These Small Hours

16" x 20" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas
SOLD
Velvet giclee prints of this and all my original artworks are available.

I wanted to capture these flowers in a fresh light and try a different color scheme than the current bold and bright palette I've been using. Because this painting seems calmer to me, it makes me think of quiet moments. I love working out in the studio, spending peaceful time with my unborn son. In three weeks he will be with us and life will change forever. But for now, I am treasuring these last few days of my pregnancy and enjoying the opportunity to spend these small hours with him.

This is my last painting of 2009. I look forward to what 2010 will bring. Happy New Year, and many blessings to you and yours!

"These Small Hours", Rob Thomas
Let it go,
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don't you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in,
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will only just remember how it feels

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders,
These twists & turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours,
These small hours still remain

Let it slide,
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine
Until you feel it all around you
And i don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by,
It's the heart that really matters in the end

All of my regret
Will wash away some how
But i can not forget
The way i feel right now

Follow Me Home

12" x 12"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

"Just living is not enough," said the little bird, "One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." Hans Christian Anderson

I enjoyed adding birds to my poppy "surrealscape". I think they will be making some repeat appearances.

Love is the Answer

8" x 10" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Gallery-Wrapped Canvas
SOLD
Velvet giclee prints of this and all my original artworks are available.

I was working on a looser style of poppies in this painting, and I love how when my sister took a look at this she saw the poppies as hearts. My family and I were listening to one of my favorite Jack Johnson songs, "Better Together", the evening I finished this painting. My favorite line from the song is, "Love is the answer at least for most of the questions in my heart," which is where the title of the painting comes from. That song always reminds me of my sweet husband, who told me he really liked this new work. I think this painting is going to make a perfect Valentine for somebody.


There's no combination of words
I could put on the back of a postcard,
No song that I could sing
But I can try for your heart,
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things,
Like a shoebox of photographs,
With sepia tone loving,
Love is the answer
At least for most of the questions in my heart ,
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy,
And sometimes life can be deceiving,
I'll tell you one thing, its always better when we're together

MMM, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together

I believe in memories
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when I wake up,
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing,
We're better together

I Updated My Website (Finally!)

Dear friends,
I just published an update to my website. Take a look! I've been tinkering around on our Apple, this will have to do until I get it professionally redesigned in the Spring. At least you can go here to see a cohesive body of my artwork. Have a great day!

web.mac.com/utopiapkwy

Three Flowers

6" x 6" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Wood

“Love will inspire you to become a patient person. When you choose to be patient, you respond in a positive way to a negative situation. You are slow to anger. You choose to have a long fuse instead of a quick temper. Rather than being restless and demanding, love helps you settle down and begin extending mercy to those around you. Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm.

No one likes to be around an impatient person. It causes you to overreact in angry, foolish and regrettable ways. The irony of anger toward a wrongful action is that it spawns new wrongs of its own. Anger almost never makes things better. In fact, it usually generates additional problems. But patience stops problems in their tracks. More than biting your lip, more than clapping a hand over your mouth, patience is a deep breath. It clears the air. It stops foolishness from whipping its scorpion tail all over the room. It is a choice to control your emotions rather than allowing your emotions to control you, and shows discretion instead of returning evil for evil.”

- Excerpt from The Love Dare

Illuminated

20" x 24" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

This is a continuation of my current series entitled "Surrealscapes". I made that word up--it's a hybrid of "surrealism" and "landscapes"--to describe the style I am working in with my trees and floral paintings.

"And of all illumination which human reason can give, none is comparable to the discovery of what we are, our nature, our obligations, what happiness we are capable of, and what are the means of attaining it." Adam Weishaupt

I Heart Artisan Style Gallery

I am so thrilled to have representation at Artisan Style Gallery. It's the perfect fit for me! Sixteen of my paintings are featured at this Gallery and Gift Boutique in Uptown. The up-and-coming art gallery is in a beautiful historic Victorian building in the heart of the Uptown Arts District and the dynamic owners, Brandon Lynch and Steve Iha, have done a fantastic job packing the walls with bold, colorful, contemporary art--all at an affordable price. The gallery is so dynamic and every time I go in there, there is something new and wonderful to see. Dallas friends, please come in and take a look!

