Category Archives: Painting

Art-O-Mat Blocks, Set 3 2019

I took a slightly different approach this month with my Art-O-Mat art blocks project. Typically, I begin with drawing and then add paint. Sometimes I use collage and drawing + paint. This time I began with paint—used expressively. Once it dried I added drawing on top of the paint.

I never know where my work will go or how fast it will sell when I ship the work to Art-O-Mat.

What’s important to me is that people can get a pocket sized piece of my art for $5! This is really a hoot! Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of this post from the owner of Art-O-Mat talking about how he began this project of art for all budgets!

Brief video of my latest set of art blocks.

Trivia: Did you know that at any given time Art-O-Mat is distributing the work of 300 artists!

©2019, Suzanne Gibbs, Face Block, art for Art-O-Mat. For sale only in select Art-O-Mat machines around the world.

Retired cigarette vending machines are refurbished to vend original art, creating the unusual and clever Art-o-mat® – Don't Go 'Round Artless!
Posted by UNC-TV on Monday, April 22, 2019

Art In Context

So many times I have shown my work to you as a carefully cropped images with no context of how the work might look in a space.

Today I want to change that.

A sample of three of my pieces in our home on a shelf above our couch.

This work is available for sale. Although, I must add, my husband would say, “Hey! what happened to that art I like?” if you actually purchased the work!

Ummm, what pieces?!? I’d say…

As you can imagine, this is a regular conversation! 😉

©2016, Health School Tales, pen, watercolor, 4.75 x 4.75 inches, 12 x 12 inches framed, $185

©2016, NEW, pen, watercolor, 4.75 x 4.75 inches, 12 x 12 inches framed, $185.

©2016, Touch, pen, watercolor, 4.75 x 4.75 inches, 12 x 12 inches framed, $185.

Questions? Comments? Desire for unframed art? Please use this form to get in touch with me, thank you.

Art for the local hospital.

Yesterday, on April 4, 2019 I dropped off 3 pieces of art for a local hospital art show.

“Dogs, Cats, and Other Pets With Their People or Without.”

I thought this was a cleaver show theme. I thought I had zero work to enter this show. Then I took a look through my inventory and interpreted the theme my way!

The art I submitted is shown below.

Suzanne Gibbs ©2016, Development Perfect, paper, pen, watercolor, 4.75 x 4.75 inches, $185

Suzanne Gibbs ©2016, Self-Care Free, paper, pen, watercolor, 4.75 x 4.75 inches, $185

Suzanne Gibbs ©2016, Alive! LOOK, paper, pen, watercolor, 4.75 x 4.75 inches, $185

Honestly! Who says grasshoppers can’t be pets! I used to catch them when I was young. I also used to catch snails and spiders! For the snails I’d set up races and see who would win on an imaginary race track.

I am free to sell these works, and they can be shipped as soon as the show closes. Please contact me here if you are interested. I am willing to consider a bundle price for all three!

Opening is Sunday, April 6, 2019 from 1:00 – 3:00 at the Southern Coos Hospital in Bandon, Oregon.

Suzanne Gibbs, ©2019, Alive! LOOK, paper, pen, watercolor, 4.75 x 4.75 inches, $185 Framed.

Final show date is Saturday June 29, 2019.

March 2019, Art-O-Mat Project

Typically I would wait a few months before I make a second set of art for Art-O-Mat but this time I worked on two sets of 50 small art pieces back to back. One set was completed in February and a second set, shown here, in March.

Often, Art-O-Mat is on back-order for sending new blocks to artists. Like myself, they are a small company making a difference nationwide in their own special way. Our common denominator is that we wish to reach a wide audience of people wanting original art. Said another way, not all art needs to be sold expensively and expressly for people with large amounts of disposable income.

With these blocks selling at $5 each in vending machines across the United States, they genuinely are art for all.

To view previous posts about Art-O-Mat look here, here and here.

March Madness

March seems to be a month where I GO ALL OUT!

Five years ago, in 2014 I had a month-long art sale. I called it March Madness. Nearly 100 pieces of my work went all over the USA—including Alaska and the east coast. This was the year post-graduate school and I have tons of art needing homes. Gratefully, many people where excited to own the work.

