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By James Byous
Katie Gilbert speaks with a soft, south-England accent. Her gentle and mellow persona contrasts the hard-edged, poster-like paintings that break a face into narrow zones of tones and color. In her art, colors crash against each other, stark and unconstrained. Lines and swatches of pigment mesh and optically blend into a recognizable face of a friend, a pet or a celebrity.
Displaying a tad of proper British “class” Gilbert constructs an image with a cigarette in one hand and a paint brush in the other. Working from photos she captures the likenesses of Jimmy Hendrix, Ray Charles, Elvis, the Beatles and other music, movie and media heroes. A current project includes a painting of Sir Richard Branson. After meeting the private jet crew of the adventurer and Virgin Airlines mogul and admiring his accomplishments she launched into a painting of his portrait which is now flying it's way to him. It is one of her more notable projects that include families, individuals and four-legged companions.
Gilbert has a connection to Savannah that is different than most. While attending college she lived a short distance from the estate, Westbrook Manor, that once belonged to James Edward Oglethorpe the founder of Savannah. “A short distance”, because everything in Godalming, Surrey, is close in the still-small and compact village located in the south of England. She didn’t know who Oglethorpe was at the time, but her travels eventually lead her to the city and land that he helped colonize.
Like Monet, repetition of subject does not bother Gilbert. When doing numerous pieces of same subject each work ends up being slightly different. The multiple copies are of subjects that people love – subjects that sell. She works in acrylics and mixed media. For commissioned work she will assess a client’s home for textures and colors to find compositions that suit the décor. She then suggests paintings that work with the area or in the tones and colors they choose. Most paintings take about thirty hours to complete.
“I just sold one that is going to Guatemala,” she says. That’s about the farthest any of my paintings have been shipped… It’s a tattoo type of painting, sculls and flowers, snakes, and daggers,” it contains items that are similar to regional art themes.
Gilbert is self taught. She started in school then continued painting and sculpting while attending hair-dressing college. Hair dressing was, she explains, a means of fulfilling her artistic side. She later opened her own hair business. As for painting and art, “I was doing it as a hobby, giving presents to people. I always had a passion for art. But didn’t think it was possible to be an artist full time.” She is now living her dream.
For a short time she had a studio in Savannah’s City Market but now works from a studio in her home on Wilmington Island. Her gallery is a series of restaurants from Savannah to Myrtle Beach. Her art has been featured at Jazz’d Tapas Restaurant for the past three years and is also shown in Collector’s Café in Myrtle Beach.
Where you can find Katy Gilbert’s Art
Jazz'd Tapas Bar
52 Barnard Street
Savannah,
912-236-7777
www.jazzdsavannah.com
Churchill’s Pub
13-17 West Bay Street
Savannah
912-232-8501
www.thebritishpub.com
Cafe Ambrosia
202 E. Broughton Street
Savannah
912-443-0909
Bacchus Wine Lounge
Congress Street
Savannah
912-235-4447
Collectors Cafe
7726 N. Kings Highway
Myrtle Beach, SC
www.collectorscafeandgallery.com
843-449-9370
The Britannia Pub
On Wilmington Island
140 Johnny Mercer Blvd
Savannah
Savannah Bagel Cafe
444 Johnny Mercer Blvd # R
Wilmington Island
Savannah
912-897-9005
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Katie Gilbert
Hard Edged Art with a
Soft Touch
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Volume1 Number1
Tourism Magazine
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AATR Publishing's
Savannah
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Katy Gilbert toasts her James Brown displayed in Jazz'd Tapas Bar.
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Below,
Jimmy Hendricks
Mick Jagger
Elvis Presley
and
Artist Katy Gilbert
