A California Art Instructor Shows Abstract Installations in Portland, Maine: Meet Bibby Gignilliat

I'm Dr. Lisa Beil. And you are listening to you or watching radio Maine today. I am speaking virtually with artist bibe. Genk nice to see you today. Nice to see you. And you are joining us from the wonderful state of California Sausalito, California. Excellent, baby. How did you get connected with the Portland art gallery all the way here on the other coast? Well, one of my fellow artists in the building down the hall, Andrew Faulkner, um, shows with the Portland art gallery and he just couldn't say enough, good things about you all. And I've been following him and watching all the things that the Portland art gallery did for him and, um, the beautiful gallery that it is. And so I connected, he made the introduction and I connected with Kevin. And here I am. You haven't always been a mixed media artist. You actually had a whole other life professionally before you came into this field, is that correct? Yes. I'm a Jill of all trades. having done everything from being a computer programmer to a bicycle tour leader, um, to going to culinary school. And then I ran a cooking business for 20 years where we did hands on cooking parties and group corporate team buildings, um, for anywhere from 20 to 400 people. So I'm used to, um, hurting people. I'm getting them to, uh, cook and I've applied that now to my art career, where I teach. Where do you teach art? I teach art outta my studio here. Um, usually once or twice a month. And then I also have an online class where I have 700 people from around the world in the class. Wow. So I've been wondering this for a while, and now I get the chance to ask you this question. How does one teach an online class in art? Oh, that's a great question. Well, um, I had no interest actually in teaching an online class, but then COVID hit. And I think a lot of artists suffered during the, you know, first couple months of COVID because a lot of people were, uh, not really focusing on, um, spending money. And so I thought, wow, I've gotta come up with an alternative. And I was getting these emails and Instagram requests from around the world saying, please, please teach an online class. And so I developed one, um, during COVID and launched it. And I think because so many people were at home and looking for, you know, something to feed their soul during COVID that many people signed up and it's just, it's kept going because it's a, um, it's a self-paced self-study class, so people can do it from home at any time of the day or night and they can join at any point and, and then just take the class at their convenience. So do you record something ahead of time and they kind of follow along with you as, as they're watching the recording? Yeah. It's, it's got 20 modules and they watch the recording and then they go apply it to their panel and um, and then they come back and watch the next step. It's that kind of thing. Or some people I think, like to watch the whole thing and then go back and, you know, start at the beginning. So I have people that will come take my in person class, and then they'll go home and they'll take the online class cuz they can watch it over and over and over. Um, and then some people that will do the reverse. And, and this is presumably in mixed media? Yes. So how did you start gathering all, all of these different, um, people from around the world? What were you also using Instagram? Were you using other forms of social media? Yes, I, um, I have an email list and you know, one thing that differentiates me from a lot of artists is I love the business side because I've been in the business world. I've had a real entrepreneurial side, so I have a pretty large mailing list and then also a large following on Instagram and Facebook. And so, um, I just would mention it there. And I do a lot of, uh, reels on Instagram where I show a technique and I'll always put my hashtag mixed media with Bibi, which is the name of the course. And so people will see it and then they'll check it out and then, then they'll sign up. So, and that's beauty of passive income cuz you might be sleeping and someone might sign up for your class while you're sleeping or on vacation Yeah, I, I think that's great. I think it's, uh, that way you can kind of keep on doing what you love doing, but you don't necessarily have to do it in real time. Exactly. I didn't really wanna do a live class because you know, people are from around the world and be different times and that kind of thing. So this way people can take whenever they want. Well, I'm glad you clarified because in my mind I was thinking you are doing these, these classes on zoom and I could see like, you know, here's Bibby in the center and then there's like 700 little heads all on the zoom. Um, at the same time that that felt like it maybe wouldn't work as well. Yeah. If people have questions, they can just write it through my Facebook group, which is part of the class or they can do it through the platform, which is pod.com. They can write the questions there and I just can answer them. So it seems like this, the doing the creative side of things and doing the business side of things, each of those have continued to evolve simultaneously in, in all of your prior professional iterations. Is that right? That's correct. Yeah. Um, it's like each one built on the next one, if that makes sense. So, you know, I did in my former business, I did a lot of the PR and marketing. Um, and then also I did a lot of the group facilitation and so both of those skills have come forward in this part of my life. I, I enjoyed, uh, learning that. Um, one of the things that brought you back to art was remembering what you did when you were young and feeling like you wanted to return to that very elemental self. Yes, Julia Cameron and says in her book the artist's way, if you really wanna know what you should do in life, look at what you loved as a child. And at age 