Encaustic, string, buttons, men’s shirt pieces, medallion on panel, 6.5 x 7.5 SOLD

Four years ago, in 2015 I made postcards for 30 people in 30 days in March.

Suzanne Gibbs, ©2015, Fixie Bike, watercolor on postcard, Card shipped to Boston.

Three years ago, in 2016 I did the postcards gig a second time, and generated many more takers than the first year. 45 original art cards made and mailed.

Suzanne Gibbs, ©2016, Spring Peeper, watercolor on postcard, Card shipped to Hopewell, NJ

Two years ago, in 2017 I was working for another artist making huge sculptures out of marine debris in an artists residency that lasted a year instead of a month.

Working with garbage necessitated a mask! Behind me is a huge whale tail in process.

Last year, in 2018 I published my second book at the end of February and shipped all the copies I printed in March.

Image of the cover of My Year of Separation, I have a few copies left for sale.

What will March 2019 bring? I am totally unsure! There will be a March Madness game to watch on TV, and as always, I will be making more art.

Why Walking While Musing

…and why has the series been ended already?

Image of ferns on trail to lake.

My Walking While Musing videos have temporarily or forever ended, because they served their purpose. Now it is time for me to move on. I made them while I was in a state of transition. My studio space at the time was a 2 x 4 foot table that was also where I ate, wrote, and did anything else that required a table. I lived in a space of 11 x 12 feet with a bathroom.

The musings were a form of artistic expression, but also a form of redirecting my visual voice.

I’ve had viewers, fans, and readers asking me: What’s up with these musings?

I’d rather entice you to watch, but, well… instead, now is the time to explain.

I made my Walking While Musing video episodes for three reasons.

My weekly hikes feed my body, mind, and spirit giving me the energy and stamina to create art. I do not exactly get “inspired” by my nature walks, but the time spent outdoors makes me feel better both physically and emotionally.
While I am in nature, I pay close attention to detail. In nature I see all her flaws and imperfections as absolutely right and perfect. A broken tree is flawless. A cloudy sky will not last forever. Soggy ground is muddled. This translates into my work. I am not a precise painter. Spontaneity, mishaps, and even mistakes make me happy.
The musings in nature also serve a bigger purpose, my studio time often follows the walks. Going forward, instead of taking you outside on my walks, am excited to figure out a way to invite you into my studio world and process.

Stay turned, for a look inside the world of my imagination inside my new tiny studio.

Suzanne Gibbs, ©2018, 100 Postcard Series, #9, Mixed Media, varied sizes, NFS

Accepting commissions for personalized watercolor grid paintings. Let’s get the conversation started here.

Reason To Draw

Do you need a reason to draw?

Have you set in motion a resolution to draw more, make more art, write more, get better at painting or some other creative journey?

We are in the time of year for resolutions.

For some the resolution is loose weight, or make more money, or find a new job. In the circles I travel in, many people want to up their art practice, they want to draw better, or build on a skill that could make a difference in the art they make. This is all great. But I am also noticing that some people feel like there is a noose around their neck forcing them to think that they must draw and create or else they are not an artist. Or worse, not a worthy human being.

The best reason to draw is because you want to. You have something to say that is best expressed in ink and paint.

Still, you’re stuck. I can relate. Even if I used all my art supplies all year long, I might still have some supplies left over in 2020. Except sketchbooks!

Last year when this happened to me—feeling stuck, blue, wanting to give up my creative practice—I simply decided to fill one sketchbook as messy as possible in one month. An anything goes mess. Some days I did nothing. Other days I furiously filled many pages. Then, at some point I began to draw over and even paint over previous days work. Essentially censoring myself or obliterating whatever it was I had to say.

Interestingly when I shared the work on-line the comments I got were that I am not at all messy! This was not what I expected, at all.

What I learned from the experience (I did several months in a row like this) was that I had some pent up emotions that needed a place to land. I used a lot of Stabilo woody crayons (child-like), collage (cutting up and putting things back together), and black or blue paint (moody).

The point is: I showed up as me to fill the pages.

