Work of Berkeley Lake Artist Bursts with Color

Starting with her career as fashion coordinator for Atlanta’s Merchandise Mart, Berkeley Lake resident Gia Lilly has always lived amidst a world of design and color. Even her career as a real estate agent took her into elegant homes where she was exposed to beautiful interiors and gardens. 

Since retiring, she has been expressing her passion for nature by creating paintings that explode with the colors she loves. She has been painting off and on as a hobby for 30 years, but has taken her pursuit more seriously in the last few years.

“I would never have begun if it wasn’t for the encouragement of my dear friend Frankie Hubbell who kept after me to try my hand at painting. I had no formal training. I really can’t draw perspective accurately, so I was very unsure of myself, but Frankie assured me that I could express myself through my love of color."

In the beginning, Gia says she tried to control her style, whether it was realism or impressionism or abstract, but she finally surrendered to the fact that her paintings had their own direction, which she expressed through the glorious pallet that nature provides.

Her work ranges from the romantic impressionistic influences of Monet whose home she visited in France, to the more spontaneous abstract compositions of the post impression artists of the '60s.

Her color sense and use of mixed media obviously works.  Her paintings hang in the homes of a number of private collectors and she now teaches a class twice a month. 

As passionate about travel as she is about her painting, Gia and her husband Dick have traveled all over Europe. Their trips have taken them to England, France, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Budapest and Mexico. 

They have repeatedly been drawn to return to London and San Miguel d’Allende, Mexico, a quaint village that has attracted a number of painters and American expatriates.  San Miguel has inspired a number of Gia’s paintings as well.

The couple also regularly visits St. Simons, Ga. and often takes driving trips to explore different areas and to revisit favorite locations. Gia describes every piece she does as “having a story that relates to one of their travels.”

Residing in the oldest house in the city, Gia’s studio is in back of her historic home which was renovated under the direction of her husband Dick who is also a highly artistic and resourceful person.  Gia and her husband are a unique couple that complement one another’s individuality and imaginative nature. Dick has designed a delightful backyard that reflects the eclectic facets of their creative life.

A graduate of the University of Michigan, Gia studied painting at Rollins College in Winter Park Fla.; Bella Artes in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  Over the last seven years, she has continued to participate in art clinics and various classes. She is an active member of the Kudzu Art Group and the Dunwoody Fine Arts Association where she exhibits.  She also holds private shows in her studio in Berkeley Lake.

Gia describes painting as ”a word spoken.”  Her colors literally speak.