I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn’t make art.

My earliest childhood recollections are at a small wooden easel painting away.   Through my tween and some teen years while still at home with parents, my focus was on wall collages of favorite subjects  and painting  floor to ceiling murals in my room which I proudly displayed to passersby through my open windows.   

    In college I studied and graduated with a degree in Nutrition.   It was after graduation that I inadvertently launched the start of my career in art with a small business I began for fun while taking the summer off before plans to return to school .  This first business is what started me going by the name of Mercedes.  

The tee-shirts I started painting and selling for summer fun were immediately popular and  Mercedes Airbrush was born. In college my second area of study was Spanish and between that and the fact that my (later) husband and I were restoring an old Mercedes  I decided to name the business Mercedes Airbrush thinking it would be remembered better than ‘Gail’s Airbrush’!  

 In time, I tried my hand at Stained Glass where  I unexpectedly I had an immediate waiting list for my work.  To add details to the windowsI was creating, I began painting on glass – which is why I  began studying Chinese Brush Painting.  My thinking was that the Chinese painting masters I had seen had the most brush control -  so that would be a solid way to learn to paint.

Painting on glass required a kiln to permanently  bond the paint on to the glass. With that first kiln, I began using it to fuse glass - or melt it together -  to create  special elements for the windows I was making.  It was that fusing that began a good-sized business undertaking when I developed a line of high-end fashion accessories, mostly belts and earrings, featuring elements of the fused glass.  This business was named Mercedes Glass and I designed and sold my accessory line across the US in high end boutiques and department stores like Saks Fifth Ave and Nordstrom.  

 It was during regular personal appearances at Saks Fifth Ave  that I began showing fused glass plates that would later be popular in fine art galleries I would work with.

After a number of years, it came time for a big decision - to invest and expand production of the accessory line and  attempt to manage the business from Hawaii, where we had just finished building a home - or - take a leap and start focusing on fine art.     

 I  decided to go the route of fine art and focused on showing my work at multiple galleries throughout the Hawaiian Islands.  At that time, I showed my fused glass,  Chinese Brush Paintings / watercolors  and Oil paintings.  I divided my days between glass and painting.  

After our son was born and work time became more scarce, I began focusing only on oil painting and we soon moved back to California - a California girl at heart. 

 Since then I have continually enjoyed painting commissioned artworks and have had some wonderful gallery associations.   I've won awards, had some nice recognition,  been selected for and enjoyed special mentoring opportunities, experienced the rollercoaster of art business promises, been treated to new friendships in the ‘art world’ and the journey continues.   

With this website,  I'm excited to be able to offer – for the first time - a way to have more of my original work available for direct purchase from me.  Most especially I am excited to be able to offer artwork at price points, with  prints of various sizes and with multiple choices of what they are printed on.

 Special also is that through this website fans of my work can be directly in touch with me with questions HERE.   In addition, through  my newsletter - you also have a  way to receive communication from me about my work. (if you haven't yet, you can use the mini 'form' at the bottom of this page to register for that!)

I thank you for your interest in me and my work! 

By the way! - My art business has been designated as a "Trusted Art Seller" with The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stand behind the quality and value of my products ;-)