Anthony, Nicholas and Dennis Santella share a love for visual art, and this month, they also share wall space at the Teaneck Public Library, which is displaying their various projects.

The brothers, who grew up in Teaneck, all work with different media, but their creations focus on the relationship between people and the environment.

Anthony and Nicholas are twins, age 33. Dennis is 29. Anthony still resides in Teaneck, while Nicholas lives in Pennsylvania and Dennis in Brooklyn.

Anthony paints and carves in wood, Nicholas sculpts steel, and Dennis takes photos.

"I've always been drawing. I can't remember a time when I wasn't," said Anthony. "I took up sculpting and carving in the last five to six years. I've been painting forever; I still paint, but I do more carving."

The brothers' exhibit, "Shared Vision," features a combination of each man's work.

"I have a couple carvings and some paintings," Anthony said. "Nicholas has mostly his metal sculptures based on photographs done by Dennis.  The display highlights each of our specialties."

In October, after a storm knocked down a locust tree at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy (TCC), Anthony got permission to create carvings out of the downed tree. The permanent fixtures – a red-tailed hawk and turtle – still sit in the woods, where Anthony checks on them from time to time. During the TCC's first EcoArt Day on Oct. 24, Anthony did some of the carving in front of visitors.

"In some ways, the project had two almost disconnected halves: the performance aspect of publicly carving the pieces and the final product that won't be visible until months later, when the pieces have had time to weather," Anthony said. "Even that isn't truly final, as the carvings will slowly decay over the next decade or so."

Nicholas, who likes to create armor and helmets, said even though he and his brothers' artwork look completely different, they have similar ideals running throughout them, including an awareness for the environment. 

"With Dennis, he focuses on the everyday aspect of life," Nicholas said. "With his series on community gardens in Harlem, there's a gritty look to the photos. There's an almost rural idealism to an urban setting."

Anthony said Dennis' Harlem-garden photos, which are on display at the library, possess an environmental subtext of reclaiming spaces. Anthony added that he and Nicholas work with reclaimed and recycled material, with an end result that is as "perfect and pristine as what you'd find in a museum."

"I think Nicholas' talent is particularly in having patience in shaping a resistant media -- steel -- into very fluid, organic forms," Anthony said. "We both are influenced by natural forms and admiring medieval art and craft."

As the youngest brother, Dennis said it was psychologically instructive to see his older twin brothers teach themselves metalwork, drawing and painting from reading and experimenting. 

"I saw all the struggles and mistakes and the slow progress, and you realize you can do almost anything with time," Dennis said. "I think it's something a lot of people miss out on. They think they can't do things because they don't know how, they need to be taught, they are afraid they'll make mistakes.  Making mistakes is how you learn."

Though all three brothers live farther apart these days, they still get together once a month, and they always share art tips.

"I think what is unique about a good fraternal relationship is that there is some competitiveness and brutal honesty," Dennis said. "Even with a good friend, you're afraid of being too honest and hurting their feelings, but a brother can't escape.  We have a strong relationship, so I think we're not afraid of being straightforward with each other.  Also, there's the inspiration of seeing what other people are working on."

Anthony Santella is participating in a group show in February at St. Cecelia's, an abandoned convent in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. For more information on the exhibit, titled 32 Below, click here. The brothers share a website where each of their individual artwork can be viewed. Click here for more information.