Susan M Gibbons

12-2-17 I am having fun also with acrylic and heavy gel medium.  It is a nice break from the heaviness of the Lamentation Series.  Since the media works in a similar fashion to the oil and cold wax medium, I am able to experiment quickly since the acrylic dries faster than the oil/cwm. It has really been fun to play with color and texture.  I call these pieces, Musings.  They are painted on 140lb watercolor paper or 140lb handmade paper.  These works are very small - 4.5 inches square, 7.5 inches square.  I just might have to create larger ones of these! Have a look, and until next time, take care, God bless, and enjoy!

11-27-17 Here are poems I wrote on 1-25-17 and 1-27-17. 1-25-17 Resurrected Hopes Resurrected hopes Of unbridled joy Rekindled in anticipation Of a thousand Giggles Breaks the bonds Of choking despair Leading to fulfilled Contentment and 1-27-17 Silenced Lamentations Blackness shrouds Silenced lamentations Emptying hollowed Hopes in anguished Resignation Deepening despair Widens chasms Beckoning release From hopeless Sorrow                                                                                   Binding grief Succumbs to Numbed abandonment All the while yearning For resurrected joy

11-24-17 I have been painting with cold wax medium and oil paints lately in addition to the encaustic.  It is so much fun! What I am enjoying about the medium is the way I can really build texture and maintain the evidence of the mark making.  I love the addition of the wax to the oil paint.  It gives a lovely wax sheen to the paint while still retaining the beautiful characteristics of oil.  The freedom to move quickly and assertively (sometimes aggressively) with the paint is a wonderful experience.  The immediacy of the medium is a refreshing change from the encaustic which requires an additional step of adding heat to the process of painting (for those of you who are unaware of the encaustic process, it requires a fusing process of heat to bond the layers of wax as you paint).  The medium also helps express my concepts of fragility with the wax component of the paint.  Natural and organic, wax, being more of a fragile medium, mirrors the frailties of the human body. With encaus

11-21-17 I've been thinking about my materials, specifically my Adam Series which was created a few years ago.  Twenty-five pieces: five - 30"x40"x1.5", 5 - 36"x6"x1.5", 15 - 8"x8"x1.5".  These works absractly expressed the moment of the creation of humankind. I symbolized this creation with five colors that typified human skin: brown, black, red, yellow, and pink/peach (shown in the pictures). I painted the pieces with encaustic (bees wax, damar, and pigment) and dirt.  The dirt represented the earth from which God used to form us in His image.  I tried to match the dirt with the pigment to create a unity within the pieces but found that some dirt needed to contrast the hues so some of the works have darker dirt within them.  The paint created the unity within the dirt so the pieces harmonized color-wise.  The work was created using the skin tones on the bottom of the boards while white was used at the top to repres

11-17-17 Here's a response to an artist friend towards a conversation we had about abstraction vs. realism. Thought I'd share: It is important to know what to include and what not to include within a work of abstraction. For how does the artist communicate a feeling or emotion? How does one break the human experience into a non-literal, visual language? That is a challenge to abstract artists - To express the essence of the human experience. The language of art is not just about reproduction, it is about the expression of the human condition.  Susan M Gibbons - artist/educator

7-10-17 This work is part of a new series I'm working on titled, The Lamentation Series.  It deals with loss, grief, and mourning.  Earlier this year, my family lost 3 family members. within a month's time.  This series is my way of processing this grief, turning pain into something creative. Encaustic and mixed media collage. 8"x8"x2".  Available. www.susanmgibbons.com

6-29-17 Paradox Metal rips Raw emotions Beckoning comfort From burnt memories Acrid odors consume Blackened edges Tearing away The pain within Wounds torment Stifled cries Piercing the fragile Awareness of being All the while Remaining in Contented peace

5-15-17 Here is the latest piece I've completed titled, Redemption and the Blood, encaustic and interference gold on cradled board, 18"x18"x1.5". A spiritually based piece, the work was inspired by meditation on the Easter Passion and relates to the suffering, reparation, and atonement of the cross. Available. Please contact me for details. smgibbonsfineartist@gmail.com To view more of my work, please visit: www.susanmgibbons.com