10, I would go every Saturday to this place and I took painting lessons and I loved those classes and I was actually quite good. And then I had a critical teacher and became a perfectionist. And so I stopped painting and I really hadn't painted for many years until, uh, 2014. And so I was feeling kind of tired of running a business and managing at one point I was managing 60 people and I was just too much and um, wanted to feed my soul and I kept thinking about painting. Um, so finally took a class with an artist here in the ICB building, named Nick Wilton. And I was the worst one in the class, literally. Um, if I showed you some pictures, you'd agree with me but I have a discipline and a determination. And so I got a space in the ICB building and I felt like an imposter at first. I didn't even wanna have anyone see me even go to the bathroom or get any water or anything. Um, I just wanted to stay in my studio and hide, but I kept working on it and I found all the right teachers. I realized I was pretty early on. I realized I was a collage artist. And that's why I think that first class was hard because I, it wasn't collage. And I realized I was a collage artist. And so I found all the right teachers and gave myself basically like a master's in painting. Um, so I've come full circle to what Julia Cameron says, which is do what you love as a child. I, I, I love that you're willing to share that, that sense of being an imposter and that sense of needing to hide, because I, I know that many of us have felt that way. And even as we're feeling that we don't necessarily feel that great about it, Right. You kind of are almost a little bit ashamed of it, but at the same time, um, I was determined to work through it. So I just kept showing up and eventually it got easier and easier for me to come out of the closet. Well, I think, you know, as you're talking, I just I'm envisioning this, um, the caterpillar butterfly analogy where, you know, you're, you're kind of hanging upside down in your pod and all the things are kind of coming together as, as you're kind of yelling as the next phase and then coming outta the closet as, as a Monarch butterfly. And, um, but having to go through that messy, that messy phase, that, that kind of, that GE phase. Yeah. And the vulnerability of the first open studios where you've got all your artwork up and, and you kind of don't know what the reaction is and you hope no one says anything mean to you. and, uh, um, and then, you know, I remember for the first couple of open studios, I only sold to friends, you know? And so then you're wondering like, is my art really that good? Or these friends just buying it, you know, because they feel sorry for me or what, but anyway, I remember my, um, first open studios where I sold my first painting to someone. I didn't know it was $90, it was on sale , but it was thrilling. And then you started getting the validation and now, um, at open studios, it's really rare that I sell to a friend. It's mostly people I don't know. And I'm in, I went from a 100 square foot studio and now I'm in a 1500 square foot studio. Um, so it's just exactly that I went from being a, a caterpillar to a butterfly I also love the Brene brown quote that you shared about this idea of everybody being creative, but not everybody choosing to use it, which doesn't mean the creativity goes away. Yeah. I, I was so inspired by that and I've got it printed up in my studio and I read it right before the start of my classes because there's so many people who come to class and they think they might not be creative because maybe a sister was the artist. And so they weren't. Um, but I do believe that everybody is creative and maybe the person is creative with coding as a computer coder. Uh, maybe they're creative with gardening or maybe singing or, or whatever it is, but everybody has some creativity in them. And I find that people find their happy place when they are, um, pursuing that creativity. Yes. I'm reminded of another quote that I won't be able to get. Right. But it's something about, you know, bringing forth that, which is within you, um, sort sort of less it destroy you, this idea that if you don't allow your creativity to emerge, it still will come out in some form, but maybe not in a form that actually is kind of conducive to a happy life. Yes, yes. That's really important. So especially, I think people realize during COVID, um, the importance of feeding their soul. So, So tell me about this piece that is behind you. Okay. This is a, um, a piece that I made with a local carpenter named mark Felder, and it's a, um, awesome blo or a wall sculpture and, um, it's called comfort zone. And the reason we called it that is, um, I had never done anything like this before with like building a structure and, um, mark had never made anything, you know, a piece of art. So I got together with him and I said, let's create this piece. And so we, we got together and he built the structure with me, providing some ideas here and there, and then I did the painting on it. And then he came back in at the end and, and added a few more pieces of, um, there's a pipe and all sorts of things on here. um, and I had gotten a lot of these materials at a local salvage shop. They're old, like antique pipes and that kind of thing. Um, and so we built it and we, we called it comfort zone because we both were getting out of our comfort zones to be able to build something like this and create something like this. And I included, um, a lot of my work has several layers of, um, papers and then paint. And this piece, you, if you can see it up close, there's lots of little windows into the underlay where there's interesting old papers. And then this is an actual story I wrote at age probably seven or eight about my cow that likes to eat Kellogg's corn flakes. I had quite the imagination as a little kid. Um, but anyway, what was so magical about this piece, it was our first piece that we did together. And I submitted