Thanks to Lunch Ticket for the spotlight on
the “Do I know you?” series by R.L. Gibson.
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Category: Photography
Composition.
Here’s a glimpse of a side project I shot for Pat K. Thomas from Seen My Marbles. (continues below)
Pat is one of the uber-talented artists at the Cliff Dwellers Gallery in Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community in Gatlinburg, TN. Are YOU interested in an opportunity to take classes from Pat on marbling paper or silk? Or even making these fantastic paper purses?
Then be sure to follow Seen My Marbles on Facebook!
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Chastity: The Mermaid
SECOND CHANCES
The image of Chastity: The Mermaid from my Psychomachia series has resonated with viewers over & over. It was the first piece of that series to sell, and prints have been a best-sellers. This series reinterprets the Seven Deadly Sins & the Seven Holy Virtues as sideshow “freaks” from the circuses & fairs of yesteryear–nature’s artwork, if you will. (continues below)
I sought to honor the sideshow freak as the masque form of the very best and very worst of humanity, regardless of individual morality. This work is wrapped in a celebration of the possibilities of digital media & rejects the pervasive sort of embarrassment of digital alteration in photography. The use of square canvases in Psychomachia is meant to echo the pixel of which all digital images are comprised.
The collector that purchased this piece has been kind enough over the years to loan it back to me so that it could be shown several more times after the purchase. Due to an odd twist of fate, this piece is available for purchase again.
If you are interested in owning
Chastity: The Mermaid,
please contact me via Facebook or email.
The pieces is currently located in Gatlinburg, TN; however, I am happy to ship the work as well.
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Pricing Seminar
RESERVE A SPOT
today…
The Arts & Culture Alliance (Knoxville, TN) is pleased to present a professional development seminar for artists and other creative people at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville. Join us on Wednesday, February 18th at noon as we welcome R.L. Gibson, artist and Editor of ArtAndArtDeadlines.com, a quirky, art-themed blog offering FREE resources to artists. She will talk about how beginning artists can learn to price their work competitively while helping the more experienced artist avoid the most common pitfalls of emotional pricing.
Having a hard time selling your work?
Let’s figure out why – together. The presentation is free for members of the Arts & Culture Alliance and $5 for non-members. Please register in advance via PayPal, by phone at 865-523-7543, or by e-mail to sc@knoxalliance.com. *Note: This is a high-attendance presentation. Make your reservation today!
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Lessons continue.
vanished
On December 14, 2014, she finally got some peace. Emma Gibson had just 15 days to go until her 93rd birthday, but she just couldn’t go there. My intimate journey with her began 2 years ago today with a phone call.
When I answered that call that told me my father was in the ICU grappling with what would eventually be revealed as fatal injuries, my first thoughts were not for him but for my grandmother. She had been in nursing care with end-stage dementia for a couple of years at that point. And, while she could still recognize me, she was fading fast.
My journey with her through guardianship, conservatorship, and every imaginable health issue possible inspired me to share my passage from fear to resolution. It all ended in a fairly confident summation in artist-statement-format for my July 4th opening of “Do I Know You?” that ended with “The best we can hope for is a few good photos and a really good story about how we got to the end. Smile. Everyone dies.” I meant it at the moment, but…
Sometimes I am a pompous ass.
She’s dead.
She’s not smiling.
I’m not smiling.
She loved me.
I loved her.
I love her still.
I can’t believe she’s gone.
How shocking that I could be still shocked that her loss hurts this badly. It was expected; I thought I was prepared. I was not. Her lessons for me will continue–despite her absence.
Smile. At least you’re not dead.
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Heart Breaker.
A CHANGE
in season
I’ve been busy testing a change in process–the addition of color and paint. I am closing in on a new direction for the next series of work that I’m calling “Better than Figs” at the moment.
The new series
examines what it means
to really live.
