GabbyGubbins

This is the place where I post my current art and talk about it. If you scroll waaaaaay down, you'll see 365 collages that were a project from Nov 2014 - Nov 2015, when I posted one collage per day.

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Getting some new mini books ready for Tingfest 2017 (Ting Comic and Graphic Arts Festival) at The Arts Project in London Ontario. It runs from April 25 - May 13. There will be lots going on. Party night is April 29! @artsprojectlondon #tingfest #ldnont #getDTL #comicbook #zine #minicomic #graphicarts #illustration #nonsenseword

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Gabrielle Nowicki - Invented Word, 2017

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Gabrielle Nowicki - Nonsense Word, Ink Drawing, 2017

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Gabrielle Nowicki  - 2016 - More bears!  - work in progress

Still loving the bears...  more of this drawing to come soon, I hope. Trying to keep things loose so these drawings are quick and fun to do. 

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Gabrielle Nowicki - 2016 - Graphite drawing on paper

At the Table

Completed,  for now

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Gabrielle Nowicki - 2016 - More Work in Progress. Graphite drawing on paper

At the Table

I added another diner, and table detail

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Gabrielle Nowicki - 2016 - Work in Progress. Graphite drawing on paper

At the Table

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Gabrielle Nowicki - 2016 - Graphite on Paper

Black Bear Portraits, 5 and 6

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Gabrielle Nowicki - 2016 - Graphite on Paper

Black Bear Portraits, 3 and 4

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Gabrielle Nowicki - 2016 - Graphite on Paper 

Black Bear Portraits, 1 and 2

I’ve been  thinking about how wildlife is becoming affected by mankind’s ever increasing encroachment of their natural habitats. There have been stories in my area of bear sightings that aren’t normal for the region I live in. So I thought of a series of drawings, showing wildlife and how their instincts seem to have been altered by human influence. 

I did an image search of black bears and was amazed to see how different their faces are, and that their eyes show such intelligence, and a soul. I drew 6 quick bear portraits my sketchbook. Maybe it was presumptuous of me to “humanize” them because I saw intelligence and a soul. More likely though, they are smarter and have deeper souls than us.

These are the first two.

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Gabrielle Nowicki - 2016 - Graphite on paper

(Good Day Out): I’ve been AWOL from here again...

(Wistful Regrets): I miss being here, seeing all of your posts in my feed BUT...

(Has Important Business to Tend to): The reason I’ve not been here is because I got a job a few weeks ago. This is a GOOD thing. I’m working in 2 branches of a local library system. It was necessary to get a job, but this is a total win: I get to meet bookish types and talk about interesting things, help people find good things to read, and I get to use my creativity to think of programs for patrons.  

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Gabrielle Nowicki 2016 - Graphite drawing on paper

My children are 20 and 17 years old. I think about their futures and how they will ever be able to own a house if they should choose to. Canadian housing prices continue to skyrocket. For the past few years, every now and then, Those-Who-Know-About-These-Things warn that the bubble will pop. So far it hasn’t.

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Gabrielle Nowicki - 2016 - Learning a new skill -  Tin Boat

I’m moving the workshop out to the garage to build more automata and other Gubbinsy Type Stuff. 

I’ve wanted to work with metal for quite some time now, so I began with what I have on hand (as usual), I have a stack of coffee cans that were stashed in the greenhouse... just because... you never know when you might need about 20 nice, shiny coffee cans...  I used a Weller 240/325 watt soldering gun that I inherited from my Dad. 

It was a painful process, due in part to the learning curve, but mostly because the gun is heavy to hold for long periods if you have tendinitis in your lower arms, as I have. Oh, and next time I’ll be patient and use a ruler...

I looked into brazing but our tanks are old and to replace them and get the new ones filled, and keeping them filled, would be dear.

I’m going to pick the brain of a welder friend of mine, this weekend, to see if mig welding something this small is possible. The boat is about 3″ long. 

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Gabrielle Nowicki - 2016. Rock (2) - Graphite on 12″ x 9″  Paper

By my drawing table, I’ve got an old, wooden 6 quart basket filled with rocks from a walk on my local beach along Lake Erie. I chose a rock from the basket and used it as a starting point for this drawing. It’s incredible how the surface of the paper and different grades of graphite can be worked until it seems, magically, a rock like surface appears. 

It’s not so much a realistic “rendering” as it is “drawing” in the verbal sense, using media that is well matched to the subject matter. Close up, the drawn surface even looks rock-like. I’ve included a detail image, to show the texture as well as how the graphite reacts to scratches and pits that I’ve inscribed into the paper’s surface 

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Gabrielle Nowicki 2016 - Detail of work in progress. Houses 1-17 of 72

Neighbourhood, graphite on paper

Six more houses added to the neighbourhood.

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Gabrielle Nowicki 2016 - Detail of work in progress. Houses 1-11 of 72

Neighbourhood, graphite on paper

It’s been a very busy past little while. Today is Friday and I’m spending the day working on my own stuff. Here are some more neighbourhood houses. I have 11 of 72 houses drawn which I think is the equivalent to completing 1/2 an arm, in the realm of sweater knitting.

I’ve included the top image to give a sense of the size of these houses.  

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The 3rd Annual Ting Comic and Graphic Arts Festival is coming up at The Arts Project, in London Ontario

I was a featured artist in the first Ting Fest, in April-May 2014. Every year, they invite former featured artists to include their work in the pop up shop. I’ve been redesigning the packaging of some of my paper toys. Here’s a sampling of what I am including in this year’s shop, as well as a peek at the mayhem leading up to the order 

The festival includes special events and workshops. If you are in The London Ontario area, be sure to visit their website for a list of cool stuff coming up

The festival runs from  April 26 – May 21, 2016 Opening Reception: April 30, 6-8pm