My name is Gwyn Pevonka, and I’m a painter and mixed media artist currently based in Medical Lake, Washington. Originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, I relocated to the Pacific Northwest in July 2021. I am a former artist-in-residence at the Hive® and the founder of the 33 Artists Market.

Recently, I added college professor to my resume by joining Whitworth University as an Adjunct Art Professor, while continuing my work at Spokane Art School as Gallery Manager. With over 15 years of experience in arts programming and 6 years of classroom experience teaching middle and high school art, I am passionate about creating engaging, supportive, and creative learning environments for artists of all ages.

My personal artwork combines painting and mixed media processes, often exploring layered surfaces, texture, and storytelling through color and composition. I look forward to creating and learning alongside you!

Artist Statement:

Since 2009, I’ve been working in a process-driven style that’s all about layering and excavation. Each of my paintings is built one layer per day over the course of 20–30 consecutive days. Once cured, I carve into the surface, revealing the rich, hidden history of color and texture beneath — this moment of discovery is my favorite part of the process and where my abstract voice truly lives.

In 2016, I began experimenting with the pieces carved away from these paintings. I carefully slice these paint fragments into delicate slivers and reassemble them into textured collages I call Acrylic Assemblages. These pieces feature mermaids, florals, and animals, constructed entirely from the remnants of my paintings — a practice rooted in reuse, storytelling, and transformation.

My work moves between two primary bodies: my carved abstract paintings (with the occasional landscape) and my Acrylic Assemblages. In 2020, I extended this ethos of repurposing into a line of Resin + Paint Earrings, preserving my studio’s paint slivers in resin to create wearable, one-of-a-kind pieces of art.

Nothing goes to waste in my studio — every layer, every scrap, and every fragment holds the potential for something new.