The series title, Better than Figs, is from Shakespeare’s Anthony & Cleopatra:“O excellent! I love long life better than figs.” Before diving headfirst into production, I sat down to edit the “Do I Know You?” exhibit. It seems that Heart Breaker (pictured left) might be the best way to say goodbye to #DIKY. Is it okay to mourn the loss of mourning? No longer mourning puts closure or finality to the loss of my father. I have guilt about that. My mourning for the loss of the personality I knew as my grandmother has become acceptance. I am grateful to at least have my memories of who she was–even if her memories don’t include me anymore. I finally learned to just “Smile. Because everyone dies.”
If you didn’t get a chance to visit the #DIKY opening in July,
you can see the series by visiting the Do I Know You? page.
♦ ♦ ♦
KEEPING TRACK.
Where is EVERYTHING?
I’ve been giving lots of thought to inventory lately. I am experimenting with changes in my media; more specifically, I am incorporating paint into what has been a solely xerography output from me for many, many years. And, as my production increases, I find myself with the challenge of keeping track of all of it. They are kind of my babies, and I want to know where they are going before I send them out into the world.
There are so many art inventory software systems from which to choose. A few of them seem to have all the same flaws–they track work for shows but aren’t set up for artists that deal primarily with galleries OR they track shows/fairs and NOT galleries.
So I am curious, are any of you out there dealing with inventory issues? Do you have room, in-studio, to store all of you work prior to shipping it to galleries? And, once you ship, how are you tracking the work? Do you have recommendations? Have any of you tried eArtist, Art Tracker or GYST? What about cloud-based Artwork Archive?
I would like to hear your thoughts.
Leave a comment on this post,
my Facebook wall
or email me.
PAINTING: Abstraction
the why & the what
OF PAINTING
I’ve been getting a lot of inquiries that all say something a little like: “Why add paint?” to xerography. Why now? What is that going to look like?
It is an evolution. I’ve been working in black & white for SO LONG. I love it. I do. I’ve always considered my work sort light-handed Pop Art, often with a dollop of Surrealism from my own photography. But, when I appropriated family portraiture for the #DIKY series, it all began to unravel. I have thousands of family photographs. My family was prolific, but bizarrely enough, a lot of them don’t feel personal. Honestly, they feel like my family posed as studies for the lifestyle advertising mock ups of the 1930s through the 1970s. They are real people living glamorous lives without the benefit of money or extraordinary wealth.
They are just people truly LIVING.
They make me happy…
TECHNICOLOR happy.
Loads of saturated color will help me share a portrait of what life can be if you are paying attention. Color will help me express what it feels like TO LIVE. So in the meantime, I study color theory & the techniques of abstract expressionists. Today’s happy place–LIVING.
Find your happy place. Go there. And, go often.
Be sure to Follow Artist R.L. Gibson on Facebook!
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PAPER indulgences…
BACK
to the books
As I prepare for my upcoming journey of adding color to my work–possibly on a semi-permanent basis, I have become excited by delving into color theory once again. My eyes know the theory, but my brain has taken all for granted. So, I am allowing myself the ultimate indulgence of someone living a purposefully pared-down existence…art books–yum!
Deciding what NOT to purchase and/or borrow has been the hardest part. I’ll keep you updated on the books I love! Today’s choice Confident Color: An Artist’s Guide To Harmony, Contrast And Unity-i-fact from Confident Color: “Once in a while, you may want to go a little darker in value without overpowering that light feeling. [sic] Burnt Sienna turns any saturated paint color into an earth hue.” Thanks, Nita! Burnt Sienna–today’s happy place.
Find your happy place. Go there. And, go often.
Be sure to Follow Artist R.L. Gibson on Facebook!
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SUN bathing…
INSPIRATION
or rationalization?
As I continue to sort through the imagery of my youth and the days when those I have loved were young, inspiration for “living on vacation” continues. I am inspired to create vacation memories to share in vivid saturated color, but I am also inspired to get out of the studio & take a trip to the lake.
Is that inspiration? Or is it rationalization for soaking up a little sun & swigging a glass-bottled cola as though I were posing for an ad? I must admit, the fashion makes is all the more tempting. Another happy place…
Find your happy place. Go there. And, go often.
Be sure to Follow Artist R.L. Gibson on Facebook!