Stories behind art are fascinating. Artists use their brushes, paint, canvases and tools to create stories like writers use a pen and paper. Here artists reveal the inspiration behind their masterpieces. It’s a rare opportunity to not guess but hear how the work was born, first hand.  

One Artist. One Story

Gina’s work includes encaustic (wax painting), welding, metal patination, mixed media and oil painting.  Artist uses art to visually interpret philosophical writings and poetry, particularly Christian mystics such as Thomas Merton, St. Teresa of Avila, and C.S. Lewis. She has also done studies of popular music including U2, Arcade Fire and Mumford and Sons.  Since poetry is as subjective as fine art, Gina likes to express her “visual reading” in an abstract style, leaving others to find their own meaning in the work.  She is currently producing mid-size works, utilizing oil paint, wax, found objects and metals.

Calcutta Sun by Gina White. Encaustics, 24″ x 24″

“I love art that awakens certain emotions and feelings. During this quarantine period, I have decided to spend my time learning something new and improve my skills in encaustic portraiture.

Encaustic means “to heat or burn in” (enkaustikos). Encaustic painting is an ancient technique, dating back to the Greeks, who used wax to caulk ship hulls. Pigmenting the wax gave rise to the decorating of warships. The use of encaustic on panels rivaled the use of tempera in what are the earliest known portable easel paintings.

North American artists, including Jasper Johns, Tony Scherman, Mark Perlman and Fernando Leal Audirac have used encaustic techniques.

My painting, “Calcutta Sun,” is the result of an online class taught by Lora Murphy. Lora is an amazing teacher and incredibly talented. Her class far exceeded my expectations.”

Follow Gina White on Social Media: Instagram @visualpoetrybygina, Website www.visualpoetrybygina.com