We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lale Gerger a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lale, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?
I had been doing my art as a hobby, it was a way for me to deal with the pains of life. Caring for my mother, dealing with the grief of losing her, problems in my work life; painting was an outlet… We were re-doing our floors in our home when one day, one of the laborers saw one of my paintings & exclaimed that his son was into art and that he would absolutely love this painting called Galaxy. He asked how much I was selling it for, I explained that I didn’t sell my work, but I could tell he truly wanted it so I told him he could just have it. He wouldn’t take it, he insisted that he’d have to pay, we went back & forth… Finally, I told him he could just pay me $20. After he left, I remember thinking how amazing it was that someone had liked what I made so much that he wanted to take it home, share it with a loved one and look at it every day. It was overwhelming and still, to this day, it amazes me!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
ART. PASSION. LOVE To share what I see and create a better world, and a business, through art. That is my vision & mission.
As to my story, well, few people are lucky enough to have been blessed with both the means to hone their craft, the passion to shape it, and the exposure to make a difference in this world. Even fewer are given a second chance to pursue their passions… to have the opportunity to impact the world through art.
After earning my theatre degree at UCLA, I traveled to Turkey to rediscover my roots since I’m half Turkish. I ended up working professionally there as both an actress for the State Theatre and a faculty member for a conservatory.
Due to a set of events best described as “larger than life” I decided to fight for the right to adopt as a single woman in a country that did not allow it. After a 5-year legal battle, changing some laws and adopting my son, which is still my proudest accomplishment, I relocated back to the United States. I needed a stable income but still wanted to feel passion, so I chose nonprofits and then went into Human Resources. I could continue to help and serve others while growing as a business leader.
Then tragedy set in when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. As I cared for her and continued to work, I found art once again. I started creating miniature worlds in lanterns – I found that I could protect these worlds from tragedy. I, also, started painting and the colors I used became an extension of my being.
Struggles in life continued but in the quiet moments, I realized that by focusing on my passions in a new way, my art hobby had blossomed into a small business. As mentioned in your earlier question, I was amazed when someone liked one of my creations enough to take it into their home to look at every day! This still amazes me.
Then more setbacks for all of us. COVID19. Lost my job. As I looked for work in panic and distress, it would all disappear in the moments when I created. We may not always be able to keep tragedy away but sometimes out of tragedy can come a greater hope. After losing my job three times during the pandemic, I decided to make art my full-time job since my heart had already made it so.
As you can sense, it took some events in life, posing as tragedies, to find my way back into the arts. Now, my work ranges from acrylic paintings and jewelry, (which come directly from my paintings) to three-dimensional works through my miniatures. In my paintings, you will find my absolute passion for color. I find joy in playing with shadows and light, exploring the arrangement of contrasting parts.
I started my painting journey through fluid art but now I use many different techniques to show what I see in the world. Using fluid art as a background and drawing over it can sometimes bring simple activities into focus. An example of this would be my painting Holding Hands.
Pen & Ink, which my mother was amazing at, is another expression that I’m exploring. It can create details that fluid art just cannot. Some examples of this can be seen in SilkScreen, Grief, Butterflies and Zen Circle.
I’m also intrigued by creating fantasy worlds that you can see in some of my works such as A Different Time, Windmills, and a piece I just completed called Building Bridges to Forgotten Worlds.
I now sometimes don’t use fluid art at all which can be seen in my painting Reflection of the Blue Heron or my biggest painting at over 5ft, Flying Free.
With that said, using color to evoke feelings or to depict the various personas we have within ourselves continues to be a major focus. My piece, Layers, is a good example of this. I also did a series of paintings called Shine Your Light. It’s so easy to “Be the Sun in Someone’s Darkness” but we don’t do it enough so this series was meant to be a reminder for all of us to share our light. Seems others have resonated with this as well since recently I was presented with the Award of Excellence from the Gainesville Fine Arts Association for my painting Be The Light. I was both honored & humbled yet I am so thrilled that it was for one of the paintings in this series as its message lives deep in my heart.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
As I mentioned earlier, art was a way to help me deal with the struggles of life. Even just setting up my paints and canvas immediately changes my mood; I become centered, focused, and, well, just joyous.
Being focused on abstract art is especially rewarding because it allows others to see what they want/perceive. It is usually different for each individual and, therefore, gives me the opportunity to see a glimpse into other perspectives.
Also mentioned earlier, the ultimate reward is having someone like what you create so much that they want to take it home to look at every day.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
This is a great question and is, in my opinion, intertwined with the question of resiliency. I truly believe it is a crucial skill to have in any industry, in life. I am fortunate in the sense that it was not a skill I had to learn but came naturally to me.
If you remember, I started my career as an actress. In this industry, we heard from our mentors and preached the same words to others that to be an actor, you had to know that there was NOTHING else you could do in life. Some of my teachers had said that if you can see yourself doing another profession, then you should not be an actor. And I had believed that. How wrong could I have been? Yes, it’s important to have passion in what you do, that passion will allow you to get through the difficult days but there is ALWAYS something else you can do. My life is proof of that. I’ve been an actress, a director, a teacher, HR professional, an advocate, an artist. During the pandemic, I also started my master’s degree (yes, at this age!) and the last couple of years has brought many health challenges into my life. As an artist, as a human, I thrive on connecting with people in-person, whether it be one-on-one or through live art shows. I now cannot do live shows like I used to so I’m trying to pivot to more online events, learning social media and trying to connect in different ways. Through my master’s degree & my personal health challenges, I’ve discovered a new arena in Arts in Health which, I’m exploring.
The bottom line, I’ve worked in the theatre, nonprofits, workforce development, human resources and now work as a visual artist. Moreover, I have never met a human being who is only good at one thing or someone who only has one characteristic. We are all made from different layers. It does not matter if you want to call it pivots, resiliency or just a choice; discovering the possibilities are endless, limited only by one’s imagination.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artbylale.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Art.by.Lale/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artbylale/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lalegerger/