About Mini Gutsy Girl
From My Gut Instinct:
Our Mini Gutsy Girl manekins were painted with love (and pro bono!!) by local artists Anne Chase and Sharon McGinley of GoggleWorks Center for the Arts. We at My Gut Instinct extend our deepest gratitude to these two very gifted artists and forward-thinking women, and we applaud their support of our growing health movement in this community!!
A Few Words By the Artists:
GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is in the heart of downtown Reading PA and houses art galleries, a movie theater and the city of Readings’ tourist information desk. It is also houses 36 artists in studios on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the main building. There is lots to see and do including the Artist Studio Crawl held on the second Sunday of every month from noon to 4 p.m.
Aparna Mele walked into GoggleWorks looking for someone to paint a lifelike wooden artist manikin like the full-size one used to promote the annual My Gut Instinct Digestive and Wellness Expo. Anne Chase volunteered. “I have the art studio 317 in GoggleWorks and working with Sharon McGinley in studio 310, we got the job done.”
As a native Louisianan, Anne moved to Philadelphia to complete an MFA at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. “I love to create art in oil paint, pen and ink, charcoal, pencil and photography. My artworks are created in a series based on a theme or technique.” Anne explained her work is, “Meant to provoke or share an emotion with the viewer. I begin with a photograph or perhaps a memory but when the rigidity of the reference material becomes frustrating, I discard it. This allows the artwork to evolve into its own design.” She continued, “This year I plan to paint 50 landscapes! Giving life to these manekins and painting Mini Gutsy Girl was a fun project and promotes a great cause, gut health for women. I am sixty-three and have been a quadriplegic since 1993 and gut health is a daily battle for me. The information on the My Gut Instinct website helps me win the battle”.
Also working on the anatomical manikin figure was Sharon McGinley, in Studio 310. She is a painter and illustrator of children’s books. “Although I consider myself primarily a painter, I have been experimenting with printmaking, ceramics and assemblages from repurposed materials. Presently I am working on a series of reverse paintings on glass, and illustrating my 14th children’s book, called, Angel Songs.” Angle Songs is a book of poetry for children written by John Cech. Sharon continued, “One of the great things about having a studio at the GoggleWorks, is being part of a community of artists. It was great fun to work with Anne on The Gutsy Girl project and to contribute something to such a worthy and important cause as the health and well-being of young women.”
Sharon and Anne enjoyed solving the problems of finding the right clothes and painting the manikins for Aparna and Mini Gutsy Girl. Anne said, “We did end up painting two manikins and were delighted Aparna took both of them.” Look for our Mini Gutsy Girl manikins at local businesses and upcoming events and visit Sharon McGinley and Anne Chase in their studios located in the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington St in downtown Reading PA.
