GAIL WYNN

Description

Collage/Mixed Media, Watercolor

Biography

I was born in Salisbury but grew up in Chestertown, MD. I returned to this area, after living in the D.C., VA Metropolitan area for 40 years, to care for my aging mother before her death. Before retiring, I worked as a flight attendant with United Airlines, and as a staff assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives. I have a formal education in business administration and clinical medical assisting.

Throughout my life, I’ve had a natural curiosity about anything to do with art and wanted to pursue it full-time once I retired. I’ve dabbled in bookmaking, oil painting, pottery, ceramics, quilting, and needle felting, but never watercolor. I’ve always had a creative side and love learning new art skills. During my mother’s illness, I needed an outlet from being a caregiver and decided to pursue watercolor lessons at WorWic Community College. It was there that I met several women taking these classes and we formed our own group and painted together for 5 years at each other’s homes. We branched out and began taking watercolor lessons from Barbara Schmidt at the Art League in Ocean City in order to learn more about watercolor. I continued with Barbara for a few years learning the basics. It was when I took a class in collage with an artist from Pennsylvania at the Millsboro Art League that I fell in love. I have always collected papers in my travels, as well as all kinds of Ephemera from the days when I made Altered Books. I discovered that working with paper was really my thing. I still do watercolors, but collage lights me up and brings me the most joy. I love painting my own papers, playing with mark-making, using vintage books and old sheet music, tearing, layering, and manipulating the paper to form something cohesive, it’s like solving a puzzle. lately, I’ve been working on small landscapes made up of tiny pieces of painted paper, old National Geographic Magazines that I manipulate the pages with a household cleaning product called CitraSolv. and scrap papers from other works, I’ve been calling these small works “Snippets.” I also love to design and create greeting cards. My art is conceived in my head, my heart, and my hands.

I try to do something creative every day. Art was my saving grace during the Pandemic. When they say, “Art Saves” I’m here to tell you that it really does. I was happy to return to in-person workshops as I love learning from other artists.

My work has been accepted in many juried shows and has received various awards.

I have exhibited at the Ocean City Center for the Arts, Salisbury Art Space, the Millsboro Art League, and the Worcester County Arts Council. I have participated in and sold my paintings and cards with the Cavallaro and Cleary Visual Art Foundation (CCART) in Salisbury. My card designs have also been published in Somerset Studio Magazine.

Contact Information

Email - dgwynn2005@verizon.net