Gerry feels that watercolor is both an exciting and difficult medium. She says, “I’m considered a ‘purist’ in the sense that I work from light to dark, saving my white paper for the white passages I wish to show in the image. I use two opaque whites. The majority of my watercolors are started by totally wetting down the French made paper on both sides and working quickly from wet to dry. It is a wet medium, and it should have a wet appearance. I should have a wet, watery quality.”

  Gerry is a juried member of the Arizona Watercolor Association and the Arizona Artist Guild. Her subject matter includes landscapes, seascapes still lifes and florals. Her love is to take a subject and translate it into flexible and willing to go with the flow of the medium. She is a big imagination and likes to use it.

  Creating the details of a picture takes the mind of a technician and the vision of an artist. She paints the landscapes of the Southwest with the ethereal quality that dominates her mental images of the landscapes she has come to love and cherish.

  Water color is an exciting medium. It requires quick decisions, a sense of adventure and a great amount of flexibility… I love the challenge this vibrant and transparent medium offers! I always try to create something different and new that no one else has done.

  No matter how many years I’ve been painting, I still get excited when I start a new piece. Watercolor is a wet medium and should have a wet appearance. I completely wet down the paper and ‘float’ the paint on the surface. To increase the appearance of fluidity in my colors I mix the colors on the paper. I love the depth that is achieved when glaze is applied. Always a purist, I accept the challenge of ‘saving’ the white paper for my whites and using no opaques to dull the vibrancy of my paintings.

  I grew up in Arizona and love to portray the west from it’s sparkling desert sands and canyons, the indian pueblos and cliff dwellings to the aspen forests of the north.

  Since I’m a Gemini, the twin personality type, my background growing up fits the pattern.  I was born in West Virginia in a small coal-mining town. HOWEVER, we didn’t live in town, we lived out in the country. I played in the fields and creeks, and went to a little country school where creativity was encouraged. (I don’t think I would have had my art or writing career without that start in Fairview School.) HOWEVER, I enjoyed the same advantages as the kids in Moundsville. My dad was a strict Methodist, but mom’s Austrian family was catholic, HOWEVER, guilt was dispensed equally. My numerous cousins were mostly Irish American on dad’s side AND a mix of Austrian, Polish, Russian and Italian on moms.

        We drove across the United States in the wartime summer of 1942 to the dry climate of Arizona for both my parent’s healths. The huge contrast from green hills of W. VA to hot desert of Arizona was difficult, as was the difference between small town and the city of Phoenix, surrounded by several Air Force bases. The isolation from our large families was equally difficult, but toughest on Mom; she talked about the family and told a lot of stories that I am lucky enough to remember.

        Ken and I raised three children and I enjoyed every minute of being a stay –at- home mom back then; HOWEVER, I also I loved being a professional artist in later years. My freelance writing efforts have been successful and satisfying too, especially writing my column for the Arizona Republic newspaper.