Studio G

This week's inspiration?

2010-07-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

In the colors, patterns and reflections in this image...

In the twisted world of Chuck Palahniuk and his Misty Marie Wilmot...

and in this music and video by Sia...

The beauty of friendship, gentle nudges & inspiring hearts with your many gifts...

2010-06-23T08:26:00.000-07:00

Thank you Sperlygirl for the gift of your beautiful art, words and tunes to inspire! I am a lucky woman to have you in my life.

and the back of her inspiring collage art held yet another treasure with the following words...
"To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what [s]he has already achieved, but at what [s]he aspires to do."
- Kahlil Gibran

(So true, S! Btw, you are poetry.)

What's on My Mind? Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros "KISSES OVER BABYLON"

2010-06-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely blown away by this group and parts 1 and 2 of this "video." I've watched it 8 times already this morning...

2010-06-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gwXpLpfb3Y

My Giving Trees...

2009-11-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

You may remember these trees from a previous photographic post. Well, after the encaustic workshop that I took back in August, I wanted to revisit those trees and truly pay them justice. Wax medium lends itself so well for adding the depth, the layers and the luminosity I wanted. It helped me convey the emotion and atmosphere that I couldn't get with just a black and white photograph. So here are my giving trees once again -- these are the trees that I have seen through so many years -- through my eyes as a child, as a young adult leaving home for the first time to go to College, as a young woman in love, as a grown woman with children, and as an artist full of inspiration. Thank you beautiful trees for giving me so much throughout the years. And thanks to IMT's for having Trees as its point of departure for this Thursday.

Gina Caraviello The Giving Trees
encaustic on braced luan
16" x 23"
copyright October 2009

Here I am last night at the Opening of the 'EnLIGHTened' Show hosted by the Savannah Art Association and Pace Lighting. Knabbed an 'Honorable Mention,' so I do believe I'm on the right path...

Encaustic Workshop...

2009-10-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Took a 2 day workshop on Encaustic Painting and just fell in love with this (new to me) medium. Here are some pictures of my exploits...

Encaustic pigments justing waiting to be melted...

Ohh, if you could just smell the beeswax...

The amazing Christine Sajecki, who taught the workshop. Check out her work here.

Demonstration of a transfer process with wintergreen oil.

The end result...one awesome experience with a medium that I really enjoyed learning about and a few neat finished pieces.

A Full-Circle Moment...

2009-10-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

This is a moment that has been 20 years in the making. Let me try to explain...

At first, high school was a really horrible place for me. More than a few months went by with me being a lost soul. Trying to navigate my way through new classes, old friendships, crazed hormones, my creative inclinations, my parents, my family -- even my position in the Universe -- was difficult before I met two of the most influential people in my young life.

I met Heather Davis when we were both Freshmen. She was a force...or more to the point...she was this little ball of free love and creative energy that was filled to the brim with angst and punk-rock bravado. Anti-social, yet one of the most popular girls there. I immediately wanted to get to know her (who didn't?) and be near such amazing energy. Luckily, we "clicked" right away over our mutual interests -- Soft Cell, Prince, Art and our dislike of Honors Biology class. We became fast friends. Sleep-overs, hanging-out in her bedroom painting, listening to music and rearranging furniture, shopping at the Goodwill, going to drinking parties with boys twice our age, flipping-off the world and its preconceived notions about what we were supposed to be -- typical teenage behaviour! But in all those moments, I was truly finding myself and learning more about who I was and who I wanted to be.

And then she introduced me to Aliza Bridges, known to all as Ali. She too was this creative and confident force that I immediately jived with. When I wasn't with Heather...or we weren't all together...I was with Ali. She was very clever and witty, but more grounded in reality than Heather. We would hang-out in Art class in this special back room where the teacher (the lovely Bruce Walls) would let us create and listen to our own music and just be. She also had these kookie hippie/strongly religious type parents that oddly enough, I really enjoyed talking with too. They engaged me in conversation as an equal -- which was something very new for me. I ate it up.

