Brace:Matt Dibble at Tregoning and Company.

 There is nothing like a brick and mortar painting exhibition to get the blood flowing.      http://bit.ly/1h8cXy9

                                                             

Brace-Matt Dibble at Tregoning and Company

One of the most significant developments for me as an artist is that I now have a place to consistently exhibit my paintings. I worked for a number years without this kind of outlet, always preparing but never knowing if my work would be seen. Today, I’m fortunate enough to have gained this type of support.

Discovering that I’m not alone has reinforced me, allowed me to be freer in my approach to painting and all that goes with it. It has reduced doubt and added substantial energy to my creative process. I’ve learned to embrace all the necessary tasks needed to mount an art exhibition, from the craftsmanship required to make a stretcher to the intricacies of collaborating with the gallery. The whole process intrigues me.

When I show my work in a gallery, people write about it. They purchase it, praise it and criticize it. I become not just an isolated artist working alone, but rather, a part of the larger conversation. While exhibitions force me to deal with both the positive and the negative, they continue to provide much needed engagement.

Painting and drawing have always been anchors for me. Life’s pull is very strong, and I struggle to keep it from distracting me from my aim. I’ve found that the gallery is my cornerstone. It acts as a brace to sustain and keep me upright, in front of the easel.                         

Gate Clicks (oil on canvas) 52"x52" 2014

An exhibition of paintings by Matthew Dibble opening May 16th, 2014 at www.tregoningandco.com

Home » Art and design»Matthew Dibble’s Paintings Live In A Cubist World Of Domestic Purgatory

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Matthew Dibble’s Paintings Live In A Cubist World Of Domestic Purgatory

moray mair | Art and design | April 15, 2014

Matthew Dibble‘s paintings live in a cubist world of ancient Greece, his mythical figures floating through a monochromatic landscape, a geometric blueprint of domesticity, a purgatory, their restlessness creating a tension, a desire to move on and tell their story.

There is deep need in these pictures, as if Dibble is determined to arrest our attention and draw us back into the mists of pre-history, to recognise our forefathers, our oral tradition and the need to reconnect with the wisdom of the ancients. His appropriation of a cubist aesthetic suggesting both a modernist and atavistic sensibility, a primal urge that resides within all of us, a childlike fascination with the dark and the monsters who lurk in its shadows.

This duality, the juxtaposition between geometry and myth, creates an energy, a space into which we can transpose our own stories thus becoming part of a collective narrative that stretches across time. Unlike his loose and expressive abstract paintings Dibbles figurative pictures begin on a small piece of paper. For over 20 years he has been drawing with ink. Always, consistently. And when the painting becomes too demanding he returns to the pen. It is out of this exercise of unconscious expression that these beautiful and strange comical pictures are created. This outpouring, this psychological vision, gives his figures a stage on which to act out their neuroses, their desires and needs as they pace the room waiting for an answer that will never come. Here’s what he has to say about his work:

Can it be said I am an artist when painting but other times, no? I see I’ve been led to a question. When am I an artist? An artist question seems more appropriate at this time. The creative process puts me in question. When I begin to work, the first thing I see is how lazy I am, and how weak my attention is. I see I want to fall back on old tricks, things I know that will make a successful painting. But I’m trying to discover something new.

I’m very much interested in this process, not necessarily to make a good picture but to discover something new. How can I bring more feeling to my work? Am I being honest about my experience as a painter? This questioning process leads to bigger questions such as who am I and why am I here?

