Some people say you are born with the ability to be an artist, or not. If that is so, then being an artist is a gift for which Gini is very grateful. She believes we all have that creative spark, no matter how it manifests itself, whether it is in drawing, painting, decorating a room or knowing what colors work well together in an outfit. We all can nurture that gift. Gini loves to paint. She uses light and color to create floral and landscape paintings that speak to the viewer of the beauty of the subjects she portrays. Her favorite things to paint are the old, the antique, and the forgotten. Painting the past in such a way that is both a celebration of the beauty of what was and a clinging to what is only a fleeting memory. She uses light and color to bring us to that same place in time and show us what was meaningful and precious and worth remembering. A little history: Gini started painting at the age of 12. She got an easel for her birthday and still has the first original painting of her house she did that fall. At one time she earned her living by traveling the United States selling country and Victorian-style home decorating accessories. She says, “What a blast that was! I painted on everything from fabric, to wood, to metal, and of course, canvas. However, when the economy tanked, and with the responsibility of having two children to support, I had to take a creative detour.” She shifted her career into graphic design. For more than 2 decades she successfully earned a living in graphic and web design in the advertising and marketing departments of various companies. She says, “I’ve got pieces of paper with degrees and certificates that say what I already knew…I’m born to create.” Today she is thrilled to be focusing more on her first love, working with oil paints. She teaches oil painting at several venues. She wants to help others explore their creativity by teaching oil painting and offers local oil painting classes as well as national classes.