Heather's Dad (who was in the military) got sent to England our Sophomore year, so even though we all kept in touch through snail mail, Ali and I forged a friendship that became stronger than that of mine and Heather's. In fact, we were pretty much inseparable until a few months before the end of school. Right before graduation, Ali got diagnosed with lymphoma and was sent to John Hopkins for extensive treatments. I remember, going to the school to tell all her teachers and walking into the Art room and Mr. Walls (having clearly already heard the news) just extended out his hand and without words, gave me the biggest hug and showing of understanding I had ever received. I have never forgotten that gesture from him -- never will.

So while, I was working to save money for SCAD and Heather was living a crazy life abroad and then in West Virginia...our dear friend Ali had to go through all that at the tender age of 17. I was there by her side as much as I could be and she fought the good fight for four more years. Some of my best memories are of Ali in those last 4 years of her life. She showed me how to cope, how to take one day at a time, how to keep laughing, but also how to always stay true to yourself and your ideals.

Ironically, a year later, after Heather and I had renewed our long distance friendship, she got into a car accident and was thrown from the vehicle. Pronounced dead at the scene, she left behind a baby girl and a family that hasn't recovered since.

They both taught me so much about life and about how to listen to my intuition. Words really can't describe what they meant to me and for me. They live in my heart still -- even as time has passed. I've been to college, gotten married, had two children...but I've always tried to live my life to the fullest...a little bit for them and also some for me -- because most of all that's what they taught to do!

So, fast-forward to 20 years later. I'm at the high school reunion and who walks in the door, but our dear Art teacher, Mr. Walls. We talk for a very long time and he tells me to come by the old school. He's still there teaching and he has something for me. Next time I'm in-town, I stop by the school and find him screen printing away in the very different art room. We reminisce some more, then he pulls out this study that Ali had painted back in school. He had kept it all these years, safe from the elements and hands of other students, just to give it to me one day. I was floored. Again, he provided me with a gesture of kindness and understanding that I will never forget. It was an amazing full-circle moment...that even now I cannot completely describe. It's like the love, the memories of my two incredible friends, the times we shared, the art we made, the times we all spent together with Mr. Walls in the art room, the twenty years that have passed since-- all came together in one beautiful moment. Thank you lovely, Bruce!!!

Me and Mr. Walls after all these years.

The old room where we hung-out and made art. It looked very different back then...

Ali's study -- BEAUTIFUL!

The Trilogy Continues...on the Wings of this Artist.

2009-07-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here is the next (almost completed) piece in my box trilogy. I call this one Today and as you may be able to tell from the picture, it is all about a state of rebirth. I was inspired, not only by my current artistic evolution, but also by this book I came across at my local library, called Wings of an Artist. I was blown away by the 20 children's book illustrations on its pages and by the different stories of how each artist found their home in interpreting and expressing human experience in that visual form. One entry in particular by Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng, beautifully summed-up the book's essence: "Imagination and creativity are the wings of the mind." And I thought, that also sums up the essence of my thoughts right now...so I took it and flew with it!

Creating...INSIDE the Box!

2009-06-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

The glorious box with all its layers, collage, assemblage, interactive and symbolic possibilities is once again firmly rooted in my creative thoughts. It has become my way of taking a snap shot...of transforming common everyday objects into magical expressions of self...of using the things I can find, touch, create and see to tell the story of what you cannot see: my ideas, my memories, my fantasies and my dreams.

This box is part of a trilogy I am currently working on. I call this one Yesterday and soon it will be followed by Today and Tomorrow.

RedeSIGNED - May 15, 2009

2009-05-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

Well, the show was a big success and a really fun upcycling experience to be a part of! The artwork spanned so many different styles and ideas about signage. I think more than one artist (myself included) would consider the sign as a medium that we will pull from over and over again in the future. Check out some of the press about the week long event @http://madnessofart.com/2009/05/14/signs-of-the-green-times/ and http://blog.bfgcom.com/?p=1751.

