This month I am featuring an artist of whom I thought had amazing talent. I am probably being a bit biased with this one because I knew him. Not really well but well enough. He used to come into my photo lab with photos of subjects he was going paint. He’d also have photos of the progression of some the these paintings which I found to be quite fascinating, because at the time I hadn’t really done any painting myself. I can also boast that I have two of his paintings hanging on a wall in my home and a signed book showing images of his paintings with stories written to accompany each one. The book is called Thirty Stories by Favorite Writers IMAGES. Here is a short bio of Len Gibbs.

Len Gibbs 1929 -2010
Gibbs born in Cranbrook, moved to Edmonton to become creative director of an Edmonton advertising firm before becoming a full-time painter in 1968, later moving to Victoria, BC where remained for the rest of his life.
Gibbs was a self-taught artist whose mediums were acrylic on masonite and watercolour and dry brush on paper. He painted in a highly realistic style, depicting immaculate and precise detail in every painting he did, showing us moments in the real lives of real people. He was a master at his craft, as you will see in the paintings I have shown here. His subjects ranged from children to cowboys (the Alberta influence) to marine subjects.
His first solo show was in Vancouver, BC and sold out the first night. He had also shown in Europe, across Canada and the U.S. and was made an Honorary Citizen of Victoria in 1985.