Artisan Style Gallery
2417 Mahon St.Dallas,
TX 75201
214.468.9095
www.artisanstyle.net

Baby, Light My Way

16" x 16" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Listening to U2's Acthung Baby in the studio--I forgot how great that album is-- and I was inspired by the song, "Ultraviolet". This is the latest in my poppy series and I had fun experimenting with a different color scheme. My unborn baby is certainly making my worlld a brighter place, hence the title.

Sometimes i feel like i don't know
Sometimes i feel like checkin' out
I want to get it wrong
Can't always be strong
And love it won't be long...

Oh sugar, don't you cry
Oh child, wipe the tears from your eyes
You know i need you to be strong
And the day is as dark as the night is long
Feel like trash, you make me feel clean
I'm in the black, can't see or be seen

Baby, baby, baby...light my way

There is a silence that comes to a house
Where no one can sleep
I guess it's the price of love
I know it's not cheap

Baby, baby, baby...light my way

I remember
When we could sleep on stones
Now we lie together
In whispers and moans
When i was all messed up
And i had opera in my head
Your love was a light bulb
Hanging over my bed

Baby, baby, baby...light my way

Fortune's Flowers

16" x 20" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Gallery-Wrapped Canvas

This painting got its name because tucked inside its many layers and rich texture are a bunch of fortunes I have been saving up from Chinese take-out meals gone by. I love opening up my fortune cookie after eating Chinese; it's a ritual that's almost as good as the meal itself. I hate to throw them away, so I've been collecting them in the studio with the hopes that inspiration would strike, and lo and behold, it did.

My friend Lara saw this painting and commented, "Gina, I think it's so cool how your work went from so brooding to so joyful as you get further along in your pregnancy (maybe a coincidence, but I am all about this fetus-as-muse theory!)." I totally agree with her. As the prognosis for my son gets more and more positive, so does the tone of my artwork. Even though it's hard to walk these days, moving around comfortably is a joke and my clothes don't fit, I am so overjoyed that in a few weeks we will get to take our son home from the hospital that I want to paint flowers for everyone!

Snow Falling on Birches

Snow Falling on Birches
10" x 10" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Gallery-Wrapped Canvas

This painting is a part of a series I am working on about the changing seasons, see also "Autumn Rapture" on the blog or in my Etsy shop. Huddled next to my space heater in the studio (my students always refer to it as "Mr. Toasty") this painting just came to fruition on its own. Of course we never have this much snow in Texas, but we don't have many birch trees either, so I guess my mind is in another place right now. I love to include a lot of texture in my art, as if by reaching out and touching the landscape you can actually become more a part of it.

"There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you.... In spring, summer and fall people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself." ~Ruth Stout

COLLISION 3!

Thanks so much to everyone who came to the art show this weekend! It looks like they'll have a healthy donation to give to Arts Fighting Cancer. I went with some of my girlfriends, had a blast and hope you did too. It was hard to get any good pics of my artwork, because the band was drawing such a good crowd, but I was glad my pieces were displayed behind the band because they got such great exposure. The top pic was from the show director's shots, I love that one. My paintings are the green diptych and brown ones on the top row. I took the bottom pic, all four of those paintings are mine--and I have no idea who that lady is! What can I say? I'm a painter, not a photog. ;)

COLLISON 3 - Tomorrow night!

COLLISION 3
When the Arts Collide

Please join us on December 5th for an evening of Art, Music and Fun to benefit Arts Fighting Cancer.
COLLISION is a renegade art show that helps generate money for Arts Fighting Cancer while promoting local art and music. Arts Fighting Cancer provides assistance for local cancer victims right here in Dallas. This event will help raise money for AFC and it will promote the art of over 24 local artists along with 2 great bands and 1 DJ.

