Carissa Joie Luminess enjoyed a bincoastal upbringing and studied in San Francisco at The Academy of Art, as well as upstate New York, where she received her Masters of Fine Arts from the S.U.N.Y. at Albany in 1985.  It was there, she was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Art. She has been a full time professional artist ever since, painting nature as a celebration and bringing joy to her wide audience. Giclee (jee-clay) is an advanced printmaking process for creating high quality fine art reproductions. The attainable excellence that Giclee printmaking affords makes the reproduction virtually indistinguishable from the original piece. The result is wide acceptance of Giclee by galleries, museums, and private collectors. Gallery wrap is a method of stretching an artist's canvas so that the canvas wraps around the sides and is secured a hidden, wooden frame. This method of stretching and preparing a canvas allows for a frameless presentation of the finished painting.