Our Story
Full Sail Fine Art
Russell Recchion and John Cooney co-founded Full Sail Fine Art to honor the servicemen and women who are serving our country every day and for all those who have served in our United States armed forces.
Our combined vision is to honor the commitment and sacrifice of so many, and to demonstrate the beauty and majesty that occurs when thousands work together towards a common goal - to be the best!
We hope our paintings become part of your story as well. Full Sail Fine Art is committed to producing dynamic and custom fine art that accurately represents current military experiences that everyone can enjoy with pride and amazement.
Russell Recchion - Master Artist
I knew I wanted to be an artist as early as the 3rd grade. In high school, I recall having my brothers, sister, and even my cousins, pose for me so that I could paint their portraits. It was then not a mystery that I enrolled at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh at the age of 18 years old.
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh is a commercial art school, and my years there were extremely productive. The Art Institute equipped me with lifelong skills in design, illustration, and it provided great training in meeting deadlines. Most importantly, while there, I was able to enroll and participate in The Institute’s semester abroad program in Florence, Italy. It was this exposure to world famous museums, and the great masterpieces that are so ubiquitous in Europe, that it altered the direction of my art career!
Even though I enjoyed the work as a commercial artist, I quit my job and made the move from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for a four-year program.
I became a professional portrait painter, and I traveled the country painting portraits of corporate CEO’s, presidents of hospitals, judges, lawyers, and philanthropists whose portraits hang in the buildings named after them. These combined experiences made it possible for me to create the paintings you see here and has led me to join forces with my friend and fellow artist John Cooney to co-found Full Sail Fine Art.
John Cooney - U.S. Navy Veteran
For me, Full Sail Fine Art is the marriage of two of my life passions: Art and Naval Aviation. I grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in a home under the flight pattern of Naval Air Station Oceana. I remember running outside into my backyard at the age of 13 to witness the U.S. Navy’s newest jet fighter, the F-14 Tomcat, flying overhead. My life’s path would eventually lead me into the cockpit of a Navy S-3 Viking as a Naval Flight Officer, and I served with VS-33 the "World Famous Screwbirds," and I was assigned to CVW-9 onboard CVN 68 USS Nimitz, “Old Salt."
My passion for oil painting led me to an art studio owned by Russell Recchion in Tucson, Arizona, during the only time in my life when I lived in a state not-connected to the sea. Russell Recchion is an amazing portrait artist, and his studio is magical and mesmerizing, and full of masterful works of art. When you walk into Russ's studio, the looks and smells alert you to the fact that you're in the presence of a master artist who has devoted years to his craft. After years of persistence, Russ agreed to take me on as his first student, and this opened the door to hundreds of aspiring artists who would follow and have the privilege of being mentored by one of the best, Russell Recchion.