Gail Goodwin knew from an early age she’d be an artist. Her earliest artistic memories were as a young girl drawing pictures at her childhood home in Southern California with her father. Through the years her parents continued to reinforce her interest in art. They bought her art books and encouraged her to pursue an artistic education. Gail took her first picture at 10 years of age. She used a Box Brownie, and she experimented with oil paints and pastels through high school. The artist never knew at the time that she’d in due course combine the mediums she discovered in her childhood to pioneer her own award-winning style using translucent Marshall Oils to produce hand-tinted photography. What sets her apart from her Photoshop counterparts is the way she transforms her photographs using traditional techniques. She paints by hand all the photographs with transparent Marshall Oil Paints.
This gives each piece of art a classical and translucent quality. Each piece allows the viewer to be swept away to imagine a story behind it. Gail studied at Cal Arts and the Brooks Institute of Photography, where she learned formal technique and composition. She began her professional career in 1977 by working in Guatemala for a relief agency. Her duty involved the documentation of projects following a devastating earthquake. Her body of work has created photos replete with fun, power and love that grow out of friendship and family. Her young-looking subjects embody the celebration to be ourselves and the spirit of freedom. Her photos are a reminder to love, laugh and to embrace the gift of belonging and friendship.