www.elderart.com

Current Show Solo Exhibition by Matthew Dibble "Never Counted, Never Named" 43.5" x 38" oil on canvas  Through March 29th The process that we go through in the selection of artists to be represented by the gallery is often one that comes from the heart.  Likewise, it is one that takes into consideration how we project our market will respond to the artists' work.  We often are willing to take risks when we feel so strongly about a particular artist.  Our show this month is one that we feel is unique, engaging and aggressive....all qualities that we embrace as a gallery.  Matthew Dibble is dedicated to his work as an artist and, like us, is willing to put himself out there as he creates his art. We greatly admire this trait and are honored to have Matthew join our gallery.  Below is a statement from him that describes his approach to creating his artwork. My wish is to live in the real world. I have a natural curiosity about my place on earth and a thirst for sincerity in all forms. These paintings are a glimpse into what happens when this very active inner life and the outer world come in contact.  I’m trying to approach the work as a tradesman approaches his job, in a very ordinary way, with a watchful attention and a certain confidence that comes from experience while at the same time searching for something new.  In the studio, my aim is to be fearless. For years, I believed that I was taking risks with my paintings. At one point, I questioned this belief. What was I risking? There was no danger except to my ego. I realized that I entered the studio with a picture of myself and a vision for my painting, and that both were huge obstacles to my creative process. How could I lose this barrier? It may seem as if these questions have nothing to do with painting, but, like many artists, the way I approach my work is important to me. If I begin with the same mindset, I usually get the same results. I can always paint a clever picture, that’s not my goal. I’m trying to create work that's fresh, that has heart and authenticity, that's flavored with experimentation and discovery. I may often fall short, but it is the journey that has engaged me for the last 30 years.  Stuttering Geisha 50 x 46 oil on canvas Hail Damage 50 x 46 oil on canvas Dim Cheer 45 x 45 mixed media on canvas Grapeshot Road 8.5 x 11 collage Byzantine Glaze 7 x 6 drawing/collage Elegant Retreat 11 x 8.5 collage Prince of Cranberry 75 x 52 oil on canvas Public Letter Writer 68 x 80 oil on canvas Civil War Prize 36 x 24 oil on canvas Candid Muralist 36 x 25 oil on paper mounted on canvas Burping Salamander 36 x 25 oil on paper mounted on canvas Flop Sweat 55 x 47 oil on canvas Hindu Builder 32 x 27 oil on paper mounted on canvas Glamourous Acrobat 32 x 27 oil on paper mounted on canvas Collage #4 mixed media collage Together with Moths 75 x 80 oil on canvas

www.elderart.com

Matt Dibble: Paintings and Drawings

                                  Public Letter Writer (oil on canvas) 68"x80" 2007

An exhibition of Matt Dibble's paintings and drawings will open at www.elderart.com  on March 7th,2014.

Elder Gallery selections
http://bit.ly/1iqe2G6

NOADA ART Expo 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NOADA ART Expo 2014

Friday March14-Sunday March16, 2014

Opening reception: Friday 5pm – 9pm

Saturday 11am-5pm; Sunday 12pm-5pm

Location: The Transformer Station

1460 W. 29^th St, Cleveland,OH 44113

www.transformerstation.org

         The Northern Ohio Art Dealers Association is pleased to announce its 2014 ARTExpo the weekend of March14th, 15^th and 16^th. Once again the Expo will take place within the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation’s Transformer Station, 1460 West 29^th St., Cleveland.  The Transformer Station, which marked its one-year anniversary earlier in 2014, is a jewel of Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. The museum is devoted to their private photography collection for part of the year and used by the Cleveland Museum of Art for photography exhibitions during the rest of the year.

        The Expo offers a unique opportunity for patrons to browse and buy fine works of art from among Ohio’s most respected dealers and galleries. This is the only expo of its kind in the region and the only place where such a diversified offering can be found all in one place at one time. All of the participating galleries and dealers have placed art with major museums, private and corporate collections and will bring to the 2014 Expo a selection showcasing their best works. This eclectic offering includes a cross section of historic, regional, international, modern and contemporary, paintings, drawings, original prints, photography, fiber art and sculpture.  All works will be available for purchase and will appeal to a broad range of tastes, from established collectors to those purchasing a work of art for the first time.

