Nathan Paul Gibbs

It all started...
Well if you want to know where I really got started, I was in grade school and I used to doodle. I would draw a lot of military scenes. Stickmen fighting, explosions, planes etc. When I was told all of that "death and destruction, was unbecoming of a student of my stature", I started random lines and squiggles that when looked at a certain way, would give each viewer a different picture. I then went to mechanical drawing of buildings since I wanted to become an architect. That fizzled out and I gave up on art until after high school, when wanting to explore colour. I decided to give up drawing almost altogether, and paint. A good buddy of mine had an MFA, gave me a few colour theory and application tips and off I went. Totally self-taught. I am very good at looking at a style, tweaking it, assimilating it, and spitting out my own version.

What my art is all about:
My style has been referred to this: "If Jackson Pollack, Cézanne and Duccio melded into a painting surfer, it would be Nathan Paul Gibbs". As you can see from my art samples, I dabble in many styles sometimes combining more than one. My overall theme centres on the environment and our relationship with it. I try to give life to the lifeless, and send a message. Every painting I do, minus the floral ones, beckons the viewer to figure out the message and theme. Much of my art has hidden images. My work revolves around, transcends and invokes a sense of wonder within an ocean-nurtured lifestyle. Through the exploration of surf, water landscapes, peoples faces and rural images I free the boundaries of their realistic attributes. Opening the dream-like qualities of moments revisited, thoughts recognized and landscapes explored
Through the use of acrylic on panel I loosely apply the paint trying only to control the content leaving the nature created waves of wood grain often exposed. The found object sculptures I create openly reinvent the energy of ocean waves and the way they move, form and break. I take an optimistic point of view trying to imagine surf everywhere and paying respect to the idea that wood gave us surfing. . I also create hand turned wood bowls, bitiks, digital art, furniture, and found wood sculptures.

Details about my process:
Amazingly this is a tough question to answer. While most artists have defined style and each piece uses the same process, not every piece of mine has the same method. In fact I may have 3-5 pieces going at one time each in a different style. Some I whip out in 8-10 hours, some I have been tweaking for years. I don't ever consider a painting finished until it is sold and out of my possession.
I may put magenta on one piece, look over to another and wipe that same colour in a haphazard fashion on another. Some are planned; some are random from the paint left over from the planned. Then I get to the later stages and define it with details. My "Workbench Monologues Series" is like that. I truly do not know the end product until the end. Others are planned from the start. My favourites tend to be the unplanned. It is like I keep opening a present, sent to me from my future self with each brushstroke.
So let me give you a general sense of my style. Most of my work in the last 3 years has been strictly on wood panel however I have used it since the start. It is much more malleable, cheaper, and more importantly that it was once living. From water comes wood. The wood grain plays a major role. I comb the lumber stores looking for a piece that tells me something. They all have a story to tell. I just turn the woods' words into picture. Once the piece is chosen, I generally pick an overall colour scheme (cool, warm, earthy etc.) For landscapes, I quickly sketch on top of the wood grain any images I may see. Faces, waves, islands, or anything else that jumps off.
Then I apply the paint, loosely affixing the colour layers. Once again, depending on the style I choose, I may then focus on one aspect of the piece, giving it depth and detail. I think when you view my work; you will see why I have trouble answering this question.

Website: www.nathangibbsart.com