At a young age I started painting with oils on cardboard. At Mankato State University, I studied to become an art teacher but found myself in a bleak job market flooded with applicants. I loved airplanes and had my pilot’s license so I turned to aerospace engineering. As an engineer, I worked on some of our nation’s greatest projects. A few are: Boeing 747, A6 Intruder, F14 Tomcat, Space Shuttles, the Hubble Space Telescope, Deep Impact, and Kepler (the planet finder). For the Deep Impact program, I designed hardware that did the impossible by hitting a speeding bullet with another bullet. Temple 1 comet impact photos are evidence of this great feat. I continued to pursue my art work while working on these projects. I painted several spacecraft and space shuttle works, many of them sold to individuals as well as corporations. E. F. Johnson Co., Sperry Flight Systems and Honeywell Aerospace are a few companies who own my work.
I paint for enjoyment and the challenge to portray my subject matter in unusual settings. I like to work with large format acrylic paintings and the airbrush. My subject matter ranges from landscapes to impressionism. In addition to painting, my art work spans a wide range of experience from illustrating a monthly newsletter; print making, wood and metal sculpture, engraving, and jewelry making. Since my retirement, I have been experimenting with watercolor which has similar characteristics as the airbrush. I try to introduce as much color as possible, pushing ever more towards impressionism.
Engineering has often been an influence in my work where perfection continually pulls me towards creating exact representations of my subject matter. Currently, I am moving outside exact subject matter by using color to enhance viewer enjoyment. My artistic goal is to emulate subject uniqueness while presenting it to you in a new light as art. I enjoy producing works in realism, impressionism, surrealism, and of course abstract for fun. I am influenced by the following artists: Picasso, Dali, Michael Reardon, Tom Lynch, Jeanne Dobie.
– G3 ® Gary Goodwin Gilbert