       The 2014 ARTExpo will open on Friday, March 14 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM with a gala preview party. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served as patrons peruse the various booths where they can purchase art in an intimate atmosphere and interact freely with the dealers who also offer extensive knowledge of all aspects of collecting art including conservation, framing, appraisals and installation for both private and corporate clients.     

    The Expo will continue on Saturday, May 11 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday, May 12 from Noon to 5:00 PM. As a special event, on Saturday afternoon at 2:00p.m. noted art historian Dr Henry Adams will lead visitors on a “walk and talk” though the Transformer Station. He will browse dealer’s booths with guests and talk about select works of art from each. On Sunday at 2:00p.m Adams will be present to discuss and sign his new book, ‘Painting in Pure Color, Modern Art in Cleveland before the Armory Show 1908 – 1913”as well as several of his older books which will also be available for sale. Dr Adams who has published widely, curated many noted traveling exhibitions and collaborated on a PBS documentary with Ken Burns, has been singled out by Art News as one of the foremost experts in the field of American Art.

*As of this date, the participating dealers are, Bonfoey Gallery, William Busta Gallery, Thomas French Fine Art, Harris Stanton Gallery, Art, Shaheen Modern and Contemporary,Tregoning & Company, and Verne Gallery

 Please take advantage of the opportunity to highlight Northeast Ohio’s strong interest and support of the arts by acknowledging this noteworthy event in your publication. NOADA is an organization supporting local art businesses and hundreds of local artists. As such, NOADA does not have an extensive budget for advertising and needs your help in letting your audience know about this event. Thank you!

For more information regarding the NOADA Art Exhibition please contact Diane Shaffstein at des@bonfoey.com, or Mindy Tousley at info@HarrisStantonGallery.com

    

FRESH FROM THE STUDIO

 Electric Brawler (enamel,oil and charcoal on canvas) 75"x 85" 2013~Matt Dibble

  

This exhibition explores recent works from the studio of some of the region's best working artists. The show offers each artist a moment to reflect on their most recent work/s and in a short statement, describe how that work fits in that artists current creative direction. FRESH FROM THE STUDIO gives the viewer a window into the creative process-in both art and text.

LIBBY CHANEY

MATT DIBBLE

GEORGE KOCAR

GEORGE KOZMON

JAMES MASSENA MARCH

SEAN McCONNOR

CHRISTOPHER PEKOC

A.D. PETERS 

ANDREW REACH 

DOUGLAS MAX UTTER

PETER WISE 

open to the public for viewing:

9 November 2013

 (through 11/23/13) 

Artists will be present 

11/15/13    6-8PM

during the November, THIRD FRIDAY event 

only at

tregoningandco.com

located in the 

78th STREET STUDIOS: AN ECLECTIC ARTS MAZE OF OVER 45 ARTS BUSINESSES OPEN EVERY THIRD FRIDAY 5-9 PM

_________________________________________________________

Matt Dibble:Open Studio

Open Studio

Matthew Dibble

Matt Dibble:Open Studio Curated by: Bill Tregoning 2400 Superior Ave. Suite 215 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 September 21st from 12:00 PM to 5:PM
	Matthew Dibble, Art Studio in Cleveland, 9-21-13 Matthew Dibble, Fahrenheit, 2013, Enamel,charcoal and rosin paper on canvas., 64"x80" © Yes Matthew Dibble, Studio view with "Kentucky Genie", 2013, Mixed technique on canvas. © Yes

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EVENT TYPE:   Open Studio WEBSITE:   http://www.dibblepaintings.com COUNTRY:   United States EMAIL:   mjdibble@sbcglobal.net PHONE:   216 789 2821 OPEN HOURS:   12:pm to 5:pm TAGS:   painting, figurative, modern, drawing, abstract, mixed-media, installation COST:   Free

Matt Dibble: Open Studio ~ Please come and visit my very active painting studio in the superior corridor area of Cleveland during the Sparx City Hop http://bit.ly/17FJ33O Saturday September 21^st between the hours of 12:00- 5:00pm.
I’ve been preparing for an exhibition of new paintings to be shown at www.tregononingandco.com  in 2014. My studio is located at  2400 Superior Ave. Cleveland,Ohio  44114 on the second floor of the new world headquarters of www.hotcards.com   Parking at the rear of the building.

