Thank you for checking in with me today! I have been away from writing my Art Blog but Not away from my easel! 

My latest painting, Venice, is a very detailed piece, much like the one before it, Cefalu! I had so many of you interested in that painting, I decided to do another Italian City.  I started this painting with a sketch and did not like the perspective, so I changed it up! The water in Venice is murky and green in this painting as it is based on pre-COVID time. I have read that the city’s canals and waterways are clearing up and small fish are swimming around! 

After changing the sketch, I filled in the sky and water and came back later with shading and highlights.The buildings were next and they are old stone, with a rich, monochromatic color scheme.  Balconies with railings filled with flowers and vines spilling over the edges, ornate windows and doors adorn some houses, others are weathered. Oars leaning up against the buildings and a small fishing boat tied up next to a house are elements I added to give the sense of realism; This is a real place. I left a slice of sky at the very end of the canal, drawing your eye down the row of buildings, adding to the perspective and keeping the viewer interested; Where does this canal go? 

Thank you all for sending me inspiration photos of future paintings! I started a new painting a week ago from a photo sent to me! Stay tuned!

Thank you!
Gina

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Thanks for checking in with me today! I hope you are healthy and staying safe!

Since we are now in quarantine for at least three more weeks, I am going to be painting daily. As a challenge I will be trying new techniques and styles. 

Coastal Drive, my latest painting. I started this piece as an abstract expressionism landscape, with the intent of movement, nature and complimentary colors. I finished this painting inside of two days. I just could not put it down! I loved painting this one!

A drive along the coast with the ocean to the left and mountains to the right. Trees in the foreground help give a sense of perspective and direction to the road below.  The sky is cloudy and hazy as I wanted it to add a sense of the ocean mist rising up. 

This piece will be on my website today!

Thank you for your support in my work!

Gina

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The next Moody Landscape started off as a river, but it quickly changed into a path. The rugged terrain and darker, somber colors, makes this piece more than moody. Descending, may be inspired by the Mad Max terrain? I am not sure, but once I started the rocks that stand higher than the fallen path below, my idea of where this painting was going changed. And from there, it kept changing!

I started with a blue path river and dark landscape, keeping the sky lighter and not intense as I knew my landscape was going to be detailed. It became clear to change the river to a path.  I had a vision of long, stacked stone rocks and marshland. I scumbled muted colors, and kept stepping back, to keep the perspective. The rocks were too dark at first so I chose to lighten them up with similar muted colors to the landscape opposite of them. I also wanted them to look ominous just like the landscape! The sky stayed calm and the bottom of the path was not too exciting! So I added water interest over the rocks and stones and flooded into the dirt path. I stepped back and added the highlights where needed and I am very pleased to say, this one was done in three days. I just could not stop painting!

Any comments on this piece or any of my paintings is always welcomed! 

Thank you for reading my blog today and supporting my art!

Stay healthy, 
Gina

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Hello Everyone, I am painting a lot with this extra time we now have over the next few weeks! 

I began this piece with the intention of an epic sky! Large, moody and surreal! I then decided it would be another rocky waterscape with the perspective from standing on the rocks above the shoreline.
I wanted this piece dark, but I still wanted the viewer to see details and the blue and gray rocks seemed to work well. To keep the viewer interested, I added movement to the sky and water.  I could paint sky, water and rocks, all day, everyday as I find these elements so fascinating!

I started toning the canvas with color and placing the shapes of the clouds and rocks to get perspective. After everything was in place, the painting unfolded into a mysterious and moody place that I felt happy in so I just continued in that vein. Stepping back from the canvas is very important for balance and perspective, where the light should hit and flow. How water splashes on rocks and wanted to capture that without overworking detail.  I finished with changing the rocks in the foreground and added a touch of reflection in the water from the large looming clouds above. 

Surreal sky meets abstract expressionist land and sea? You be the judge!

Thank you for checking in with me today!

Gina

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Hi everyone! Thank you for stopping by today to catch up on my work! 

Another Beachscape! My inspiration was from the island of Virgin Gorda. 

I started this piece with the idea of it being a total abstract, as I have done many times before, but it then becomes more realistic with each brush stroke. I chose to do a rocky shoreline and a sky filled with puffy clouds of whites and grays. The rocks changed a few times while painting. I didn't want them too dark or too light. I wanted them to anchor this piece.  As I painted the shallow water, I saw a sandbar emerge and decided to go with bringing that element into the painting. The water, many tones of blue, purple and green, flow gently over the sandbar into the foreground creating a serene and tranquil scene. Tidepools and foamy water washing upon the shoreline. This piece reminds me of a quiet vacation spot on a secluded island. I wish I was there right now!

This piece is available to purchase on my website under Available Pieces.

Thank you for reading!

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Hi Everyone! Thank you for checking in with me today. I have been busy painting and have completed three pieces since last Blog! I try hard to paint every day, for at least an hour, but life is busy! I would like to challenge myself soon with creating a painting a day as I have heard it is really great practice and builds inspiration!