it to the de young museum in San Francisco, which is, um, considered one of the most prestigious museums for a show. They were having called the de young open. And it was a show they decided to have during COVID to help support artists. And they received 11,800 submissions. And out of 11,800, this piece was selected. They selected 800. Um, and this piece was selected to be in the show. So it was in the museum and unfortunately most of the show was shut down for COVID. So very few people got to see it, but they hung it in a really amazing gallery style. Um, and I was thrilled that the piece got in . Wow. That's very impressive. Thank you. And speaking of validating, I mean, you've gone from now feeling like the only people who are going to buy your pieces are your, you know, friends and family to you have this really wonderful honor. Yes. It was just thrilling. And again, like you said, it was extremely validating and we have since made a couple of other pieces like it. And, um, I just think I love just the using all sorts of found materials. It it's thrilling to me and repurposing them Well, it's a little bit like cooking in a way, It's it totally is. It totally is. They're cooking and art are very similar, um, in that you, um, you know, you can follow a recipe or a formula with painting, but you also can go outside the lines. And I'm someone who loves to draw outside the lines. I'm an Aquarius, , I'm a revel, a Maverick, et cetera. And so if you gimme some rules, I wanna break them so, and, uh, I'm the same way with cooking, you know, there, I was less of a baker where you have to be really exact and more of a, a free form cook. So when you were adapting the cooking into group, um, classes and into group work for larger audiences, were you able to bring that free form nature of things into the work you did? Or did you have to pretty much just follow recipes? Are you meaning like for my classes and that kind of thing? Yeah. Or free form? Um, so with, with our, um, with my cooking business, we had this wonderful, um, product called the kitchen challenge where people were given a huge market basket of ingredients and they could throw together a meal. And then at the end we would announce the winner, like the groups would do it together, and then they'd present a presentation plate to the lead chef and the lead chef would taste it and evaluate it and then determine the winner. And so that was very exciting for corporate groups that were tended to be more competitive. And in, in, um, art, I, I, I wanna take some of the competition away because people are already have so many voices going on in their heads, but what, what I do bring that's similar is I have this huge, um, uh, group of supplies that they can pick from, um, all sorts of fun tools and tips and that kind of thing. So at the, at the beginning of the, the class I'll show all kinds of things that they can do for their, um, their pieces, but then it's also within the confines of, um, there's some there's structure, but then also the ability to, to go off road. If that makes sense. I think that's a great combination because, you know, initially I was envisioning this, okay, here's a recipe. I'm gonna show you how to, I don't know, whisk the eggs and add the salt, and we're gonna put it over a low flame and more of kind of a standardized approach. But I think the, what you're describing really would be much more participatory and, and in a corporate setting, I'm, I'm guessing that's kind of what they're looking for. Yes, yes. And there's nothing that brings people together better than group cooking. And I think it applies also to painting because what will happen at my classes is people will show up and they'll be a little awkward and nervous. And then they, um, I have a very intuitive approach to painting. And so I explain that to them and then they start painting. And then usually by the end of the day, the group, even though they're working on their own work, but because they're in this creative exercise together, there's a bonding that happens. And a lot of times by the end of the class, people are exchanging numbers and that kind of thing, and wanting to get together again, or take the class again. And that, So describe this intuitive approach. What does that look like? Well, I think that a lot of people approach art, um, from their analyzer, which is in the frontal lobe of the brain. And I try to get people to approach it from their intuitive place, which is in the center of the head. And so, for example, in the morning of the class, I have them, I'm trying to have them not think and just lay down papers. Um, and then in the afternoon after they've done that free form approach in the morning, they do bring in the analyzer a little bit because it's a dance between the intuition and the analyzer in painting. You wanna have the analyzer there to say, is this design working, but, but oftentimes, um, if you're just coming from an intuitive place, it'll work. Um, but what happens is people get sort of paralyzed by being in the analyzer the whole time. And so I try to help people to kind of learn to go in between the two. Um, and after the morning when they're just doing it intuitively they like the feeling so much that I think that they learn to, um, be in that place more when they're painting. Um, what happens oftentimes when they get into the analyzer, they get attached and attachment blocks the flow. So basically when we're painting, artists are painting they're channeling and any kind of attachment is like a rock in the river. If there's a rock in the river, the flow of the water can't go through. And so if you remove the rocks, then the flow can go through. And so that's exactly what I'm trying to help them do. Just be in this freeform place where there's no rocks in the river, and then they can in the afternoon, bring it in, bring the analyzer in just for a bit to see if the design is working and we go over some design principles and that kind