Northeast Ohio artists shine in the 77th Midyear exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art

By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The National Midyear exhibition at the Butler Institute of Art is a classic exercise in artistic comfort food.
It’s a juried, annual exhibition that draws entries from all fifty states and that attracts artists of a conservative bent, working in traditional media with traditional subjects.
That’s just as true today of the 77th version of the show, now on view at the Butler through Sunday, Aug. 18, as it has been in the past.
This year’s Midyear won’t challenge, thrill or disorient, but it will give pleasure. And that latter point is especially true of the entries from Northeast Ohio. For the most part, they consist of new works by some of the region’s best artists.

View full sizeSean McConnor of Greenville, Pa., won a well-deserved First Place award in the 77th Midyear exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art for "Vase, Book, and Letter.
 

 Examples include a pastel drawing by George Mauersberger of Cleveland of a man leaning his head on a table covered with a white tablecloth. It’s a combination of blunt realism and arresting oddness because the pose suggests absolutely zero narrative possibilities. The man is not leaning his head on the table because he’s sick or depressed. He’s simply playing the role of a neutral object presented for our scrutiny, like a piece of fruit.
Also noteworthy are a pair of large, handsome abstractions by Matt Dibble of Cleveland, one of which won the show's Third Place award.
In both works, the artist appears to draw heavily on the early 1950s Abstract Expressionist styles of Willem de Kooning and Conrad Marca-Relli. Dibble’s abstractions, made with house paint and patches of torn paper fastened as elements of collage, are energetic and vibrant, if derivative.
Similar comments could be made about much of the work in the Midyear. There’s enjoyment to be had, for sure, but nobody’s breaking out in wild new directions.
The Midyear attracts a certain kind of artist, which makes it very much a part of the institution's amiable, approachable identity.
The strategy of Louis Zona, the Butler's admirable director, is to appeal to a wide range of tastes - without stinting on the avant-garde. He's proud of having collected works by Jackson Pollock and Norman Rockwell in recent years.
The Midyear falls on the middlebrow side of the museum's personality. In it, you’ll see paintings reminiscent of the 1930s industrial landscapes of Charles Sheeler, excellent portraits and character studies painted from life, some wonderful still lifes, landscapes with an Impressionist air and abstractions that are generally decorous and decorative.
Installed in a rambling, amiable, mix-and-match manner, the show includes 90 works by 76 artists from 19 states. Some 39 works are from Ohio, making the Buckeye State the best represented in numerical terms.
The Ohioans are also among the best artists in the show.
Particularly outstanding are a pair of still lifes by Carol Stewart of Bexley, which evoke a kind of mesmerizing, low-grade ecstasy of being surrounded by familiar objects. She paints glassware and crockery on tables that seem to have been tilted up slightly toward the viewer, emphasizing the flatness of the picture plane.
Judy Takacs of Solon is represented by a handsome character study of a bald man cradling his face in his wrinkled hands.
John Smolko of Kent is displaying a colored pencil drawing of a comely young woman dressed in shorts and a tank top lying on a bed in a twisting, visually striking pose. The drawing grabs attention largely for its crisp technique and excellent life drawing, which make it feel like the equivalent of a pianist running through scales or arpeggios. It’s an artistic exercise.
A painting by John Jude Palencar of Medina, entitled “Pagan,” is a meticulously realistic image of a dancing male nude, painted in the drab, sharp-focus, deadpan style of Andrew Wyeth. It gets points for weirdness because in place of the man’s head, there’s a cow’s skull.
The Midyear was juried by Jerald Melberg, a gallery owner in Charlotte, N.C., and Thomas McNickle, a very traditional landscape painter from Pennsylvania.
They deserve credit for awarding First Place in the show to Sean McConnor of Greenville, Pa., for a simple, subdued, quietly elegant still life, “Vase, Book, and Letter.”
It’s a modest work, measuring only 17 by 24 inches, but with its somber palette, and dry, dusty-looking surface, it envelops you in a quiet world of humble objects that seem to have powerful inner lives. It achieves a lot with very little. That’s the nature of artistic alchemy.
By giving this painting the top prize, Melberg and McNickle are sending a very smart message to everyone else in the show, and to anyone who sees it.

