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Artist R.L. Gibson

Tag: abstract expressionism

DAY 14: 35°

"35°" (acrylic & silver/gold leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas) by R.L. Gibson
“35°” (acrylic & silver/gold leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas) by R.L. Gibson

It is Day 14 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  My fourteenth offering is “35º” acrylic & silver/gold leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvasWill be available in my Etsy Shop.

As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offers me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice.  In my mother’s east Tennessee town they re-routed a street off one of the local traffic circles. And, instead of tearing up the old street or just blocking it off, they covered it with 6″ of top soil and planted grass.  so many of us do the same, re-route then cover up the past instead of fixing it or addressing it in any way. The traffic circle metaphor just never disappoints.

35º is fourteenth of a number of paintings inspired by traffic circles:  “As a frequent traveler, I am both comforted and amused by the familiar behaviors found while traversing the traffic circle.  Well-intentioned drivers lean forward to afford themselves a better view of street signs, use their right turn signal despite all options being right turns, momentarily hit the brakes not quite certain of their choice before barreling ahead often without noticing the presence or location of other drivers on the circle or having to go ’round again because they missed the mark the first time.  It is sort of a perfect metaphor for navigating life.”

Remember, this canvas is available for $50 in my Etsy Shop.

Next stop? Day Fifteen.

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DAY 12: 268°

"268°" (acrylic & silver leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas) by R.L. Gibson
“268°” (acrylic & silver leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas) by R.L. Gibson

It is Day 12 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  My twelfth offering is “268º” acrylic & silver leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvasWill be available in my Etsy Shop.

As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offers me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice.  Cadmium red and carbon black are on my mind.  I am working on a pair of pieces for a Texas show, and the cadmium influence is leaking into my daily challenges. It was inevitable. Manganese blue can’t be far behind.

268º is twelfth of a number of paintings inspired by traffic circles:  “As a frequent traveler, I am both comforted and amused by the familiar behaviors found while traversing the traffic circle.  Well-intentioned drivers lean forward to afford themselves a better view of street signs, use their right turn signal despite all options being right turns, momentarily hit the brakes not quite certain of their choice before barreling ahead often without noticing the presence or location of other drivers on the circle or having to go ’round again because they missed the mark the first time.  It is sort of a perfect metaphor for navigating life.”

Remember, this canvas is available for $50 in my Etsy Shop.

Next stop? Day Thirteen.

DAY 11: 89°

"89°" (acrylic & gold leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas) by R.L. Gibson
“89°” (acrylic & gold leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas) by R.L. Gibson

It is Day 11 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge sponsored by painter Leslie Saeta.  My eleventh offering is “89º” acrylic & silver leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvasWill be available in my Etsy Shop.

As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offers me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice.  This is turmoil but with exact direction. I can’t quite put my finger on it.  I working it out on canvas day after day.  I don’t really know where this series is headed.  Join me for the ride.

89º is eleventh of a number of paintings inspired by traffic circles:  “As a frequent traveler, I am both comforted and amused by the familiar behaviors found while traversing the traffic circle.  Well-intentioned drivers lean forward to afford themselves a better view of street signs, use their right turn signal despite all options being right turns, momentarily hit the brakes not quite certain of their choice before barreling ahead often without noticing the presence or location of other drivers on the circle or having to go ’round again because they missed the mark the first time.  It is sort of a perfect metaphor for navigating life.”

Remember, this canvas is available for $50 in my Etsy Shop.

Next stop? Day Twelve.

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DAY 8: 38°

"38°" (acrylic & gold leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas) by R.L. Gibson
“38°” (acrylic & gold leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas) by R.L. Gibson

It is Day 8 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge sponsored by painter Leslie Saeta.  My eighth offering is “38º” acrylic & silver leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvasAvailable for $50 in my Etsy Shop.

As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offers me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice.  To be more precise, I need a way to voice my anger.  This work is as close as I’ve come.  Typically red is used as symbolic of anger, but red is my happy place.  Yellow, on the other hand, seems aggressive in that southern way one smiles with gritted teeth.  This piece was finished with clinched jaw.  It is a good start.

38º is eighth of a number of paintings inspired by traffic circles:  “As a frequent traveler, I am both comforted and amused by the familiar behaviors found while traversing the traffic circle.  Well-intentioned drivers lean forward to afford themselves a better view of street signs, use their right turn signal despite all options being right turns, momentarily hit the brakes not quite certain of their choice before barreling ahead often without noticing the presence or location of other drivers on the circle or having to go ’round again because they missed the mark the first time.  It is sort of a perfect metaphor for navigating life.”

Remember, this canvas is available for $50 in my Etsy Shop.

Next stop? Day Nine.

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DAY 1: 91°

"91º" acrylic & silver leaf on 5"×7" unstretched canvas by R.L. Gibson
“91º” acrylic & silver leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas by R.L. Gibson

Today marks the beginning of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge sponsored by painter Leslie Saeta.  On day one, I offer “91º” acrylic & silver leaf on 5″×7″ unstretched canvas.  Available for $50.

As a xerographist, my work tends to be, almost exclusively, representational.  I have struggled lately to find a representational voice for my changing motivation to create work.  The 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge offers me an opportunity to revisit abstract painting as an alternate voice.

91º is one of a number of paintings that are inspired by traffic circles.  As a frequent traveler, I am both comforted and amused by the familiar behaviors found while traversing the traffic circle.  Well-intentioned drivers lean forward to afford themselves a better view of street signs, use their right turn signal despite all options being right turns, momentarily hit the brakes not quite certain of their choice before barreling ahead often without noticing the presence or location of other drivers on the circle or having to go ’round again because they missed the mark the first time.  It is sort of a perfect metaphor for navigating life. 

Let’s see where it takes me.

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PAINTING: Abstraction

Inspiration for Artist R.L. Gibson!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.

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