A WOKING artist’s first exhibition at The Lightbox has attracted enthusiastic crowds.
Patrick Gibbon is presenting his paintings until next Sunday (5 March) in The Wierd and The Wonderful – the spelling 'wierd' being intentional to reflect the thought-provoking content.
“My paintings are surreal in nature, some might say controversial,” Patrick said. “They cover subjects from the glories of the natural world, even on a tiny scale, to death, the horror of the war in Ukraine, to questioning the truth of the Bible, along with highlighting morality subjects.
“I’m deeply passionate about all my work in this difficult world of ours.”
Twenty of Patrick’s paintings are being exhibited and three sold in the first two days. They are mostly 80cm x 60cm paintings, acrylic on stretched canvas.
“I have lived in the Woking and Guildford area all my life.” he added. “I chose to be a graphic designer but had to give up work after having a serious bike accident in 2005.
“I slowly got better and, in retirement, continued with my scuba diving, supported my children, created my perfect, romantic garden and my home DIY.
“Soon after, I began researching the story of a soldier captured at Dunkirk and then wrote a semi-biographical book, The Ghosts of Dunkirk, some 600 pages long, which I self-published in 2015 with some success, selling over 1,500 copies.
“From the start of lockdown in 2020 and as a result of a suggestion from my daughter, I began to paint for my own sanity.
“The result has been 25 paintings. It has been wonderfully therapeutic and something I have always wanted to do, but life got in the way.
“Painting is my pleasure and joy, but I was approached by friends wishing to have some of my work and, so far, I have been fortunate enough to sell five paintings.
“Without wishing to sound pompous, each painting has a message of a social, moral or scientific nature. Or sometimes I just love to just visit my dark side.”
To view all Patrick’s paintings, visit www.facebook.com/thewierdandthewonderful.