Gwynne Lott

Born in New Mexico

Lives & works in Ajijic, Jalisco Mexico

 

I was born in New Mexico, not far from where Georgia O’Keefe lived and painted. I started doing art when I was very young, painting pictures of my favorite subject, horses, and papering the walls my bedroom with them.  When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would answer “Georgia O’Keefe”.  

 

In 1965 I moved to Chicago, a dream city for a girl from a small town in New Mexico.  I discovered the Art Institute and applied for admission. I didn’t even know what a portfolio was.  For the next four years I lived and breathed art, studying with people who were, or would become, leaders and innovators in the field.  At the end of that four years, I had skills and emotional tools I never dreamed I’d possess.  Before I could establish myself as an artist in Chicago, Imoved again, this time to Cleveland.  Painting, at that time, was ‘abstract or nothing’ so I shifted my interest to textile design and photography.  That proved to be a wise choice years later when I needed to make a living in the ‘real’ world.  I was able to break into the apparel industry, where I spent the next 25 years.

 

After retirement, I rediscovered painting.  Now, I’m free of critiques, trends, competitions, and the requirement that my art say something profound.  I’m having fun!  I paint my favorite subject; flowers this time, using the intense colors are integral to Mexico.  The discipline, the technique, and the creativity developed through many years of art school training are still there.  Wielding the paintbrush is the little girl who wanted to be Georgia O’Keefe.