From Miami, to New York, and now just South of Atlanta, Gloria Solly has delighted a broad audience of art lovers with her brand of realism with a touch of the whimsical. Having studied with the well-known portrait artist, Michael Honigsberg, and Watercolorist, Dr. Eli Saviet, she has honed those foundational skills and embraced a style all her own.  Not limited by medium, Gloria ventures through oils, watercolors, pen and ink, colored pencil, and acrylics to elicit just the right emotions as she depicts her subjects in their natural environments. Some of her most admired works feature carousels and carousel horses.  She enjoys painting carousels and their ornate horses because of the feelings of romance, nostalgia, and fantasy they provoke in the viewer. Whatever her subject, each of her pieces will stand the test of time as a piece of fine art.

In addition to producing beautiful and timeless pieces of art, Gloria is also an accomplished, published, and active member of the art community.  She began exhibiting and selling her art in Miami  in the 1970s. While residing in New York, she was represented by Artists International and produced work for Highlights Magazine, Golden Books, Riverside Publishing Company, and other such companies.  Her art has been exhibited at the Georgia State Capital, Governor Zell Miller’s office, The Arts Clayton Gallery, the Stillwell Gallery, the Clayton College and Statue University Performing Arts Center, Tighter Research Center in Dallas, Texas, and Senator Heck’s office in Atlanta, Georgia. Her art is also collected and held in private collections across the United States and China, including the personal collection of Hollywood Legend, Mr. Billy Crystal.

Gloria believes that it is important to remain active in and promote the arts at a local, state, and national level.  She has served the art community in various positions of note in Fayette Society of Fine Arts (FSOFA) and Southern Crescent Alliance of Visual Artists (SCAVA), as Editor of “The Palette”, and as Curator for the Arts Clayton Gallery in Jonesboro, Georgia. She has received a lifetime membership award from the New York Southside art League and also belongs to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

As a lifelong artist and learner herself, Gloria dreams of illustrating and publishing some of her own stories.  These stories would encourage children to follow a path of morality and beauty in an age where society inundates them with negativity, violence, and fails to ignite imagination and inspire whimsy. Gloria keeps her skills sharp and shares her knowledge through teaching local art classes.  Her students inspire her as she watches them begin to believe in themselves and the beauty of their art.

Gloria is the proud mother of 5 children, 16 grandchildren, and many great and great-great grandchildren. Although her husband, Bob, has recently passed, their love and legacy of 65 years of marriage, family, and partnership, has left an indelible mark on their community and the world. These young people have gone on to follow their adventurous and creative spirits as entrepreneurs, professionals, musicians, artists, politicians, soldiers, and influencers in their own rights. Gloria can stand proudly as the matriarch of this group, and as the mentor to so many who have embraced art to better themselves and their communities.