The Story Behind the Art

This painting was created in 2008 and was donated to the Rural Support Programme's Network in Pakistan in 2009. I had been searching for a good home for it for a while knowing that I wanted it to go to a good cause. Initially I thought that I would donate it to my childrens school for their new art-wing but decided that another painting was more appropriate. After hearing about the work Mr. Shoaib Sultan Khan's organisation, the Rural Support Programme's Network, had been doing tirelessly for so many years, it dawned on me that I had finally found a home for it. Before I found my feet and became a full-time painter I took up several careers, one of which included working for Alitalia as a Flight Attendant in Rome. On one of my many and exciting trips I travelled to Ghana in 1997. Myself and the crew were invited by a Lebanese family who owned a small island 2 hours drive from Accra to a BBQ. On this island lived approximately 5 families and a teacher was employed to come every day to educate the children. It was a Sunday and as we got off a very rickety old boat, I noticed a group of children sitting together in the distance. As we ate, drank and danced I was very much aware of them looking at us and wondered what they thought of us. After a while curiosity got the better of me so armed with my camera I approached them and was very quickly surrounded by them trying to touch my hair, my skin and my camera! I sat down among them and looked on at the scene they had been observing a few minutes before. They were so happy and smiley and so I started taking photos of them...what touched me most was the fact that they appeared to have nothing and I had so much, they seemed so happy and on ocassion I could be so miserable! Looking at my photos 11 years later I still remembered the sense of humbleness and joy I had learnt from being with these children and so was compelled to paint this painting in gratitude for what they had taught me. You children teach us so much...you are the future...live your lives to the full and appreciate how precious it truly is... 'Children - the future' 90 x 90cms Acrylic and Mixed Media on canvas.
Meet The Artist: Gigi Lopez I was born under the sign of Scorpio in a small English village to a Spanish mother and English father. My childhood was filled with extreme richness from two vastly different cultures; primarily influenced by old stories from ‘gogo’, my Spanish grandfather and ‘yaya’, my feisty grandmother full of ‘salero’. I have many wonderful memories sitting with 'yaya' outside the ‘Museo del Prado’ as the sun went down in Madrid, her peeling flat juicy peaches and me with my pencil and paper endeavouring to satisfy my immense desire to create. Life’s journey took me away from my creative passions, I worked, I travelled, I dreamed ... It was not until the year 2000, after starting a family, that I decided to use my colourful life as the basis to embark on my creativity. San Francisco’s eclectic city (my then place of residence) with its many artists and galleries prompted me to give life to those suppressed urges inside of me. I am in essence self-taught and now the art that I create is a reflection of my inner spirit, of my own experiences through life; the joys, expectations, the constant learning curves, the challenges and of the goodness and integrity I see in myself and other people. My work consists of unique textures and vibrant colours, mixing and capturing the old and new, with a contemporary ‘twist’ through the use of acrylic paint and other mixed media, often applied heavily, layer upon layer. I rarely plan my work and approach the blank canvas without pre-conception ... it is a process. Changing, shifting and experimenting with different styles I allow my mood to dictate how I feel on canvas often scrawling words, creating skins from photographs and adding thoughts or numbers that overpower me at the time. I allow the medium to take me on a voyage and when I feel all has been resolved I stop and then start again. Working on 'commissions' I experience a greater depth of understanding and intimacy with the client that is transferred onto the canvas. I am able to paint in the 'present' and fully engage at a far deeper level; the painting then tells its own story and comes 'alive' with memory traces of personal events. With every piece that I paint I give a part of my passion and spirit for life. It allows me to go beyond the ‘artist’ in me, feeding my inquisitiveness and fascination of connecting with others. It allows me to speak without speaking. It allows me to be ME … Learn more about the artist and her work at her website: http://www.gigilopez.com

This painting was created in 2008 and was donated to the Rural Support Programme's Network in Pakistan in 2009.

I had been searching for a good home for it for a while knowing that I wanted it to go to a good cause. Initially I thought that I would donate it to my childrens school for their new art-wing but decided that another painting was more appropriate. After hearing about the work Mr. Shoaib Sultan Khan's organisation, the Rural Support Programme's Network, had been doing tirelessly for so many years, it dawned on me that I had finally found a home for it.

Before I found my feet and became a full-time painter I took up several careers, one of which included working for Alitalia as a Flight Attendant in Rome. On one of my many and exciting trips I travelled to Ghana in 1997.
Myself and the crew were invited by a Lebanese family who owned a small island 2 hours drive from Accra to a BBQ.

On this island lived approximately 5 families and a teacher was employed to come every day to educate the children. It was a Sunday and as we got off a very rickety old boat, I noticed a group of children sitting together in the distance. As we ate, drank and danced I was very much aware of them looking at us and wondered what they thought of us. After a while curiosity got the better of me so armed with my camera I approached them and was very quickly surrounded by them trying to touch my hair, my skin and my camera! I sat down among them and looked on at the scene they had been observing a few minutes before.

They were so happy and smiley and so I started taking photos of them...what touched me most was the fact that they appeared to have nothing and I had so much, they seemed so happy and on ocassion I could be so miserable!

Looking at my photos 11 years later I still remembered the sense of humbleness and joy I had learnt from being with these children and so was compelled to paint this painting in gratitude for what they had taught me.

You children teach us so much...you are the future...live your lives to the full and appreciate how precious it truly is...

'Children - the future' 90 x 90cms Acrylic and Mixed Media on canvas.

Meet The Artist: Gigi Lopez

I was born under the sign of Scorpio in a small English village to a Spanish mother and English father. My childhood was filled with extreme richness from two vastly different cultures; primarily influenced by old stories from ‘gogo’, my Spanish grandfather and ‘yaya’, my feisty grandmother full of ‘salero’.

I have many wonderful memories sitting with 'yaya' outside the ‘Museo del Prado’ as the sun went down in Madrid, her peeling flat juicy peaches and me with my pencil and paper endeavouring to satisfy my immense desire to create.

Life’s journey took me away from my creative passions, I worked, I travelled, I dreamed ...
It was not until the year 2000, after starting a family, that I decided to use my colourful life as the basis to embark on my creativity.

San Francisco’s eclectic city (my then place of residence) with its many artists and galleries prompted me to give life to those suppressed urges inside of me.

I am in essence self-taught and now the art that I create is a reflection of my inner spirit, of my own experiences through life; the joys, expectations, the constant learning curves, the challenges and of the goodness and integrity I see in myself and other people.

My work consists of unique textures and vibrant colours, mixing and capturing the old and new, with a contemporary ‘twist’ through the use of acrylic paint and other mixed media, often applied heavily, layer upon layer.

I rarely plan my work and approach the blank canvas without pre-conception ... it is a process. Changing, shifting and experimenting with different styles I allow my mood to dictate how I feel on canvas often scrawling words, creating skins from photographs and adding thoughts or numbers that overpower me at the time. I allow the medium to take me on a voyage and when I feel all has been resolved I stop and then start again.
Working on 'commissions' I experience a greater depth of understanding and intimacy with the client that is transferred onto the canvas.

I am able to paint in the 'present' and fully engage at a far deeper level; the painting then tells its own story and comes 'alive' with memory traces of personal events.

With every piece that I paint I give a part of my passion and spirit for life.

It allows me to go beyond the ‘artist’ in me, feeding my inquisitiveness and fascination of connecting with others.

It allows me to speak without speaking.

It allows me to be ME …

Learn more about the artist and her work at her website: http://www.gigilopez.com

		Strokes For Hope
		International Goodwill Tour Exhibit



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	The Story Behind the Art