A quick shot of the crowd at the reception on Friday.

Me, in front of my work, enjoying the event and the wine! ;-p

"Analogy"

38" x 38"

Mixed Media

Created by Gina Caraviello

I was the only artist to insert the sign in a canvas and use as text in this way. Why did I do this? The "DO NOT BLOCK INTERSECTION" sign spoke to me in many ways. First, I wanted to express how signs protect people. Then, I started thinking...what personally protects me? The squares (or boxes/layers), the shell, the glove, the key, the words -- all things that protect. Then the piece kind of took a different (more personal) turn with me wondering if that protection was blocking me creatively or NOT blocking me. I also thought about how I have to compartmentalize my creativity, sometimes even my feelings, until later. Sometimes, I think I block things to protect myself from emotional conflicts, sometimes it is just self-preservation...protecting from my past, so I don't make future mistakes. So, the actual part from the sign that has the editing symbol for delete over it (albeit another glorious spiral of sorts...) is wanting you to see that in the end I'm saying, "Do Block," but it isn't necessarily a negative thing.

Or at least, I think so.

RedeSIGN this?

2009-04-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

I've signed-up (HA!) with New Moon of Savannah (a local social experiment group of sorts) and have been very busy working on my redesign of the above G-DOT road sign otherwise destined for the trash. For some reason, "DO NOT BLOCK INTERSECTION" were the words that spoke to me back at the end of March when I went to go make my pick and I'm almost done trying to figure-out why...

Stop back by on the 16th of March, when I get to reveal my redeSIGN to the world...right after the week long opening event.

InSPIRALation...

2009-01-05T15:28:00.000-08:00

I am so grateful that I live near the Coast! I truly cannot imagine living any place where I was land-locked...with no possibilities of a quick trip to the shore. I love that at a moments notice, I can soak-up the glorious sun, feel the sand between my toes, be surrounded by the wonder of the ocean and see such beauty in all its details. It feeds my very soul.

Most visits, I can barely finish taking-in one sight, before catching a glimpse of something else I just have to capture forever with my camera. The lighting right before dusk is incredible, magical and completely illuminating too! And so it was yesterday when me and the FAM made our way to the breakers for a little spiral guided scavenger hunt of sorts.

It was a truly magical moment that left me inspired and wanting to share...

Encapsulated...

2008-10-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

For me, feeling nervous or anxious is a completely interior emotion. I may feel it on the inside, but I don't let it show on the outside...it's encapsulated if you will. So, I worked on a quick sketch of me in perfect harmony for this week's IMT prompt and then manipulated it in Photoshop until I felt it visualized how I might personally show distress or uneasiness of mind.

Her story in words...

2008-09-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Her words held her deepest wishes, her fears, her joys, but most importantly...her story.

Su if you are reading this, know that this piece did not start out being about you, but somehow ended up that way. Or maybe more to the point, it ended up as a reflection of mine and your written thoughts and visual symbols all layered together to create this final (at least I think I'm done?) image. Putting yourself, your craft, your words OUT THERE for all the world to see, takes a lot of courage and personal strength. I admire that in you and enjoy it when I can recognize that in myself too. Maybe that is how our lives...our stories...will be forever intertwined?

Does the gray really matter?

2008-08-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

I don't know, maybe it's all the rainy days I've been experiencing lately that really inspired me, but when the IMT prompt came up this week as opposites...I didn't even blink an eye before heading directly to my studio to create this piece. Good or evil, right or wrong, conservative or liberal, sinner or saint, black or white -- seems we spend a lot of time and energy focusing on the opposites in our lives, when all there really seems to be is gray matter to me. So, I painted this environment on my canvas that (hopefully) captures value opposites, but also exposes the wonder...the little swirling goodness...the colorful gray matter...that ends up being the more interesting stuff in between the opposition.

Her inspiration becomes mine...

