Shirley Gibson-Bull returns to the Showcase Gallery this month with her signature abstracts.
Under the name Art Next, Gibson-Bull has a collected a stunning cross-section of her work. From truly abstract splatter pieces to paintings that evoke landscapes, she’s got something for everyone.
“I love experimenting, I play with my inks. I’m not out to do a painting, a finished painting is a bonus,” Gibson-Bull said. “Sometimes I paint over canvases I’ve painted before if I’m short of materials.”
To create her art, Gibson-Bull simply enjoys pouring inks and paints on her canvases and tilting them around to create designs. She’ll also scrape and manipulate the paint to add texture with a variety of tools including straws, credit cards, saran wrap and salt. If the piece ends up looking like something specific to her, she’ll use a paintbrush to add details like trees or birds to bring the image into clearer focus.
“I don’t plan ahead. I just pour and move things around. Some of them don’t remind me of anything so I just make up a name, like Mosaic.”
Her favourite piece in the show is a painting called Peninsula, a long piece that resembles a cloud-covered peninsula peeking from the mists.
Gibson-Bull majored in art in England but didn’t do anything with art for 40 years after emigrating to Canada. For her, art is a passion project she enjoys doing in her spare time since she retired eight years ago and wanted to decorate her house with some paintings she liked.
“Because we have a modern house and I like abstracts I started painting some for my own house. Somebody who came to visit asked if I’d consider a show and it’s gone from there,” Gibson-Bull said.
As most artists in the Cariboo enjoy painting landscapes and wildlife, Gibson-Bull said she thinks the community will find her abstract work a nice change of pace. Art Next will be in the South Cariboo Business Centre until the first week of August.
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Scatter by Shirley Gibson-Bull.
