Ray Buonanno grew up on the water. From an early age, his father would take he and his brothers out fishing on the family boat. Ray fell in love with the ocean, enamored with its teeming life under the surface and the solitude that it offered. As he grew older, Ray spent  three decades in New York City as a successful commercial studio photographer for some of the top fashion and beauty conglomerates.

Later in life, he discovered the waters off the east end of Long Island, where he now lives, boats and paints full time.

 

Painting is a creative outlet that Ray discovered by accident. Late one summers night, he was in his attic and dusted off an unopened watercolor set he had given his son a couple of years prior. That same evening, he started to paint a seagull, a common tern he used to see gathering on the beach of his youth. Over the next few days, he perfected the image on the board. From there, he was transported – and hooked on whatever "this" feeling was. It felt like freedom, like the ocean of his youth.