Gail Allen » About the Artist

About Gail Allen

Drawing on Fascination and Wonder

My paintings incorporate contemporary symbolism and images, using a variety of mediums with layers of vibrant, colorful paints.  Color and light, and their influence on an image,  have always fascinated me. The effect an image has on us at both a physical and a soul level, the wonder and awe felt in a certain place we visited in life, the image burned into our memory, is what I am after. I don't try to make an exact replication of a scene. Most of my work is done in the studio after copious notes, studies and just sitting and viewing an image or area that intrigues me. Drawing on that fascination and wonder I experience in the field, I return to the studio and try to create a painting that will express these feelings for others to experience.

Gail M. Allen was born and raised in Massachusetts, the daughter of two creative parents. Her father was a woodworker and her mother painted for leisure.  Spending her formative years drawing and painting the local scenery of farms and fields, nature was the primary subject for her very early work. Continuing to pursue art, she studied Illustration and Communications at Paier College of Art.  After graduating, she spent many years in Illustration, Graphic Design and Art Direction, in New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts. Throughout the years, she has continued to paint and sell her work, while her journey raising three amazing sons kept her quite busy.   She now paints full time, creating colorful, evocative paintings filled with symbolism and lore. Her current works are a microcosm of her life's experiences,  incorporating her love of nature and gardening, psychology, spirituality and symbols.  A fascination with what is seen, and what lies beneath - unseen, has been her lifelong pursuit.