Gyl Turner wasn’t always interested in art. In fact, it wasn’t until a year ago that this local artist premiered her work to the Birmingham art scene. But in a short year, Turner has already made an impression on several art enthusiasts.
Turner’s black-and-white floral and tree paintings have captivated many Birmingham residents, although the longtime Birmingham resident’s career has not always been art-oriented. “I started my own business [a home cleaning business called Bites the Dust] while my kids were in school so that I could have the same schedule as them. And that’s still my main source of income.”
Turner admits that her jump into painting started as a spur of the moment decision. “I’d always go to art shows around town, and I was at a point in my life where the kids were leaving the house and I was able to be “selfish” and do something for myself, and I was in the store and just thought, ‘Why not?’ I went to Hobby Lobby and bought one of those starter paint kits. Then I went home, painted my first tree, and I just fell in love with it.”
Thanks to a friend who showed her work to a local art teacher, Turner found the courage to enter her work at Art in Avondale Park last year. “I was painting so much because I was just addicted to painting. It [the art show] went terribly!” she laughs. “The problem was…when you first start painting, I think a lot of people don’t know at first how to mix colors properly and make it their own, so most of my paintings were full of bright colors, and they were all over the place because I hadn’t found a form of painting that really meant something to me.”
Turner’s artistic voice came from inspiration surrounding photographs in her home. “I’ve always loved black-and-white photography. I have these pictures of my family that are in black-and-white and those are what really spoke to me.”
Turner said that there are some people who don’t agree with her perspective on black-and-white. “Everyone asks me, ‘Why don’t you paint with color? Are you depressed? Black-and-white is so sad!’ and I just don’t see it that way. Black-and-white is so calming to me. You’d think that you would be limited with just black and white paint, but you aren’t.”
After Art in Avondale Park, Turner decided to submit her work to the Moss Rock Festival in Hoover. “[After the festival] I was determined to succeed. So after I found my artistic voice, I painted five flowers and submitted them to Moss Rock. It went so much better, and that was really my first successful art show.”
The floral and arboreal designs come from Turner’s love of nature. “I absolutely love trees. I would paint them all day if I could. The florals I kind of stumbled upon on accident and I loved the way they look.” Turner says that the response to her nature paintings has been positive from certain patrons. “Men love my florals. It’s funny, because I thought men would like my trees more, but that’s rarely the case. Sometimes I’ll only show my flowers and sometimes I’ll only show my trees. It just depends on what I’ve worked on lately.”
Turner’s family is very supportive of her artistic career. “When I first bought the art kit, my wife said, ‘If you don’t like doing this, then we’ll just save it for the kids.’ And when she saw my first painting she loved it so much and shouted, ‘We’ll be rich!’ And my daughter Alex is my biggest fan. She loves everything I paint.”
The artistic gene has also hit a chord with Turner’s children. “My son Kelly is a musician and that’s how he expresses himself. My daughter is also very artistic. We all create different ways to express ourselves.” Even Turner’s granddaughter, Norah, is interested in art now. “She used to be so afraid to see me covered in paint, but now she’s used to it. She always picks out a piece that she loves and we always joke that it’s her piece because she just won’t let it go.”
Turner’s painting style is in the category of “creative chaos” and it helps contribute to her creative process. “I am not an organized painter,” she says with a laugh. “I am a messy, messy painter. There’s paint all over my studio, and if I have something that doesn’t have paint on it that’s kind of weird. But that’s comforting to me. It’s what makes sense.”
Turner is very pleased with the positive remarks she’s received about her work. “I’ve had a lot of people tell me how much they love my work and it just means so much to me to have people say that. It’s always wonderful to have someone buy your work, but just to have someone come up to you and tell you that they love and appreciate what you create is a beautiful thing.”
Turner believes that everyone has the ability to create an artistic expression. “I believe everybody should buy a canvas and see what they can do with it. And I know a lot of people say, ‘Oh that’s too hard. I can’t do that. I’ll try too hard to make it perfect.’ But that’s the great thing about art: there’s no perfection in it at all. I don’t mess up because I don’t have a plan; I just paint what’s in my head and what I feel. You just create what comes out. I always wonder when I see other people’s paintings, like, ‘Well why didn’t that come out of me?’ And it’s because everyone’s art is their own. It is what you make of it.”
