Remembering Gwen Gibson
September 26, 2013
Inspirational Art
I interrupt this week’s theme to acknowledge the passing of one of our more influential artists, Gwen Gibson. She passed away peacefully just this past Tuesday.
Some of you may not find her name familiar. She had been focusing on painting and mixed media wall art in recent years so was not front and center in the polymer limelight but her influence has been wide ranging nonetheless.
Gwen started working with polymer in the late 80s and developed ways of working with polymer yet unseen. In her words, “Partly because I didn’t know anyone else working in polymer clay, and partly because I had spent time painting, my work took its own direction from the beginning. My main departure was the use of paint for surface effects rather than the color of the clay.”
Her paint and silk screening work in polymer pushed many artists to move past creating effects with polymer alone and try integrating paint and then other materials into their polymer work. Her philosophy about creativity influenced the direction and ability of many artists to grow their own style and find their own artistic voice. It was also her vision that made La Cascade, the workshop center in France, a reality.
We were lucky enough to have some of her thoughts and influences described and acknowledged in our last issue of The Polymer Arts. The simple but rather moving words i our Fall 2013 issue, written by Ronna Sarvas Weltman for our Muse’s Corner section (the back page) garnered quite a few comments and notes of appreciation from our readers, some who had the pleasure of meeting Gwen and expressed just how much she touched them with her gentle ways and simple but profound philosophies about creating art.
Gwen Gibson with her 3 wall pieces in the MIPCES exhibition, 199.7 (Image and the above quote from Polymer Art Archive–click image to read the associated article.)
I’d like to suggest we all take a moment to look through Gwen’s gallery, to appreciate what she brought to our medium and because her work, especially if you haven’t seen much of it yet, is still inspiring and beautiful as is the work of any great artist.
The Challenge of Change
August 17, 2013
Inspirational Art
In the back of every issue of The Polymer Arts is a wonderful one-page article in which someone tells the story of their life as an artist, or of another artist (or artists). I hold a particularly special fondness for this section because it’s the one area in which artists get personal with us as readers. It’s not a setup to teach or preach or help expand your business or make you a better artist; it’s just stories. We can certainly learn from them (what can’t we learn from?), but they are still just artists sharing their story, or the story of other artists.
In this Fall issue, Ronna Sarvas Weltman talks about Gwen Gibson, a polymer pioneer who has moved largely from polymer to work on mixed media in collage and acrylics. Ronna writes about Gwen’s view on the creative process and the patience we must have with ourselves and our medium. It’s a beautiful little article that I would encourage you all to read at least a couple times to really let the ideas sink in.
The article in hand, Ronna and I only had to gather a few images of Gwen’s work before it would be ready to send to layout; but getting artwork of Gwen’s that was of a size we could print turned out to rather difficult. When she was creating beautiful earrings like these from 15 years ago, she had photos taken; but as the years went on and her direction in art changed, the original images got shuffled away. I guess things like that are bound to happen when you buy a 300 year old house in a tiny medieval French village desperately in need of repair and turn it into a creative retreat; I can see where you might have other priorities.
La Cascade is now a beautiful center for art workshops and time out of your normal world to learn a little bit more about yourself as an artist. The story of the La Cascade renovation adventure and charming descriptions and photos of the place can be found on the website along with information about the workshops, should you be interested in attending any one of them.
And don’t forget to get your copy of the Fall issue ordered if you haven’t done so already, as they will all be out and on their way this coming week!
I interrupt this week’s theme to acknowledge the passing of one of our more influential artists, Gwen Gibson. She passed away peacefully just this past Tuesday.
Some of you may not find her name familiar. She had been focusing on painting and mixed media wall art in recent years so was not front and center in the polymer limelight but her influence has been wide ranging nonetheless.
Gwen started working with polymer in the late 80s and developed ways of working with polymer yet unseen. In her words, “Partly because I didn’t know anyone else working in polymer clay, and partly because I had spent time painting, my work took its own direction from the beginning. My main departure was the use of paint for surface effects rather than the color of the clay.”
Her paint and silk screening work in polymer pushed many artists to move past creating effects with polymer alone and try integrating paint and then other materials into their polymer work. Her philosophy about creativity influenced the direction and ability of many artists to grow their own style and find their own artistic voice. It was also her vision that made La Cascade, the workshop center in France, a reality.
We were lucky enough to have some of her thoughts and influences described and acknowledged in our last issue of The Polymer Arts. The simple but rather moving words i our Fall 2013 issue, written by Ronna Sarvas Weltman for our Muse’s Corner section (the back page) garnered quite a few comments and notes of appreciation from our readers, some who had the pleasure of meeting Gwen and expressed just how much she touched them with her gentle ways and simple but profound philosophies about creating art.
Gwen Gibson with her 3 wall pieces in the MIPCES exhibition, 199.7 (Image and the above quote from Polymer Art Archive–click image to read the associated article.)
I’d like to suggest we all take a moment to look through Gwen’s gallery, to appreciate what she brought to our medium and because her work, especially if you haven’t seen much of it yet, is still inspiring and beautiful as is the work of any great artist.
Read More
In the back of every issue of The Polymer Arts is a wonderful one-page article in which someone tells the story of their life as an artist, or of another artist (or artists). I hold a particularly special fondness for this section because it’s the one area in which artists get personal with us as readers. It’s not a setup to teach or preach or help expand your business or make you a better artist; it’s just stories. We can certainly learn from them (what can’t we learn from?), but they are still just artists sharing their story, or the story of other artists.
In this Fall issue, Ronna Sarvas Weltman talks about Gwen Gibson, a polymer pioneer who has moved largely from polymer to work on mixed media in collage and acrylics. Ronna writes about Gwen’s view on the creative process and the patience we must have with ourselves and our medium. It’s a beautiful little article that I would encourage you all to read at least a couple times to really let the ideas sink in.
The article in hand, Ronna and I only had to gather a few images of Gwen’s work before it would be ready to send to layout; but getting artwork of Gwen’s that was of a size we could print turned out to rather difficult. When she was creating beautiful earrings like these from 15 years ago, she had photos taken; but as the years went on and her direction in art changed, the original images got shuffled away. I guess things like that are bound to happen when you buy a 300 year old house in a tiny medieval French village desperately in need of repair and turn it into a creative retreat; I can see where you might have other priorities.
La Cascade is now a beautiful center for art workshops and time out of your normal world to learn a little bit more about yourself as an artist. The story of the La Cascade renovation adventure and charming descriptions and photos of the place can be found on the website along with information about the workshops, should you be interested in attending any one of them.
And don’t forget to get your copy of the Fall issue ordered if you haven’t done so already, as they will all be out and on their way this coming week!
Read More