Gail-Marie Boykewich was born in 1980 and raised in Rutherford, New Jersey. “The Borough of Trees” (as the old wooden sign next to the Route 3 Burger King boasts) is a place where one can enjoy a view of the New York City skyline, and that unmistakable smell of the Meadowlands Trash Museum.
Gail attended The School of The Art Institute of Chicago on a Merit Scholarship. She studied painting, sculpture and fiber arts. Her focus became acrylic portraits inspired by strangers she sat across from on the train. In 2003 Gail earned a few frostbitten fingers and a BFA in painting. She traveled to Los Angeles, where she had her first solo show and participated in many group shows throughout the city.
In 2007 Gail began working for the Inflatable Crowd Company, helping dress and arrange dummies for crowd scenes on movie sets. She also began airbrushing and painted over 800 masks for the dummies’ faces.
Be it overexposure to sun or one too many bars filled with actor/model/director/yoga-practicing men with skin the hue of roast turkey and teeth white enough to burn retinas, Gail decided to head back east. She currently lives and works in New Jersey and NY where she continues to paint portraits.