For Allison Wickey, creating art and making business decisions come of the same font of intuition. She followed her bliss to become an artist, followed her gut to move from the nation’s interior to the Gulf shoreline, and follows her instincts when choosing which artists to present at her gallery.
“If I put any thought into any of this, we wouldn’t be at the beach,” she said on a recent rainy afternoon, sitting in the midst of artwork at World Six Studio Gallery in Rosemary Beach.
She pulled her hair back and settled on a low chair. Her clothes were splattered with paint.
“None of it makes sense. None of it is logical,” she said.
Wickey came to Rosemary Beach for a vacation a few years ago. Upon her second visit, she and her husband bought a house, thinking since they worked from home, home could be anywhere. Two years later, she went into business with a gallery owner here, and now she has taken over management of the gallery.
“It’s all by intuition,” she said. “There was no studying done or research, just by feeling and thought and following your bliss.”
Named the 2011 Artist of the Year for the Beaches of South Walton, Wickey works in plaster and acrylic paint and stain on wood. Her works are organic and thickly textured. She now has a workplace in the gallery, and some of her funky conglomerations of paint, brushes and tools decorate the space.
World Six is an art boutique featuring the work of artists from the Scenic 30A area, including Shantell Martin, Francisco Adaro, Steve Wagner, Andy Saczynski and Wickey, with jewelry by Wendy Mignot and Mary Kay Samouce, and clothing by Nicole Paloma.
Wickey met the gallery’s previous owner, Ann Hunter, in 2009 and talked to her about showing her work. “We were instantly friends and then went into business together,” she said. “Our roles reversed recently. Now I’m the owner and she’s free to do creative stuff.”
Wickey became a fine artist after seven years as a faux finish artist in Illinois and Missouri. On her website, she explained how she set out to create antiqued versions of the vibrant landscapes, animals and sea life found along the coast. It took about 10 paintings to find the technique that suited her, and which she still uses, involving Venetian plaster, acrylic paint, glazes, an orbital sander — “and a good sense of humor,” she said.
“I took my favorite parts of that world, the plaster and stain, and started putting them on frames and painting what I wanted to paint instead of what everybody else wanted me to paint,” she said.
Wickey said she wishes everyone could find their way to a form of work that allows them to grow and learn and find joy — work that is more than a job, it’s a lifestyle.
“I am promoting a way of life that is most natural to humans, involving using your mind and body, tapping into your intuition and untapping outer chatter,” she explained. “Exploring your primal instincts and naturally stretching oneself to be the best you can be in every aspect your life.
Likewise, she said her intuition forms the basic philosophy of operating the gallery: “Everyone who shows in here is someone I have a good feeling about, people I believe I have a connection with.”
newsherald.com/articles/world-96337-follow-gallery
“If I put any thought into any of this, we wouldn’t be at the beach,” she said on a recent rainy afternoon, sitting in the midst of artwork at World Six Studio Gallery in Rosemary Beach.
She pulled her hair back and settled on a low chair. Her clothes were splattered with paint.
“None of it makes sense. None of it is logical,” she said.
Wickey came to Rosemary Beach for a vacation a few years ago. Upon her second visit, she and her husband bought a house, thinking since they worked from home, home could be anywhere. Two years later, she went into business with a gallery owner here, and now she has taken over management of the gallery.
“It’s all by intuition,” she said. “There was no studying done or research, just by feeling and thought and following your bliss.”
Named the 2011 Artist of the Year for the Beaches of South Walton, Wickey works in plaster and acrylic paint and stain on wood. Her works are organic and thickly textured. She now has a workplace in the gallery, and some of her funky conglomerations of paint, brushes and tools decorate the space.
World Six is an art boutique featuring the work of artists from the Scenic 30A area, including Shantell Martin, Francisco Adaro, Steve Wagner, Andy Saczynski and Wickey, with jewelry by Wendy Mignot and Mary Kay Samouce, and clothing by Nicole Paloma.
Wickey met the gallery’s previous owner, Ann Hunter, in 2009 and talked to her about showing her work. “We were instantly friends and then went into business together,” she said. “Our roles reversed recently. Now I’m the owner and she’s free to do creative stuff.”
Wickey became a fine artist after seven years as a faux finish artist in Illinois and Missouri. On her website, she explained how she set out to create antiqued versions of the vibrant landscapes, animals and sea life found along the coast. It took about 10 paintings to find the technique that suited her, and which she still uses, involving Venetian plaster, acrylic paint, glazes, an orbital sander — “and a good sense of humor,” she said.
“I took my favorite parts of that world, the plaster and stain, and started putting them on frames and painting what I wanted to paint instead of what everybody else wanted me to paint,” she said.
Wickey said she wishes everyone could find their way to a form of work that allows them to grow and learn and find joy — work that is more than a job, it’s a lifestyle.
“I am promoting a way of life that is most natural to humans, involving using your mind and body, tapping into your intuition and untapping outer chatter,” she explained. “Exploring your primal instincts and naturally stretching oneself to be the best you can be in every aspect your life.
Likewise, she said her intuition forms the basic philosophy of operating the gallery: “Everyone who shows in here is someone I have a good feeling about, people I believe I have a connection with.”
newsherald.com/articles/world-96337-follow-gallery