2008-08-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

I am so lucky to have this child in my life. Her smile, her creativity, her compassion and love for life is positively contagious. That's why after taking her to a Frida Kahlo exhibit, I had to get out my camera as she came home, found bits and pieces in her wardrobe and decided to dress the part. How wonderful that InspireMeThursday came up with a prompt that fit both her and my inspirations...

A perfectly circumscribed creative act...

2008-07-31T05:50:00.000-07:00

She created something using color, movement and words...found it beautiful...and was happy.

What He Said... (Or maybe just what she wanted him to say)
Gina Caraviello
26" x 60"
Textile Pigments and Cotton Fabric
July 2008

Delight of the senses...

2008-07-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

"Water, thou hast no taste, no color, no odor; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself, thou fillest us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

At Last...

2008-06-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

For over 20 years now, I have passed by these tree 'remains' on Hwy. 17 and wanted to photograph them. I think they are simply beautiful and they have always spoken to me on many levels. I think mainly they speak to me on my 7 year old-self level, that part of me that is the little girl who grew up near the coast, liked to get in the car and just ride -- windows rolled down, the smell of the road on a hot day at her nose, always with her hands out the window riding the wind...

Yes, this is the part of me that these trees talk to...this is a part of me that remains still.

It's the part of me that chooses back country roads, Rural towns, home-grown tomatoes, salty marsh breezes, watermelons on the side of the road for a few dollars, the beach over lakes, farmer's markets, live local music, windows rolled down in the car with my hand out the window riding the wind.

Looking at this moment in my life....

2008-05-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

I've always been a very analytical person...looking at all possible angles...constantly observing...trying to understand the world and my place in it. It hasn't always served me well, being like that. But it has always been part of what makes me - Gina, so I rolled with it. Was this the reason for that spastic colon diagnosis in high school?

Well, the cloud of self-doubt and deconstruction has FINALLY lifted. Now, more so than ever, I am truly living my life. Don't get me wrong, I still look...and see... and try to understand what confounds me and feel more than others around me. But more and more, I spend less and less time in my head. I haven't written in a journal in ages. I barely blog. I enjoy every moment free of worry or guilt or rehashing what I said or shouldn't have said. I create when I want to express myself, not just as therapy, because it doesn't really hurt my craft like I thought it would. I show my knowledge and love in fierce bodily actions, rather than just in my words or images. I don't let the pondering and reflecting consume me with inaction anymore.

No doubt, everything up to this point, has led me to where I am today. And I am happy to say that I can briefly reflect on this moment in time and enjoy its sweetness!

Inner-light?

2008-04-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
-Leonard Cohen

Ebb and Flow - with Sperlygirl

2008-03-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Finally had some time to work on this *in progress* piece. Sperlygirl penned me some prose and I pieced them into the work, just like I had to piece together this photograph. (sorry it's not a better view.)

Her words read:
"the ebb and flow
the push and pull -
always constant.
the journey is finding the
serenity within the constant.
amidst the motion -
seek the stillness of hope."

Still don't think we're done yet though, so Suz...input please.

A Different Light...

2008-02-07T06:54:00.000-08:00

While the rest of the South has been hit with terrible weather lately, we have been receiving the most amazing "taste of summer" conditions. Flowers are starting to bloom prematurely, the birds are singing their beautiful early morning songs and I have been able to see myself in a different light. Warm weather and the glorious beaming sun that comes with it is...so healing...so reaffirming.

I sat here for several minutes this morning, just soaking it all in and seeing all the possiblities of tomorrow...

(Enjoy it with me @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK4PjqxqMNE)

A Lotta Frittata...

2008-02-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

Frittatas are my new favorite thing to throw together 'round dinner time -- they are easy to make with whatever you have on hand and each one tastes so diverse. This one with leeks, shitake mushrooms, asparagus and fontina cheese -- is by far my best creation. So good, it pleasantly surprised me about myself and my culinary "talents". And I thought I would share that moment...that meal...that creation, because it isn't every day that one can still surprise themselves at this stage in the game, ya know?

