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Pretty in ‘Pink Pittsburgh’

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Artists Maria and Johno Prascak, pictured in front of Johno’s Art Studio in South Side Slopes, are Pittsburghers through-and-through.

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“Pink Pittsburgh” by Johno Prascak

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Johno Prascak in his studio, next to his painting of the late, great Johnny Cash

Amid four-plus weeks of pale red, Johno Prascak’s contribution to Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes in the form of “Pink Pittsburgh.”

Long known for his artwork depicting various facets of the Steel City, Prascak’s enamel-and-sand painting captures a view of Downtown from Mt. Washington, not far from his South Side Slopes studio. He donated the original to the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation, founded by Peters Township resident Jennifer Kehm, which in turn used it for fundraising.

The image also is appearing as a backdrop for KDKA-TV’s “Pittsburgh Today Live.”

“I lent them use of my image for the month of October,” he said, “which is quite an honor to be with them.”

He can identify with people who have major health issues, having suffered from ulcerative colitis as a child growing up in Dormont.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, I had 11,” he recalled. “I was near death a couple of times.”

Surgery at age 13 saved him and also put him on his career path, as he started to paint while recovering.

“My art came out of that, out of desperation and illness,” Prascak said

Some of his early efforts were copying works by the likes of Picasso and Van Gogh, using Rust-Oleum paint.

“Just like if I were going to be a musician, I would probably copy Beatles and Stones songs,” he explained, “and then you segue to your own gig.”

When it comes to painting, his own gig involves mixing sand with enamels, giving the artwork a distinctive texture.

The method also allows for personalized flourishes. For example, he used crushed pavement from the grounds of Dormont Pool for a painting of the nearly century-old landmark, and in turn he donated the work to raise money toward the pool’s upkeep.

He estimates that about half his work is of scenes from the Pittsburgh region, from Heinz Field and PNC Park to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, for which he has reached a licensing agreement for his image with the Western Pennslvania Conservancy.

“Many artists and photographers sell Fallingwater images without their authorization, but we said no,” his wife, Maria DeSimone Prascak, said. “We let them know, this is who we are. We would love to put this to print. If you say no, we’re not going to do it.”

Another of his paintings depicts the National Aviary and hangs in the North Side bird sanctuary.

“That’s where we met, in 1988, at the Wings of Wildlife Art Show,” Maria recalled.

She is an artist, too, having started a business called Maria’s Ideas when she was a recent high school graduate working in the office of her father, the late Dan DeSimone.

“I borrowed $30 from my mom and dad, and I bought paper and markers,” she said. “When I was sitting there answering his phone, I started making greeting cards and sticking them up on the window sill. And the window salesmen would come in and buy my cards.”

She eventually started airbrushing T-shirt designs, and for the past two decades or so, her main concern has been painting murals at residences and businesses. Customers of Sarris Candies in Canonsburg can see her work throughout the shop, including a recently completed 90-foot-long, ice cream-themed mural.

“They have their ideas of what they want,” she said about members of the Sarris family, “but they let me take it to another level. They let me use my creativity. They really do afford me that freedom to go with it, and that’s when I do my best work.”

Her father’s former office, incidentally, now serves as Johno’s Art Studio, to which he invites folks to stop by and see his latest artwork. And probably to say, “Wow!”

“People have told him, they tell me, ‘You need to move out of Pittsburgh to really make it. You need to go to California,'” Maria said. “To me, it’s Florida, with the murals. Yeah, I could get more money for my murals in Florida. But I don’t want to live in Florida. I love Pittsburgh, and this is where we belong.”

For more information, visit www.johnosart.com and www.mariasideas.com.

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