Music Performances by
The Happy Bullets
The Felons
DJ: Miss Flowerette

Featuring work by 30 local artists

Saturday December 5th, 7pm-Midnight
$5 suggested donation

Rorschach Gallery
518 West Davis #7
Bishop Arts District
across the street from Gloria's Restaurant
Dallas, Texas

Fort Worth Contemporary Art Center Works on Paper Show

River of the Dawn
10' x 10"
Watercolor and Mixed Media on Paper

Connected Disconnect
7" x 14"
Watercolor and Mixed Media on Paper


To all Fort Worth friends, come see these paintings and three others this Friday night (and the whole month of December)
"9 x 12 Works on Paper Show"
A group show featuring original works on paper for $100 each.

The Fort Worth Community Arts Center will be hosting this show for the third year in a row, and its success and scope grows every year as patrons and art collectors discover this treasure-trove of small art.
This year’s exhibit features artwork from most of the United States and several other countries.

December 4 - 26
Opening Reception: Friday, December 4, 6 - 9 p.m.
Fort Worth Community Arts Center
Fort Worth, TX 76107
817.738.1938

Fragmented Memories

9" x 12"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

Sometimes looking at pieces is better than looking at the whole. Isn't that what happens anyway? We look at little pieces and then the bigger picture ceases to exist.

Autumn Rapture

10" x 10" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

Here is one of the most comforting, wise quotes I’ve ever read:
“Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer…”
- Rainer Maria Rilke

Life on Mars

11" x 14"
Oil on Canvas

This painting represents something very far away from where I am now...I wanted to use it as an escape for a little while. Listening to Counting Crows in the studio is one of my favorite things to do. I can always draw inspiration from Adam Duritz's haunting voice and introspective lyrics.

"Recovering The Satellites" by Counting Crows
Gonna get back to basics
Guess I'll start it up again
I'm falling' from the ceiling
You're falling from the sky now and then
Maybe you were shot down in pieces
Maybe I slipped in between
But we were gonna be the wildest people they ever hoped to see
Just you and me

So why'd you come home to this sleepless town
It's a lifetime commitment
Recovering the satellites
All anybody really wants to know is...
When you gonna come down

She sees shooting stars and comet tails
She's got heaven in her eyes
She says I don't need to be an angel
But I'm nothing if I'm not this high

But we only stay in orbit
For a moment of time
And then you're everybody's satellite
I wish that you were mine
So why'd you come home to this angels town
It's a lifetime decision
Recovering the satellites
Everybody really knows for sure...
That you're gonna come down

Blessed

That's my studio...where the world ends and creativity begins. :)

Today is a perfect time to reflect on our many blessings. I am thankful for my wonderful family and friends, and for our unborn son who will be joining his big brother and sister in January. I am thankful for my God-given gift of creativity and artistic talent. I am thankful for the opportunity to share this gift with others, through teaching and through showing my art in galleries. I am thankful for my art studio and the solace and happiness it provides. I am thankful that my husband, an adorably anal neat freak, lets me keep it messy, because the organized chaos seems to be the only way I can create freely.

A POEM BY MARY OLIVER

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

titled "The summer day" 1992

Night Cometh

16" x 20"

Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

"I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream." Vincent Van Gogh

That is one of my favorite quotes of all time because it reminds me that the possibilities are limitless. In the face of vastness, life is what we make of it, and what we create is up to us. So inspiring.

This painting is available at Artisan Style Gallery

(Uptown's newest cultural addition!)

2417 Mahon St.

Dallas, TX, 75201

http://www.artisanstyle.net

Lyrical Forest

7" x 15"

(3 canvases, 5" x 7" each)

Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

The words of E.E. Cummings speak volumes to me, especially the poems about love an all of its mysteries. Their directness, their play with the concept of oneness, and their emphasis on the linguistic affirmation of "yes" gives them an unrestrained sincerity. I decided to write one down and tucked it in the background layers of these paintings:

it is so long since my heart has been with yours

shut by our mingling arms through

a darkness where new lights begin and

increase,

since your mind has walked into

mykiss as a stranger

into the streets and colours of a town__

that i have perhaps forgotten

how,always(from

these hurrying crudities

of blood and flesh)Love

coins His most gradual gesture,

and whittles life into eternity

--after which our separating selves become museums

filled with skillfully stuffed memories

I can't decide if these pieces work best together as a unit or separately, so I guess that means they can go both ways. I find the small size charming and plan to make more in this series.

