Artist Statement
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First-hand experience. Time. Change. Familiarity. These four elements are essential to my practice as a painter.
Through sequential landscape painting, I aim to explore these elements. Changes in the appearance of our surroundings due to light, season, climate and temperature have always fascinated me. But, is time represented in painting possible? In graduate school I have rigorously committed to working strictly from life. Instead of trying to work around the changes I noticed, I aim to embrace them. Through long painting sessions of direct observation, I experience, engage and react to the changes that have always fascinated me. Repetition and series allow me to capture immediate impressions, yet still arrive at a fuller understanding of the space through multiple images. The shapes, color and sense of depth are constantly changing; light and weather conditions can conceal and reveal forms. The work becomes not only a record of the space itself, but also of my fluctuating perceptions. What do I become the most interested in when I do not have time to capture everything? How does my focus or interests change over time? What does it mean to be familiar with a subject or a space? The more time I spend (days, weeks, months) translating the same scene with paint, the more I see and the more the possibilities of the space open up to me as an artist. Outside there is so much information and so many constantly changing variables that are out of my control. What does it mean to engage with how these observations add to my understanding and attune my senses to the nuances of the scene? Being in the landscape, painting in this manner, forces me to address directly what is imminently present. Each moment vying for attention or nestling back into obscurity. Each moment a piece in a greater puzzle. - Brittany Gilbert |
Biography
Brittany Gilbert grew up in North Kingstown, Rhode Island and attended North Kingstown High School. Her love for art started at an early age and she has experimented with various mediums, but her heart has always led her back to oil painting.
In 2012 she graduated with honors from Union College in Schenectady, NY with a B.A. in Studio Art, with minors in Art History and French. During her junior year at college, she was awarded the Beyond the Gates Grant to study plein air painting in the summer of 2011. This allowed her to take a workshop in Buonconvento, Italy after her term abroad in Florence, as well as, an additional workshop in Sag Harbor, NY. After returning to Union College, she had a solo exhibition of work from the summer titled Landscape Impressions: Chasing the Light. Her senior exhibition of landscape paintings titled Wide Open Spaces was held in the spring of 2012.
During the summer of 2012, she traveled to the Canadian Rockies and later visited Ireland to participate in the Art in the Open Festival (largest plein air festival in Europe) where her painting titled "Reflections" was "Highly Commended."
Seeking a new landscape to paint, Brittany moved to Colorado in May of 2013. She lived and worked at the 4UR Ranch in Creede, Colorado before moving to Boulder.
At the 2014 Colorado Plein Air Festival, her painting "Soft Light" received an honorable mention in the emerging artist category.
In 2015 she was included in Southwest Art magazine's "21 under 31" article in the September issue. At the end of 2015, she relocated back to New England.
In 2015 and 2016 she was accepted into PAAC's Annual National Juried Exhibition and Sale at Mary Williams Fine Art in Boulder.
Currently she is a Masters in Fine Art Candidate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
In 2012 she graduated with honors from Union College in Schenectady, NY with a B.A. in Studio Art, with minors in Art History and French. During her junior year at college, she was awarded the Beyond the Gates Grant to study plein air painting in the summer of 2011. This allowed her to take a workshop in Buonconvento, Italy after her term abroad in Florence, as well as, an additional workshop in Sag Harbor, NY. After returning to Union College, she had a solo exhibition of work from the summer titled Landscape Impressions: Chasing the Light. Her senior exhibition of landscape paintings titled Wide Open Spaces was held in the spring of 2012.
During the summer of 2012, she traveled to the Canadian Rockies and later visited Ireland to participate in the Art in the Open Festival (largest plein air festival in Europe) where her painting titled "Reflections" was "Highly Commended."
Seeking a new landscape to paint, Brittany moved to Colorado in May of 2013. She lived and worked at the 4UR Ranch in Creede, Colorado before moving to Boulder.
At the 2014 Colorado Plein Air Festival, her painting "Soft Light" received an honorable mention in the emerging artist category.
In 2015 she was included in Southwest Art magazine's "21 under 31" article in the September issue. At the end of 2015, she relocated back to New England.
In 2015 and 2016 she was accepted into PAAC's Annual National Juried Exhibition and Sale at Mary Williams Fine Art in Boulder.
