of my artwork."

Then came his retirement on March 18, 2022, and plans for a return trip to Bermuda.

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"On July 17, after a cruise from Boston, an hour boat ride to St. George's, a walk up a few streets and a few knocks on the doors of those very houses in my image, I was able to make complete strangers extremely happy!" he said.

He met two of the four people who owned the houses in his drawing. Both the woman, Wendy, and the man were delighted when he gave them copies of his image. Wendy promised to give a copy to the new owner of the third, blue house, which was unoccupied. The fourth homeowner was shy but gratefully accepted her image as well.

"I can't even begin to explain the feeling of making complete strangers so happy with a personal gift," DeMelin said. "It was the best part of my trip, the most satisfying part. To do something to this extent with the most difficult picture I have created, to think of taking all that time for somebody you never met  ..."

Like many who have regular day jobs, DeMelin nurtured his other talents – an ability to draw and to work with computers – at nights and on weekends. He started drawing as a child in the late 1960s, continued at Somerville High School, Class of 1978, and graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1983 with a degree in professional music. He sang in bands, got married in 1985, took the post office job in 1987 moved to Quincy and raised a son, Mark, 33, and a daughter, Rachel, 27.

A longtime Boston Bruins fan, he has made detailed drawings of his heroes and is always game for a new idea. His wife took a photo of their son's Labradoodle, Griffey, standing at the kitchen sink and Paul created a computer image of the dog swinging a bat, amidst the Red Sox colors and logo.

"It was funny, the way Griffey was standing at the counter, and he kind of looked like he was going to swing a bat," he said. "That's where I get a lot of my ideas. I see something someone else wouldn't waste their time on and create something.

"My whole family will tell you, once I get an idea, I am determined to finish it."

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Remembering Peter Fontana Sr.

Fun-loving, hard-working Peter Fontana Sr. of Weymouth almost made it to his 100th birthday tomorrow, Aug. 3, but sadly passed away in May after hospice care at home.

He is greatly missed by many, including Frances Hale and Rudy Clerico, who volunteered with him for more than 25 years at the Meals on Wheels program in South Weymouth, and Yvonne Clerico. A World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, until this year he showed up every morning to help bag the meals. I enjoyed a lively, humorous and candid interview with him in 2020. Thank you, Peter for all of your service.

Reach Sue Scheible at sscheible@patriotledger.com 

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy artist presents gifts of art to Bermuda homeowners