ARTIST’S STATEMENT

“If there's ONE THING I could say to a budding artist, it's never, never, never, never give up! Even if you inch your way along your path, never give up! My accomplishments and credentials are modest compared to many, but they're mine. I earned them.

    Tomorrow I will know more and be more capable than I am today, because today is always the beginning. Today is bright and full of promise. Today opens the door again to a fabulous, fantastic world of art!”

PROFILE

“I'm not a sophisticated person, so this will be just a chronological, somewhat long winded monologue about me. Don't feel badly if you're bored and don't read it. I won't. Strewn about this page are some pertinent facts about my abilities, accomplishments and kudos. I'll try to make them stand out for you skimmers and speed-readers. For the remaining few, I'll start at the beginning.

    I've been a fantasy artist since I was five and spent my first years in school drawing women in costumes rather than listening to my teachers. I always loved making art and knew that when I grew up I'd do something creative. I was voted the most creative person in my high school graduating class at Frankfurt American High School.

     But of course, life is what happens while we're dreaming other dreams. At 32 I found myself working in Los Angeles restaurants with a daughter and a husband to care for. To make life bearable to my bohemian soul, I took an art class at a local community college, just one, in my spare time. It was the first time I'd picked up a brush in over a decade. I was immediately addicted.

    My teacher, Robert Weaver, a superb artist himself, has no idea how he influenced my future, because I've had no contact with him since I took his freehand drawing class at Glendale Community College in 1978. He taught me more than art; he taught me that a few kind words could deeply affect someone, even change the course of their life.

    At semester's end, he asked to talk to me privately. Having no idea what he wanted, I was surprised when he began encouraging me. He told me I was talented, very talented, unusually talented and to never give up my dream of becoming an artist. I truly didn't know how he figured that, since I couldn't draw realistically and wasn't impressed with my own efforts, even though I loved every moment I spent doing it. I believed him, and that has made all the difference. Thank you, Robert Weaver, wherever you are.

      Fast forward to 1984. I'm living in San Diego, no longer married, and have two daughters to care for. I was no longer partner in the auto mechanics business I had worked with a now ex-husband and was desperate about what to do. A friend who was making a living as a freelance commercial artist offered to show me how he supported his family, and I quickly joined the cadre of freelancers jobbing their way through the world. In my spare time, to keep my bohemian soul fed, I took up oil painting. Occasionally I would sell a painting, but never enough to keep the larder full.

    As an aside: in 1988 I married a kind and loving man who has unflinchingly supported my flaky notion of being an artist…but that's another story.

     In 1990 another friend offered me a job at his ad agency after learning I had taken a graphics computer class at Mesa College. I think he regretted it two weeks into my appearance at his office, but I worked hard to learn what I needed, and in a short while I became valuable as the Assistant to the Creative Director, Kobey Advertising. In 1993 I was laid off, along with all the other assistants, due to the economy, and found myself freelancing again. What I took from that experience is that I really loved creating graphics on a computer.

    In 1996 I bought my own. I couldn't afford a Macintosh, so I went with a PC. I couldn't afford Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Photoshop, so I bought the CorelDraw Suite that contained an equivalent of both programs for half the price.

    I tried taking some courses at a local adult continuing educational venue, but they scoffed at me for going PC and Corel. That made me mad. I came home, opened the manual, and started on page one. I joined the San Diego Metro Corel User Group and volunteered for EVERYTHING. That way, the leader of the group, an expert in Corel, had to look over my shoulder while I created our invitations, promotionals, and website.

    In 1997 I bought my domain: www.gorgeousgeorge.com and officially opened the doors of Gorgeous George Graphics. See, the artwork is gorgeous, my last name is George, my grandmother Roma's favorite wrestler was Gorgeous George, and I enjoy the paradox of creating goddess art under a masculine name.

     1998! Computer Edge Magazine sponsored the California Computer Expo here in San Diego, and they offered a digital art contest. I entered. I had the most difficult time getting my art printed - again the old "But you're not Macintosh, but you're using Corel" mantra, (the one that gives me indigestion) entered the mix, and I got my work to Computer Edge's offices just minutes before the deadline. I won the Grand Prize! After that, finding clients just wasn't a problem.

    In the fall, I found myself at Corel World, again volunteering, this time as a door monitor. I worked to be able to afford the convention. It was fabulous for me! I met the Gods of Corel, those amazing people who could manipulate the software any way they wanted and create the most beautiful graphics and art! I was such a groupie. I bought all their books, hung on every word, and left determined to learn.

    In 1999 my husband and I flew to Orlando for Corel World. I again volunteered as door monitor and again sucked up everything I could. I had created some art using Photopaint by then, and some people were noticing. I entered Corel's World Design Contest. I won an Honorable Mention with my Cyber Goddess image and then a First Place in the Abstract Category with Faeries.

    In 2000 I presented for the first time at Corel World, held in San Diego that year. I deconstructed some of my images. It was well received.

    In 2001 I presented again for Corel World, this time in Boston…in September. I came into Conference Central Tuesday morning and saw the Twin Towers explode and collapse. People were crying. I had already given my classes, so I went to my room and watched TV all day and all night. The next morning I hitched a ride in the back of a rental car one of the patrons had secured and we drove across America in four days. There wasn't a plane in the sky the entire trip. It was surreal.

    In 2002 I again taught at Corel World, this time held in St. Louis, again deconstructing my art.

     This year, 2002, I was invited to join and juried into the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. My art was picked by a democratic jury of artists to show in the Annual Artists Guild Art Show. In June 2002, I was juried into the San Diego County E-Arts Show, where I won three Honorable Mentions, and in August I showed at the Comic-Con International Art Show, where I sold every print I hung!

    My career is dual track. I do computer graphic design for clients. I create brochures, catalogs, logos, promotionals, product illustration, editorial illustration, and websites.

    The second track is my fine art, my fantasy and goddess illustrations, all created digitally. I've had good fortune winning awards, selling prints of my work, and I'm now being noticed by several publishers of fantasy art.

    I use Corel Photopaint and Painter to create my art, always with a Wacom tablet and stylus. I know some people do, but I can't paint with a brick on the end of a rope (mouse). I always start with a pencil sketch that I scan into Photopaint. I work in layers and use many transparencies. This is probably due to my background of painting with oils pre-computer.”