Susan M Gibbons

“The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.” Mikhail Bakunin Have you ever wanted to destroy something you've created?  Have you ever gotten to the point of  being completely done with a painting or sculpture?  It happens.  We, as artists, get to the point that we're through with what we've created; we don't like it and it's not working, so we want to destroy it.  As Mikhail Bakunin states that the destructive urge...  'is also a creative urge' (granted, he was a revolutionary anarchist but his statement is true). It is part of the creative process.  So many times we think that we shouldn't destroy what we've created.  But that urge, that part of the process can be very cleansing, very illuminating.  It gets rid of that which is holding us back or hindering us to go to the next level or place in our artistic journey.   Destruction also gives the artist the opportunity to take risks.  Risks are essential to creating f...

'A painting is not a picture of an experience, but is the experience.' Mark Rothko I really resonate with this quote from Mark Rothko.  For so much of contemporary art is about the relationship of color, shape, value, and form but much of that work goes deeper than that.  The painting that is created from the depths of an artist's soul is more that the formal elements that create it.  The work that embodies the emotions, intent, and spirit of the artist gives us so much more to s/he who created it and s/he who views it.  It becomes a sacred space where two souls can converge to relate and resonate with what makes us human.  The experience of painting, the moments where paint and brush hit the canvas, translates what is inside of the artist; it is the essence of the creative force that makes the work.  It then becomes the experience.  The remnant of that experience is what lies on the canvas. It is sometimes raw, sometimes beautiful, and sometimes...

1-15-2020 "Abstract is not a style.  I simply want to make a surface work." Joan Mitchell Happy New Year!!!  It's a new year and decade.  Wow, it's hard to believe that we're in the 2020's.  I'm looking forward to seeing what this new year will bring.  I'm excited about what is happening in the studio.  I've been working on the Stirring Series and it's been getting good feedback from artists and non-artists alike.  It's very encouraging.  As I stated in my last blog post, I have to go to a place of anxiety to create these which isn't comfortable.  But yet within the anxiety, excitement lies.  It's a weird combination of both emotions.  The anxiety fuels the painting process and the excitement helps spur the process onward towards the final outcome.  In a way, I feel like I'm working in the spirit of Joan Mitchell.  After spending time with her work, I finally 'get it'.  I've always loved her work but now, I ...