Success is Creativity in Motion
When Gale Fulton Ross moved out of her 4,000 square foot art studio recently after a successful 50-year career as an artist, one might think she’d be inclined to take a bow, pack it up, and call it a day.
Instead she’s creating the next phase of her life as she practices the parachutist’s art of the free fall.
“I’ve done the math and it’s clear that I have lived more months, weeks, days and hours than I have left,” said the vibrant 68-year old. “It’s time that I don’t let anything or anybody structure my life except me.”
And so, with the approval of the universe, she’s rearranging the pieces of her life and is heading to Los Angeles, California to be closer to family, chiefly her three-year-old granddaughter, Caris.
“It takes a village to be part of rearing a child and I have to be part of the village that rears my granddaughter,” she said.
When she’s not going places and doing things with Caris, she’ll likely be engaged in writing a book she’s been working on for several years or developing Fulton Ross Design, the next phase of her work which now specializes in public art.
Creativity in Motion
Like so many leading-edge baby boomers, she’ll be on the move living in more than one location.
“I’m not leaving Sarasota (Florida).” It’s my home. I’ll still have an office here but the majority of my time will be spent in L.A.,” she said.
One who enjoys experiences more than acquiring things, Gale, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts as the eldest of nine children, has lived in France, China, Italy, Germany and Ghana.
Very early in life, she accepted the self-appointed task of producing images to demonstrate the dignity of her African American culture. Her work, which began with portraits in charcoal, evolved into portraits using color. Today, after many years of mentoring youths and earning countless awards and recognitions, she is taking her talent to public spaces with highly-visible and impactful images and media.
Does she consider herself successful?
“That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t believe there is such a thing as failure. There are hard times, there are lessons learned, there are missed opportunities,” she said.
“So success doesn’t exist either. I do find, however, when I make the right choices, my life becomes easier and my work expands both developmentally and financially. I am doing exactly what I wanted to do with my life as a child, she said. “If I don’t make another dollar, I’ve had – and am having — a hell of a life and I’m looking forward to another marvelous adventure.”
And that, one might surmise, is success enough for Gale who, with an engaging and knowing smile, hopped into her Jeep and drove off to her next destination.
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