GONZALES — Freelance artist and instructor Corali Ramirez Garcia has practiced her trade from Lockwood to Gonzales, and even further north. Now she is the owner of Painte.
The art gallery and studio is new to the City of Gonzales. Garcia works with several South County recreation departments to bring painting classes to their towns.
Garcia said that it brings her pleasure when she proves to people, who come to the class full of doubt, that that they really can paint.
When she starts her classes Garcia said she repeats the idea that, although everyone is painting the same subject, every painting will be different because everyone’s vision and likes are different.
For Garcia, painting was a healing tool. The mother of four girls, she said she needed an escape while dealing with a child who was being treated for an illness and a compromised immune system.
Needing an outlet, she turned to paint and found out she liked it. She said she believes everyone should give up two hours of their life to get away from their day-to-day stresses.
Garcia continued to paint after her daughter got better. She studied different techniques from books and applied them to her canvases.
When she got to a point that her car and garage was full of paintings, supplies and other things for the different classes, she decided she needed a space.
She found her space on Gonzales’ Fourth Street after looking for more than a year.
The interior is turquoise and terracotta, with her artwork on the walls and in the window. With room for up to 12 participants, Garcia has a sample of each project hanging up in the gallery and on the door for people to sign up for her weekly classes in Gonzales.
Her studio is located at 30 Fourth Street in the City of Gonzales. She can be reached at 290-5016 and at [email protected].