I did not get all hung up in my head about who I think I should be as an artist. I did not project the idea of perfection in my voice. That monkey brain tried to tell me that I was wasting my time. I was simply keeping a promise to myself: fill a sketchbook as messy as possible in one month.

Of course some days I felt like I was wasting my time, I did the work anyway.

Now my sketchbooks are getting more “pretty” again. More focused and more drawing practice. Fine, this is good for now. And I will be OK with that time when I need to get moody and messy on the page again.

Give yourself permission to scribble like a child would, it is ok!

And if I haven’t sparked your desire to draw, maybe this article will!

Thanks for reading, and please share your work with me! Anytime, anywhere.

More Sketchbook Sharing…

In 2018 I worked my butt off learning business aspects of being an entrepreneur. One such thing was creating work in my sketchbooks to share.

Being consistent and showing up with finished work (including process) is an excellent step towards professionalizing my artistic output.

Below please find 2 sketchbook videos I created in 2018. However, I neglected to add the work to my blog during the year. The sketchbook process work is integral to continued exploration of my personal themes and ideas.

With no further drum roll I bring you 2 sketchbooks where I share my process behind the work I make.

July 2018

August 2018

Too Much Travel

At some point in 2018 I signed up for Google Tracker. I don’t remember doing this, but I’m sure it was me. Then I get an e-mail telling me where I have been in the past month. My deep weariness (and also satisfaction and joy), that I couldn’t fully understand, became obvious with my alert from Google Tracker! Yes, my life has been full with a little too much travel!

Expanding my reach and deepening meaningful connections was a 2018 goal.

To reach the goal, I have traveled too much…let’s look at just one month.

In November I lived in and visited: Langlois, OR, Arcata, CA, Los Angeles Down Town Area (Broad Museum, LA Zoo, and LAX), Pasadena, CA, Lincoln City, OR, San Fransisco (airport only), New Jersey (airport, Trenton, Princeton, and my sister and parents house), New York (Museum of Natural History, Uptown, Downtown, and Brooklyn). I also travel to Coos Bay, OR, Bandon, OR, and Port Orford OR on a regular basis for meetings and errands—this is the price I pay to live in a remote area. Services are all more than 15 miles away.

And… drum roll…

I also moved! For nearly two years I lived in a temporary housing situation (moved 5 times) while my husband and I built a small house on a small lot on a lake in Oregon. So if you have wondered if I have made any new art or started writing my next book… you might think no never! Not possible!

My Year of Separation is Suzanne’s second book, published in 2018.

Even with moving and too much travel, I have been doing the work.

As much and as little as possible, while still getting much needed rest.

As an entrepreneur and a creative worker I can never stop working. If I do, the income dries up instantly. I will say though, I would like to either not move, or travel less or both next year. Or not, because…there are already 5 trips on the books!

Travel = Fun + Adventure + Growth.

Travel also equals = Art and Book Sales plus Art Services for my business are all online!

Therefore, if you are interested in my work, then please by all means visit my art or books online and make a purchase. I can ship work immediately following the New Year! Not this week, not in time for Christmas…later!

Why later?

Travel! Of course! I will be in Montana with my immediate family (husband plus 2 adult boy children) through the holidays!

Enjoy the season and your family! And go ahead and keep me busy after the holidays with shipping art and books.

Also coming in 2019. Art services by Suzanne. If your creative journey is stuck in a rut, you can hire me for one-on-one video conferencing art practice services. More details to come! I honestly, cannot wait to help and be of service to artists around the globe!

SketchKon 2018 Sketchbook 2

While I was at SketchKon I drew often and made illustrated notes of the presentations, panels, and workshops that I took.

SketchKon 2018 was an Unconventional convention with artists and teachers from Sketchbook Skool as well as sketchbook artists from around the world.

I ran out of paper in my first sketchbook, so I started a second one during the conference. Upon returning from this trip I sat down to add color to a few pages in this second sketch book. Then I made a video flip through. I hope that if you have any questions or comments that you feel free to contact me.

Thanks for viewing! If you like my work hit like in YouTube or Subscribe for new content added regularly.