Currently she is a Masters in Fine Art Candidate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Exhibition/Recognition History
Group Exhibitions
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July 30 - August 30, 2015
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PAAC 19th Annual National Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Mary Williams Fine Art, Boulder, CO
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November 18 - December 28, 2014
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Colorado Plein-Air Festival Exhibition, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO
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August 2 - August 31, 2014
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Artist Choice Juried Exhibition, Spring Bull Gallery, Newport, RI
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July 5 - July 31, 2014
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Little Picture in Summer Show, Spring Bull Gallery, Newport, RI
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April 26 - 27, 2014
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Spring Fling, Wilderness Place, Boulder, CO
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June 20 - July 13, 2013
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South County Art Association Members Invitational, South County Art Association, Kingston, RI
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April 5 - 21, 2013
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March 29 - May 4, 2013
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Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts 102nd Annual Juried Show, Mystic Arts Center, Mystic, CT
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February 14 - March 17, 2013
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Print, Paint & Pastel, Juried Show, South Country Art Association, Kingston, RI
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February 1 - 17, 2013
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Open Media, Juried Show, Wickford Art Association, Wickford, RI
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January 11 - February 9, 2013
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Annual Members Show, Mystic Arts Center, Mystic, CT
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December 1 - December 31, 2012
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22nd Les Petites Oeuvres Exhibition, Spring Bull Gallery, Newport, RI
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November 16 - December 29, 2012
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Holiday Fine Art Show, Mystic Art Center, Mystic, CT
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November 21 - December 23, 2012
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smallWORK, Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
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November 25 - December 19, 2012
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Little Picture Show, Wickford Art Association, Wickford, RI
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November 23 - December 9, 2012
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42nd Holiday Pottery and Art Sale, South County Art Association, Kingston, RI
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October 4 - November 17, 2012
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26th Annual Rhode Island Open, Juried Show, Warwick Museum of Art, Warwick, RI
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October 4 - November 11, 2012
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American Pastoral: A Landscape Show, Juried Show, Carriage Barn, New Canaan, CT
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September 1 - 30, 2012
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It's Up to You, Juried Show, Spring Bull Gallery, Newport, RI
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August 31 - September 16, 2012
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Nature, Juried Show, Wickford Art Association, Wickford, RI
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August 2012
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Art in the Open, Juried Show 2012, Greenacres Gallery in Wexford, Ireland
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June - August 2012
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Fresh Summer Picks, Arts Atrium Gallery, Union College, Schenectady, NY
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May - June 2012
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Student Invitational, Mandeville Gallery, Union College, Schenectady, NY
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May 2012
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Senior Exhibition, Wide Open Spaces, Arts Atrium Gallery, Union College, Schenectady, NY
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March - April 2012
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4th Annual College Photography Competition and Exhibit, Photo Center, Troy, NY
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August 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002
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Wet Paint, Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI
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May, 2011, 2010, 2009
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Steinmetz Symposium, Arts Atrium Galley, Union College, Schenectady, NY
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June - September 2009
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A Perfect Press: Prints by Union Students, Wikoff Student Gallery, Union College, Schenectady, NY
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June 2009
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Union College Art Show, Proctor's Theatre, Schenectady, NY
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March - April 2009
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Drawn to Print: Impressions of the Louvre, Wikoff Student Gallery, Union College, Schenectady, NY
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Solo Exhibitions
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January – February 2012
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Landscape Impressions: Chasing the Light, Wikoff Student Gallery, Union College, Schenectady, NY
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Awards/Recognition
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November 2014
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"Honorable Mention" Colorado Plein-Air Festival, Emerging Artist, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO
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February 2013
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"Honorable Mention" Print, Paint and Pastel, Juried Show, South County Art Association, Kingston, RI
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September 2012
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"Judges Award", Nature, Juried Show, Wickford Art Association, Wickford, RI
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August 2012
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"Highly Commended" Award, 'Art in the Open' Exhibition at Green Acres Gallery in Wexford, Ireland
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July 2012
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Jerry Markham and Doug Swinton Plein Air Workshop Scholarship Recipient
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May 2012
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Charles Alexander Richmond Prize in Fine Arts, Union College
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November 2011
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Watson Fellowship Finalist, Union College (proposal to travel the world studying plein air and landscape paintings across various cultures)
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Winter 2011
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Beyond the Gates Grant, Union College (funding for summer workshops)
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Publications
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September 2015
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'21 Under 31" Southwest Art Magazine
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© 2016 Brittany R. Gilbert Fine Art