What's in a name? Plenty. Artist and gallery owner George-Marie Glover renamed herself when she was 27 and just last month renamed her gallery.
Glover Gallery, christened as such on Nov. 1, was previously known as Collabo Art & Design, which had only opened in March at its current location on 5 Lake Street. (The word "collabo" from collaboration.)
Prior to this, she owned Anderson-Glover Gallery on State Street with her then-husband. Confused? Not anymore, she says. "People remember me from Anderson-Glover. And people recognized me as being an artist. The response that I've had to the name change has been incredible. It's more clear. There's no confusion."
Speaking of names, Glover revealed that, thanks to her French mother, her original name is Priscilla Georgette Marie Glover. She retained her given name for 27 years until she moved to San Francisco where there was another artist named P Glover (P for Patricia, which happened to be Glover's sister's name).
"I didn't have a lot of affinity to Priscilla and never really felt like a Priscilla. I wanted to use something that wasn't totally made up. I didn't like Georgette by itself and Marie was just too simple." So she took her two middles names and shortened them.
I like the contrast between Saint George the Dragonslayer (the warrior) and Marie, the Virgin Mother. "Since then I've never been confused with anyone," she laughs.
Her vision It would be hard to confuse Glover with anyone. She is down-to-earth and approachable ("it is not the customer's job to speak my language as an art dealer") yet has a striking, natty presence. Her gregarious personality is obviously embodied on her gallery walls.
"My vision is to have a kind of gallery where people feel like they're walking into somebody's home, but they feel like they're a guest in someone's home. They feel relaxed and they want to hang around and they really want to take time to look. They have somebody here who's knowledgeable about the work but talks to them in their language."
Art college Glover studied art at Virginia Commonwealth University, which she identifies as one of the top art colleges in the nation. She originally majored in communication art design but then changed to painting and printmaking, "mostly because I wanted to have control over my individual expression."
After school, the West coast beckoned, so she moved to California and immersed herself in the art scene. Glover lived there for seven years, "tried to make it as an artist," and to support herself, designed and manufactured custom banners that were used by corporations as well as protests and demonstrations. Glover moved up to the Northwest when her then-husband's start-up was purchased by Microsoft.
In the late '80s in Seattle, Glover satisfied her artistic craving by making masks and then "got a real job" as a marketing coordinator for Regis McKenna (high-tech marketing firm) for three years. It was at this job she discovered she had a real knack for understanding marketing. "I have the ability to function in other areas that others artists don't. I do have a business mind and I do understand marketing.
'Artists should make a living' Glover feels fortunate to be in the field that beckons her and to be able to help her sometimes starving compádres. "Artists make a valuable contribution to our culture and I think they deserve to make a living," claims Glover.
Easier said than done, of course, but Glover thinks that art as a "real job" shouldn't be so out-of-reach. "I think to some extent the art world has been part of the problem with the artist making a living. Because in some sectors, the art world has made art so elitist, so removed from the greater culture."
She feels this elitism makes art neophites turn hightail from the art-gallery community. Instead they turn to mainstream artisits like Thomas Kincaid, who, through his art, speaks to people in an uplifting, uncomplicatedly beautiful way.
"And there's nothing wrong with that," she adds.
"I think in the recent past in the art world there's been a lot of focus on political and social commentary. It's been really kind of depressing. It's reminding people of our frailties and our faults.
"I think art should be a celebration of life and our creative spirit and should be something that is beautiful, that brings beauty or humor into a home. Or something that helps us to be positive in our attitudes." Glover is firm in her stance that the general public wants to hang artwork on their walls that will make them smile and not challenged. "I don't want to go home and be challenged. I want to go home and be relaxed, she says."
The importance of color "One of the most important things about art is bringing color ... and texture into somebody's environment. Bringing something that is uplifting and encouraging or soothing or calming ... but something that brings a positive energy into your home."
This credo applies to her gallery, whose walls are awash with rich, saturated colors - deep candy apple reds on one wall offset by mochas on opposing walls. Her propensity towards color - on canvas and sheetrock - hearkens to her upbringing in Virginia. Glover notes that the color sensibility in the Southeast is very different than the color sensibility in the Northwest. She notes that native Northwesterners, after stepping into the gallery, may initially be overwhelmed by the gallery's vibrancy. But the lushness of the colors on the walls and the accompanying artwork are warm and welcoming.
Glover tends to show artwork that is either highly colorful or highly textural. "Artists always struggle with the fact that we want people to touch our work ... but we don't want them to touch our work! A lot of the work in here people want to touch."
Living in Okanawa ... Glover got her appreciation for texture and color -- her color and tactile sensibilities -- as a young girl living in Japan.
Glover was born in Texas, and primarily grew up in Virginia. Having a father in the military made for a very itinerant family, and from the ages of 7 to 10, lived in Okanawa. Here she was exposed to the artistically and historically rich Japanese as well as Ryukian culture, the latter which featured the classic enamelware with the intense reds and black lacquers.
Unbeknownst to some, this culture is also known for its fabrics. "I've always had a fascination with weaves; I think that's evident in a lot of my work. There's that wanting to create a sense of things weaving in and out, that texture, that tactile sensibility of fabric. "
A new form of reproduction Some of Glover's artists are tapping the high-tech industry and taking advantage of an increasingly popular printing process. The Giclee (French for continuous ink) printing technique produces highly realistic digital reproductions. Glover says, "This empowers the artists to sell an image more than once and thus make residual income." Also, the lower prices makes quality artwork more affordable. Giclee reproductions can cost as little as 30 percent of the original. For example, one of the Brett Varney original paintings sported a $750 price tag; the reproduction was just $200.
The artists at Glover Gallery With the belief system that she buys "what moves me, what speaks to my heart," Glover proudly walks around her gallery and thoughtfully interprets some of her artists' work and aptitudes:
Peggy Luderer, a "wonderful watercolorist," takes her own photos and paints "very luscious, very rich watercolors."
Adrianna Morales-Marin, from Mexico, an "extraordinarily trained artist," does painting, graphics, and illustrations.
Brett Varney, from Bellingham, doesnt have a "typical Northwest pallette." He works in oil pastels on black paper.
Rongxu Long, who lives in Redmond but emigrated from China, has training in both Eastern and Western art traditions. "Has an incredible ability to bring those two disciplines together into a single voice."
Alla Goniodsky, from St. Petersburg, Russia, is a "phenomenal talent," paints in four or five different styles. Has a background in theater and costume design, making her painings "very theatrical, etherial but with a hint of black comedy."
