We had the good fortune of connecting with Gwen Gunter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gwen, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
Perseverance and a commitment to my personal voice. This combined with the belief that the creative work I have been given to do has meaning and relevance has kept me on the path.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work has been described as organic geometric painting. I do pay homage to the historical geometric abstraction of minimalism and constructivism. But my work also embodies fresh, pure and playful shapes and colors that bring them solidly into today. I had been making drawings for many years as a form of exploration. They did not, however inform the paintings I was making at that time. Recently I began to explore the possibility of these simple drawings becoming paintings in their own right. The more I gave them expression, they became clearer and the joy kicked in. ,The more the shapes appeared followed by the elucidating lines, the more I realized there was no turning back – it had me with a truth I have never experienced before. The process of creating these paintings is r.evelatory as I begin with a drawing that informs the beginning of the piece, and then the painting takes over and at times completely reinvents the work. I never know where the process will take me… I only know that I fall in love anew each time I surrender and accept the guidance that is just on the other side of control. I say that I have had a “ checkered past” as I have explored many creative outlets over the years. I have been a commercial artist, graphic designer, product designer and had my own brand of functional art items for the gift and apparel industries. Today I am a full time painter and am happy to keep my feet firmly planted in the studio.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have been so fortunate to enjoy the support and mentoring of artist/teacher Fran Larsen of Santa Fe, NM. She was the one who recognized the “voice” I had been hiding and gave me the encouragement to investigate and pursue a totally new direction in my work. And none of this artistic practice would have been possible without the ongoing support of my husband Robert over the years – with every twist and turn, he has encouraged me to keep growing and evolving. I am truly grateful for these two and all the other artists who have gone before to pave the way.

Website: Www.gwengunterart.com
Instagram: @ghgunter
Linkedin: Gwen Gunter

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