Nathan Gibbs shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Good morning Nathan, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your customers?
One of the most surprising things I’ve learned about my customers is that most of them love to purchase directly from me. I find that fortunately, and unfortunately, they prefer talking to me in person about their purchase. Especially when it comes to original art. I sell very little original art online, and while I would love to sell more, I understand that when someone is spending hundreds or thousands of dollars they like to make a purchase and get some feedback from the artist on the work and discuss with them how and why it was created.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Sure. My art revolves around, transcends and invokes a sense of wonder within an ocean-nurtured lifestyle. Through the exploration of water landscapes, peoples faces and rural images, I free the boundaries of their realistic attributes. I attempt to open the dream-like qualities of moments revisited, thoughts recognized, and landscapes explored.
There are many ways that I portray a subject, muted themes, political sarcasm, and disguised messages, developed through the application of painting, chemical, and textual techniques. 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 surf art, found object and hardware sculptures I create openly reinvent the energy of ocean waves and the way they move, form and break. Much of my work reveals the relationships between energy, water, life and emotion and how those create and destroy our natural world, specifically the ocean. Using art to document the environmental struggles of the times, the works relay a message. Through surrealistic symbolism, Byzantine inspired iconography, and hidden images, I invoke participation from the viewer with a visual, emotional, and cognitive experience.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
My grandfather Duane taught me about work. Well, I never got to see him in his actual job because he was retired when I was young, but everything he did is what I would consider to be work. He always made sure that he put forth his best effort in doing so. Whether was gardening, building things, or even painting a fence, he always took full advantage of making each project special in and of itself. Because if you can do that with the hard things with the boring things and think what you can do with the creative and fun things.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There was a time when I almost gave up my art career. I wasn’t really selling a lot of art and it was a lot of work. And I didn’t think that people were interested in the things that I offered. I was trying to make art that would sell, not Art that I loved and that was my biggest mistake. Once I started making art that I loved the sales started coming.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
Wow, loaded question huh? The biggest lies the art industry tells itself is that it needs large galleries and representation to sell art. Well, that is definitely a help, and I would love to have as much help as possible, you can be perfectly able to sell art on a decent basis on your own. Between social media and so many available websites, you can reach a far greater audience than ever before.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What pain do you resist facing directly?
A pain that I resist feeling directly is that of rejection. I will avoid situations where if there is a chance of me being rejected by either a person, a company, a client, or whatever, I often won’t even take that chance. It’s probably a bad thing, but I don’t deal with rejection very well. That is something I need to get over to make the most out of life. Anyone have any ideas, hit me up!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Nathangibbsart.com
- Instagram: @nathangibbsart
- Twitter: @surfartist
- Facebook: NathanGibbsArt
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/2EoWBCQF5ig?si=WSsglO6KJCuDSJG-
