Gallery » Mixed Media
Stephen Gibson
I have been drawing and painting portraits since childhood. My first competitive art award was for a pastel portrait of my younger sister, Barbara; my first paid commission was a portrait of a classmate’s nephew, and my first blowout with my father came in fifth grade when he learned I’d spent free time drawing the portrait of a substitute teacher – who liked it so much she asked to keep it. In the last case my father, The Colonel, told me I should not have done the drawing and should not do such a thing in the future. It was a warning that I loudly and tearfully disagreed with. It was many decades before I understood his legitimate concern; he knew I drew what intrigued me without considering the possible vanity of my subject. He was right in that portraiture can be a mine field. Our faces are so closely associated with our identities that how we appear to others is a major concern from childhood through our senior years, triggering our entrenched perceptions of attractiveness, race, sexuality, and social class.
Ricky Gumbrecht
She enjoys large formats, strong (mostly acrylic) colors, elementary looking forms, and sensual textures of different origins. Ricky’s production method is thoroughly experimental. She lets constellations of colors and forms emerge on the canvas or on a wood panel – to then follow and develop the impressions and intuitions that such constellations suggest to her. Sometimes, this approach will take her towards figurative compositions and even dream-like scenes. But most of her work is decidedly abstract, staging plays and sometimes dramas of color and form.