        

THE NINE: The Northern Ohio Art Dealers Association in the 2nd Year of its Rebirth

THE NINE: The Northern Ohio Art Dealers Association in the 2nd Year of its Rebirth

Issue Spring 2013 | Author Douglas Max Utter

How many serious commercial art galleries are there, here in northern Ohio? Venues that aren’t museums or college campuses, but where people actually make a living by selling art? Places an exhibiting artist, or an aspiring collector, or any informed visitor might find to be professionally impressive? Maybe 50, 100? Probably less.

Raptor Square, by Laurence Channing, courtesy of Bonfoey Gallery

Of course the nation’s heartland isn’t its artistic epicenter, not by the numbers anyway. Even 100 galleries here wouldn’t be that big a deal from a national perspective. In New York the Chelsea area alone has three times that many. But Northeast Ohio is not the desolate frontier either. Just as we have world-class music, film, and performance, we have some impressive visual and conceptual art. In fact there are plenty of individuals and collections who go shopping in northern Ohio, including major museums. Some even come from New York to do just that. After all, art tends to be cheaper around here. Additionally, much complex and beautiful work is made within sight of Lake Erie’s shores. And of course top shelf national and international work can be purchased through local vendors. Right now, despite growing community support (like CPAC’s Creative Workforce Fellowships for local artists, or the emphasis on home-grown art at the new MOCA) these artists and the galleries representing them remain an underappreciated resource. It’s a buyer’s market. If there’s anything lacking here, it’s probably broad-based professional organization, and it turns out there may be a cure for that.

Though there’s no point in counting storefronts, a number that means something on the Ohio scene just at the moment is the number nine. That’s how many galleries and dealers are currently working together under the banner of the Northern Ohio Art Dealers Association. NOADA enjoyed a trial run some twenty years ago, mounting a fine arts exposition in the English Oak Room in downtown Cleveland, and after a long period of quiescence began to regroup last year. NOADA’s initial, resurgent joint effort, its Expo 2012, was the closing exhibition at the old MOCA facility, helping to mark that institution’s transition to a new level of prominence, and attracting a large local audience of its own.

“Collegiality, professional conduct,” says Tom French, NOADA’s president, summing up a couple of goals on the agenda of the small but distinguished band of fellow gallerists and dealers. French’s own family-run business has been going strong for twenty-five years, and like several other fine art dealers in the greater Cleveland area French’s operation hasn’t included a bricks-and-mortar display room – so far, anyway. Northern Ohio is his base of operations, a place to live and sometimes store his stock-in-trade. But virtual shows take place online or in catalogues, attracting clients from all over the map. A widely distributed base of private collectors commonly makes up the bread and butter clientele of most galleries, but French has also sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Chicago Institute of Art, and several dozen other public institutions. Then there are the art fairs, great and small, around the country and abroad, racking up frequent flier miles for French. A large part of the fine arts market has always been a matter of going on the road.

In this French is fairly typical – certainly he’s not the only member of NOADA whose business model has involved a lot of traveling. The Lesko family (of Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery) did the same thing until they settled into the West 78th Street arts complex a few years ago. Even those with a firmly established physical showcase–like the Verne Collection, Tregoning & Co., and Corcoran Fine Arts–have always needed to find ways to reach out to a wider client base.

