Happy Words from a Collector

Here are a few pics one of my dear friends and collector of my art, Kelley, sent to me of what she now refers to as her "Ginatastic" dining room. :) She ordered some fine art giclee prints of my original paintings and then did a beautiful job framing them. Giclee prints are available of all my paintings and many are featured on my Etsy site.

"I'm really, really happy with the way they turned out," she told me. Yay! I can't think of a better compliment than for someone to display my artwork in their home and love how it looks.

La Bella Vita

8" x 10" x 1.5"
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

"You are such a good boy. You sleep now. Dream sweet dreams. Maybe we are both dreaming." from the film, La Vita y Bella

In the midst of working on some larger paintings, I wanted to make something smaller and sweeter as I counted my blessings out in the studio. My beautiful son arrived last week and is healthy. Plus, he loves to sleep so the transition from two to three children has not been as rough as I was anticipating. As I recover from a difficult pregnancy, I am feeling more like myself and stronger every day. My family is together and complete and we have a wonderful support system of loving friends. My husband is a wonderful father and more help than I could have ever hoped for. My art is being shown in two different shows this month. Life is beautiful!

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!