Patti Gibbons Art

Thanksgiving was lovely.  I spent four days in my studio, peppered with visits from friends.  Lots of good warm feelings, great food,  lively company.  It was a weekend where I could say "I really felt the love". At this point in my life, friends and tradition are hugely important. After seeing death knock on a few doors, I have learned first hand how precious life is, and that things which I have grumbled about in the past, or thought were a disaster, were not worthy of the importance I had given them.   I've grown to become upset about less, and am more thankful than ever for all that I have. And the love.  I really FEEL the love as it pulses with an ebb and flow. After one of the gatherings with friends, Larry and I stopped at Burger Hill,  off 9G south of Rhinebeck. The sunset colors were promising to be beautiful, the evening air crisp but not cold.   It was a short, but an uphill hike to the edge of the hill, and I walked it ...

After a luke warm turnout for my Black Friday sale, I decided that I am not going to quit my day job anytime soon.  I  covered my expenses, and I worked in between customers, which meant that I worked nearly all day.  But out of it came good.  I saw what inventory I had, what people were responding to, and it gave me focus on what I have to spend the week doing.  I also got to hang with a few special friends, which is always a wonderful thing. Today I  worked on my piece for The Birds and the Bees show at Donskoj Gallery.  I have the idea, but the "how" is what I have to work out yet.  It is a combination of collage, encaustic, transfer methods etc., and some of these techniques I have not used yet.   I have to see if Staples will color copy onto my Lazertran as I don't have the ink jet kind, and I will also make a xerox copy of my bees for an alternative transfer method onto wax.  Again, I have to do some degree of experimentatio...

First of all, I want to take a moment to thank you all for being my readers and friends.  Some of you have been following me for a long time.  That means you find my stories interesting, or my enjoy my art,  which comes deep from my heart and life experience.  For all of you I am so appreciative...and I want you to know that I LOVE getting your comments and support. May it come back to you tenfold. If there is one thing that I have learned in my life, is that Love is the Answer....for us all. That statement is a blog unto itself.  But for another time. I have got to get down to business here, which is, by the way, the reason I have not been writing much. I cannot teach, make art, AND write --- and do all of them well.  Two out of three...maybe, but not all three.  So as not to make myself crazy or stressed, I have focused on my art, and even focused my art on a few themes and medium for now. Open Studio for Black Friday tomorrow, 10-5. Most o...

Periodically I have written some notes on beauty products, and about taking care of ourselves as women. I had not intended tonight's blog to be about hair removal,  but after tonight's experience, I knew it was time. Guys, you have no idea what women go through to remove unwanted hair.  And, there are lots of unwanted places where this hair grows.  As we get older, and go through perimenopause, then menopause, the amount of hair in various unwanted places seems to spread, as the hair on our heads  thins.  In adolescence we worried about the hair under our armpits, followed by the hair on our legs. Then somewhere along the line we start to worry about the hair THERE.  After years of getting that under control, we start to get the hair on our upper lip, or on our chin, adding to facial maintenance that goes beyond the eyebrow shape up. I am sure most of us have  tried every kind of hair removal system, searching for ONE that is easy, fast, and pain...

  I have abandoned my dissertation on chormolithographic prints/cards for a word about greeting cards. And, Thanksgiving. In the early 1900's, when millions of postcards and greeting cards were being printed every day, every single holiday warrented sending a card.   Actually, people sent cards every day for any occasion back in the early 20th century. With the advent of this virtual technology, fewer and fewer cards are sent, especially for birthdays.  We get virtual cards, wishes from our friends on Facebook, a text, or a phone call.  I only received one card in the mail this year, vs. the usual half a dozen. I'm not complaining folks. I got more birthday wishes on Facebook that I have ever received in 10 years combined.  It made me smile.  But not sending cards is bad business for us greeting card designers, and it gets harder and harder to find our market.   However, I won't give up.  I love antique paper.  I think I ...

Today was my seasonal November shop-a-thon at the local postcard show in our city. It is the show that I treasure and bargain hunt for images to use for my holiday post cards, as well as potential holiday gifts for friends and family.  I also hunt for ephemera which I think is collectible to sell on eBay and Etsy, so that I can help offset the cost of the cards I buy. I like the small gambles that I take..trying to guess if an item is worth more than I have paid for it, and if there is a market for it. At times I have struck big, but mostly make a bit of money to cover my time and ephemera addiction;  rarely do I lose money. Today's finds were a Victorian Trade Card album, and lots of cool Victorian cards and booklets. In the quarter and dollar box I found some damaged, but still cool postcards of what is now the Walkway Over the Hudson, and the railroad bridge over Abeel street, down on the Rondout creek. (above pics) I also made a connection with a collector who will...