“She Wore Her Quilt,” by Sedrick Huckaby, courtesy of Thomas French Fine Art

Other NOADA members are William Busta Gallery, Bonfoey Gallery, Harris Stanton Gallery, Riley Galleries, and 1point618, and if they have one thing in common it’s a track record for professionalism, not to mention sheer longevity. Bonfoey’s dates back more than a century, and Tregoning has been in business since 1973. Several others are approaching the quarter century mark.

One advantage the Cleveland art market hasn’t enjoyed is the sort of annual or biennial cooperative art expositions found in many other cities. We have neighborhood art cum food events like Tremont’s second Friday Art Walk, and Gordon Square’s Third Friday events (made especially interesting every month by the major galleries that take part, including three from NOADA’s roster). But even short Cleveland memories still recall the attempt to start a homegrown art fair made by NOADA’s first incarnation back in the early 1990’s. When Tregoning and Bill Busta (William Busta Gallery), French himself, and principals from Bonfoey Gallery, James Corcoran, Michael Verne, Thomas Riley, Harris Stanton, and 1point618 Gallery, among others, began to talk about a revival, it was an idea whose time had come – again.

This year’s Expo should be even more interesting. On display for three days starting on May 10, Expo 2013 will fill Fred and Laura Bidwell’s new Transformer Station museum, just off Detroit Avenue in Ohio City. The museum itself opened on February 1st , with a selection of photographs and photo-based art from the Bidwells’ own collection. Among the highlights of the upcoming Expo will be works by rising art star, Sedrick Huckaby, courtesy of French’s gallery. Another not-to-be-missed artist on the international scene is the British artist Jane Millican, whose pencil drawings are part of Lesko’s stock in trade, along with Clevelander Judith Brandon’s works on paper.

The Transformer Station space isn’t overly large for a show of works in numerous mediums (Riley is known for their amazing glass objects, for instance), culled from nine different galleries. But it represents the vanguard of twenty-first century changes happening here in our own art world, making the right statement at the right time about the seriousness of NOADA and its aims.

NOADA ARTExpo 2013 Gala Preview, 5 pm to 9 pm Friday, May 10, $50. Exhibit hours 11 am to 5 pm Saturday, May 11 and noon to 5 pm Sunday, May 12, $10. Transformer Station, 1460 West 29th Street, Cleveland.

 

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A Visual Conversation: The Paintings of Matthew Dibble

by Katherine Aimone
www.artswrite.com

Too much thinking can be an obstacle for me when painting; the ‘judge’ always seems to get in the way. My connection can only be found in the moment, and I often come back to a sense of my feet on the floor while painting. During these moments some real work is possible…. As artists, we do much better trying to keep things simple. We do better to compare ourselves solely to ourselves. Self-inventory is useful, while self-condemnation is not. Without calling our whole identity into question, there are inquiries that we can fruitfully ask. How am I developing as an artist? Am I doing the work necessary for me to mature? Did I work today? Yes? Well, that’s good. Working today is what gives us currency and self-respect. There is dignity in work. —Matthew Dibble

Matthew Dibble’s large-scale abstract work has evolved over the course of many years of day-to-day dedication. The energy on his canvases is scrappy, adventurous, unapologetic, and direct. The volume of work he produces reflects his energy and determination to evolve as a painter.

Matthew Dibble in studio, Cleveland, Ohio

In the spirit of the Abstract Expressionists, Dibble is an experiential and experimental painter. When describing his inclination to use unusual materials, he notes: “I’ve taken a drop cloth right off the floor, cut it up, and fastened to the canvas. Sometimes I don’t even use a brush. I might use sticks, rags, trowels, thumbtacks and bare hands….”
His description of the process behind the creation of the large-scale painting titled Fondue Party (2013) underscores this idea:

I started by covering this canvas with white enamel house paint, then attaching newsprint. I draw into the newsprint with conte crayon and then cut the lines out with a razor blade. I painted over the lines with a sponge brush and black enamel. Then I began to pull pieces of the newsprint off and moved them around and back, working until the image made sense. This usually happens quickly.

