For Shirley Gibson-Bull, it isn't what you paint, but how you paint.
“The journey is the important part and a finished painting is the bonus,” is her philosophy.
The local artist will have a body of her experimental, “avant-garde” work featured at Parkside Art Gallery in the upcoming “Art Next” show.
On display will be watercolour paintings and contemporary mix media, starting Sept. 25 and running until Nov. 7 at the gallery at 401 Cedar Ave. in 100 Mile House.
A reception on Sept. 25 goes from 5 to 7 p.m. with an artist talk scheduled at 5:30 p.m.
Gibson-Bull moved to Canada from the United Kingdom in 1968. She taught in 70 Mile House before teaching for 20 years at 100 Mile House Elementary School.
She took some formal art training in the UK majoring in oils, pottery and silk screen printing, but then came to Canada and took 40 years off, she explains.
She doesn't take courses anymore because she doesn't really want to do what other people do, she notes, favouring instead a more instinctual and experimental process.
“Today I love to experiment. My favourite mediums are watercolour and inks – they encourage spontaneity.
“I pour, squirt, scumble and scrape back. I use saran wrap, sea salt, Q-tips, credit cards, rubbing alcohol and sometimes brushes.
“I often pour inks on a piece of paper or canvas or whatever I'm using, and see what it reminds me of, and then I'll add some detail. I never pre-draw and I don't plan – I just go at it.”
Gibson-Bull opened up her studio in 108 Mile Ranch for the recent Studio 2 Studio 3 Self-Guided Art Tour benefiting the South Cariboo Health Foundation on Sept. 12.
It was on the inaugural art tour event three years ago when Parkside's gallery director Barb Brown first came across her work.
Brown calls Gibson-Bull a very fine avant-garde artist.
“I first saw Shirley's work on an art tour at 108 Mile Ranch and since that time, as gallery director and as an artist myself, I have been keen to have her works displayed and offered for sale in the gallery.”
Gibson-Bull says she never had the intention of selling or putting her work on display before Brown asked her to, but adds she's excited for the upcoming show.