Raina Gentry – The Organic Playground

 

Let’s give a warm welcome to Raina Gentry (The crowd goes wild!  The whistles and applause are deafening!)  Well, that’s how the scene unfolds in our minds, as Raina is definitely a knocker-off-of-the-socks.  Raina was our Featured Artist at May’s Fourth Friday ArtWalk at Van Gogh’s Ear, 5/2/17.   [SEE RECEPTION PHOTOS HERE!] 

Raina was born and raised in Southern California.  As a young adult, she moved to Arizona to attend Prescott College, where she earned a BA degree in Environmental Studies.

However, Raina had often dreamed of becoming an artist, but was reluctant to fully commit to her artwork because of fears about choosing that career path. One day, while browsing through a copy of a roommate’s Griffin and Sabine book, an overwhelming feeling came over her, and she knew she could no longer ignore the yearning inside her.

Raina decided that she had to act on her feelings, and within a week’s time, she had applied to the University of Arizona’s art program, quit her job, and moved to Tucson!  From that moment on, the universe seemed to support her in her decision and propel her forward.  Raina had made the best decision of her life.  She received her degree in art from the UA in 2002.

Raina’s artwork incorporates her studies in printmaking, life drawing, and painting, and is heavily influenced by her education at Prescott College. She views each canvas as a playground for her psyche where each piece evolves naturally and intuitively with little structure or expectation about the final outcome. Through this organic approach to art making, Raina believes that she taps into and expresses identifiable universal themes. Through complex layering of acrylic paint and ink, Raina creates meaningful, evocative works that draw her viewers in and expresses her deep love and connection with the natural world.