So I say be bold, go forth and create a new dish with your kind of ingredients and surprise yourself too!

[Ohh yeah, those baked sweet potatoe "fries" served with are not glistening with oil, rather honey...just in case you were wondering.]

37 Things...

2008-02-02T10:04:00.000-08:00

Turned 37 this week, so I thought I would cap off my birthday celebration with a short list of my favorite things:

1. My two AMAZING kids!!!
2. My hairy hubby...
3. "Snuggling and buggling" with #'s 1 and 2!
4. Fire roaring on a cold morning
5. Sipping Decaf Earl Gray tea while listening to Ray Lamontagne (http://www.raylamontagne.com/ ) so I can wake up on those cold mornings...
6. Being able to stay @ home with my kids!
7. Family
8. Friends...my chosen Family!
9. Hugs
10. Smiles
11. Smirks (especially those of Lala's and Chuck's)
12. Asparagus with parmesean cheese
13. LAUGHING
14. The internet...to keep me in touch with my friends and family...and the world!
15. Digital Cameras
16. Photoshop
17. Baking cookies with my kids
18. The smell of said cookies baking...
19. Creating -- anything!
20. Working with children & showing them how to express themselves with art.
21. Stationery
22. Snail mail...giving and receiving.
23. Thank you notes...giving and receiving.
24. Saying, "I love you"
25. Living in the here and now...
26. Holding hands
27. Kisses
28. Trying out new recipes every month when I get my Bon Appetite mag.
29. Suzanne's Blog (http://www.sperlygirl.typepad.com/) and her BEAUTIFUL images and words.
30. Mary Janes...the shoes
31.(and well the other kind of mary jane ain't too bad either)
32. People who are passionate
33. Fall
34. Spring
35. Exercising while listening to my music on my iShuffle -- I just clip it on a go!
36. Banana puddin'
37. Words...

A New Year...A New Me!?

2008-01-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe not completely new...but almost.

Even though I like who I am, I worked on myself a lot in 2007, so that my head and heart was one with my body and actions. It turned out to be a great thing, so even though I am not one for resolutions, here are a few new goals I've set for myself in 2008:

Laugh more...

Keep up my exercise routine...adding more running and more yoga!

Finish the ideas I started in 2007...so I can make room for all the new ones I already have...

Keep my distance from negative people...especially around holidays.

Share my passion for arts enrichment with more people even if it means volunteering away more of my 'free' time!

Show my love and gratitude in every way imaginable...

Soak up every moment of wonder...big and small.

Live abundantly.

Here's to a fruitful 2008 -- Cheers!

Delicious Autumn!

2007-11-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

"Delicious Autumn!
My very soul is wedded to it,
and if I were a bird,
I would fly by about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
-George Eliot

Living With Diabetes

2007-10-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

As we were having a lovely day in the park...living our lives to the fullest, I caught a glimpse of Meech's strong, beautiful hands in the sunlight and wanted to capture them on film forever. As I was focusing my lens, I read his bracelet and then had a moment of sadness as I was reminded how tenuous and fragile his life is in the midst of diabetes. Somehow I think all that came through in this image...

He Likes The Blonde Highlights In My Hair

2007-10-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

A quick sketch after having lunch with a former Professor!

Sewn Together

2007-10-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

"Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years." - Simone Signoret

A View Of Michele's Imagination...

2007-09-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

"The function of the imagination is not to make strange things settled,
so much as to make settled things strange."
-G.K. Chesterton

Sharing The "Art" Of Screenprinting

2007-09-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

After a day of screenprinting bowling shirts for Zach's birthday party, I decide to teach Michele how to print for real, G-style!

Many beers and sips of wine later, we complete our masterpiece with much glee...

Wouldn't be art, unless we were covered in pigments from head to toe, right?

Out Of Focus...

2007-09-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

"You can't depend on your judgement when
your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

Tools Become Art!

