Catherine Picard-Gibbs

"Through my paintings, I've become attentive to the splendid drama of my everyday world."

How the wind can create a ripple in a pond, a flock of birds descending on a field, or how sunlight can illuminate the side of a building are small miracles that happen all around us. Instead of seeking out subject matter to paint, I simply pay attention to the nuances in my surroundings.

Catherine Picard-Gibbs refers to her work as textural expressionism. In her most recent work, she has started painting in oils on copper which is an old tradition that dates back to the Renaissance. She uses a variety of tools to build up and scratch the surface to create a highly textural effect. The copper's reflective quality still adds another dynamic dimension to her paintings. She also paints on board and canvas. In all of her work, the rich inherent qualities of oil paint take center stage.

Picard-Gibbs lives in a small hamlet in western Massachusetts called Wyben, where there is still a remnant of a thriving farming community. She started painting at the age of fourteen when her dad built her small studio in the basement of their family home. Her obsession for painting continued and later she earned a Bachelor's degree in art and art education at Westfield State University in Massachusetts. Her evocative paintings have been featured in exhibits nationally, and her work is represented in galleries in both Boston and Knoxville, TN.