This painting is available at Artisan Style Gallery

(Uptown's newest cultural addition!)

2417 Mahon St.

Dallas, TX, 75201

http://www.artisanstyle.net

The Sixties Show at F6 Gallery

Wow, what a party! The F6 Gallery was packed last night for the opening of their "Sixties" show, and I was so excited to be a part of it. They are a great group of people at F6, and the vibe of the show was eclectic, uninhibited, and so much fun. Here's me and my hubby in front of my wall. I had a great spot in the gallery. Getting more and more pregnant with every show, just a few more weeks to go!

The breakdancers were awesome and very entertaining to watch.

The Sixties Show at F6 Gallery

"If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that... I believe in what I do, and I'll say it. "
John Lennon

I just returned from the F6 Gallery where they are setting up for tomorrow night's 60's-themed art show. We were responsible for hanging all of our works and thank goodness Mike, one of the wonderful F6 Staffers, took pity on my eight-months-prego-soul and helped me out. There is nothing pretty about me being on a ladder right now. :)

This is a really cool, indie art gallery that gives a lot back to the local community. Come out tomorrow evening for some great music, FREE cocktails and tons of interesting art. I have 13 pieces in the show and am excited to display my new works!

Release

18.5" x 17.5"

Oil and Mixed Media on Wood Panel

I found two wood panels in the studio and thought this painting was a nice compliment to the one on wood I posted yesterday. I usually work on canvas, so these were a fun experiment. The cellular images represent looking at your feelings under a microscope, examining them, and working through the magnitude of what you find. Releasing your feelings, letting them go, is more beneficial than harboring things inside. For me, art is my release.

"Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment."

Eckhart Tolle

Evolution

18.5" x 17.5"

Oil and Mixed Media on Wood Panel

"In the broadest sense, evolution is merely change, and so is all-pervasive."

- Douglas J. Futuyma in Evolutionary Biology

Evolution generally refers to any process of change over time. Humans, like all living organisms, undergo this change. Our thoughts, our behaviors and emotions, our styles and our preferences are subject to this phenomenon. In this painting I wanted to express my own personal evolution, the gradual processing which I have changed into a different, more complex, and hopefully better form.

I will be featuring this painting among several other new works at FG Gallery in Arlington for the "Sixties" show this Saturday night. Come out for a great opening party, fun music and lots of interesting art!

Paint the Sky with Stars

30" x 40"

Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas

"I've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." -Galileo Galilei

I have been working on this piece for quite some time and it feels rewarding to see it come to fruition. The works of Gustav Klimt were inspirational in the creative process.

There is something serene yet lively about the night sky that fascinates me, and I tried to capture this on the canvas. I love stargazing in the evening with my kids and seeing the wonder on their faces as they try to understand the greatness of the universe.

I will be featuring this painting among several other new works at FG Gallery in Arlington for the "Sixties" show this Saturday night. Come out for a great opening party, fun music and lots of interesting art!

Everything In Time

8" x 10" x 1.5"

Acrylic and Watercolor on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

As I prepare myself for some big changes in the next few months, I wanted this painting to convey a changing of seasons, the passing of time, and this verse came to mind:

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

A time to give birth and a time to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

A time to search and a time to give up as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;

A time to be silent and a time to speak.

A time to love and a time to hate;

A time for war and a time for peace.

God has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift. I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. That which is has been already and that which will be has already been.Ecclesiastes 3, 1 - 15

COLLISION 3!

Six of my paintings were accepted into this group show at the Rorshcach Gallery. I am excited to show along with some highly recognized artists! Come out to the Bishop Arts District on 12/5 for a fun opening reception. I'm trying to show my work as much as possible before Baby #3 arrives and our world gets topsy-turvy for a while.

"Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. Do the thing you fear to do and keep doing it...that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear." -Dale Carnegie

Hide and Seek

16" x 20" x 1.5"

Acrylic and Mixed Media on Gallery-Wrapped Canvas

Listening to music can act as a time machine that transports you to where you were when you first heard, or loved, a certain song. I still listen to much of the music I did in my high school art classroom because it was there I met one of the most inspirational people in my life, my teacher for three years, Mr. Walter Linebarger. Wally taught me so much about art, and life, and overcoming obstacles that I am forever grateful. Wonderful music was always playing in the background...Counting Crows, Indigo Girls, Sarah McLachlan...too many to name. In those years I worked under him he truly left footprints on my soul.

I am fortunate enough to still keep in touch with him despite him having moved to Missouri several years ago, and recently asked him what he has been listening to lately. He emailed me a playlist and on it was, "Hide and Seek", by Imogen Heap. I listened to it while I was painting this and felt like he was right next to me again, with his hind softly on my shoulder, guiding me and offering support.

where are we?
what the hell is going on?
the dust has only just begun to form
crop circles in the carpet
sinking feeling

spin me round again
and rub my eyes,
this can't be happening
when busy streets a mess with people
would stop to hold their heads heavy

hide and seek
trains and sewing machines
all those years
they were here first

oily marks appear on walls
where pleasure moments hung before the takeover,
the sweeping insensitivity of this still life

hide and seek
trains and sewing machines (oh, you won't catch me around here)
blood and tears (hearts)
they were here first

Mmmm whatcha say,
Mmm that you only meant well?
well of course you did
Mmmm whatcha say,
Mmmm that it's all for the best?
of course it is
Mmmm whatcha say?
Mmmm that it's just what we need
you decided this
whatcha say?
Mmmm what did she say?

ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut outs
speak no feeling no I don't believe you
you don't care a bit,
you don't care a bit

Expressions 2009

"To show a child what once delighted you, to find the child's delight added to your own- this is happiness." M.T. Pedroche

Last night's opening reception at the Lakewood Library was a fun one, we brought the kids to come see mommy's art show. There I am in front of my three paintings looking very pregnant (9 weeks left!) with one little boy and holding my other one. My daughter was off socializing...she decided to wear her "bee princess" costume to the show and was quite the center of attention. My son thoroughly enjoyed the live guitar music and turned the reception into his own impromptu dance session. :)

It is so important to instill a love of arts in children from a very early age, as my own mother did with me...the possiblities of how it can help shape their budding little minds reach far beyond what they express through their own art. That is why I love teaching art to others and making art with my own children. Luckily, I have been blessed with two kiddos who show interest in what I do and are developing artistic skills and opinions of their own. I wonder what #3 will be like?

Effervescence

8" x 12"

Watercolor and Ink on Paper

"The Struggle is optional. Let it go." Jill Badonsky

I can't seem to get away from my circular shapes. Some call them cells, pebbles, eyes...they always seem to manifest themselves somewhere in my artwork. In this painting they seem to be coexisting peacefully with each other, letting each other rise and fall without hindrance.

I'm trying to remember to breathe calmly in the beauty of each moment, that life is unfolding exactly the way it is supposed to. Letting the struggle go is easier said than done, but I'm making a conscious effort.

Expressions 2009

My show opens tomorrow night! I'm excited about this one because it is a competition and all of the artists had to be juried in to participate. I will have three pieces in the show, one of them, "Faith, Hope and Love", is featured on the show's invitation (in the bottom right corner). The first two will be for sale, but "Faith, Hope and Love" has already sold. Thanks for your support!

There Are Many Paths, None Are Certain

30" x 40"

Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas

Prayers for Healing

6" x 12"

Acryilc and Mixed Media on Canvas

Faith, Hope and Love

12" x 12"

Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

SOLD

Fine art giclee prints of the original are available. Email me at utopiapkwyarts@yahoo.com

Before I Sleep

18" x 24"

Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

These woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost

I am working through some rough bouts of pregnancy-induced insomnia. The upside of this is that I have been spending a lot of time in the studio, time that I don't have during normal waking hours because most of that is spent chasing after the kids.

This poem by Robert Frost came to mind, because it feels like this whole pregnancy has been quite a long and difficult journey, such a lovely, dark and deep experience. As I am heading into my eighth month I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but even after our son arrives there will be other obstacles to overcome, and miles to go before I sleep.