Gail Vail

Lifelong – the answer to the question of how long I have been “doing art”. I took my first lesson in oil painting in the sixth grade and have loved painting ever since that day. As a child, I would draw everything around me from kitchen utensils to furniture, out-buildings, flowers, etc. As an adult I am still drawn to painting flowers, still life, portraits and animals – especially dogs and birds of all kinds. I love colors and textures and am drawn to the contrast in light and shadow. Maybe it’s the drama that’s so appealing. Drama as in the ying and yang, the interrelationship, the waking up of our senses.

Born and raised on a farm in Nebraska, I attended a one-room school house through fifth grade and found myself ahead of my fellow students when I transferred to parochial school. A good education and great parents with great values provided grounding for life. A career in a Fortune 500 company certainly helped pay the bills and a BA in Business helped balance the other side of my brain. Raising a family while working forced me to sideline my love of painting for several years but only temporarily.

Watercolors are a favorite due to their lightness and transparency but I have a real love of oil painting due to the versatility. John Singer Sargent is my favorite artist and being able to see his paintings in real life twice took my breath away. His painterly style is so inspiring. Today I paint some realism, some painterly style and some abstracts.

I teach drawing and painting and really enjoy the satisfaction when my students accomplish something or when they have a eureka moment. I live through their progress. Of course, delivering a completed painting to a happy client is also hard to top. I am most proud of publishing a coffee table book, “Seasons on Lake Oconee” filled with writings and paintings of area authors and artists. Despite a couple of critics early on, the book was published and has been very well received in the lake area. Bien joue.

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Learn more about our other winners and the Lake Country Juried Art Show.