JENNY GIBSON

At the age of 8 Jenny Gibson spent a year in the Mountain Ash forests of Narbethong, Victoria. This experience gave her a love of the bush which she has never forgotten. She later grew up in Heidelberg, Melbourne, which in the 1940’s had dairy farms on the Yarra River flats. There she was introduced to the visual arts by retired artist, Clewin Harcourt. It was not until she retired and her 3 children left home that she again felt able to pursue her interest in art by enrolling in a drawing course at Gymea TAFE. She was then living at Bundeena in the Royal National Park, so the bush was all around her. It became the inspiration for her early attempts at painting.

When she returned to Canberra after the death of her husband Jenny bought a house near the bushland at the foot of Mount Ainslie, adding a studio in which to paint more seriously. She completed a degree at the ANU School of Art where she experimented with many different media but finds working with oils the most satisfying. When doing studies on paper outdoors, however, she uses charcoal and water based mixed media as they dry quickly.

Gibson’s work derives from a lifetime of walking and camping in the wilderness. Her paintings rarely depict distant views, but instead focus on intimate experiences with nature. Rather than presenting the natural world merely as a background to human beings, Gibson's paintings express the immersive experience of the Australian bush as seen through her eyes.

Gibson’s aim to value the natural world up close for its own sake is now underpinned by her recognition of its importance in providing the oxygen essential to life. Historically, our society has seen the bush as a problem to be solved in order to create productive farms, and trees as commercial objects to be felled for building materials, paper, or firewood. While many non-indigenous Australians are beginning to learn from First Nations people to care for the land, instead of exploiting it, there is still a long way to go.

For sales enquiries please email us at hello@q-gallery.com.au

  • Patch no date Charcoal on paper, 90 x 71 cm, $600

  • Syncopation 2009/24 Oil on canvas, 76 x 61 cm, $950

  • Overhang 2012/25 Oil on canvas, 76 x 111.5 cm, $1,300

  • Brown River 2014 Mixed media on paper, 30 x 37 cm, $150

  • Black Stick 2011 Oil on canvas, 85 x 49 cm, $675

  • Filtered Light 2024 Mixed media on paper, 30 x 39.5 cm, $160

  • Rocky Creek, Central Australia 2011 Charcoal on paper, 51 x 60 cm, $320

  • Shadow (tree), Central Australia 2011 Charcoal on paper,70.5 x 51 cm, $320

  • Rock Study no 2 2000 Mixed media on paper,47 x 62 cm, $290 SOLD

  • Caves 2011 Charcoal on paper, 57 x 75 cm, $360

  • Rock Face Walker Gorge 2011 Charcoal on paper, 57 x 76 cm, $360

  • Midday Sun no date Mixed media on paper, 30 x 42 cm, $150

  • Bent Tree 2011 Charcoal on paper, 27 x 37 cm, $120

  • Central Australia river scene 2011 Mixed media on paper, 39.5 x 50 cm, $230

  • Snowy River 2008 Mixed media on paper, 39.5 x 50 cm, $230

  • Rocky Creek, Central Australia 2011 Mixed media on paper, 50 x 39.5 cm, $230

  • Pink rocks 2011 Mixed media on paper, 39.5 x 50cm, $230

  • Inside/Outside 2003/25 Oil on canvas, 122 x 56 cm, $800

  • Sunset Yellow No 2 2021 Oil on canvas, 61 x 91.5 cm, $1,250

  • Mt Ainslie tree 2008 Mixed media on paper, 42 x 30 cm, $150

  • Single H 2009 Oil on board, 25 x 20 cm, $125

  • Single E 2009 Oil on board, 25 x 20 cm, $125

  • Bent 2011 Oil on canvas, 62 x 70 cm, $650