The tantalizing aroma of Italian food fills your nose as you walk up the wooden stairs to Grant Pecoff’s art gallery, located at 1825 India St., in the heart of the Little Italy restaurant district. The second-floor gallery space is filled with Pecoff’s colorful, abstract landscape paintings, many of places you will recognize, like San Francisco’s Bay Bridge or our own downtown. These paintings are not made with photographic realism in mind, but are curvy, childlike and animated, with swaying buildings and sparkling waters. Pecoff said he is not interested in precise realistic representation, but rather in capturing the essence, energy or spirit of an object. He is after the moment and the flow, the spiritual vibrancy, or feeling of his subject. “Everything around us is alive,” he said. “My paintings are spiritual and point to the flow of life. Each painting has a vibe. They aim at bringing the viewer into the present moment of awareness and appreciation. “As for the curvy, swaying lines you see in my paintings, they arise from the question I have been pondering, which is: How do you express the “chi” (Chinese for energy) of life in a line? I find it is best expressed with a curved line.” Pecoff is not a painter who paints out of discipline. Rather, he needs the inspiration to create something. “I look for places and things that inspire you on the spot,” he said. “To make a painting I need to feel it. I paint places and things that I feel in my body.” He wants his viewers to feel, also, he said, and he wants to draw them into his painting on an emotional level. Born in Olivenhain, on the outskirts of Encinitas, Pecoff grew up in a geodesic dome house on a dirt road. His father, whom he describes as a “mad scientist,” was a fan of Buckminster Fuller and worked as a horticulturist, specializing in drought-tolerant species, traveling the world and bringing back strange plants, untold numbers of photographs, costumes and garb from exotic cultures, which he shared enthusiastically with his family — including his son. As a child, Pecoff, enjoyed drawing and martial arts. From age eight, he practiced various forms of martial arts, eventually earning a black belt in American Kempo. Martial arts, he said, taught him “patience, respect and discipline,” and he was so taken by the various disciplines that he almost chose to become a martial arts instructor instead of an artist. Pecoff received training in art at Palomar College and The American Instiute of Art in San Francisco, but he never finished a degree program because, as he said, “I have always wanted to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.” In addition to his paintings, Pecoff has illustrated three children’s books — “Live Your Dream,” “Open your Heart” and “I Thought: A Story of Awakening” — authored by his attorney-turned-writer wife, Layne, who he met in a Del Mar gallery where his work was being shown. For him, Pecoff said, painting is a mindfulness activity. As he paints, he watches the dialogue and conversations going on in his head, which, he said, can be like a form of meditation. “I really enjoy my paintings,” he said. “I get a good feeling from them, especially when they are grouped together as part of a show or project.” As for his critics, their opinions do not matter much, he said. He simply asks himself, “Am I enjoying what I am doing?” Regarding his future plans, Pecoff said, “I never thought that I would be making a living at art — even though it has always been my goal. Now that I am there, I am not sure of what future direction I will take.” He can, however, offer advice to budding artists. “Rather than seeking success or fame, do what you love,” he said. “It is our own limitations that constrain us from reaching our desires.” Pecoff paints in his upstairs gallery on Fridays and Saturdays from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Spectators are welcome to come in and talk to him and watch him paint. For further information, visit www.pecoff.com, call (619) 231-1991 or email [email protected].