I paid the Gilded Lily Gallery a visit and had the chance to speak with the owner and resident artist Rosemary Celon-Gordon. I had a wonderful time sitting among the beautiful works in her gallery and talking about her work.

If you find yourself in southern Connecticut, I absolutely recommend dropping her shop for a visit.

Like their Facebook page here.

MT: HOW'D YOU GET YOUR START AS AN ARTIST?

RCG: I've always been into the arts, even as a little kid. I would always dream about being an artist. Professionally, I went to school for architecture. Then, I did shows for like 15 years after I graduated. Then I opened up here...I guess that was when I first realized I was an artist, because I started making money. I mean, before that I did, but you know, it wasn't steady. You know the term starving artist? We were all starving artists, believe me. When I was doing shows, I needed a job, so I worked a steady job for like fifteen years, then I opened the gallery and that was when I realized I was an artist.

MT: How did you make the transition for architecture to fine art?

RCG: I went to Paier [College of Art and Design] and got my degree and got a job after graduation with Ethan Allen. I didn't like it. There wasn't any creativity to it. It was basically sales. Architecture wasn't really what I wanted to go to school for. They didn't offer fashion design, which is what I really wanted to do. So I went for architectural design. But then I decided that wasn't what I wanted to do. I really wanted to draw and do fabric art and paint. My work has evolved. I started working with fabrics...I would make soft sculptures out of fabrics- almost like doll making. That was how I started doing shows. I've always liked textile designs and I think when you look at my work there's so much detail in design in it.

Rosemary describes her style

MT: You have a really unique style, in that, it toes the line between sculpture and painting. How did you develop that?

My work has evolved a lot. I got my start with soft sculptures and fabrics. When we first opened the gallery I was working in polymer clay. With the clay, the designs are all done in the clay, because it's pigmented. I went back to painting with acrylics on canvas. Then I discovered glass paints and that was my ah-ha moment, when I discovered you could paint on glass and it could look like enamel. A lot of my paintings hanging in here are done on glass. And then I went from totally glass painting to some with mosaic work and now I'm doing mosaics. I also do jewelry with resins and silver and bronze. I don't get bored because I keep changing my mediums. I keep incorporating what I use in my glass painting in my jewelry. You look at my work and you can tell it's mine. There's a vein that runs through it.

MT: How did you decide to open the gallery?

I worked for a company for 16 years that closed their stores in CT and I needed something to do. I wanted to go back to my art because I kind gave it up for those years when I was working full time. I got my severance pay and I said to my husband I couldn't see myself working for someone again. I hated working for someone else and I really missed doing my art. With the severance pay and a loan, we did it. We opened the gallery. And that was fifteen years ago.

MT: You've managed to operate this gallery through one of the worst economic downturns in recent history. How?

Determination. I have a pretty good following with my work. We're honest. We don't pressure people. When someone comes in, we let them look around and enjoy. We have things nobody else has. When you're looking for something different, unique, and special we have it. In this economy, you have to have that. You can't be run of the mill. It's gotta be something out of the ordinary. A niche thing. That's what we are.

MT: What words of advice do you have for aspiring artists?

Just keep working. Keep doing it. Pay your dues. Just work hard. You can't expect to graduate from school and just get the perfect job. You gotta work for it. And keep working for what you want. It's not easy to be an artist and make a living. Most of the people I have in here have other jobs. I myself did too for many years. If you think you're gonna be rich and famous forget about it.

MT: When did you begin painting?

MR: I began painting when I was young because I would draw a lot and doodle...I was very disruptive in class, I was the class clown and always goofing off and they discovered one of the ways I would shut up and behave was by drawing and doodling. But what I was drawing was really kind of morbid- Hellraiser, Clive Barker, Alien... So my grandma gave me books by Van Gogh, Picasso, and Salvador Dali and I loved it because it was all so surreal and colorful and I was like 'I want paint...I want to play with paint' and that was pretty much how it started.

MT: I can definitely see an impressionistic influence in your work.

MR: Oh yeah! I love the impressionists: Monet, Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte...Impressionism is one of my favorite things. And also I guess kind of a Pollock-y messy...I like making messes. I like how sometimes I don't know what I'm going to paint. I just let it come out so, I guess it's constantly making mistakes until I find something I like and then I focus on that. There are a lot of faces in my paintings. It's like my own Rorschach. I see something and I say 'Okay, let me add more details' and I try to pull out whatever I see there.

MT: How would you say painting fits into your identity as a creator, being a writer and a filmmaker and this awesome multi-talented individual?

MR: I don't feel like I'm an artist...It's fun. It's not like writing where you really need to think about it and focus and plot and plan. And it's also not like filmmaking where it's a communal experience, where it's you against the elements. This is just you against the canvas and it's very freeing. I can be alone and just do this. I can turn off my brain and go. It's an escape. And also like filmmaking it's about control. I think that's what I like about painting and filmmaking: you're trying to take all these elements out of your control and control them.

MT: What was the first thing that went through your mind the first time you sold a painting?

MR: I was like 'Omigod! I can't believe I just broke even!'...It was amazing. Somebody liked my mess enough that they wanted to buy and keep it all for themselves. It was the greatest compliment ever. It's funny. My whole life I've been writing and trying to sell a screenplay -I even went to school for it- but I've had a much better track record with painting.

MT: How did you start using incorporating paper towels into the painting process?

MR: I put paint thinner in spray bottles and I would spray it on the canvas and it would drip and then I'd have all these paper towels to catch the drippings so I wouldn't make a mess all over the place. And then at one point I just kind of like- it was probably during a manic moment when I was just like 'ugh I hate this painting' and I grabbed it and I just twisted it and I was like 'oh, a spiral, that's really cool'. It actually started with the typewriter painting, that whole green background is made with paper towels.

MT: What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

MR: My advice to aspiring artists is to just do it. Don't wait for permission. If you want to be a writer then write. If you want to be a painter then paint. Be fearless, don't worry about making mistakes, learn from them. A lot of aspiring artists are too hesitant to create something because they are afraid of criticism or failure. Fuck that. Who cares, you are your own worst critic. Embrace your mistakes and move on to the next project. It's called learning. Eventually mistakes get called style. Make it for yourself, make it because you want to. The real failure is not even trying.