Fondue Party, 2013, enamel and newsprint on canvas, 55 x 82 in.

Dibble’s physical stature corresponds with the scale of his work, and there is an active athleticism in the dynamic surfaces of his pieces. In the realm of both materials and method, one can see that his dual life as a painter and roofer are inevitably intertwined. During the past year, he began attaching large canvases to an easel with thumbtacks for practical reasons, prior to incorporating them into the compositions. In Clifton and Baltic (2013), enamel and charcoal are punctuated by the staccato of the tiny metal circles.

I take in new impressions all the time. For instance, I remember working on a roofing crew, mopping down hot tar. I was fascinated with the shapes that occurred with the tar floating on the brown recovery board. I see abstract relationships everywhere…

Black, floating shapes in Clifton and Baltic lead the eye in an almost circular movement, guiding the viewer through the subtleties of the many pieces of a complex and interesting puzzle. An eccentric energy in the overall piece keeps the viewer returning to the composition, wandering through inviting spaces. The highly textural nature of the surface is a byproduct of moving pieces of painted and worked paper around and reworking it.

Clifton and Baltic, 2013, enamel, charcoal, and thumbtacks on canvas, 52 x 60 in.

The same improvisational freedom reigns in Temple Hum, also painted this year. Its vertical format compresses and energizes forms similar to the more restful and languid ones in the horizontal Clifton and Baltic. Painterly surfaces merge and commune with one another—visual sensations advance and recede to create a sense of depth. Detailed areas show a history of separate painted or drawn surfaces that have been cut and unified. In these works he seems to be exploring detailed passages while working toward overall coalescence, giving birth to a fusion of forces.

Temple Hum, 2013, enamel, charcoal, and thumbtacks on canvas, 48 x 44 in.

The activity and exciting buzz in Dibble’s work is, however, not achieved out of a frenzied way of working. He characteristically sits for a period of time in his studio prior to painting, letting go of thoughts and allowing spaciousness. Although he chooses to ask questions that prompt him to push his work, he practices this inquiry without creating stumbling blocks. In his artist’s statement he describes the process of bringing himself into focus:

…I begin to let go of my old ideas, my habitual way of doing things, my grasping approach. I notice another part of myself, a deeper, quieter part. Instead of trying to make something happen, I try to allow this other voice to surface.

Private Memory (2013) is done on a large sheet of blueprint paper with enamel, charcoal, and pieces of paper. In this mixed-media painting the crisp edges of elements of Temple Hum settle into a state of blurred, organic flux. “I can’t say I understand intellectually how a painting is created. After I start, the process begins to guide me and I feel my way through,” he notes.

Private Memory, 2013, enamel, charcoal, and paper on canvas, 50 x 46 in.

A willingness to move in a natural way between styles and media (all related in language) contributes successfully to Dibble’s evolution as an artist. He creates and finds intersections between his many incarnations of work: “I’m always revisiting my past work. A thin line connects my work and life: past, present and future. But most important is the present.”
The artist also does small drawings that he has created since he was young. Drawing is the grounding force for his work, and he returns to create them when painting feels like too much for him.
He has used these evocative drawings to create a second large-scale body of work made by projecting and enlarging them on canvases. These paintings seem to serve as a compositional bridge between drawing and nonobjective pieces. Bits and pieces of the distinctive language of line emerge in the shapes and overall compositions of the abstract works. He notes: “The connection between the two works seems to be a bridge that links the mind and feeling.” The artist’s ability to deal with seeming dualities, harmonizing them in ways that are complementary, guides the evolution of his work and life.

The way I’m working right now feels very natural and the language makes sense. I was 45 years old before I began to paint well, struggling for many years to find my way. It is a mystery to me why I stayed with it, but all of my work is tied to one thing—a search for meaning.

Platypus Trio, 2013, oil, enamel, and newsprint on canvas, 80 x 80 in.