of thing so that they can check against as they're looking at their pieces. Does that make sense? It does. And, you know, I was, I was thinking about this idea of attachment where, you know, a lot of what we're doing now in scrolling through Instagram or social media, or, um, any sort of, kind of digital feed is, is that we are kind of moving towards something that is mildly addictive. So we are kind of attached and it's feeding and attachment and feeding and attachment. So I I'm wondering if our brains nowadays are actually even more in that kind of analytical, attached, um, framework than maybe they once were when we didn't have access to all of these things. I think you're probably absolutely right. Um, and so the, I think the goal, um, or optimal goal for all of us would be to spend more time in more of a meditative state where we're in more of the intuition and connecting, I believe the intuition connects us to our soul and, um, and to our authenticity and I, I don't wanna dis the analyzer cuz we do need it. I just think that, um, it's a more peaceful and, um, authentic place in the intuitive space. I went to the academy of intuition medicine in Sausalito, um, as I was approaching my art practice and cuz I was thinking like, if art didn't work out, I need something. What, what would I do? ? So I, I approached them both at the same time and it was really interesting because as I was heal doing some deep spiritual healing and clearing out myself and um, becoming, you know, becoming more and more who I really am and letting go of family programming and societal programming and that kind of thing, the better my art got. And so a lot of times people will say, gosh, you've got, you got so good quickly. And it's because I did the spiritual work of, um, releasing the attachments and, and um, the programming that we all get from school, from families, from society and that kind of thing. Does that make sense? Well, it makes a lot of sense. And I think, you know, you're describing a very Buddhist idea, this kind of letting go of attachments. And it's interesting because the work that I do on the medical side as a physician, I think they're very much, um, we very much are working with these kind of social constructs. And even in describing illness, we are creating constructs around ideas. And it's interesting for you to be going through the process of deconstructing and detaching and really getting back to an essence that maybe you is more like the, you know, the, the 10 year old who's out painting and kind of really in the world Mm-hmm, , I've had to let go of, like I, I mentioned earlier, I'm a recovering perfectionist , um, you know, that I grew up in a family where there's lots of ways I was supposed to be and should be, and I'm kind of a free spirit and out of the box. And I, um, I fit into this family that I love deeply and I was sort of a misfit in the family to be honest. And so, um, this, this growth that I've been on this spiritual path that I've been on has been about reclaiming who I really am and you know, art is part of it. So I don't, I, I think while my family loved art, I don't think they would've thought it was a great idea, right. Outta college to become an artist. So I pursued, I was a computer programmer because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. And I made a lot of money and all that, and it wasn't feeding my soul. So I was getting closer and closer to it with each job and finally nailed it. So Well, you know, I think I, I can absolutely relate to what you're describing. I think a lot of people can relate to what you're describing because, um, you know, I think about in my own family, for example, my parents both very much valued education and it's because their parents very much valued education. Um, and it wasn't that many generations back that we were dealing with people who valued education because they didn't have access to education. So the way to become successful was to do kind of prescribed things and to do them in the right way. And it wasn't just being successful. It was a means of survival. So we all do get programmed to do things that are a means of survival, which is not bad, but it, it does kind of send you, you down a path in your life. And if you're several generations removed from the need for actual survival, then you're thinking, okay, I'm good. I'm surviving. So can I, can I, can I pull back a little bit more? Can I return to that creative space? Mm-hmm mm-hmm and I mean, what I did with my art practice is while I was getting my master's in intuition medicine, VOCA, it was a vocational master's. And then, um, while I was doing the art, I was still running my company, um, for about four years. And so I was doing this all at the same time, but it kind of allowed me to feel secure, to be putting one foot into this new life while I still had a foot in my old life and I was still earning money and everything. And so I finally then was in a position where I could sell my company and I felt like I could jump in full force to my art practice and I would be okay. And interestingly enough, as an artist, uh, a lot of people have this mentality that you're gonna starve as an artist, but I've had more prosperity as an artist than I did running my company actually. And I'm not, I'm not saying that to like, um, say, Hey, look at me, you know, whatever. I'm just saying that to dispel that belief that artists have to starve. So, so many art, so many people don't take the leap to become an artist because they think they're not gonna make any money because of what we're told. Yeah. I mean, I, I think you are describing something that, um, in fact, I was just bringing this up in another conversation, this, this idea that in, if we are creative, then we are moving away from security and that's such a, that's a damaging thing to believe because it means we always have to be in a space that lacks creativity in order to survive. Exactly. You're