Patti Gibbons Art

February is a month of 50 shades of grey...the light blue grey of the landscape during a snowstorm, the dark grey of a storm moving in or moving out, the grey of the snow after it's been around for a few days,  the grey that has invaded my hair. I find myself doing grey scales with my art students, hoping they see and learn how to make its many subtle variations. I make grey scale landscapes, and  surround them in domes of snow.... Storm after storm have rolled in, creating a monocrhomatic landscape devoid of color, deposting piles of moisture that I measure with a yardstick, piles that have wrecked my back and Larry's arms.  I have lost the compost bins, I have lost my stone walls.  I have forgotten what colors lie beneath the layers of snow and ice, and can only hope that my roof and gutters will hold up with its weight. I find myself grateful for odd things like snow tires and Canadian boots. Today's boots are grey, as is my coat and cashmere ...

The problem with being self employed, is that when you don't work, you don't get paid. So, when I wake up in the morning, and it is starting to snow, I have to make the decision whether I can go to work. Yesterday I opted to stay home from my job at the Tibetan Shop, which closes when no one can make it into work.  I figured the price of my auto deductible is much more than what I make there, so it was a no-brainer.  I stayed home and....PAINTED. Today my painting student cancelled; his road had not been plowed yet.  Fortunately I had a few hours to put in another job who will take me as much as they can get me- a few hours a week, and I have one student who comes every week, no matter the weather.   Tomorrow I will not go to my studio in Rhinebeck, so I will go for a few hours tonight, pack up what I need, take care of some business, and get ready to hunker down, and work from home. Today's painting is titled "After the Storm". One of my 5 x 5 O...

Friday night was the soft opening of my new studio, in Rhinebeck, NY.  My studio is my working and teaching studio, as well as a gallery and wholesale/retail outlet for my cards. It is located at 18 Garden Street in Rhinebeck, and is upstairs from my good friend Judi Esmond's business Hudson Valley Pottery.   If you are a Facebook junkie like I am, you can find the FB page link to my studio's  on Hudson Valley Pottery's website link to me.... HERE , as well as get a brief bio/description of my work.  It was well attended, and I am always thrilled that my friends come to support me now, as they have for many years. I was not totally prepared - sales wise, as people wanted a price list of the art, which I had not gotten to yet. In my mind, it was not meant to be a "sale" opening, and I figured I would sell some cards/journals, but to my great surprise I sold two paintings and a mixed media collage!! I was so honestly unprepared for sales that I did NO...