Gail Black is a native North Carolinian who has created art in various media since childhood. Her work has been influenced by the landscape of the Carolinas, with easy access to mountains and coast as well as urban and rural areas.
During a corporate career in information technology, Gail studied and traveled to workshops to pursue her interest in fine art. After years of working mostly in water media, she returned to painting in oils.
Gail now lives in Wake Forest, NC, where she creates artworks in her home studio. Gail feels privileged to have studied her craft with such notable instructors as Frank Webb, Mark Mehaffey, and Linda Baker. She also completed a semester residency at the Braitman Studio in Charlotte. Gail Black is a signature member of the Watercolor Society of North Carolina and has been accepted and awarded at local and regional juried shows.
Gail's painting style is representational, yet emphasizes a strong abstract structure with her utilization of contrasting values and bold paint application. Her strongly textured works convey a sense of the subject rather than a precise, replicated image. Gail’s view of landscape encompasses much more than simply trees and hills: rather, she interprets these objects in terms of the shapes, color, and lines that define them, enabling her to capture their inherent sense of rhythm.
Artist's Statement:I concern myself with the natural world, its objects, shapes, colors, and textures. Everyday scenes attract me, particularly when I can use them to encourage the viewer to slow down and reflect upon the memories of their own experience. In this way, my artwork acts as a trigger.
I cherish recalling special moments when my visual curiosity and examination impact my artwork; and in turn, my artwork creates a deeper love and interest in the real world. That interplay—back and forth— has become the key to my artistic process.
Throughout my career, I have worked mainly on a two-dimensional surface. The tools and materials applied to that surface have varied from pastels to pencils, watercolors to acrylics, and also oils. Currently, I work primarily with oils on a substrate of canvas or wood panel.
My journey as an artist has fundamentally been an exercise in subtraction. I began painting in a realistic, detailed manner and have since been working to subtract—to remove the superfluous. How few strokes are truly needed to suggest a tree? Does that building, road, or fence add anything of value to the overall message I seek to convey?
My goal is to train my attention on the surface, shapes, and edges, not the physical representation of the architecture, mountains, and trees I encounter along the landscape. I feel that in this way, each viewer is encouraged to fill in the intentional blanks with whatever emotions or recollections my paintings evoke in them, creating the opportunity for individuals to experience a distinct reaction to my work based on their own life journey.
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