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...

I found this draft .... obviously forgot to post it. So rather than waste it---here it is! It's worth a quick look at the photos at the very least! Above is a selection from  December's photo essays on "light", a daily practice . I will print up a little book of these when I have time.   As I look at my interpretations of light and the world around me - much of it in the back yard or neighborhood, I see just a little bit of magic in every one.  It reflects how my life is now...magic every day.  2013 was an interesting year....I had the most difficult year at work, a struggle with illnesses, which prompted me to make a major life change. A giant leap of faith to leave the world of the good paycheck to enter a world of self employment. And so far, it's worked out just fine. Now..with 2014 just underway, I start another life change by opening my own gallery/studio/teaching space in Rhinebeck, a lovely picturesque town on the east banks...

Hay Field, Staatsburg, NY Mohonk Preserve, NY From the Studio, Kingston From the Studio, Kingston From the Home Throne My winter shows are done. Despite the economy, I have done well with what I have had. Holiday cards sold out, as did my new tin ornaments. I also sold art. It is gratifying when someone falls in love with a piece of me that sings to them. Winter is setting in, and I am holing myself up in my house for the next three days to rest, and to get into the holiday spirit. I have a few commissions to paint before the holiday, and plenty to do- like clean up the house, and buy food! after such a flurry of constant work. In spite of the busy-ness, I have managed to continue my daily essay on light for the month. A few selections from the weeks work. Be safe you east coasters...there's another storm coming.  Off to buy cat litter, food, and some art supplies!

Today was foggy, rainy, damp, but warm for early December. I took the trip along the Rondout Creek, and over the old Port Ewen bridge, to visit a co-worker whom I worked with for many years. She was one of my mentors who will be most remembered for her revelation of the KIS  principle - Keep It Simple. She knew how wrapped up in detail I would get, and how it would bog me down and stress me out.  Today, when I was prepping for my adult autistic students, her words softly resounded in my head. I listened as I pulled through my drawers looking for the papers for my project. She was right. Don't give them 15 choices of paper...give them 2. It made it easier for me, and I know it was easier for them. Shortly after retiring, she was diagnosed with Altzheimers. Like the landscape enveloped in the mist, so is her memory.  Bits and pieces of of her life come in and out of focus...always kept from being razor sharp by something that fogs her past life. To Lynn...may you be...

I run an art group online on Facebook. It's a forum where people write, post their art,   photos, thoughts. It's a safe place where we celebrate creativity and diversity- no room for harsh critique. It's a brotherhood/sisterhood of sorts. It's been a few years now that some of us have connected.  This month - in between the moments of furiously working doing shows and my other jobs, I am trying to make a snapshot/ photo each day.  My theme--The Season of Lights. Hanukkah, Christmas, and the Winter Solstice, all revolve around light. Here are my first few days worth of photographs taken with my iPhone. Some are altered in phone apps, some have stories...  Playing with the laser at Thanksgiving. That included shining it in the neighbors house which prompted a humerous phone call. When my daughter left for Iraq, we lit this candle in the picture window - in the old American tradition - so that she would find her way home to us. Though she came home 10 year...