My earliest memory of Maureen Gilli is from fourth grade at Sacramento County Day School.
She wheeled her art cart into the classroom and showed us an example of that day’s project: bird masks made from paper.
I marveled at her work. The detail of feathers. The expressive owl face. All from simple pieces of cut paper. I stared in awe. I thought, maybe someday my work will be that beautiful.
Thirty years later, the awe has not diminished. Today I’m in Gilli’s Citrus Heights home. Her work graces the walls, staircase, ceiling and tabletops in every medium you can imagine.
“I’ve made art my entire life. It’s never been a choice. I have to make things,” Gilli says. “I’m on this earth to make stuff.”
As a young person in Phoenix, art was an escape for Gilli. Her mentor, Barbara Bailey, recognized the youngster’s skill and entered her work in art contests. When Gilli moved to Sacramento, she embarked on a more formal artistic career.
Coincidentally, when Gilli arrived with husband Dino and their children, she discovered her one-time mentor had also moved to the area. The two reconnected. Gilli shared her desire to earn a credential to teach art in schools.
Bailey, an arts educator, offered to let Gilli shadow her. Gilli soon landed a job as an art resource teacher at Deterding Elementary School in Carmichael.
Gilli taught art at several public schools over the next several years. She worked as an art docent for the San Juan Unified School District in a program to introduce students to art history.
“Arts are basic to your life. They teach life skills, confidence and a sense of self,” Gilli says.
During this time, Gilli used her art skills in a new way, as a storyteller, performer and mask maker for Mask, Movement and Mime, an arts program she created with fellow teacher Cookie Mackenroth.
Maureen Gilli
Photo by Linda Smolek
Gilli and Mackenroth traveled all over Northern California performing with handmade masks, teaching children to express themselves through visual and performing art.
Gilli landed at Country Day in 1997 to fill in for an art teacher on maternity leave. She enjoyed the job and stayed, teaching art for kindergarten through fifth grades before moving into sixth and seventh grades.
“I always started in clay and then introduced different mediums to help students find their niche,” Gilli says. “Contour drawing is also great for children because they learn to use their eyes, which makes it so much more fun to look at things. That’s what’s so exciting about creativity.”
Gilli’s own creativity has taken her on explorations through various mediums. She loves cultural research. She finds a technique, color scheme or medium she wants to try and dives in. She’s taken several art classes at Sierra College to learn the basics of new art forms.
This has led to work that includes polymer figurines to metal sculpture. She often combines several mediums at once, as in her series of paintings with copper incorporated onto the canvas. She makes jewelry inspired by amulets. Her handmade cards sell quickly at High-Hand Art Gallery in Loomis, where she’s a permanent artist.
“It’s very spur-of-the-moment,” Gilli says of inspiration. “I love to work spontaneously. In the moment, every medium is my favorite to work in.”
For information, visit Gilli’s website at artandeye.net. High-Hand Art Gallery is at 3750 Taylor Road, Loomis.
Jessica Laskey can be reached at jessrlaskey@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