2007-09-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

The morning light is so incredible in my studio. The glorious sun highlights my textile inks and t-pins and such and brings them to life in my eyes. Makes every idea seem possible...

For Suzanne and Kai

2007-09-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Everyday Is The Gift

(a work in progress)

Inspired by my friend & artist Suzanne and her BEAUTIFUL words http://sperlygirl.wordpress.com/and her little boy Kai who seems to love bubbles and life and the gift of every little wonderful moment just as much as I do!

Thank you...

SushiDough!

2007-08-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

"What a strange machine man is! You fill him with bread, wine, fish, and

radishes, and out comes sighs, laughter, and dreams." -Nikos Kazantzakis

'Playdough Sushi' made by Riley and Zoe before we broke for bread...laughter...and dreams...one August Night in Savannah!

Trying Something New

2007-07-15T05:37:00.000-07:00

Adding On
Gina Caraviello
36" x 36"
Acrylic on Canvas
July 13, 2007

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." - Anonymous

I'm Sure This Is About A Windmill...

2007-07-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

There it goes again
spinning around and around
and AROUND
Perpetually spinning
as long as there is
movement in the air.

Oh, now it's stopped again,
a pregnant pause
waiting...
for that slight breath
of life
to bring back it's m o t i on .

A Self-Portrait?

2007-06-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

The Victim
Gina Caraviello
36" x 48"
Acrylic on Canvas
June 25, 2007

"You can out-distance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you."
-Rwandan Proverb

Tired of Haiku, She Moves On To Tanka...

2007-06-06T16:43:00.001-07:00

Fingers worn ragged,
restless and unsatisfied
can't get enought TEXT...
Crazed, she raises her white flag,
and feigns R e n u n c i a t i o n !

iBuddha?

2007-06-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

"Oh Yes, Enlightened One...share all your music files...skip the Nirvana!"

Do you think less of me now that you know I don't want any Nirvana on my shuffle? I just never got "in" to that band like everyone else did in College. (Now, give me some FooFighters...)

Alas, my little makeshift shrine keeps me in good company. This jade Buddha came all the way from China via my dear friend Michele. The iPodshuffles came all the way from China too...via iCoolcapitalism.

Maybe I should paint my Buddha white and stick an apple logo on its fanny? My guess is that doing that wouldn't help me a bit spiritually, but OMG the music sure does...

Can you hear the music?

2007-05-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. "
-Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Euphony
Gina Caraviello
23" x 42"
Textile Ink, Cotton Fabric
2006

Mmmmm, Lickety Splits!

2007-05-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

I didn't dare venture into this destination spot @ Stone Mountain.

Wasn't quite sure what I'd get???

What'll you have?

2007-05-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

PBR in a can, damn it!
Or maybe just one for the road...or maybe a C.I.H.T. shot just like I got in College...or maybe I'll just take a big inhale and get drunk off the fumes?
Boy, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
I think I'll have more of THAT!

Morning Ramblings...

2007-05-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

The early morning seems to be the best time to tune in to my inner-G (ha) and periodically get my thoughts in order. I like it when it's just barely daylight outside and the babies have yet to rise. It's always been the right time for...ME. But this morning, there are loud doves "cooing" outside my window -- bathing in the pool -- trying to get their day started too, I guess. And, instead of focusing on my thoughts, my obligations, my life, I'm sitting here wondering...

What kind of thoughts cross their minds??? Are they checking off to-do lists in their tiny dove heads? Instead of serene "coos", are they just gabbing about the dove down the street or talking shite about Paris Hilton getting jail time? Perhaps, they are trying to tell me their thoughts on world hunger or global warming? Maybe they have a dove-secret they are trying to share -- if I would just listen?

Well, maybe I will...just for a little while...

Colors of Creativity

2007-05-05T04:55:00.000-07:00

"Kids don't have to be told, they instinctively see the possibilites."
~ Satyebdra Pakhale