Artist's Statement

An expert at anything was once a beginner - H. Jackson Brown Jr.

I pursue art as one of my life's driving forces. I have found it is as necessary for me to paint/draw/engage in creative thinking as it is to eat and sleep. I have to do it to maintain balance in my life. I have thought that if I were to lose the ability to use my hands I would use my feet to paint with.. One of my goals is to convey to my viewers the feeling of completeness in my life. I do this with the use of warm inviting colours, harmonious scenes in which the viewer can enter and be transported to another place.

I'm inspired by nature; rocks, trees, the reflection of land on water, the negative space between branches and the sky. I'm also inspired by the changing seasons we experience in Canada. These inspirations are expressed in several different ways using paint on canvas. I will start with the concept - water flowing over rocks - and establish the graphic shapes of the rocks, add the trees in the surrounding scene and build up from there. I apply several layers of paint being careful not to completely hide the underpainting and allowing for some of that colour to remain. I finish with thick brush strokes full of paint to create a feeling of depth not only in the application of the pigment but also in perspective.

I work quickly to nail down the elements, let the underpainting dry and then get to work on articulating the original image or vision that I have of how this piece will look when it is done. There is not usually much that is haphazard in the way that I paint, it well thought out; most of the time I work from sketches or thumbnails using photographs and supporting sketches to keep me on track. In this way, my paintings are a reflection of me. Although I profess to enjoy spontenaity, the work that I engage in is finished with the thought in mind that I know exactly how it will look on the wall. I save the spontenaity for family outings.

I love to examine other people's work and see what they did that I like or don't like. I have learned so much from others and appreciate the efforts of their labours now more than ever. In that way, I have drawn my ideas mostly from the French Impressionists, the Canadian Group of Seven, people like Bob Svob, Steve Allrich and a host of other painters.

I discovered many years ago that God has given me a talent and a skill that is uniquely mine and it is up to me to use that gift in a way that glorifies the Creator, not the creation.

So this is what I have to say: "This is the evidence of what He has done in me using the gift I've been given. I hope you like what you see and that I have appropriately used my gifting".

Don Sibley / Sibley Fine Art

Web: http://www.sibley.biz

E-Mail: don@sibley.biz