Gina McHugh - Twirling Tree Art
Morristown, VT
ARTIST BIO
Gina McHugh was born and raised at the New Jersey shore and moved to Vermont to escape
the ever-growing crowds in 2006. Vermont had left an impression on her during a family
vacation when she was a child, and it never left.
Although Gina was always creative, living in a rural area surrounded by mountains, northern
forest, and wildflowers really influenced her art style and inspired her to create more frequently. She lacked the self-confidence in her earlier years to pursue art as a career but has always been happiest while painting. With her children grown, Gina has made her art a higher priority. She has started to exhibit at art-craft shows to warm reception and has created a website to showcase and sell her art. She now considers her lack of formal training to be a strength, in that she developed her own style with a minimum of outside influence.
Gina paints with acrylics on wood panel or stretched canvas from her home studio, in a quiet
corner of Vermont that she shares with her husband, her cat, and a small flock of charismatic
chickens; she is also the mother of two grown sons.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I have always loved to draw and paint. I am self-taught, learning to develop and improve my
approach over the years through personal experience, which has given my work its
characteristic appearance. I enjoy suggesting realism in my art rather than replication as it
allows for my creative vision along with the detail I love to do. I draw inspiration from what I see around me - something seemingly ordinary just catches my eye on a particular angle and I use that image from which to draw up an idea. It is always that tree, leaf or flower petal with a
whimsical twist or a wayward, carefree appearance that becomes the seed for a new painting.
I tend to work in a fairly muted palette with a pop of brighter color here and there. My work has been described to me as soothing, calming, and evoking happiness. I do not claim to have a deeper meaning behind my art- these sentiments are exactly the response I hope my work
elicits.
www.instagram.com/twirlingtreeart/
