I made the front page of Etsy!

Effervescence
8" x 12"
Watercolor and Ink on Paper

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34351338

In the midst of celebrating the arrival of our beautiful baby boy this weekend, it was fun to learn that my painting, Effervescence, was featured on the front page of Etsy. It was like the icing on the cake of one of the most wonderful weekends of my life. The exposure was great and my art reached so many people who otherwise would not have seen it.

These little circles remind me of bubbles, or pebbles, and these circular images have always been a part of what I create. This painting was done on heavy watercolor paper. I don't often work on paper, but when I do, I find that it is often a freer way to express my ideas. There's something about getting a painting started on a blank gallery-wrapped canvas that always intimidates me...I wonder if that will ever go away? Probably not, but it's those creative butterflies that I can't live without.

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!

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

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

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!

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

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.

This Woman's Work

10" x 24"

(3 panels, 8" x 10" each)

Acrylic, Wire, Ink and Plaster Gauze on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

This triptych piece is a very personal expression of my views of womanhood and motherhood. I was listening to Maxwell's "This Woman's Work" in the studio, hence the title, and I can't help but be overcome with emotion every time I hear this inspirational song. Current condition aside, it always makes me think of that movie "She's Having a Baby" with Kevin Bacon, and more recently the piece that Tyce D'Orio choreographed about battling breast cancer on So You Think You Can Dance. Powerful stuff.

I used wire and plaster gauze to create some wonderful texture on this piece, it is so inviting to the touch. I think each panel is interesting on its own:

"This Woman's Work" Lyrics:

Pray God You Can Cope
I'll Stand Outside
This Woman's Work
This Woman's Worth
Ooh, It's Hard On A Man
Now His Part Is Over
Now Starts The Craft... Of The Father

I Know You've Got A Litte Life In You Yet
I Know You've Got A Lot Of Strength Left
I Know You've Got A Little Life In You Yet
I Know You've Got A Lot Of Strength Left

I Should Be Crying But I Just Can't Let It Show,
I Should Hoping But I Can't Stop Thinking,
All The Things We Should've Said That I Never Said,
All The Things We Should Have Done That We Never Did,
All The Things We Should've Given But I Didn't,
Oh Darling Make It Go,
Make It Go Away...

Give Me These Moments,
Give Them Back To Me,
Give Me A Little Kiss,
Give Me Your Hand Baby

Angels and Strangers

12" x 24"

Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas

People have been asking me what the birch trees mean, what they represent. The forests are symbolic of a journey to me--one I have yet to finish. I love painting birch trees because they convey a simultaneous strength and frailty that I can identify with...any given day I experience both of these feelings multiple times. It's important to be strong for those who rely on me, yet at the same time it makes me feel very small to know we are at the mercy of powers much greater than us.

My daughter and son were playing outside as I was finishing this painting, a very intricate little pretend game that I could only hear glimpses of as they ran past the studio laughing and imagining. When I asked my daughter what they were playing, she said "Angels and Strangers". I have never heard her mention this game before, but something about the name struck me and at that moment I knew I had a title for this painting.

In a sense, angels and strangers are in my tree paintings. People we know and love, people who protect us, people we have yet to meet on this journey through life linger in the forests. From the mouths of babes...thanks to my lovely daughter for helping me understand the meaning behind the images I can't get out of my head.

Connected Disconnect

7" x 14"

Watercolor and Mixed Media on Paper

I used this painting to express the unwavering bond you can feel with the ones you love despite not always being on the same page with them. Even when you are disconnected for a time there is always an intangible strength holding you together. That bond is something you can always take comfort in and trust. The peace of mind that brings is sacred. It gives you wings to fly.

“Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen.” Unknown

Wise Man's Trees

7" x 14"

Watercolor and Mixed Media on Paper

"A fool does not see the same trees a wise man sees." Rick Hilles

I am experimenting with more works on paper. I find paper to be free and relaxing as I search for new expressive possibilities. Sketching and drawing more, too. Not sure where this creative journey is taking me, but I'm enjoying the ride.