Gail M. Allen - A Fine Art Gallery of Wonder

"Wonder: A feeling of surprise, mingled with admiration caused by something beautiful, unexpected or inexplicable."( that is how the dictionary defines it. )
That is also the best description for how I have encountered life, and what has drawn me to the gallery work I now do.
I was born and raised in Massachusetts. I spent my formative years drawing and painting the surrounding farms and nature. When all of my friends were playing with dolls, my passion, at a young age, was drawing, painting and sculpting nature; the corn fields and barns and animals around me.
I used to take long walks on my grandparents dairy farm with my parents. Everything in nature was up for discussion, from finding wintergreen that was used for herbal remedies in their earlier days, to trees that had literally turned to stone they'd been there so long. They showed us fairy circles, and most tree and wildflower species were identified to me early in my life. My parents taught which mushrooms to pick, and when, and how - every weekend during the harvesting season, which was a trait passed on to them by their immigrant parents. I always remembered the feeling of the early morning crisp air, the damp dew in the woods, and those incredible little mounds under pine needles that held a treasure! A mushroom.
Then there was a wide, babbling brook that ran down the mountainside, which is part of a large aquifer on the farm, which carried strange, little, sparkling fish which could be seen darting here and there, that were always a favorite surprise. What looked like caves, in huge rocks formations overhanging the mountainside, we were told Natives lived in long ago, giving me sense of wonderment that took my imagination. The walks also gave time for stories of their childhood, and thus began the fascination and curiosity about life that inspires me today. I was taught to ponder everything.
I believe we all need to feed our soul with that sense of wonder, to revive the energy that gets drained by our everyday life, and feed the creativity within us. Here are a few words I try to keep posted, to remind me to try to do at least one per day.
* Investigate
* Explore
* Demonstrate
* Illustrate
* Meditate
* Appreciate

So, you can see that creativity and imagination have defined me for all of my life. After graduating from college, I spent many years in Illustration, Graphic Design and Art Direction, in the New England area. In the past ten years I have also been involved in landscape designing and painting murals.

Throughout the years, I have continued to paint and sell my work. My current works are a microcosm of my life's experiences, incorporating a love of nature and gardens, spirituality and symbolism. My paintings are held in both private and corporate collections and galleries throughout the United States.