It all began when I was three, in Birmingham, Alabama. One summer day my mother gave me paper, scissors and paste. I don't remember how the art looked, but I do remember the paste. I ate it. I can still remember the creamy taste of the flour paste with the warm sun shining on my face. "If this is what an artist does...I like it!"

There were two very influential people in my life, my father and Sister Paula Mary Turnbull. I remember sitting at my father's workbench as a child watching him draw. Sister Paula Mary was a remarkable nun who didn't wear the usual nun's habit. She was a strong woman of few words who taught history and produced amazing art as a sculptor and a welder. My mentors taught me to see, " I am interested in how spots of color advance and recede to produce tension and life,conveying how body, mind and spirit all interact with each other to produce joy,harmony, light and energy!"

Having raised three children, Rita describes herself as "a classic woman artist." With her children on her hip she painted wherever she could find space, even on the kitchen floor. Rita also worked full time for a number of years as a developmental art teacher. She also taught early education to infants through kindergartners at Bright Horizons Learning Center. "I am constantly amazed at the brilliance of children. There is alot we can learn from them."

A crippling form of arthritis attacked my joints and confined me to a chair in my living room. I was forced to face the fact that I may no longer be able to pursue my art. Then miraculously a new drug allowed me to move and walk again. After regaining my strength I decided to focus my work on sacred art...art that could provide inspiration for others in their home, place of worship or sacred place!

Gesinger accomplishments and awards are extensive.
For more information see full vitae. CLICK HERE.

I would like to thank the artists who have influenced me this life time: Kathy Woo, a Seattle artist and Women Painter of Washington, who gave me encouragement that I was on the right road, Peter Pearson, my Iconography Master from Philadelphia with whom I will always be a student and my art professor at Fort Wight College of the Holy Names, Sister Paula Mary Turnbull, who inspired  as a young women (thanks for the A's in Art History classes).
 

CAROLINA CALENDARS

EAFA EXHIBITION

WOMEN PAINTERS OF WA.

Newspaper References and Stories

05/02/07 – The Issaquah Press A&E: Arts Calendar

08/17/06 – The Seattle Times, “Arts buzz builds in Issaquah”

08/16/06 – The Issaquah Press A&E: Arts Calendar

08/02/06 – The Issaquah Press A&E: Arts Calendar

02/15/06 – The Issaquah Press A&E: Arts Calendar

02/01/06 – The Issaquah Press A&E: “Gesinger featured in Seattle exhibit.”

09/17/03 – The Issaquah Press A&E: “Creating a symbol for peace.”

09/10/03 – The Issaquah Press A&E: “Third Art in the Barn features 40 artists.”

Fall 2003 – Destination Issaquah: Rita and the other 3 members
of Painted Ladies art studio.