Green Gecko Art  Galleries

International Artist, Paintings sold world
wide Commissions Undertaken
I grew up on the Isle of Wight, which is a small very beautiful island off of the south coast of
England. My mum is an incredible artist, so growing up I was always surrounded by her creativity.  
Framed paintings covered the down stairs walls of our house, and huge murals covered both mine
and my sisters bedroom walls.

From a very young age I was always creating things, As a kid I used to sit on the top of the sofa for
hours trying to draw my mums tropical fish as they whizzed around the tank, I started to read
fantasy books and fell in love with dragons, spending weeks trying to draw them off of the covers of
the books. My mum always supporting me in my creative exploits wanted to redo the mural on the
wall of my bedroom, so to challenge me, she decided that I should do it. So of course there was
only one choice for the subject… Dragons and lots of them,  it took me weeks, and I was only 13
when I painted it. I was proud of it then and I still am even now, it is still to this day on my bedroom
wall back in England.
At school I took art up to GCSE level. The mask I made as part of my examination is still on the art
classroom wall even now. But unfortunately after that my art career took a long break. During my A
levels and once my working career began I no longer had the time to relax and paint. At the age of
20 my mum bought me an art set for Christmas, and kick started me in the right direction again.
From then on I painted on and off in watercolour and acrylic. Until I was 22, when I discovered oil
paints and a talent which had remained dormant for years. I just loved them. But they still did not’t fit
me quite right. The smells always gave me headaches and the only place I could use them was in
the conservatory, which in England for most of the year Is absolutely freezing. So I was still
searching for my perfect medium, but starting to suspect that there was not’t one for me.
I was always a landscape artist, until the day I crashed my motorbike, and being really shaken up
afterwards, I decided to sit down and try a bit of painting to take my mind off what had happened,
and in that moment I created my first abstract.
While I was still living in England, I was involved in several exhibitions, which lead to some very
profitable commissions. I met a man who was developing property, in France and he loved my style
of abstracts and bought 8 of my paintings and commissioned me to paint 5 more. I finished the
commissions, and travelled over to Australia. Unable to take my oils with me I reverted back to my
watercolour set. So armed with my paints, pad and brushes I began to explore this amazing country.
I must admit that I did have a few preconceived opinions of Australia, derived mainly from movies
like Jaws and Crocodile Dundee. So as you can imagine I thought I would be arriving in a barren
country with rough bush and crocodiles, snakes and spiders waiting to attack at any moment. And I
certainly had no intention of going anywhere near deep water…
But you can imagine my surprise when I found out how beautiful you country really is, as I travelled
from Adelaide to where I now live up in the Whitsunday’s, I saw everything, wild bush, lush rolling
hills, beaches with sand so white that It squeaked when I walked along, dramatic mountains, green
valleys, water so clear and blue that I could hardly believe my eyes. And the plants and wildlife well,
what can I say, I am still lost for words about how to describe them even now.
But I have did come to one decision I really missed my oils, being in such an inspirational country
without them was terrible. So once I settled in Airlie Beach a year and a half ago. I decided to invest
in a new set of oils. And so began my creative Australian adventure. My other half supported and
encouraged me completely in all my work. Often buying me materials and taking me to amazingly
beautiful and inspiring places. I joke and introduce him as my manager, when I am at art related
gatherings. Because I am a bit shy when it comes to talking about my work. But he makes up for
the both of us. He talked me into trying my pictures at the local markets, which resulted in quite a
few sales and commissions. I have also been involved in a few exhibitions up here involving one for
the liquid earth festival, where we had a charity art auction on the opening night,  I donated a
painting and it raised the second highest amount for the charity. I also received 2nd and 3rd place in
the oils section. I  have a couple of big  exhibitions coming up over the next few months. And I am
part of the local art group. I sell a lot of my work at the local markets where I take my paints with
me, and sit there painting, while the public are browsing around my work. I usually get a bit of a
crowd standing around watching me paint. I have defiantly received a lot more business since the
public are actually able to watch me at work.


I am just so grateful to both my parents for always supporting me in my painting, and not getting to
annoyed when I occasionally got oil paints all over my clothes and bedding. ( I used to come in
from work late at night an paint for a bit in my room to relax me before bed. But I am not the
neatest of painters, and I did usually make a bit of a mess )
And my partner for without him I would not’t be the Artist I am today, he encouraged me and pushed
me in the right directions when I was to shy to do it for myself. And my art has come on in leaps
and bounds since I met him.

Gemma Louise Haworth
Gemma Louise Haworth
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