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102 W. Washington Street
Mail: PO Box 426
Middleburg, VA 20118
A 501c3 nonprofit
540-687-6600
Our Mission:
To champion creativity in the visual arts for people of all ages and abilities in our community, especially the youth, through educational programs and exhibitions.
Maria B Gibson is an exceptional artist, her first paintings featured landscapes native to her country Peru, and then expanded to works featuring United States northern landscapes, American wildlife, and portraits in a variety of media. A three-dimensional quality of form and feature, wonderful textures, dramatic light and shadow effects convey a sense of realism and visual ecstasy.
Artist's Statement:
I love creating unique works of art that give the viewer a distinct perspective of recognizable and familiar scenes of everyday life from which to ponder and self-reflect.
My primary focus is on the process, the quest- the revelation of a specific and poignant aspect of our natural landscape. The transformation of the material gathered to make the scene I try to capture and communicate.
Every brushstroke is the act of transcendence. Finally, my creation that enters space and time: my interpretation of the beauty that is around; art that conveys the true essence of the beauty of life and nature.
Over the years, Maria developed various new media techniques that allowed her to achieve a deeper and more profound definition in her work. Maria utilizes a variety of traditional techniques suffused with bold colors and dramatic ethereal compositions to arouse passionate and dynamic emotions. The creative use of unique brush strokes and multi-color combinations brings life to each image within its very own setting.
In recent years, Maria has been focused on broadening her creative
endeavors. She has applied traditional and new techniques to create accurate and detailed renderings human and animal subjects using watercolor, acrylic, oil and graphite, also focusing on science and botany.
Her work is in private collections throughout the US, Peru and Germany.
Maria’s love of painting reflects her interest in fine detail and has allowed a satisfying and natural extension of her compositional style.
Many of her paintings are done with watercolor although she has an experimental tendency with some in acrylics and others in oils. Many of the paintings of flowers, for example are simply watercolor on paper in which she leaves the background plain. It gives her an opportunity to as she says, “Focus on the subject.” And for sure she is able to bring out the vivid colors that distinguishes brilliantly a single flower or a grouping of flowers. There is an element of realism in each of her paintings, but at the same time the intensity of color and the intricate detail far outweighs a simple photograph.
The trail to Maria Gibson’s home studio leads one through a rural part of West Virginia near Harpers Ferry. Perched on the side of a heavily wooded hillside that speaks volumes about her love of nature and that is effectively modeled in her paintings.
