 Ontario Artist Artist Don Sibley |
Don has been painting and drawing all of his life. These paintings are representational of his accumulation of years of experience with colour and design as a graphic artist. Working as a freelancer with the advertising industry during the 80's, Don worked in design shops in the Greater Toronto Area producing illustrations, CD covers, Point of Purchase ads, pocket folders and collateral, plus full colour magazineand newspaper advertising. That all came to an end in the early 1990's ' call it a mid-life crisis 'and he never looked back. Instead, he painted when time allowed and continued to keep his drawing skills in good form. All of this time was well spent as you will see in the samples here..
Painting and drawing architecture is an art form he fell in love with during a trip to Europein 1982. He sketched and painted buildings and landscapes in Europe for the duration of a nine month excursion. In the past 10 years, he has been concentrating on trips within Canada to the Maritime provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and also the Muskoka region of Ontario.
Don creates striking oil paintings on canvas using bold warm colours withan intense light source. He shows his work locally in the offices of businesses, caf's, restaurants and art galleries and is always open to new challenges in the way of commissions.
Artist's Statement
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. 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 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.
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.. I hope you like what you see and that I have appropriately used my gifting.
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You will notice on the images there is a 'Sibley' watermark to protect us from unwanted reproduction of this image. The print or original you will buy has no watermark on it .
Artist Don Sibley
Barrie, Ontario
(705)-734-0659
E-mail: don@sibley.biz Website: www.sibley.biz
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