absolutely. Yeah. You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. But I don't believe in that so well, and that said, you know, I work hard on the business side of art. I don't, um, I think a lot of people wanna be an artist, but then they don't wanna do any of the business side. And my number one bit of advice for artists that are starting out is treat it like a business. Even if you don't like it, you have to work on the business side. I mean, you guys have an like the Portland art gallery is an amazing art gallery. And I can tell you work a lot on the business side. You know, you do a lot of events, you sell a lot of art. You, you know, people know about it because you do a lot of social media. You take it very seriously. Well, and I, and I, and I think that that is also kind of a weird and damaging social construct. This idea that business is bad. I mean, yeah, Exactly. Why, why is business by necessity bad? It's, it's really the ideas that what you're trying to do is bring something of value to somebody who values it. So, and in doing so you create a livelihood and a means of existence for people. So it's, it's funny that we've, , we've got so, so many weird kind of societal constructs that we're all trying to navigate on a day to day basis. And we may not even realize it. Yeah. We gotta just break them down, Spoken like a true Aquarius. Yeah. And, and by the way I say this, I have two daughters who are aquariums and, and one is at the beginning and one is at the end of being an Aquarius. And so I, I have as a Capricorn, I, I have great love of my aquarium children. So, uh, but I also know that this is, this is actually a thing for those of you who might not believe that a doctor can believe in astrology while you've met one. Now cuz here we are. But Yeah, exactly. And I've got a lot of Capricorn in me as well. So that fuels the business side to get things done. There you go. You've got that. You've got that goat kind of climbing its way to the top of the mountain. Right? Mm-hmm So tell me about the piece that's behind me on, on my coast, on my side of the, uh, uh, of the country. Well, I, first of all, one of my, my most popular sizes of artwork is a 24 by 24. And um, and that's this size, the piece behind you. And I love to start my work, um, with a layer of collage. So that piece was started with a layer of collage. It's just solid collage, all sorts of memorabilia. I've saved everything from growing up. Um, I have old report cards in there, like library cards, um, you know, things menus from restaurants. Um, I can't even tell you how much I have boxes and boxes of, of stuff. My mom saved all that for me. And then when, wherever I go, I collect stuff. So old airline tickets and I, I just put it down as the first layer and I love texture. And so then I come in with a trial, which is a Mason tool and I apply, um, the acrylic paint on top and it leaves these little windows into what's underneath. And so it kind of is a little bit mysterious, but also just like people it's, it's layered. Um, and then on top I create the design. And so I usually start with a graphite mark of some sort and then come in with the collage that's actually on the top. And I sort of saved the more sexy collage materials for the top and bring in a lot of paint in, you know, color to bring it all together. So I like the white space because it's a nice value difference to the busyness of the collage and it gives the eye a place to rest. And then, then, um, the collage usually elements are very whimsical and almost childlike. So it's sort of anode coming back to my childhood and I, a lot of times I'll do these pieces with, um, in series with found collage items. And so I did a whole series of these where I had gone and taken collage elements off of telephone poles in Berkeley. And it was for, they were music posters for this, um, mostly music posters for this theater in Berkeley. Um, and the particular series behind you is, um, they, I, I did a whole series of, uh, XO types. Um, and when I was making the XO types, you they're basically you put them in the sun and the solution for the XO types sometimes, um, uh, goes on the background paper falls out onto the background paper. So I take the background paper and I use it as an element in this collage and in other ones that you guys have already sold. So that's, they all have that Siano type in them. Uh, the, the background material from that. So I use, I try to repurpose some, almost everything and another whole series I'm working on right now, I'm using cardboard boxes from Amazon. So cuz it's really bothering me how many boxes we have so everything's everything's game to be, to go into a collage is basically the point . So it's, it's very interesting to me that here you are talking about kind of peeling back the layers and detaching yourself and you're literally giving people pieces of your past life. Like here you go, I'm done with it. It's in my art. Now you go put it on your wall. Yeah. yep. , it's just a, it's just a little memento into the past. And I I've even had people that will come in and they'll some of, some of my collages are more, um, I don't cover them up as much. And so you can really see what's underneath and I've had people come in and have done a few commissions where people said, would you put our own materials as the background in, in, in, in the piece for us. And so I did this commission a couple years ago of a, his and hers commission and you know, she was into horseback riding and yoga and that kind of thing. And so I had a lot of that in the background picture of her horse, a picture of her doing yoga. And then in his, he was a warriors fan, uh, which is a basketball team. He was a bicycle, uh, rider. I had a horseshoe in hers. I threw live horseshoe in hers and his, I had, um, I wanted to put a bicycle wheel in it, but he said that's too much. Um, so I didn't have anything sticking out of his, but um, I had a lot of his memorabilia. I went to Cal and that kind of thing. So