• For questions or pricing please email Lora at lszimmer@cox.net
This exhibit is a retrospective showing of the work of Gail Suttelle primarily from 1975 to 2018. Gail grew up in Chicago, then moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1957. She had always been interested in paintings she saw both in Chicago and Albuquerque. She also was attracted to artists and the art community in New Mexico. She exhibited with the Rainbow Arts and the Dartmouth Street Gallery in New Mexico.
It wasn’t long before she started experimenting with painting and studying painting on her own. She first started with large, vivid watercolor paintings, usually portraying the dramatic landscape of New Mexico. She was drawn to a unique quality and play of light which graces the “Land of Enchantment.” Gail abstracted what she saw and created works in intense colors.
Gail soon became interested in oil painting and painting on a larger scale. Her favorite size was 52×52 inches. She continued painting while getting her doctorate in early childhood education at the Fielding Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, CA in 1983.
In 2000, Gail was accepted into the Art Institute of Chicago. There, she expanded her repertoire of paintings in oil in various sizes. She had several solo and group exhibitions in Chicago and received a Certificate of Painting in 2007.
In her own words: “I was drawn to painting during the 1970’s in New Mexico when Georgia
O’Keeffe, Agnes Martin and Fritz Scholder were exhibiting their work in Santa Fe and Taos.
Love of Native American art grounded me in early forms of creation. Visits to museums in
Mexico opened my eyes to exotic statements of passion and politics. Self-taught, a risky admission, my paintings evolved enough to hang work in Albuquerque galleries. In 2000, I returned to Chicago and enrolled in the School of the Art Institute. I completed their Certificate of Painting Program.
“My years painting there were enriching on multiple levels. The museum itself, teachers and student friends, filled my life with challenge and joy. I continue to belong to a critique group, formed there, which questions me and supports continued exploration.”
In 2012, Gail moved to Phoenix, AZ to be with her family, where she continued to paint. In 2018, Gail was part of a group show at the Sugar Row Gallery in Mineral Springs, WI. She was clearly interested in creating images that are representative of mood and feeling. They serve to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. Her works have an abstract quality that both stimulate the imagination and encourage personal interpretations by the viewer.
Gail’s work explores the scope of joy, love and optimism. Her images come straight from her heart and experience of the wonders around her. Gail’s works are as large as her heart.