Abstract Iceland is a large canvas 40X30 and took a long time to complete. A challenge but nonetheless a labor of love! I truly enjoyed painting this piece and was inspired by the rugged terrain of Iceland and how abstract the landscape is naturally. I checked out a friend’s photographs from a recent trip and did some research on my own and came up with the perspective of being up on a mountain top looking out over the ice flows. The colors and landscape changed a few times since my original plan. I made the mountain tops in the background ice and now covered, some green grasses showing through, the prospect that spring will be coming. I tried to keep it abstract expressionism with some detail, but leaving something to the viewers imagination. The tops of the hills in the foreground, covered in yellow and green moss and grass, and the ice flows jagged edges capped with snow, gives this piece movement and direction. It is very abstract and I am happy I was able to keep it as such!


The second painting, Tuscan Hills is a smaller piece, 14X11, which I started from an inspiration piece in class. As always, I use the photo as an inspiration. Sunset in the hills of Tuscany. A cottage at the base of the hills, trees and grasses line the drive leading up the the front door. The hills blurred by impending nightfall and the pink cast of the sunset settles in the foreground. 



The third painting, Tall Grasses, is another painting I started in class. My plan was to paint movement and light. A field of tall grasses swaying in the breeze, a path leading to somewhere beyond the trees. A hint of hills and possibly a stream are off in the distance.  The sky is happy and light from the sun casts a warmth to the fluffy clouds on in the field. Yes, another happy painting!

Thank you for being interested in my Artwork and Blog! Check these three paintings below!

Gina

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​Happy New Year! Thank you for checking in with me. It has been a while since I posted a blog! I have been painting a lot in December and January with a couple of commissioned pieces and a couple of larger pieces. It has been a busy two months!

Dupage Art League is having another Art Show! I am Very excited to be participating again this month! Please stop by and check out the window on Front Street in Wheaton! With the snow on the ground and the colorful paintings in the window, the display is very pretty! 

I have been tapping into my moody self which is a hard thing for me to do and creating a couple of Big Mood paintings. The Road, a bleak  piece, sold quite quickly. Which gave me confidence to do another!  I finished another piece in December, Skylight Mood. It is reminiscent of the Irish coast during a storm. It will be up on my website later this week, along with a few others that are completed.

 I was commissioned to do three very happy abstract pieces for a babies nursery. Switching gears was easy as I was craving happiness and color in the gloomy days of winter!  Please take a few minutes to check these out in further detail @  www.upsideartgallery.com  later this week. Below you can see them as well! 

I will be back to work on a large Abstract 36X40 “Iceland Inspired” piece in a day or two and hope to have that one completed by late next week!! Please stay tuned for much more from Upside Art Gallery this year! My website will be updated with newer pieces!

Thank you for checking in with me today and always! I really appreciate your support!

Gina

Hi Everyone! I have been busy painting two pieces from my trip to Sicily! I would like to share some of my thoughts on both of these pieces!

The first one I did was a study of light.  Like Monet, I used different hues of the same color, whites and blues, next to each other to create light and movement. This one is from high on a cliff in Palermo, overlooking the sea.The beach town is called, Cefalu! It is a beautiful area filled with amazing people, landscape, food and crafts and not to mention a glorious beach and ocean! We were lucky enough to eat lunch on a veranda overlooking the sea! What an amazing view! Spectacular!

The second one, Maragliano, in Ciminna. This is the country home of my very good friend and her husband for many years. This home has been in Mimmo’s family for over a century and it’s rustic charm is beautiful. One of their children chose this very home to take their wedding photos in and it did not disappoint! This place has fig trees, of which I pulled a fig fruit off the tree and ate it right there!!!  And greenery all around the grounds. Pizza ovens, as we call them here in the states, but you can also make anything you choose in them! Pasta! A swimming pool, decks and views galore. This home has been well loved, with so many memories that you can feel the comfort and the love within these walls! I chose this painting as a gift to my friends. As I felt so at home there, surrounded by the beauty and love. I can see why they call this home, “The Hidden Gem”. And, I truly hope I get to visit there again soon!!

All comments and questions are welcomed! Thank you for checking in with me this evening! I really appreciate your support!

Always, 
Gina

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Thanks for checking in with me this week!

I am happy to say that I have finished up two paintings late last week! It is weird, but every time I am away from my canvas for over a week, I just have a hard time restarting and I over think every step I take! With that said, I finally changed up my Elephant canvas and it is now signed. It is called Her Majesty and it is an expressionism piece. A beautiful Elephant walking the grounds of her kingdom. The sun is setting and she is aglow in the bold light. I hope you all like it!

The second piece is a total abstract of which I started in class. There was an inspiration piece I was working from but then I changed it up. I call it Hearts and Arrows, but I can also see faces and hands. As with any abstract piece, the meaning of it is in the eye of the beholder. My goal is to lead you into the painting, and from there, you will discover your own meaning! If you have time, let me know your thoughts of this paintings meaning!


Thank You!

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