George Billis Gallery is pleased to present ‘Wild by Nature,' the gallery’s first solo exhibition of paintings by California-based artist, Connie Connally. This new body of work further expands Connally’s abstracted explorations of the natural world. ‘Wild by Nature' will be on view at the gallery through February 15th.

Connie Connally’s botanical abstractions reference the wild, sensuous forms and colors she is surrounded by in the natural coastal landscapes of Southern California where she lives and works.

Connally’s paintings capture a complex elegance that merges the natural references with her powerful abstraction. The painted surfaces have a life of their own - the layers of brushwork distill the essence of her observations and display the vital interplay between memory and imagination. These paintings reflect both her exterior and interior experience of her surroundings. The rich, multi-layered surfaces of color morph, coalesce and scatter in quietly energetic rhythms that evoke the experience of being surrounded by nature.

Connie Connally received her BFA from Wichita State University (Magna cum Laude) in 1973 and her MFA from Southern Methodist University, Texas. Connally has exhibited throughout the United States and her work has appeared in numerous publications as well as public and private collections. She was a university professor of art between 1988 and 2005 and currently lives and works Santa Barbara, CA.