Patti Gibbons Art

Tuesday I took off as a personal day to go to the Metropolitan Museum of art to see the Vermeer show. I am in love with the movie Girl with the Pearl Earring, and show it in some of my high school studio art classes as and I looked forward to seeing the actual painting. The trip down was fun. A stop at Smiths Pub for a grill cheese and Bloody Mary. A stroll down 5th Avenue for a bit. A stop into St. Patrick and Rockefeller Plaza, where the skaters grinned widely as it was over 50 degrees and the sun was shining. The tree and sculpture peered out from the scaffolding teasing us with what is to come.The 5th Avenue shops were decorated for the holiday and the windows sparkled and beckoned like German glass glitter. The MET was crowded. But since it IS so huge, only the special exhibits showed any signs of over crowding. After wandering through Ancient Egypt, Greece, Roman, and Oceanic art, we arrived at the Vermeer Exhibit. Very crowded, (and a bit stinky I have to say--too many wei...

I gave up Lois's party today to work all day in the studio. I hope she forgives me. I have three shows to get ready for next weekend; paintings for Donskoj's Fire and Ice winter show, the ASK show, and the Unison show on Saturday and Sunday. If I don't make money next weekend, I going to have to do some creative selling to pay the heating bill-or bring the paints inside. For the most part, I am using what materials I have, including frames, and not spending money, making art with the detritus of my studio and my mind. I did not make the ornaments, jewelry and magnets that I usually have, mainly because I have tired of doing small labor intensive little things. If I have to do little, I will stick to my cards. BUT I did design up a lovely group of ornaments with antique paper, garnished with authentic vintage rope tinsel from the 40's or so. And those are lovely, glittery, and hopefully seductive.... Here are a few photos of a calendar I am going to list on eBay tomo...

My sewing machine was getting quirky, so I had to finally bring it to the shop. It is from the early 70's, and has never been serviced, and has sewn many things over the years. Its primary focus the last 10 sewing years has been sewing together paper. I was forced to paint this weekend, as I could not make any cards. I wish I could keep each version of the paintings I make, as at times I look back on a particular stage and think "maybe I should have stopped right there". But then there are times IF I stop "right there" I am not learning, so I push ahead into unknown territory and make the mistakes, and most of the time, learn from them. I like the spontaneity of the acrylic painting that I posted a while back of this painting. It was my blocking in coat, and I was very loose with it, knowing that I was going back into it with the oils. Yet I could not leave it as I am anal, and there were parts that did not work for me, and I had a decision to make. Go bac...

Two days in a row that I had not set foot in the studio. I have not been home in time to do much more than eat and fall into bed. I went to bed at 8:30 last night to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas with Larry, but I could not stay awake and missed a good 20 minutes of the DVD. I bought it for Larry for his birthday (he was Jack at Halloween and he LOVES the movie) so I will have to go back and see what I missed. Tonight's art - Leah gave me an old print in a frame. The print is worth Nada, but the frame is a cool vintage mock Rococo style in off white/gold. Flash forward-I had an idea for a collage using a few pieces I loved, but it never materialized because I never found the right last piece to make it work. Then I pulled out an old linen book I bought a few weeks ago, and voila, there it was. The collage looks FAB in the frame, and will be beautiful in some child's room, or if you love fairy tales and fantasy like I do, you might just like it on YOUR wall. Find this...

The world is eating my time up in large chunks. Over time at work, studio work when I can grab it, personal and family legal and health matters. Good thing my estrogen is on an even keel this week, otherwise I fear I might not have made it through. How do I find a way to keep sane, to laugh, and to play? Those moments between my work and family responsibilities, I make things like this out of papers and images rescued from old ripped books and antique papers. I play with words. I play with images, I play like a child. Sometimes I laugh at my own stupid jokes, and interact with my supplies like a child does with his blocks and soldiers. This uses very old block printed wall paper, and images and text from an old antique linen book. It is stained and imperfect, but that is what I love about it. As I age I have an affinity for the imperfect and for the rejected, and give it a new life. I still have not finished my painting. I am not ready. I need the light and a few hours, neither...

I passed up entering any work into WAAM this afternoon because I could not stand the thought of driving my work up to Woodstock after a very busy day at school, when I could more wisely spend that time in the studio making art. I have three landscapes at the Varga Gallery, I have to finish two paintings for the Donskoj Holiday Show, and I am planning on entering a piece or two at the ASK Gallery. I also have the art/craft show at Unison in early December, and I need work for that. How many places can I show??? This year I am creating a body of whimsical and decorative art for the fair. I will show both paintings any my collage/mixed media work. As always there will be everything from auto-biographical art, to humor from my Nursery Crimes Series, and some small landscapes. I will have handmade cards, and a few ornaments and other smalls, though I am not making as many smalls as usual. Part of the art journey for me has been not making myself crazy about what I bring to the fair. Eac...

I have not been writing much because I have not been in the mood, had time, and would rather not bore you, my readers, with constant whining; all it does is make people not want to be around me. And honestly, I have not wanted to be around myself. I have too much estrogen flowing through my body, which is feeding a rather large fibroid. When I was a teenager I used to PRAY that I would get my period like every other girl I knew, and now I pray that it will go AWAY like other women my age. But no, the hormones keep pumping. Between them and the fibroid, I am experiencing nausea, pain, and things you don't even want to know about. My options? A surgical procedure that I am not thrilled with (very painful) or a hysterectomy. Or do nothing and be monitored for a few more months.....I am on a mission to find a natural path who will fix my hormones, which in turn will make my body a much nicer place to live. I have a few names, and once I clear the financial part of it, (you KNOW th...