We recently connected with Gayle Gurchiek and have shared our conversation below.

Gayle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I had a few “regular jobs” and I did them well but they were not what I was passionate about. I was working in sales, successfully in fact, when I was diagnosed with cancer on my 44th birthday and I realized that “making a living” wasn’t the same as having a purpose and I changed my life and made some new commitments to myself. Being an artist or creative is not necessarily an easy path but it is how I want to live my life.

Could you tell us about how your career began, and where it has taken you in the world?

Oh, wow well I’m grateful to have seen a lot of different places along the way! I was energetic and always wanted to work so I guess the start of my career was babysitting for a few families in my hometown when I was a young teenager and at that time I knew I wanted to model. My parents were not in favor of me modeling but that same year I was asked to do photo shoot for a magazine and after that the same people asked if I would do a runway fashion show. By this point I was hooked.

But was that a problem then between you and your parents?

Well maybe at first but my parents never thought that I would actually make it as a model so they allowed my aunt to introduce me to a modeling agent. They thought after this meeting I would be rejected and that would be that. But what happened was I signed with this agent and things progressed and as soon as I graduated high school I moved to Japan, and since then I’ve traveled the world on shoots for magazines, catalogs, runway shows and tv commercial productions. I’ve lived in London, Tokyo, Greece and even Sydney Australia for a while. I’ve moved around from my childhood home of Michigan to Miami, New York and LA — and then also lived in Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta. Now I feel at home in South Florida and Northern Michigan depending on the season.  I think it goes to show that you never know where a dream and some persistence will take you.

How do you compare your life modeling, to your life creating works of art and literature?

Being a model is an extremely creative lifestyle. To dress up and play different characters every day is liberating. Working with photographers, designers, hair and makeup artists — and companies with stylists and editors is a blessing in so many ways. You get to work with these extremely talented people who are all excited to see their creations come to life. And in that kind of a project I am the canvas for their clothes, makeup, photography and products. My whole career, one project or adventure at a time helped me develop an eye as a painter. There are a lot of similar or common elements to both. The composition, the lighting or a person’s expression or emotion, all that is part of the art. I think those ideas — and actual hard work — are what my creative process is about. And whether it be it in creating a beautiful campaign or a personal project — for me, attention to every detail is a must.

As a model I am most proud of my longevity. I was told at 22 that I would be retired by 25. I’m still going at 53. My biggest accomplishment as a model was shooting a campaign for Davidoff Cool Water. I was a spokesperson for 10 years representing that fragrance.

I was chosen because I represented women from all countries. Approachable to women from the middle east, Europe, Asia, Latin America and USA. They wanted someone who was comfortable in their own skin. I shot this fragrance campaign in Spain, Barbados and Hawaii. I could speak for days about the experience of actually getting the shots that made up the campaign — sharks, sea lions, jellyfish stings, swimming for hours in the middle of the ocean, diving off cliffs! I was even knocked unconscious. When I hear people say it’s easy being a model I laugh. In my twenties I would wake up in a different country 4-5 days a week working before the sun came up until the sun went down. Most people I knew my age then were getting home from the clubs when I was heading out to work!

You mentioned your childhood home and your family earlier, how do those parts of your life come into play in your work? Or do they?

Yes, they certainly do – creating art is in my blood! I actually come from four generations of artists, Native Americans and Scandinavians. When I was little I was always drawing and writing. Later, I designed and created jewelry, started painting with acrylics and oils, and later in life learned about wood turning and other things. But yes, my ancestral heritage has always inspired me. Everything I do artistically is a nod in some way to my Native beliefs. I embrace nature, animals, spirituality and symbolism. I love painting Native American portraits, landscapes and animals. Each painting I do has a spiritual meaning behind it. And I find just as much joy finding the materials as I do in creating the piece! Honestly, I will go out in nature for hours to find wood, shells, fossils, feathers, gemstones, birch bark you name it. I take photographs of stuff that inspires me. For me, that’s fun. When I do art, it is like an out of body experience. I get a vision, usually I wake up in the morning seeing it. I’ll get up and start sketching with a cup of coffee, then I almost channel the strokes. I always paint emotionally. If I am sad my subject might have a sad expression or I use a more somber color palette. If I use a feather the bird has a specific meaning in my culture. If I paint an animal, that animal has a specific meaning.

And what are you working on now?

In 2019 I had a vision of a children’s book and I saw all these illustrations and the message I wanted to share. A blessing I think that “Covid” brought me was the opportunity to accomplish this vision. I started illustrating right in that time in March 2020, that year when the world shut down. And I kept going with it until a couple years later I had created enough, I thought, for a book. I then was able to get a publisher and with that collaboration the concept expanded into a three-book deal. In March 2024 it will be four years that I have worked on this project and I can’t wait to get it out into the universe. I’m looking forward to a book tour and also doing exhibits of my illustrations. I’m looking forward to all of that – It’s exciting!

You make it look easy, but you say being creative can be a hard road, is there something we’re not seeing?

That’s funny, yes of course! I believe in life and in staying true to one’s passions — rejection is part of the process. As a model when I started out “they” said I needed a nose job. They said I was too dark, needed to lose weight and all of that kind of critique and I always had a take it or leave it attitude. I would stand in a line with hundreds of models for hours, all of us trying to get the same job. I would do this 5-10 times a day. Constant rejection. Its all about getting back in line. You stand up, dust yourself off and keep going. You can’t take it personal!

I was comfortable in my own skin and I owned my look. I was proud to be Native American and at the time when I started most of the models were Caucasian. It also was a requirement in 1984 to be 5’9. Well, I was only 5’8″ so I would put on my highest heels and walk in like I was taller. No one ever questioned if I was 5’9”.

One time I was offered through my agent, a cover and three stories in a major fashion magazine if I would have surgery to pin back my ears! I never did surgery on my ears nor did I do anything else extreme to get a job. I saw people do all kinds of things to get modeling or acting jobs. I would never do that.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

In a word, freedom. Creating my own rules, owning my own life, my own success or even failures. It’s exhilarating. Expressing myself and releasing it into the world as something that brings joy to other people and inspires them brings me great joy.

What would you say to other artists and creatives trying to find their way?

There are always people who like to say you can’t and have a ton of reasons why you won’t.  I have had a lot of naysayers throughout my life and all I can say is do what you love and put horse blinders on. If someone says something negative about you, know that they are just projecting their insecurities onto you. Don’t get discouraged on your journey while honing your craft. It’s extremely personal. My entire life I was told I would never make it. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t make it! It simply is not true.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: gaylegurchiek
• Facebook: Gayle Gurchiek
• Linkedin: Gayle Gurchiek
• Youtube: Gayle Gurchiek

Image Credits
the photo of me painting in the white dress Matthew Schipper Shape cover – Art Streiber Cool Water – Satoshi I have permission to use all the images I have supplied